Making calls with the Cisco TelePresence ISDN Gateway
Cisco TelePresence ISDN Gateway 2.1 Online help (Printable format) 11 of 135
Making calls with the Cisco TelePresence ISDN Gateway
The Cisco TelePresence ISDN Gateway allows:
users with ISDN endpoints to place calls to users with IP en dpoints
users with IP endpoints to place calls to users with ISDN endpo ints
When configured correctly, the ISDN Gateway is transparent to users; they will require minimal
assistance and training to place calls through the ISDN Gateway successfully.
One training consideration for users making ISDN calls whic h is not usually present for IP calls is that of
cost; you may want to educate users that ISDN calls es calate in cost with increased bandwidth and
duration. You may also want to configure the ISDN Gatewa y to limit these values if required (for more
information, refer to Understanding the dial plan).
For information about setting up the ISDN Gateway, refer to:
the Getting Started Guide.
Getting started with the ISDN Gateway.
When you have the ISDN Gateway and associated devices (for example, the MCU) correctly configured,
with an appropriate dial plan in place, calls can be placed thr ough the ISDN Gateway.

ISDN to IP calls

If you have configured the dial plan as in Getting started with the ISDN Gateway, endpoints calling the
phone number of the ISDN Gateway will, after the call i s completely established, be forwarded to the auto
attendant of the MCU. From here they may use the Far End Cam era Controls (FECC) of their endpoint to
navigate the menus and join conferences as normal.

IP to ISDN calls

An IP to ISDN caller needs to know the number of the ISDN user whom they are calling. However, if the
call will be placed via an MCU, the ISDN user's num ber can be incorporated into the configured endpoint
details stored on the MCU.
You can configure the ISDN Gateway to allow calls to a sin gle ISDN number. In this case, a single rule in
the dial plan will suffice, matching all numbers and calling o ut to a single phone number.
If you want users to be able to call any number, set the ISDN G ateway up as a 'H.323 gateway' on your
MCU and direct calls to ISDN numbers via that. Alternative l y, if you are using a gatek eeper on your IP
network, you can register a prefix with which users m ay prefix the ISDN number they want to call (this is
similar to dialing a '9' for an external line on many telep hone systems).