Retaining SIP Soft Phone's configuration on shared PCs

Usually a contact center utilizes agents in shifts. More than one agent use the same PC and log in with their respective Windows Login IDs. If a SIP Soft Phone is configured as an agent's extension then its configuration is only available to user account used to make the configuration. If another user logs in with a different Windows ID, the SIP Phone configuration is lost and the agent does not see any extension information on the SIP Phone. The IT team has to redo all the configuration for each agent's ID who would log in to that PC, which is an unwanted laborious task.

There is a way around to fix this problem. A windows BAT file can be used to automatically copy all the configuration files for the SIP phone to appropriate place for any user who would log in to that computer. This article explains the solution using X-Lite, however, the concept can be applied to any SIP Phone (3CX, Aspect SIP Phone etc).

Let's assume a free soft phone X-Lite by CounterPath is being used a SIP Agent Extension.An administrator logs in the computer to install and configure it (assign an extension number and SIP Proxy's address). Once it is done, close the X-Lite.

Typical SIP configuration for X-Lite version 3.x

 X-Lite saves its configuration files on following path:-

C:\Documents and Settings\[Login ID]\Local Settings\Application Data

Location for X-Lite configuration files

Replace [Login ID] with the ID of user who installed and configured X-Lite. There will be a folder CounterPath which holds all the configuration files for X-Lite. As you can notice, it is under a specific Login ID therefore will not be available to other users IDs who might use this PC. Copy the complete CounterPath folder.

Create a folder named sip on root of C Drive (e.g. C:\sip ) and paste the CounterPath folder inside it. Now you have fully working configuration files inside C:\sip\.

Open Notepad and copy-paste below line in it and press an enter.

xcopy c:\sip\. "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\"  /s /c /y

Above command copies all the contents of C:\sip\ directory to Local Settings\Application Data folder in environment of whoever is the logged on user. Save this Notepad file as a .BAT file (for example, sipconfig.bat) at the below location:-

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now whenever any user will log on to this computer, the sipconfig.bat file will execute automatically and copy the X-Lite's configuration from C:\sip\ to required location in user's environment.

That's all what is needed to be done. When X-Lite will be run it will have configuration files available at the required location.

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Configuring a Polycom IP Phone as Aspect Unified IP Agent extension

Polycom IP Phones are very useful as SIP agents extensions in Unified IP 6.x or 7.x environment. They are stable, have great quality, and easy to use. Use this article in order to know how to configure a Polycom IP Phone (especially the SoundPoint IP range) as an agent extension against Aspect SIP Proxy.

A SoundPoint IP Series Polycom phone

 You need to know the IP Address of Aspect SIP proxy server. For this article, let us assume that the IP Address is 10.5.9.16 for Aspect server that hosts the Aspect SIP Proxy. The same server also hosts the agent portal. If you have a redundant/high availability environment, then SIP Proxy is hosted on two servers.

Assuming your Polycom phone is powered up and is connected to network and has received an IP Address. To confirm this use this shortcut:-

On Phone's panel, press Menu button, followed by 2 - 2 - 1. It will display the phone's IP Address.

There are two ways to configure the Polycom phone against Aspect SIP Proxy,

1. Using the Phone's panel itself
2. Using Phone's web interface through any browser on a computer in same network.

Usually the second method is easier and widely used. Let's assume that phone's IP Address is 10.5.136.19. Open a web browser on any computer on the same network and type http://10.5.136.19  and hit enter. Replace this IP Address with actual IP of Polycom phone in your environment. A prompt will pop-up asking for User ID and Password:-

Enter the User Name Polycom (with capital P) and Password 456 and press OK. The Polycom phone's web configuration window will open up:-

Click on the SIP menu link. The below screen will open up:-

 

Just enter the IP Address of Aspect SIP proxy server (10.5.9.16 in this example), the port of 5060 and select the UDPonly as Transport protocol. No need to fill any field below in Server 1 and Server 2 sections and click the Submit button down there. The phone will physically reboot to take these settings.

After phone has rebooted (can take few minutes), refresh the browser's window to reload the phone's web configuration utility. Now click on the Lines menu link. Below screen will appear:-

Here we actually assign an extension number to this phone. In this example, we gave it the extension number of 4010. Fill all the fields from Display Name until Third Party Name with the desired extension number.

In the Server 1 section, enter the same IP Address that we entered in SIP menu, that is, the IP Address of your Aspect SIP Proxy server, same port number 5060 and Transport protocol of UDPonly. Scroll down, no need to fill the fields under Server 2 and press the Submit button at the bottom.

The phone will reboot again. Once it has started completely, its display will show the extension number you just configured. The Polycom phone is now ready for use as SIP agent's extension with your Unified IP 6.x or 7.x platform.

Note that if you want to assign another extension number to same phone, you can do it under Line 2 of Lines menu link. The procedure will be the same.

At the end, you can confirm that your phone is properly registered with Aspect SIP Proxy. Go to (or open a remote desktop session to) the Aspect SIP Proxy server (which is usually the same server running the agent portals). Click Start - Programs - Aspect Proxy and choose Device Information. Below window will open up:-

This application shows all the devices or end-points (the SIP phones) that are registered and connected with this SIP Proxy. Look for the phone extension you just configured. If it is there then your phone is properly registered, connected and ready for use with Lyricall agent application.

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Aspect Unified IP 6.6 common issues and fixes - basic troubleshooting

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Aspect Support must be contacted in case of any problem in Aspect Unified IP 6.6 platform contact centers. Aspect Software (www.aspect.com) professional support is available 24x7 on following contact numbers:-

India: 000800 0016673 Toll Free(India)

UK:   0044 870 243 0364 

US:  1800 999 4455  Toll Free (US)

 

This article is for certified first-level support engineers at customer-site or partners to assist them speed up the troubleshooting of some basic frequently reported issues. Note that this article is neither endorsed nor validated by Aspect Software. 
 
Here is a list of commonly reported Aspect Unified IP 6.6 Service Pack 2 platform issues as faced by end users. The troubleshooting steps for each problem is mentioned alongside. Note that troubleshooting steps and actions must be carried out by a certified professional from Aspect Support team or Aspect's partner in region. Some steps do require a downtime in production therefore it is best to restart services in off-production hours.

Agents unable to log in to Lyricall

• If incorrect User ID/Password error message is coming, check status of Active Directory, check network link to Active Directory server.
• Make sure browser’s Pop-up blocker has been turned off.
• Make sure proper JRE environment is installed on agent PC.
• A new agent may not be defined as an agent (in Unified Director tool).
• Agent may be entering incorrect password (check keyboard language layout, Num-Lock, CAPS lock etc).
• Agent may be entering incorrect extension number (especially if GW Login Fail message appears in background)

GW Login Fail. A typical case of agent unable to log in the Lyricall agent application

• Agent’s extension may be hung in “Busy” state (also causes GW Login Fail). In this case shutdown the IP Phone (Aspect SIP Phone, X-Lite or physical Polycom phones) for  2-3 minutes and start again.
• If CSL Link down or Link between AWS and CC is down message comes, then first try to restart Aspect Apache Tomcat and Aspect JORAM services on Agent portal server. If it does not help, then reboot the primary core server.
• Try logging on to backup portal.
• If agents are getting "System has logged you out" error message (without any GW Login Fail message in background) when trying to log in then proper SIP Circuit may not have been assigned in Numbering Plan - Login Defaults section of Unified Director.
• If all agents logged on to a specific TA/DCP got kicked out and are unable to login again, getting the "GW Login Fail" error messsage. Check the display of DCP itself. Normal working DCP should display something like 0.0 or 0.0.0 with steadily blinking "dots". If the dots are not blinking, or display is not like this at all, the DCP may be stuck or hung. A physical restart of DCP may resolve the issue. 
• If agents login is failing in first attempt but successful in second, then Proxy-to-Proxy configuration may not have been set properly. If you have already configured P2P and suddenly this issue comes up, then under Aspect Proxy configuration, disable and enable the Proxy device that you have set.

Disabling - Enabling the device may resolve the alternate login attempt failure problem

Agents not receiving any calls

• Check if agents is included in the Inbound Service Queue (Unified Director tool).

 

 Agent unable to log in because stuck in Not Ready or Wrap state

• Supervisor to kick-out agent using the agent web service tool (http://agent-portal-ip:8180/ConcertoAgentPortal/status.jsp)
• If agent is not appearing in above list, Restart TOMCAT and JORAM services on Agent Portal Server in question.

 

Supervisor unable to log in to Enterprise Monitor

• If supervisors cannot log in to Enterprise Monitor, for example, the screen is frozen, or "Already Logged in" message is coming, or "License Exceeded" message is coming then restart TOMCAT and JORAM services on  the Portal Server in question. Most of these problems are fixed in Code Mode 08.

 

Supervisor unable to log in the Unified Director, or Unified Director not working as expected.

•  If Unified Director is not loading, screen freezing or unexpected issues are appearing on certain sections, it is better to restart TOMCAT and JORAM services on the server from where UDD is being accessed.
   

 Incoming Calls not hitting the IVR or  IVR not responding

• Use Telephony Monitor tool to see if E1 line’s health is good (OK-green) AND the channels are getting seized by incoming calls. If not, escalate to telecom service provider.
• If channels are being seized, but IVR is not playing, try restarting the M3 service on primary and backup core servers. Correct way is to stop M3 Server service, stop Multimedia plugin service, restart IIS (type iisreset on Run and hit enter), then start Multimedia plugin service and then start M3 Server service.
• Also check if proper “Numbering Plan” (DNIS to Inbound Service) mapping is done
• Some times, when everything looks OK but M3 is not responding to incoming calls, it is good practice to plug out the E1 cables physically from DCP ports and plug-in back. It is especially true for old R2 MF type E1 lines.

 

Recording not happening - Recordings not appearing in search

• Check Search Filter (in Unified Director's Recording Manager section) if there is any unwanted parameter set (like Caller ID, file size, date, service etc).
• Server Disk space may be full (check alert in Director).
• XCoder service (on TA) may need a restart. A quick look at XCoder log may reveal if it is not able to get the recording path. Restart XCoder to resolve this problem.
• If there is a UDD Alert like "More than 30 minutes have elapsed since last recording...", check the disk space on F drive of Recording Data Mart server (not the TA). Note that EDM Loader (Aspect Application Loader service) requires at least 800MB of free disk space on F drive of this server in order to work.
• If above is OK then reboot the recording data mart server.

 

Enterprise Monitor not showing any data or stats not getting refreshed

• Restart the Aspect OSMS proxy service from the agent portal servers. If there are two or more portals servers where it resides, restart on all.
• Make sure that Firewall is disabled on all the core servers (CenterCord servers).

 

DataViews reports not working, not showing any data

• If “More than 30 minutes have lapsed since…” alert is appearing in Unified Director alerts, then it is best to physically reboot all the Aspect servers.
• Even if restart of all servers does not help, there may be a problem if missing mapped network drives. The EDMLoader service reads event files from certain mapped network drives (which are mapped to the shared "PDPFiles" on CenterCord servers, both primary and redundant). Sometimes those mapped drives suddenly disappear if the Core server unexpectedly reboots or there is a network outage. In such case, you need to manually create the mapped network drives (same letters as before) and give a restart to Application Loader service.

 

M3 Server (IVR) not querying database properly. Select command failing

•  Check status of HostCon connection to the back-end database (http://agent-portal-ip:8180/ConcertoHostCon/status.jsp). It should be true. If it is not, then stop and start the HostCon service through TOMCAT admin module (http://agent-portal-ip:8180/manager/html).
•  If M3 Script is failing unexpectedly on certain nodes (taking On-Fail or Timeout branch) then in M3 Monitor, under the Connection tab, check the status of connections to CenterCord, DBI, OSMS and Media Plugin. All must be connected. If any of these links is down, then it is better to give a restart to M3 Services (M3 Server, Multimedia Plugin and IIS) on all the servers where M3 is hosted.
• If M3 Script is specifically failing on "Speak" node (not playing numbers, amounts) then a restart may be required for TA/DCP. Also if TA becomes terribly low on disk space (voice recordings not moving out) then such problems may arise. Free some disk space, give a reboot to both TA and DCP.

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