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Software Configuration Guide—Release 15.0(2)SG
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Chapter 59 Configuring Call Home
About Call Home
About Call Home
Call Home provides e-mail-based and web-based notification of critical system events. A versatile range
of message formats are available for optimal compatibility with pager services, standard e-mail, or
XML-based automated parsing applications. Common uses of this feature may include direct paging of
a network support engineer, e-mail notification to a Network Operations Center, XML delivery to a
support website, and utilization of Cisco Smart Call Home services for direct case generation with the
Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
The Call Home feature can deliver alert messages containing information on configuration, diagnostics,
environmental conditions, inventory, and syslog events.
The Call Home feature can deliver alerts to multiple recipients, referred to as Call Home destination
profiles, each with configurable message formats and content categories. A predefined destination
profile is provided for sending alerts to the Cisco TAC (callhome@cisco.com), and you also can define
your own destination profiles.
Flexible message delivery and format options make it easy to integrate specific support requirements.
The Call Home feature offers the following advantages:
Multiple message-format options:
Short Text—Suitable for pagers or printed reports.
Plain Text—Full formatted message information suitable for human reading.
XML—Matching readable format using Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Adaptive
Markup Language (AML) document type definitions (DTDs). The XML format enables
communication with the Cisco TAC.
Multiple concurrent message destinations.
Multiple message categories including configuration, diagnostics, environmental conditions,
inventory, and syslog events.
Filtering of messages by severity and pattern matching.
Scheduling of periodic message sending.

Obtaining Smart Call Home

If you have a service contract directly with Cisco Systems, you can register your devices for the Smart
Call Home service. Smart Call Home provides fast resolution of system problems by analyzing Call
Home messages sent from your devices and providing background information and recommendations.
For issues that can be identified as known, particularly GOLD diagnostics failures, Automatic Service
Requests will be generated with the Cisco TAC.
Smart Call Home offers the following features:
Boot-up diagnostics alerts for line cards and supervisor engines in the chassis.
Analysis of Call Home messages from your device, and where appropriate Automatic Service
Request generation, routed to the appropriate TAC team, including detailed diagnostic information
to speed problem resolution.
Secure message transport directly from your device or through a downloadable Transport Gateway
(TG) aggregation point. You can use a TG aggregation point in cases requirin g suppor t for mul tip le
devices or in cases where security requirements mandate that your devices may not be connected
directly to the Internet.