As a fully managed device on the Webex Calling platform, the Cisco Voice Gateway ATAs offer:

  • Flexible and higher capacity options for connecting analog devices

  • A direct migration path for Unified CM customers who're moving to Webex Calling

  • Use of legacy PBXs that don't work with SIP trunking

Manage ATAs in Control Hub

You can manage Cisco IOS Voice Gateways in the Control Hub as ATAs. You can use these ATAs to add analog handsets, fax machines, or paging systems to Webex Calling solutions using Foreign Exchange Station (FXS) interfaces.

Supported ATA models

The following Cisco Voice Gateway models are supported as Webex Calling ATAs:

Restrictions

  • While some models support FXO or ISDN interfaces, these ports aren’t currently supported for use with Webex Calling.

  • You can add Cisco Voice Gateway products to Control Hub by family, rather than a specific model. Therefore, ATAs offer the maximum number of configurable ports for that family.

  • Cisco Voice Gateway ignores configuration of out-of-range ports.

Prepare for ATA port assignment

Before you add and configure a Cisco Voice Gateway as a Webex Calling ATA, plan where the ports are going to use and create the workspaces and user accounts enabled for Webex Calling in the Control Hub.

Consider the following points while planning:

  • An ATA is assigned to the workspace or user selected during the add device process for management purposes.

  • The workspace or user selected while adding the ATA are permanently assigned to ATA port 1.

  • A workspace or a user may only applies to one line of an ATA.

  • A workspace or a user with a professional license may applies to one line on multiple ATAs.

  • You cannot assign virtual lines to an ATA.

When creating a workspace to assign to an ATA port, select the following options:

  • Add a device later.

  • Assign the Webex Calling service with an appropriate license.

  • Add a telephone number and/or extension number.

Prepare Cisco Voice Gateway for Webex Calling

Using this article you can install and prepare a Cisco Voice Gateway for onboarding to Webex Calling. You can use the following procedures for configuring a new Cisco Voice Gateway device, or reconfiguring an existing device.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have the following before starting this process:

  • Your Cisco Voice Gateway product

  • An ethernet cable to connect the Cisco Voice Gateway to a network with internet access.

  • Either a second ethernet cable or a console cable to connect your computer to the Cisco Voice Gateway.

  • When installing a VG410 or VG420 Voice Gateway, RJ-21 cables to break-out connectors to your telephone cabling.

  • An analog phone, telephone line test set or other telephony device with an RJ-11 connector to test the analog ports.

  • Access to a Cisco Smart License account at https://software.cisco.com.

  • We recommend you use an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to provide backup power to the Cisco Voice Gateway.

After you onboard the Cisco Voice Gateway, you can only use it with Webex Calling. Earlier configuration settings are overwritten, including the administrator password.

To use the Cisco Voice Gateway outside of Webex Calling later, reset the device to the Cisco factory default settings.

Manually reconfigure the VG4x0 ATA

Use the following procedure to manually reconfigure the Cisco VG400, VG410, or VG420 ATA (VG4x0) for it to connect to the Webex Calling platform.

The supported firmware for a VG4x0 ATA to connect with the Webex platform is as follows:

Voice Gateway device modelSupported firmware
VG400

vg400-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

VG410

vg4x0-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

VG420

vg420-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

The following sections show the reconfiguration steps for the VG4x0 to work with Webex. Perform the Section A to E on VG4x0 that is loaded with Webex supported firmware and with a preinstalled Webex Calling license. If the VG4x0 doesn’t have Webex supported firmware and preinstalled Webex Calling license, see Section F: Converting an existing customer owned non-Webex VG4x0 to work with the Webex platform.

Section A: Log in to the VG4x0 through Web interface

  1. Connect a computer to port GE 0/0/1 with an Ethernet cable.

    • Interface GE 0/0/1 is the management interface with IP address 192.168.253.253.

    • The computer should automatically receive the IP address 192.168.253.254 by DHCP from the Voice Gateway.

  2. From the computer, use a browser to open http://192.168.253.253 and login to the Voice Gateway web interface using the default username cisco and password cisco2.

Section B: Verify and configure the VG4x0 for Boot parameters

  1. From the VG4x0 web interface, go to Administration > Command Line Interface page.

  2. Select the Exec mode and input the show version command. Click Run Command to check the boot image and register setting.

  3. In the output of the show version command, the line starting with System image file shows the current boot image. Make sure you have configured the Cisco Webex approved image. If not, select Configure mode, run the command boot system flash <boot image name> to set boot image.

    ModelBoot system flash command example

    VG400

    boot system flash:vg400-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

    VG410

    boot system flash:vg4x0-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

    VG420

    boot system flash:vg420-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin

  4. The last line of the output starting with Configuration register shows the register setting. Make sure that the value 0x2102 is configured here. If not, select Configure mode and run config-register 0x2102 command to set the value.

  5. If the Register configuration gets changed at Step 4, select Exec mode and run the command write memory to save the changes.

  6. If the boot image configuration gets changed at Step 4, go to the Administration > Reload page. Select the Save Configuration and Reload option and click Apply to reboot the VG4x0 with the new image. It takes the VG4x0 about 10 minutes to bootup.

Section C: Verify VG4x0 for required licenses

  1. From the VG4x0 web interface, go to Administration > Command Line Interface page.

  2. Select Exec mode, input the show license summary command, then click Run Command to check the installed licenses.

  3. In the output of show license summary command, the section starting with License Usage shows the current installed licenses. Make sure that these three required licenses are in use: uck9, securityk9, and webex_calling.

    If these licenses are not in use, see Section F: Converting an existing customer owned non-Webex VG4x0 to work with the Webex platform.

Section D: Configure VG4x0 for Webex license report

  1. From the VG4x0 web interface, go to Administration > Command Line Interface page.

  2. Select Configure mode and input the following commands to set smart license reporting parameters: 

    license smart transport smart
license smart url default

  3. Select Exec mode and run the following commands to trigger smart license reporting:

    license smart trust idtoken <token> local force
license smart sync local

    You can find the token at Cisco Smart Software Manager from the https://software.cisco.com/ website with a valid user account.

Section E: Configure VG4x0 for Webex

  1. From the VG4x0 web interface, go to Administration > Command Line Interface page.

  2. Select Configure mode and run the following commands to set Webex Device Management URL:

    voice service voip
wxc-dm-url <Device Management URL>

    The valid settings for <Device Management URL> are as follow:

    US

    https://cisco.sipflash.com

    UK https://cisco-uk.bcld.webex.com/

    EU

    https://cisco.broadcloud.eu

    EUN

    https://cisco-eun.bcld.webex.com

    AU

    https://cisco.broadcloud.com.au

    CA

    https://cisco-ca.bcld.webex.com

    JP

    https://cisco-jp.bcld.webex.com

    For example, use the following for VG4x0 devices installed in the US region:

    wxc-dm-url  https://cisco.sipflash.com

  3. Click Run Command.

  4. Write down the VG4x0’s MAC address shown at the output screen after running the commands.

  5. Add the VG4x0 MAC address in the Control Hub.

  6. Select Exec mode and input the command write memory. Click Run Command to save the configuration.

  7. Connect GE 0/0/0 port on VG4x0 to the internet through DHCP.

    Wait about five minutes. The VG4x0 is configured and ready for use with the Cisco Webex network.

Section F: Converting an existing customer owned non-Webex VG4x0 to work with the Webex platform

  1. Upgrade the VG4x0 to the Webex approved image. For example, vg400-universalk9.17.12.02.SPA.bin.

  2. From the VG4x0’s console port, run the following commands to add the uck9 and securityk9 licenses:

    conf t 
license boot level uck9
license boot level securityk9
end

  3. Run the following commands to make uck9 and securityk9 license take effect on the next boot and reboot:

    write memory
reload

  4. After the VG4x0’s boots up, run the following commands to add Webex Calling licenses:

    conf t 
voice service pots
webex-calling license
end

  5. Run the following command to ensure that the Webex Calling license boot takes effect on next boot:

    write memory

  6. Run the following commands to erase all existing config and reboot the VG4x0:

    write erase
reload

  7. After the VG4x0 boots up, follow sections A, B, C, D, and E to configure the VG4x0 device.

Create an ATA in Control Hub and assign to a workspace
Using this procedure, you can configure the voice gateway as a Webex Calling ATA device.

We recommend you to add ATAs with a workspace and not with a user, because users are more likely to change over time. Workspaces can be more readily change on ports.

Before you begin

1

Sign in to Control Hub.

2

Go to Devices and click Add device.

3

Select Shared usage and click Next.

4

Select Existing workspace.

5

Search and select the workspace that you want to permanently assign to the first ATA port and click Next.

6

Select a Cisco phone, ATA, or third-party device.

7

Select Cisco-managed devices, then the Model of Cisco Voice Gateway.

8

Enter the MAC address of the Cisco Voice Gateway that you copied earlier and click Save.

Assign users and workspaces to the remaining ports

Before you begin

An ATA device is added to Control Hub.

1

Sign in to Control Hub.

2

Go to Devices and select the ATA from the list of devices.

3

Select Configure ports.

4

Add the preconfigured users and workspaces to ATA ports as required.

When searching, only users and workspaces with a license entitlement to be added are listed.

Cisco Voice Gateway ports are numbered from 0, while ATA ports are numbered from 1. For example, the workspace or user assigned to ATA port 2 are connected to port 0/1/1 of a VG410.

5

(Optional) To assign customized behavior to configured ports, you can modify the following:

  • For ports connected to a fax machine, enable T.38 compression to override the default audio codec.
  • For ports connected to an analogue handset, hot-line functionality may be configured. Enable the feature toggle and enter a number to automatically dial when the handset is taken off-hook.
Troubleshoot the deployment of your Cisco Voice Gateway

Issue

Action
IP Address not provided via DHCP

Configure details manually using the following commands: 


interface GigabitEthernet0/0/0 

ip address <VG address> <network mask> 

ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 <default router address> 

ip default-gateway <default router address>
DNS server address not provided via DHCP

Configure DNS server details manually using the following command. Use your preferred server addresses if necessary.

ip name-server 208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220
vDSP application in DEPLOYED state for VG410 models

Reinitialise the vDSP application using the following exec commands. Allow each command to complete before entering the next.


app-hosting upgrade appid vdsp package flash:vDSP/vg4x0_vdsp.tar 
voice vdsp remove 
voice vdsp install

Verify that the vDSP application in the RUNNING state using show app-hosting list.

Can’t onboard a device

  • Verify the initial setup using the Cisco Voice Gateway local Web GUI or console.

  • Verify that you have configured the device management URL correctly.

  • Verify that the MAC address configured in the Control Hub is the same as the MAC address of GigabitEthernet0/0/0 on the Cisco Voice Gateway. If not, remove the device from the Control Hub and add it back with the correct address.

  • Ensure that all ports are in onhook state by using the command show voice port summary before downloading configuration from Webex Calling. If there is any port in offhook state, VG4x0 won’t process the configuration file downloaded from Webex Calling.

No dial-tone on FXS ports

Verify network settings and connectivity to the internet,

Wrong DN provisioned to a FXS port

Check configuration in the Control Hub.

The ATA ports are numbered from 1, while the Cisco Voice Gateway ports are numbered from 0.

Troubleshooting steps for VG410 only

If the VG410 device still cannot register even after following the steps in above table, verify that the vDSP application is running with the following steps:

  1. From VG410 console port, run show app-hosting list command and verify that the vDSP is in Running state.

  2. If vDSP is not in Running state, run the voice vdsp remove command to remove the vDSP application.

  3. Run show app-hosting list command to verify that the vDSP is removed.

  4. Run voice vdsp install command to install the vDSP application.

  5. Run show app-hosting list command and verify that the vDSP is in Running state.

If the device still experiences issues after above actions, please contact your technical support team for assistance.