Chapter 4 - Options Settings
4-2
Auto Cascade
The Auto Cascade feature enables automatic cascading of conferences. Both
audio only and video conferences can be cascaded.
The automatic cascading of conferences is beneficial in distributed MCU
environment, when MCUs are installed in different locations. A maximum of
six conferences can be Auto Cascaded into one conference. The MCU
network can support multiple Auto Cascaded conferences simultaneously.

Auto Cascading Mechanisms

The Ad Hoc Cascade is part of the Central Server Service that is installed as
part of the MGC Web Server Professional installation. The Central Server
Service monitors all the MCUs that are defined and connected in the MGC
Web Server Manager. When two or more MCUs are running a conference
with the same Conference Numeric ID, the Central Server Service checks if
the conferences are already cascaded. If there are no connected cascading
links, it will automatically connect the conferences using pre-defined
cascading links. If at a later stage an additional MCU running a conference
with the same Numeric ID is identified, it will add this conference to the
cascaded conferences.
The links between the MCUs and other configuration parameters are defined
using the MGC Web Server Manager. A primary l ink is defi ned bet ween each
pair of MCUs to be included in the Auto Cascade. A secondary link can
optionally be defined for use as a backup if the primary link fails.
Selection of the Master Conference
The conferences are cascaded in a star configuration - one master and up to
five slaves. The master conference is selected when cascading first takes
place between two or more conferences.
If chairperson activation is enabled in the Auto Cascade configuration in the
MGC Web Server Manager, then the master conference is determined as
follows:
•If one of the conferences has a participant who is defined as a
chairperson, and none of the other conferences has a chairperson, the
conference with the chairperson will be assigned as the master
conference.