Collaborative Server

[Skaret]

Following setup:
Incoming PRI to Node A (CS1000E, Rls. 4.5). H.323 to Node B (CS1000E, Rls. 5.5). Node B is connected to Nortel Multimedia Conferencing (NMC) using SIP.

Sets on Node A needs to call NMC connected to Node B.

--PRI-->[Node A with SS/NRS]--H323-->[Node B with SS/NRS]--SIP-->[NMC]

Could someone explain to me what Collaborative Servers do? Do I need to set up Collaborative Servers in this scenario?

 

[PareshTC]

If one fo your NRS is primary while the other is setup as Alternate, you just need to make the correct routing entries in NRS.

If both are primary NRS then the two systems are basically in their own routing domains. In this case you will need to add NRS-A as a collaborative server in NRS-B and vice versa. Then the two NRS will share thier routing tables and allow call routing across each other. You also might need to add additional routing entries, but am not sure of that part.

 

[kondalisa]

Hi Paresh, can you explain a bit more collaborative server more?? and if you dont mind can you explain briefly when we use END POINT USER and GATEWAY END POINT in NRS?? In what situation.
I will appreciate if you do this for us.

 

[pronei]

You will need to set up Tandem calling, your traversing H323 to SIP using 2 SS/NRSs.

If those 2 NRSs are standalone, that could very difficult to configure.

If the 2 NRSs are in a Primary/Alternate config, setup is very easy.

 

[allenmac]

Collaborative servers allow VoIP trunking between NRS domains.

For example, suppose you have an NRS domain that covers North America, and a different NRS domain that covers Europe - each NRS domain has a primary NRS, and could have an alternate, and failover NRS's as well.

If you want to route calls between the North America and Europe domains, then you would define the Europe NRS as a collaborative server in the North America NRS, and you would define the North America NRS as a collaborative server in the Europe NRS.

When a call intended for the other NRS domain is received by the local NRS, it is not recognized as belonging to any of the locan domain endpoints, so it sends a query to the collaborative servers to see if the call can be resolved. If the call can be resolved by one of the collaborative servers, then the local NRS routes the call to the remote NRS.

-Hope that helps.

 

[pronei]

His problem is H323 to SIP!

H323 will NOT talk to SIP, the only way to do this is by tandem calling, but in order for that to work, node A & node B will have to be existing endpoints on a single NRS and configured to tandem calls. I don't think they can be multiple standalone NRSs using different protocols.

 

[allenmac]

Correct, you still need to be talking the same language (SIP-SIP, or H.323-H.323).

Although if you have a site with both SIP & H.323, then you can define that site in NRS as a default route (I would not use tandem), and then calls will use it when they need to transcode between SIP-H.323.

 

[Skaret]

Thanks all!