asterisk users - Apr 2009 - Can Asterisk bridge between a SIP client and a Cisco Call Manager server?

Hi,

This is probably outside what Asterisk is intended for, but I'm hoping it
can
help.

I need to make and receive calls through a Cisco Call Manager server that I 
have no control over. I have to use a Cisco soft phone (Cisco IP 
Communicator), which only runs on Windows. But I'm on Linux. CCM is 
apparently capable of supporting SIP and H.323 interfaces, but they won't 
provide this option for me. Right now I'm using a VMWare XP guest to run the
soft phone, but this is painful (especially with some VPN complications 
thrown in).

I've read that Asterisk supports SCCP, at least somewhat. I'm wondering
if I
could set up Asterisk on my desktop machine to route calls between a SIP 
client such as Kphone or Ekiga and the CCM server. Would this be possible?

I heard that one of the problems in interfacing with CCM over SCCP is the use 
of proprietary codecs. Would this be a problem in my case?

If there's a chance it can be made to work, I'll give it a try. If
I'd be
wasting my time, please let me know.

Thanks,

Shocky
-- 
These are my opinions. Get your own.

On Fri, 10 Apr 2009, Shocky wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This is probably outside what Asterisk is intended for, but I'm hoping
it can
> help.
>
> I need to make and receive calls through a Cisco Call Manager server that I
> have no control over. I have to use a Cisco soft phone (Cisco IP
> Communicator), which only runs on Windows. But I'm on Linux. CCM is
> apparently capable of supporting SIP and H.323 interfaces, but they
won't
> provide this option for me. Right now I'm using a VMWare XP guest to
run the
> soft phone, but this is painful (especially with some VPN complications
> thrown in).
>
> I've read that Asterisk supports SCCP, at least somewhat. I'm
wondering if I
> could set up Asterisk on my desktop machine to route calls between a SIP
> client such as Kphone or Ekiga and the CCM server. Would this be possible?
>
> I heard that one of the problems in interfacing with CCM over SCCP is the
use
> of proprietary codecs. Would this be a problem in my case?
>
> If there's a chance it can be made to work, I'll give it a try. If
I'd be
> wasting my time, please let me know.
I've never looked at SCCP, but if it does work then you could use the 
console phone built into asterisk rather than IP plumb it into a 
soft-phone... So asterisk is essentially acting as an SCCP soft-phone 
itself. No GUI though, but if you're happy typing commands... :)

Gordon

Hi Shocky. It is possible. You should use SIP trunk in CCM and  
configure some prefix to point to the Asterisk Box.
On the Asterisk BOX use SIP peer configuration to make calls trough CCM. 
You can use some prefix from the both sides and strip it when call 
arrive at the each side.
If you have CCM > 5.0 you can use SIP enabled softphone by directly 
registering info the CCM. Since you have CCM4 you should use SIP trunk 
to connect CCM and Asterisk.

Dimitar

Shocky ??????:
> Hi,
>
> This is probably outside what Asterisk is intended for, but I'm hoping
it can
> help.
>
> I need to make and receive calls through a Cisco Call Manager server that I
> have no control over. I have to use a Cisco soft phone (Cisco IP 
> Communicator), which only runs on Windows. But I'm on Linux. CCM is 
> apparently capable of supporting SIP and H.323 interfaces, but they
won't
> provide this option for me. Right now I'm using a VMWare XP guest to
run the
> soft phone, but this is painful (especially with some VPN complications 
> thrown in).
>
> I've read that Asterisk supports SCCP, at least somewhat. I'm
wondering if I
> could set up Asterisk on my desktop machine to route calls between a SIP 
> client such as Kphone or Ekiga and the CCM server. Would this be possible?
>
> I heard that one of the problems in interfacing with CCM over SCCP is the
use
> of proprietary codecs. Would this be a problem in my case?
>
> If there's a chance it can be made to work, I'll give it a try. If
I'd be
> wasting my time, please let me know.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Shocky
>   

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/x-pkcs7-signature
Size: 2921 bytes
Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
Url :
http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20090410/638478a7/attachment.bin

Shocky wrote:
> This is probably outside what Asterisk is intended for, but I'm hoping
it can
> help.
> I need to make and receive calls through a Cisco Call Manager server that I
> have no control over. I have to use a Cisco soft phone (Cisco IP 
> Communicator), which only runs on Windows. But I'm on Linux. CCM is 
> apparently capable of supporting SIP and H.323 interfaces, but they
won't
> provide this option for me. Right now I'm using a VMWare XP guest to
run the
> soft phone, but this is painful (especially with some VPN complications 
> thrown in).
It maybe a small nuance, but as a CCM administrator I can understand the
refusal to support a roaming H323 or SIP endpoint on CCM.  Perhaps if your
asterisk box was not mobile, the CCM admins would consider a H323 trunk to
your system?  
> I've read that Asterisk supports SCCP, at least somewhat. I'm
wondering if I
> could set up Asterisk on my desktop machine to route calls between a SIP 
> client such as Kphone or Ekiga and the CCM server. Would this be possible?

The SCCP support in Asterisk is currently limited to asking as a SCCP server,
not as an SCCP client.  So you cannot use Asterisk to register as a phone
to CCM.  The SCCP protocol does have a 'trunking' mode, but Cisco barely
uses
it themselves, and it is geared to low density situation, two-four channels.
I am not aware on any effort to duplicate that in chan_skinny.  It is
conceivable
that chan_skinny could be taught to emulate a Cisco endpoint (7965 for example),
but the end result would be of limited value.  It would have a limited number
of lines/channels and the protocol in this use model would not support passing
destination information, so it would require a 1-to-1 mapping of a CCM extension
to an Asterisk extension.
> I heard that one of the problems in interfacing with CCM over SCCP is the
use
> of proprietary codecs. Would this be a problem in my case?

Not quite true.  SCCP is a proprietary protocol, but the codecs supported match
well with what Asterisk offers, at least the codecs you would likely choose to
use.
> If there's a chance it can be made to work, I'll give it a try. If
I'd be
> wasting my time, please let me know.
There is a chance, but it depends on working with the CCM admins and how willing
they are to create a one-off configuration for you...

Dan