Headset template management in Call Manager

Headset templates

You can assign headset templates to user profiles in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) to configure default headset settings for your users when their headset resets. Users may override their individual headset settings from their Cisco IP Phone. Unified CM supports two types of headset templates:

Standard Default Headset Configuration Template

This is the system default template that contains the factory default settings for all of your headset models. It contains the headset settings supported by the latest headset firmware installed on your system. You cannot edit the default settings, but you can change the profile configuration setting.

The Standard Default Headset Configuration template is created only when the Cisco Headset Service is activated in Cisco Unified Serviceability. For more information, see Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

By default, all User Profiles are associated to the standard headset template unless you associate a profile to a customized headset template. To make a customized template, you copy a default template and change the parameters. You can make copies of the standard default headset template to create custom template with customized values of the parameters including the headset firmware version.

System Generated Custom Headset Template

Before Unified CM Release 12.5(1)SU1, you controlled headsets with the defaultheadsetconfig.json file. But as of Unified CM Release 11.7(1)SU7 or later, and 12.5(1)SU1 or later, the defaultheadsetconfig.json file is part of the System Generated Custom Headset Template in the Cisco Unified CM Administration interface.

Custom Headset Configuration Template

You can create a customized headset template as per your deployment needs. You can assign different headset parameters to different models in the same template. You can also assign different firmware loads to different headset models. The custom headset settings can be assigned to specific sets of users by associating a User Profile to the Custom Headset Template.

For more information about the headset template configuration settings, see the Headset Template Configuration field descriptions in the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration Online Help.

The following table describes the parameters in each headset template.

Table 1. Cisco Headset 500 Series Parameters
Parameter	Range	Default	Notes
Speaker Volume	0 – 15	7	Controls the level of sound in the headset. 0 is very low while 15 is loud. Configure this setting based on the ambient noise in the office environment.
Microphone Gain	Softer – Louder	Default	Gain controls how loud the user sounds to other people on the call. Softer means users sound quiet while Louder means users sound much louder. Configure this setting based on the ambient noise in the office environment.
Sidetone	Off – High	Low	Controls how much of a user's own voice they can hear through their headset.Off turns off the sidetone while High means that users receive much more feedback from their headset microphones.
Equalizer	Warmest – Brightest	Default	Controls the Equalizer settings. Warmer settings mean users hear more bass in their headsets, while a brighter setting means users hear more treble.
Audio Bandwidth	Wide Band, Narrow Band	Wide Band	Controls the Digital Enhanced cordless Telecommunications (DECT) codec in the Cisco Headset 560 Series. In a dense DECT environment, set the field to Narrow Band to limit the Cisco Headset 560 Series to the G.727 codec.
Bluetooth	On, Off	On	Controls the use of Bluetooth on the Cisco Headset 560 Series with Multibase. When this parameter is set to Off, the base deletes all devices paired with it.
Conference	On, Off	On	Controls the use of the conferencing feature on the Cisco Headset 560 Series. Conferencing allows up to three guest headsets to pair with the same base at once. See Cisco Headset 500 Series User Guide for more information on conferencing.
Firmware Source	Allow from UCM or Cisco Cloud (firmware will upgrade only), Restrict to UCM only (firmware may upgrade or downgrade)	Allow from UCM or Cisco Cloud	Controls the headset's firmware upgrade source. By default, users can upgrade their headset through a devices and software connected to Unified CM or through a cloud-connected device or software. You can restrict your headsets to only accept firmware changes through a Unified CM source.
DECT Radio Range	Autorange, Medium Range, Short Range	Medium Range	Controls the maximum distance between the Cisco Headset 560 Series and its base. By default, the bases have a DECT range of over 330 feet (100 meters) in ideal conditions. If you configure the DECT radio range to Medium Range or Short Range, the headset base consumes less power but users can't move as far from the base while on a call. Configure DECT radio range to Short Range for high density headset deployment. For more detailed information on DECT deployment, refer to the white paper on Cisco Headset deployment, How to Deploy DECT at Work for the Cisco Headset 560 Series.
Headset dock behavior	On, Off	On	Controls how the Cisco Headset 560 Series behaves if you lift the headset off the base when you have an incoming call.

Table 2. Cisco Headset 730 Parameters
Parameter	Range	Default	Notes
Firmware Source	Allow from UCM or Cisco Cloud (firmware will upgrade only), Restrict to UCM only (firmware may upgrade or downgrade)	Allow from UCM or Cisco Cloud	Controls the headset's firmware upgrade source. By default, users can upgrade their headset through a Cisco IP Phone or Cisco Jabber connected to Unified Communications Manager, or through the Cisco Headsets app. You can restrict your headsets to only accept firmware changes through a Unified Communications Manager source.
Sidetone	Off, Low, Medium, High, Adaptive	Medium	Controls how much of a user's own voice they can hear through their headset. Off turns off sidetone while High means users receive much more feedback from their headset microphones. Adaptive turns on the adaptive sidetone feature. When adaptive sidetone is active, the headset automatically adjusts the sidetone level based on how loud the user talks.
Active Noise Cancellation	Off, 0% – 100%, Adaptive	100%	Controls how much noise cancellation the user experiences. Off turns noise cancellation off while 100% means users have much more noise cancellation. Adaptive turns on the Adaptive Noise Cancellation feature. When Adaptive Noise Cancellation is active, the headset automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on the surrounding environment.
Auto Mute	On, Off	Off	Controls the Auto Mute feature in the Cisco Headset 730. When Auto Mute is active, users can automatically mute active calls when they take off their headsets. Mute automatically turns off when users put their headsets back on. Auto Mute is available on headsets with firmware version 1-6-0-150 or later.
Auto Play	On, Off	Off	Controls the Auto Play feature in the Cisco Headset 730. When Auto Play is active, users can automatically pause music playback when they take off their headsets. Music playback automatically resumes when users put their headsets back on. Auto Play is available on headsets with firmware version 1-6-0-150 or later.
Auto Answer	On, Off	Off	Controls the Auto Answer feature in the Cisco Headset 730. When Auto Answer is active, users can automatically answer incoming calls when they put their headsets on. Auto Answer is available on headsets with firmware version 1-6-0-150 or later.

Configure a headset template

Use this procedure to configure a headset template with customized settings that you can apply to Cisco headsets. You can create a customized template or use the system-defined Standard Default Headset Template.

The Standard Default Headset Configuration Template is a system-defined template. You can assign new User Profiles to the Standard Default Headset Template but you can't edit the template. By default, all user profiles are assigned to this template. To disassociate a user profile from this template, you must assign the profile to a new template.

1	From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Headset > Headset Template.
2	Do either of the following: To edit an existing template, select the template. To create a new template, select any existing template and click Copy. The existing settings are applied to your new template.
3	Add a Name and Description for the template.
4	Under Model and Firmware Settings, assign any customized headset settings that you want to apply to this template. To add a new setting, click the Add button and configure the settings.
5	Use the up and down arrows to move the User Profiles that you want to assign to this template to the Assigned Users Profiles list box. All users whom are assigned to those profiles will also be assigned to this headset template.
6	Click Save.
7	Use the Set to Default button to return to the default template settings.
8	Click Apply Config. For a Standard Default Headset Configuration Template, the Apply Config button takes effect for the following: Devices owned by users you added to the Assigned User Profile list Anonymous devices For a Customized Headset Configuration Template, the Apply Config button takes effect only for devices owned by users you added to the Assigned User Profiles list.