CUCM Class of Service Using Partitions And Calling Search Spaces

In this blog post I am going to describe the concept of Class of Service with an example based on the configuration of Calling Search Spaces (CSS).

This post is part of my CCNP Collaboration series of articles.

If you need an introduction or a refresher on partitions and Calling Search Spaces, you can read this.

Lab setup

HQ is in Pennsylvania, Branch1 is in Arizona.

We have HQ phone with DN 1000. We have a configured emulation of PSTN with a couple of PSTN lines:

local lines
long distance lines
international line
emergency line

The concept of local or national line is relative to the calling party. For example, for HQ phones, line 7175438411 is a local PSTN line, while for Branch1 phones the same line is considered long distance.

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-29 07_35_54

We define the following partitions:

CorpHQ-internal_PT
CorpHQ-Local_PT
CorpHQ-LD_PT
CorpHQ-International_PT
CorpHQ-EMS_PT

And we define Calling Search Spaces:

CorpHQ-Internal_CSS
CorpHQ-local_CSS
CorpHQ-national_CSS
CorpHQ-international_CSS

In the following, I define what each Calling Search Space contains in terms of partitions.

Class of Service in HQ and Branch 1

We will apply a design principle that says: route at the device, block at the line.

On the device, we set the Calling Search Space to None. And all the game runs on the line. I mean, we define the permissions and restrictions on the line CSS.

CSS Configuration in the HQ

Line CSS = Internal_CSS

The phone can only call internal lines and emergency line.

Line CSS =CorpHQ-local_CSS

The phone can call internal, emergency and local PSTN lines

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-20 20_31_47 — Trying to call a long distance PSTN line

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-20 20_31_07 — could not call the LD PSTN line

Line CSS =CorpHQ-national_CSS

the phone can call internal, emergency, local and long-distance PSTN lines.

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-20 20_33_50 — Trying to call the international destination; the PSTN access code is 9 and the international access code is 011

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-20 20_34_00 — could not call the international line

Line CSS = CorpHQ-international_CSS

the phone can call all lines, internal and external.

CSS Configuration in Branch1

I applied the same logic. And I created the same set of partitions and Calling Search Spaces for Branch1. I even created a separate internal CSS for Branch1 because of emergency line services. I’ll talk about this in a later time.

list of partitions for Branch1:

Branch1-internal_PT
Branch1-EMS_PT
Branch1-local-PT
Branch1-LD_PT
Branch1-international_PT

List of Calling Search Spaces for Branch1:

Branch1-internal_CSS
Branch1-local_CSS
Branch1-national_CSS
Branch1-international_CSS

Here is a summary of the list of partitions and CSSes I’ve configured:

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 16_32_50 — List of partitions and Calling Search Spaces configured for HQ and Branch1

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 16_40_46 — Branch1 internal CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 16_41_27 — Branch1 local CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 16_41_49 — Branch1 international CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 16_41_39 — Branch1 national CSS

Now I’m going to launch a softphone at Branch1 site and make various calls, each time with a different CSS at the line level. I’ll leave the device CSS to none.

Branch1 extension is 2001 and is registered to CUCM at HQ.

line CSS = Branch1-internal_CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 17_06_10 — branch1 phone is calling HQ phone

line CSS = Branch1-local_CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 18_49_22 — dialing the local line from Branch1 phone

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 18_49_46 — the call is extended correctly

line CSS = Branch1-national_CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 19_11_56 — Branch1 phone in Atlanta is trying to call a long distance number

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 19_12_07 — successful call to a long distance number, relatively to branch1 in Atlanta

line CSS = Branch1-international_CSS

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 19_16_23 — trying to call an international number, from Branch1 phone

class-of-service-partitions-css-2016-05-21 19_20_57 — the call from branch1 phone to the international line is extended successfully

Which Impact Does The gateway CSS Have?

The CSS set on the PSTN gateway must be configured with a CSS that allows for the search of patterns. It is configured under Call Routing Information – Inbound Calls.

A common situation is when we set the Significant Digits to a number of digits, let’s say 4. The gateway CSS must contain partitions that contain the 4 digits. Otherwise, the gateway won’t be able to send the outbound call leg towards CUCM.

Here, we call from PSTN into the company DID number. And we distinguish two scenarios:

Scenario 1: Gateway CSS is not Adequate

We set the gateway CSS to None. Since I carefully designed the partitions and CSS, there is nothing left in the None CSS.

Save configuration and reset the gateway.

We make the inbound PSTN call.

The call fails. The gateway received the call, extracted 4 digits and searched within the partitions of the None CSS, for a match. It found nothing. The call could not be expanded.

Scenario 2: Gateway CSS is Adequate

I changed the gateway CSS to one that contains internal partitions. I saved and reset.

The call from PSTN succeeds.

Vanity Services and Vanity Numbers

Vanity service to an on-net destination

let’s assume DN 1003 is the IT Support number for the whole company. We can create a DN 8888 that is translated to 1003. And DN 8888 is put in both HQ partitions and Branch1 partitions. So the HQ phones have their IT Support vanity service and Branch1 phones have also their own IT Support vanity service.

Both HQ calling party and Branch1 calling party must be configured with a CSS that contains the vanity partition.

Vanity service to an off-net destination

Let’s suppose we want to provide to our corporate users the possibility to dial an abbreviated number to reach London Hotel, to book a reservation. This vanity number will be numerically the same; but unique to each site.

The vanity number will be in our example a translation pattern that converts the abbreviated number into a full PSTN number.

We have HQ and Branch1. We create a vanity number in two partitions for the two sites. The partitions will be put into CorpHQ-international_CSS and Branch1-international_CSS.

The calling party number must have the CSS International to be able to benefit from vanity services, in our example.

I dial from Branch1 phone the vanity number 9999 and it is translated into the full international PSTN number.

Configuring Private Line Automatic Ringdown PLAR

Let’s say we dedicate a phone to the vanity service we defined before. As soon as the handset is lifted, the London Hotel number must be dialed.

Here is how to do it.

we define a PLAR partition.

We put the PLAR partition in whatever CSS we want. Since the PLAR function is related to an international number here, we’ll put it in the International CSS of HQ.