CIC Multi-Site. Technical Reference. Customer Interaction Center (CIC) 2018 R1

Transcription

1 CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference Customer Interaction Center (CIC) 2018 R1 Last updated September 21, 2017 (See Change Log for summary of changes.) Abstract This technical reference describes CIC Multi-Site, optional CIC software that links two or more CIC contact centers to route interactions from one location to another. Multi-Site provides a company-wide directory, universal user extensions, and other features that boost employee mobility.

2 Copyright and Trademark Information Interactive Intelligence, Interactive Intelligence CIC, Interaction Administrator, Interaction Attendant, Interaction Client, Interaction Designer, Interaction Tracker, Interaction Recorder, Interaction Mobile Office, Interaction Center Platform, Interaction Monitor, Interaction Optimizer, and the Spirograph logo design are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Customer Interaction Center, EIC, Interaction Fax Viewer, Interaction Server, ION, Interaction Voic Player, Interactive Update, Interaction Supervisor, Interaction Migrator, and Interaction Screen Recorder are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Dialer and Interaction Scripter are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Messaging Interaction Center and MIC are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Director is a registered trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. e-faq Knowledge Manager and Interaction Marquee are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Conference is a trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction SIP Proxy and Interaction EasyScripter are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Gateway is a registered trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Interaction Media Server is a trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Desktop is a trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Process Automation, Deliberately Innovative, Interaction Feedback, and Interaction SIP Station are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Analyzer is a registered trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Interaction Web Portal and IPA are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Spotability is a trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc All rights reserved. Interaction Edge, CaaS Quick Spin, Interactive Intelligence Marketplace, Interaction SIP Bridge, and Interaction Mobilizer are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Interactive Intelligence Communications as a Service and Interactive Intelligence CaaS are trademarks or service marks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Speech Recognition and Interaction Quality Manager are registered trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Bay Bridge Decisions and Interaction Script Builder are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interaction Collector is a registered trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Interaction Decisions is a trademark of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Interactive Intelligence Bridge Server and Interaction Connect are trademarks of Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. The foregoing products are Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. The verypdf product is verypdf, Inc. All rights reserved. This product includes software licensed under the Common Development and Distribution License (6/24/2009). We hereby agree to indemnify the Initial Developer and every Contributor of the software licensed under the Common Development and Distribution License (6/24/2009) for any liability incurred by the Initial Developer or such Contributor as a result of any such terms we offer. The source code for the included software may be found at A database is incorporated in this software which is derived from a database licensed from Hexasoft Development Sdn. Bhd. ("HDSB"). All software and technologies used by HDSB are the properties of HDSB or its software suppliers and are protected by Malaysian and international copyright laws. No warranty is provided that the Databases are free of defects, or fit for a particular purpose. HDSB shall not be liable for any damages suffered by the Licensee or any third party resulting from use of the Databases. Other brand and/or product names referenced in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. DISCLAIMER GENESYS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES (GENESYS) HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY UNDER WARRANTY, INDEMNIFICATION OR OTHERWISE, FOR MODIFICATION OR CUSTOMIZATION OF ANY GENESYS SOFTWARE BY GENESYS, CUSTOMER OR ANY THIRD PARTY EVEN IF SUCH CUSTOMIZATION AND/OR MODIFICATION IS DONE USING GENESYS TOOLS, TRAINING OR METHODS DOCUMENTED BY GENESYS. Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc Junipero Serra Boulevard Daly City, CA Telephone/Fax (844) CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference ii

3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Multi-Site Concepts... 1 Organization of Material... 1 About CIC client versions... 1 What is Interaction Multi-Site?... 1 How Multi-Site Differs from Status Aggregator... 2 Multi-Site Supports Roaming Users... 3 Each User has a Home Site... 3 Traveling Users Log On at a Peer Site... 3 License Considerations... 4 Connected CIC Servers Form a Collective... 4 Collective workgroup... 4 User Information Is Automatically Propagated... 4 Company-Wide Directory, Extensions, and Agent Status Indicators... 5 Multi-Site Messaging... 5 Multi-Site RTM Client/Server Components... 5 Flow Between CIC Sites... 5 How Should a Floating User Sign at Another Location?... 6 Chapter 2: Multi-Site Installation Tasks... 7 Overview of Multi-Site Installation Tasks... 7 Install Multi-Site Server on a Dedicated Computer... 7 Install Multi-Site Server and Client on a CIC server... 8 Install Multi-Site RTM Client on a CIC Peer Site... 9 Chapter 3: Multi-Site Configuration and Administration Tasks Understand Site Identifiers and Passwords Configure the Current Site Define Peer Sites Configuring a Peer Site to Route Calls to Another Peer Site Route Calls to a Peer Site Configuration in Interaction Administrator and DCOM Guidelines for User Extensions Similar user extensions on different peer sites when adding servers to a collective What happens if I have two sites and they do have similar user extensions? Grant Rights to Users Add Users to the Collective RTM Server Command Line Parameters Changing a Site ID CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference iii

4 Chapter 4: Related Tools and Handlers Creating Handlers That Send s Sending a message that does not require a response (Handler1) Sending a message that requires a response (Handler2) Creating a handler that receives a message (Handler3) Multi-Site Tools Multi-Site Create Multi-Site Get Integer Multi-Site Get Note Multi-Site Get String Multi-Site Received Multi-Site Put Integer Multi-Site Put Note Multi-Site Put String Multi-Site Send Event Multi-Site Send Request Multi-Site Send Response IpNotes Tools Chapter 5: Testing and Troubleshooting Common Problems and Solutions File Based Mail Connector Limitation Installing Microsoft Visual C++ with service pack Installing CIC servers on the same drive Advanced Troubleshooting CIC Server (RTM Server is installed on this machine): CIC Server (RTM Server is not installed on this machine): Applying New Releases Appendix A: Glossary Change Log CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference iv

5 Chapter 1: Multi-Site Concepts Interaction Multi-Site extends the CIC environment to better support roaming users. Multi-Site is for organizations that use CIC as the local communication system in multiple office locations. Each CIC server has its own dial plan, user base, and Notifier. Multi-Site allows spanning users to work from any location in the CIC collective as if that location were the user s home server. This document is for the Customer Interaction Center (CIC) administrator or anyone who is installing Interaction Multi-Site. Organization of Material This section explains what Multi-Site is and the benefits that it provides. The Multi-Site Installation Tasks explain how to install Multi-Site server and client components. The Multi-Site Configuration and Administration Tasks explain how to activate the current site, define peer sites, add users to the collective, and perform other routine activities. The Related Tools and Handlers section is for Interaction Designer authors and programmers. It discusses handler development and provides information about the Multi-Site and IpNotes tools. The Testing and Troubleshooting procedures ensure that Multi-Site is performing properly. The Change Log describes what is new in this release. The Glossary explains special terms used in this documentation. About CIC client versions Customer Interaction Center (CIC) supports two interaction management client applications. This documentation uses the term "CIC client" to refer to either Interaction Connect or Interaction Desktop. What is Interaction Multi-Site? Multi-Site is optional CIC software that links two or more CIC contact centers to route interactions from one location to another. Multi-Site provides a company-wide directory, universal user extensions, and other features that boost employee mobility. For example, Multi-Site routes interactions to an agent s current location. Multi-Site should not be confused with Interaction Director, another CIC extension that tells calls where to go. Director balances loads among multiple CIC sites and routes calls according to specific agent skills. Director provides cost-effective geographic call distribution between contact centers, whereas Multi-Site enhances employee mobility by making CIC servers in multiple locations work as if a single server were involved. For example, an organization with offices in New York and Paris could use a CIC server at each site as the local communications system. Each CIC server contains an embedded PureConnect platform with its own Notifier. Once you configure the two servers for Multi- Site, they immediately make an inter-notifier connection and start to exchange information. Multi-Site provides the following business-level capabilities: Company-wide directory. Employees in New York can access phone numbers and other information for employees in Paris and vice versa. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 1

6 Universal user extensions. You can configure single organizational dial plan and make it transparent to users. For example, you can set up five-digit dial plan and automatically make the necessary long-distance call to reach an employee in Paris. Employee mobility. Employees can move from location to location and still have the same communications access. For example, suppose that Pierre is an employee in Paris with an internal extension of Assume that Pierre goes to New York for three days for meetings. He can use his laptop to log on to the New York CIC system. A call to extension 6734 whether placed from New York or Paris is intelligently routed to Pierre (without going unnecessarily through Paris). Real-time status. The ClientServices component of Customer Interaction Center keeps track of the real-time status of logged on users whether they re available, in a meeting, at lunch, on vacation, and so on. This component even knows when users are on the phone. This status information is automatically shared among multiple instances of the PureConnect Platform at different locations. In the current example, Pierre manager in Paris can tell at a glance when he comes out of a meeting in New York. Taken together, these capabilities help distributed organizations to interact more efficiently than ever before. How Multi-Site Differs from Status Aggregator The features of Multi-Site overlap somewhat with Customer Interaction Center Status Aggregator, an optional software module that aggregates user status information across multiple CIC servers. However, the two products serve different purposes and are appropriate in different situations: Multi-Site is designed to provide user mobility, while Status Aggregator is designed to provide status information. Multi-Site links together CIC servers that all have the same set of users, while Status Aggregator consolidates status information from users on different CIC servers. Table 1-1 compares the features of Multi-Site to those of Status Aggregator. Feature Status Aggregator Multi-Site Organization-wide directory Yes Yes Universal user extensions (users keep their normal telephone extensions when in remote offices) No Yes Real-time status Yes Yes Scalable. Each Status Aggregator server efficiently handles status information for over 50,000 users and over five CIC servers. Yes Allows change of status No Yes Server Architecture Status Aggregator server. Must be on stand-alone server. SA Server + SA clients. Each Status Aggregator No RTM server. For 200 or fewer users, can be on any CIC server. For more than 200 users, must be on stand-alone server. RTM server + CIC clients. Each RTM server gets CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 2

7 Fault tolerance server gets information from all connected CIC servers. Two or more Status Aggregator servers can be fail-over backups for each other. information from the CIC servers that are in its collective. Each CIC server must include the EMSServer subsystem. No fail-over backup between multiple RTM servers. For more information about Status Aggregator, see the Status Aggregator Technical Reference in the PureConnect Documentation Library. Multi-Site Supports Roaming Users Multi-Site routes interactions to an agent s current site, which is the CIC server where the agent is logged on. Users who float between multiple CIC locations are called spanning users. For example, suppose that a company has CIC servers at a main call center location and at two regional offices such as Boca Raton, Florida, and Paris, France. If an employee visits Boca Raton, someone dialing that person s extension from any of the other offices would automatically be connected to the phone that person is currently logged on to at the Boca office. Multi-Site s distributed dial plan takes into account the user s location and all calls for that user are routed to that site. The caller does not need to know where the agent is, or dial a long-distance number. Each User has a Home Site The CIC site where the user s account was initially defined and is maintained is the user s Home Site. Traveling Users Log On at a Peer Site When users travel to an alternate office location, they log on to the local CIC server, which is called a peer site. Peer Sites are CIC servers in the collective that are remote from the Home Site. Collectives and peer sites are defined in Interaction Administrator, using the Peer Sites container. See Interaction Administrator Help for more information. Multiple peer sites can participate in a collective. Each peer site has these attributes: A unique site name A unique site ID CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 3

8 A telephone number A password License Considerations Users cannot access software that is not licensed for the server onto which they are logged. When users log on to a CIC server other than their home server (where their home station is configured) in a multi-site environment, the license conditions defined on the home server apply to those users. Connected CIC Servers Form a Collective The combination of a Home Site and a Peer Site make up a Collective. A Collective is a group of CIC servers that share resources. The Home Site defines specific characteristics of the CIC server that is participating in the Collective. Home Sites and Peer Sites are defined in Interaction Administrator, using the Collective container. A collective is a group of CIC servers that are connected and can share data. CIC servers in a collective are often geographically dispersed. Each peer site is added to the collective using Interaction Administrator. The Collective container supports multiple CIC servers working together. For example, CIC servers in Indianapolis, Indiana; Deerfield Beach, Florida; and Aix, France; could all communicate with one another allowing a person in Indianapolis to see whether another person in Deerfield is available and even whether that person is on the phone. Also, if a person visits Indianapolis, someone dialing that person s extension from any of the other sites would automatically be connected to the phone that person is currently logged on to in Indianapolis. When new employees are added in one city, they automatically appear in the Company Directory around the world. You can include CIC servers in a Collective running different versions of CIC. For example, when you install CIC and Multi-Site, you can establish communication with a peer site running a different version of CIC. Each peer site has to be configured using the version of Multi-Site that matches the CIC version. Collective workgroup A collective workgroup is like other workgroups but is enhanced to span the resources of multiple CIC servers. A CIC administrator creates the collective workgroup, and then adds members from the user community. Users from many sites can belong to this workgroup. Calls can be made and connected to anyone in the workgroup, and user s status, logged on state, and phone state can be monitored. User Information Is Automatically Propagated When users are added to a collective workgroup, the information is replicated to all servers in the collective. When attributes for users who belong to a collective workgroup are added or changed, the information is automatically propagated to all servers in the collective. The new or updated information appears in the company-wide directory around the world. When data is deleted, the information is removed from all servers in the collective. The information is removed from the company-wide directory. A user can be shared between the Collective site and span workgroups. User data is replicated between Collective sites, but not all users are replicated. Only users belonging to workgroups that are enabled as spanning workgroups are replicated. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 4

9 Company-Wide Directory, Extensions, and Agent Status Indicators Users who are members of a collective workgroup can visit any site in the collective and log on. The location of the user is immediately distributed throughout the collective and each site is implicitly aware of the user s availability to take calls. The site that the user is logged on to becomes the user s current site. Employees in one location can access phone numbers and other information for employees in remote locations and vice versa. To reach an employee who is working at a remote CIC site, it is not necessary to dial special digits. The system makes the necessary long-distance call in accordance with the local server's dial plan. Employees who move from location to location have the same communications access and extension number. Multi-Site monitors the logged on status of agents in the collective workgroup. It knows whether an agent is available, in a meeting, at lunch, on the phone, etc. This status information is automatically shared between CIC servers at multiple locations. This allows employees at one location to see the availability status of employees at other locations. Multi-Site Messaging Multi-Site provides a set of tools that gives handlers the ability to communicate with one another across multiple sites. Multi-Site messages in handlers are created using Interaction Designer and are carried through the system with the help of reliable transport mechanism (RTM) technology. See Chapter 4: Related Tools and Handlers. Multi-Site RTM Client/Server Components Multi-Site uses a technology called Reliable Transport Mechanism (RTM) to send messages and data between CIC servers. RTM is a message queue service that is similar to Microsoft Queue (MSMQ). Unlike MSMQ, RTM is optimized to maximize the performance of a CIC server. Multi-Site is implemented in two software components that must be installed: Multi-Site RTM Client runs on each CIC Server. RTM client is middleware for messages between CIC and the RTM Server. Multi-Site RTM Server is the hub through which all messages pass. This COM server can be installed on a dedicated machine or on one CIC server in your organization. A dedicated server is recommended if the number of spanning users exceeds 200. Organizations with less than 200 spanning users should install RTM server on a CIC server. RTM Server cannot reside on a CIC server that is part of a switchover pair. Note: When you install your CIC server, the install program copies all the files required for Multi-Site into your server directory. Those files include EMSE.exe (Multi-Site), RTMServerU.exe (message routing), RTM-related binary files, and Multi-Site (EMS) handlers. However, it does not install the Multi-Site programs except for the message routing, which it sets up as a Windows service. You must install Multi-Site separately. Flow Between CIC Sites Multi-Site messages are passed by CIC to the Multi-Site RTM Client which in turn forwards the messages to the Multi-Site RTM Server. The Multi-Site RTM Server distributes the messages to the appropriate recipients. If a connection breaks between the client and server, messages are delivered as soon as the communication link is restored. The following figure shows a CIC environment with a stand-alone Multi-Site RTM Server and four Multi- Site RTM Clients. Arrows represent messages. Connectivity is by means of the Internet or TCP/IP-based network. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 5

10 How Should a Floating User Sign at Another Location? When users move from one CIC location to another location, their phone calls follow automatically when the users log on to the current site. This is possible because each CIC user has a unique user name and password, and CIC uses these identifiers to detect when the user logs on and where the user is physically located. Here is the most efficient way for CIC users to log on to another CIC location: 1. Log on to Windows using your network password. CIC uses a separate password than does Windows. 2. Start the CIC client, and then provide your CIC password. 3. Change your status to Available. All calls will be routed to that site. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 6

11 Chapter 2: Multi-Site Installation Tasks This section explains how to install Multi-Site components. Multi-Site supports mixed versions of CIC in a collective. However, each peer site has to be configured using the version of Multi-Site that matches the CIC version. Accordingly, installation instructions are provided for supported releases of CIC. The components that must be installed are Multi- Site RTM Server and Multi-Site RTM Client. Note: If you are upgrading an existing RTM Server, running the RTM install on an existing stand-alone RTM server does not provide an upgrade option. Therefore, uninstall the existing RTM application and then install the new RTM Application. Overview of Multi-Site Installation Tasks To install and configure Multi-Site for your organization, do these installation tasks in order: 1. Decide where to install Multi-Site RTM Server. Multi-Site RTM Server can be installed on a CIC server (along with Multi-Site RTM Client), or it can be installed on a dedicated machine. Dedicated hardware is required if either of the following apply: Multi-Site needs to accommodate more than 200 spanning users. The number of spanning users is the total number of individuals who roam between servers, rather than the total number of CIC users in the overall organization (collective). All CIC servers in your organization use Switchover. Multi-Site RTM Server cannot reside on a CIC server that is part of a switchover pair. For this reason, you must dedicate hardware even if you have less than 200 spanning users in your organization. You do not need dedicated hardware if: The total number of spanning users is less than 200 and you are setting up a CIC server that is not part of a switchover pair. When dedicated hardware is not used, Multi-Site RTM Server and Client can be installed together using Setup Assistant. 2. To install Multi-Site RTM Server: On dedicated hardware, follow the instructions for installing Multi-Site in the section Install Multi-Site Server on a Dedicated Machine. On the CIC server, install Multi-Site Server and Multi-Site Client together. Multi-Site RTM Client is always installed on a CIC server. It cannot be installed on stand-alone hardware. Whenever dedicated hardware is used to host the RTM server process, Multi-Site RTM Server must be installed before Multi-Site RTM Client is installed on CIC servers. When dedicated hardware is not used, Multi-Site RTM Server and Client can be installed together when Setup Assistant is used to configure a CIC Server. 3. Next, install Multi-Site RTM Client on every Peer Site in the collective. 4. Finally, do all tasks listed in Chapter 3: Multi-Site Configuration and Administration Tasks. Install Multi-Site Server on a Dedicated Computer To install CIC Multi-Site RTM Server on a dedicated computer, follow these steps. Multi-Site requires at least: On the CIC server, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit) or Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit) CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 7

12 Windows 8.x. Microsoft.NET Framework or later CIC 2015 or later. To install the Multi-Site RTM Server on a dedicated computer: 1. If you have not done so already: a. Download the CIC 2015 R1 or later.iso file from the Product Information site at b. Copy the.iso file to a file server (non-ic server) with a high bandwidth connection to the server(s) on which you will be running the CIC 2015 R1 or later installs. c. Mount the.iso file and share the contents to make them accessible to the server(s) on which you will be running the CIC 2015 R1 or later installs. 2. Navigate to the \Installs\Off-ServerComponents [or \Installs\Integrations] directory on the file server. 3. Copy the RTMServer_2016Rx.msi file to the server on which you plan to run this install and double-click to launch it. (In the file name, "x" stands for a digit such as "1".) Install Multi-Site Server and Client on a CIC server When a dedicated Multi-Site RTM Server is not required, Multi-Site RTM Server and Client are installed together on a CIC server that is not part of a switchover pair. In this scenario, Multi-Site is an installation option available through Setup Assistant. Refresh and new installs are supported. To install Multi-Site Server and Client on a CIC server: 1. Start Setup Assistant, click Options, and click Proceed. 2. If Setup Assistant prompts you to confirm your CIC Administrator account, enter the administrator password, then click Next. 3. Setup Assistant asks which option you want to install (see figure). 4. Select Multi-Site and click Next. Setup Assistant displays the Configure Multi-Site for this Server dialog. 5. Select Multi-Site Server and Client (see figure) and click Next. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 8

13 6. Enter the name and password for the Multi-Site server (see figure). Then click Next. The server name must be an integer from 1 through 999. Setup Assistant configures installation parameters. This might take a minute or more. Then it displays the Commit Your Choices dialog. 7. Click Commit. Setup Assistant installs the Multi-Site Client and Server. It then displays the IC Setup Assistant has finished! dialog. 8. Click Finish to restart your computer and complete the installation. Now that the Multi-Site RTM Server is installed, you are ready to install the Multi-Site Client on every peer site in the collective. Install Multi-Site RTM Client on a CIC Peer Site Follow this procedure to install Multi-Site RTM Client on a CIC peer site in the collective. The Multi-Site Server must be installed on a dedicated computer or another CIC server in the collective. To install Multi-Site Client on a CIC server: 1. Start Setup Assistant, click Options, and click Proceed. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 9

14 2. If Setup Assistant prompts you to confirm your CIC Administrator account, enter the administrator password, then click Next. Setup Assistant asks which option you want to install (see figure). 3. Select Multi-Site and click Next. Setup Assistant displays the Configure Multi-Site for this Server dialog. 4. Select Multi-Site RTM Client Only (see figure) and click Next. 5. Enter the name and password for the CIC server and the name of the Multi-Site Server (see figure). Then click Next. The server names must be integers from 1 through 999. Setup Assistant configures installation parameters. This might take a minute or more. Then it displays the Commit Your Choices dialog. 6. Click Commit. Setup Assistant installs the Multi-Site Client and Server. It then displays the IC Setup Assistant has finished! dialog. 7. Click Finish to restart your computer and complete the installation. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 10

15 Chapter 3: Multi-Site Configuration and Administration Tasks This section explains how to establish communication between sites by making the collective aware of the current site and its peer sites. Once all of the Multi-Site components have been successfully installed, a connection between the current site and peer sites needs to be established. This makes the collective aware of the current site and its member users. The following assumes the existence of two CIC sites configured with Multi-Site. Use this section to: Understand site identifiers and passwords Configure the current site Define peer sites Grant permissions to users Add members of a workgroup to the collective Understand Site Identifiers and Passwords A site requires a Site Identifier and password. The Site ID and password allow peer sites to connect with one another. For example, suppose that there are two CIC sites, one in Boca Raton, Florida called Boca, and one in Indianapolis, Indiana called Indy. In this scenario, configuring sites for Multi-Site is a two-part process: Steps Performed by CIC Administrator in Boca 1. The Boca administrator defines the Boca home site by creating a unique site identifier and password. 2. The Boca administrator creates a peer site for Indy and uses the Indy site identifier and password to establish a connection. Steps Performed by CIC Administrator in Indy 1. The Indy administrator defines the Indy home site by creating a unique site identifier and password. 2. The Indy administrator creates a peer site for Boca and uses the Boca site identifier and password to establish a connection. Each CIC site defines other sites as peers, using the Site ID and Password of the other server. Every peer site has these attributes: A unique site name A unique site ID A telephone number A password To define a peer site, the administrator must know the name of the peer site, its site ID number, password, and telephone number. To make this information easier to coordinate, the same password can be used for all sites in a collective. Configure the Current Site Complete this task on each CIC server to ensure that the Home Site is configured properly. 1. Start Interaction Administrator. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 11

16 2. Click the Home Site container. 3. Open the Configuration entry for editing by double-clicking on it, or click Insert to create a new entry if one does not already exist. 4. Assign a Site Id to the server by typing a unique number in the Site Identifier field. 5. Enter and confirm the password that other sites should use to access this server for Multi-Site purposes. The same password can be used on all sites in a collective. Configuring the Home Site on a CIC server (see figure). The figure illustrates how the Boca Administrator would define the Boca Home Site. The Indy CIC Administrator would likewise assign a unique site identifier (2 in the example) and password. The key thing to understand is that the Site ID numbers must be unique. The same password can be used, however. 6. The Note ID Dial String Digits field should be left blank unless the servers are connected by a tie line. It defines digit values that the system will use to identify a call as a Multi-Site call when a multi-site call is sent to a peer by means of an established tie-line connection. When tie lines are used, this field contains a default value of *90 to identify a call as a multi-site call when a multi-site call is sent to a peer. This value is configurable for sites in which the default value conflicts with existing area codes. If *90 conflicts with an area code, it is OK to assign different digits, so long as the same digits are used for all Multi- Site RTM Servers. If the default value is changed then the value must match in all sites in the collective. 7. Click OK to apply changes. Define Peer Sites Each CIC server in the collective represents a specific call center location called a peer site. Each peer site has a unique name, a site identifier, a telephone number, and a password. The next step is to define peer sites, so that the current site can communicate with other CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 12

17 servers in the collective. Each CIC administrator should perform this procedure on each CIC server that they maintain. The administrators should know the name, Site ID, telephone number, and password of peer sites before starting this procedure. 1. Start Interaction Administrator. 2. Click the Peer Sites container. 3. Click the Insert key. 4. Type the name of the peer site, and then click OK. In our example scenario, the Boca Administrator would create a Peer Site for Indy that uses the Indy site identifier and password to establish a connection. 5. When the peer site s Configuration page appears, complete the following: Site Identifier The site identifier of the CIC site you want to add to the collective as a peer site. Phone Number The telephone number of the CIC site you want to add to the collective as a peer site. The phone number is used to route a call to a user when the user is logged on to that peer site. Password The password of the CIC site you want to add to the collective as a peer site. Passwords are case sensitive. Use Note ID Dial String CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 13

18 The administrator can optionally check Note ID Dial String to tell the server to enable Tie Line optimization. Checking this box indicates to CIC that if a Multi-Site call is handled by means of the Tie Line that it should use that optimization process to efficiently handle the call. Peer sites are connected by tie lines and by PSTN. When a tie line has been established between two sites, CIC uses this feature to process Multi-Site calls more efficiently. In our example, the Boca Administrator would define a Peer Site for Indy by entering Indy's Site ID, telephone number, and password. Back in Indianapolis, the Indy Administrator would define Boca as a peer site, using the Boca Site Identifier, phone number, and password. 6. Click the Check Site button to validate the information entered. If a connection is established, a message will appear stating that the connection was successful. If the system is unable to log on to the peer site, it will display a message that tells you that your entry is incorrect. Correct your entry if need be. Click OK when you have verified connection with this peer site. 7. When the Configuration page reappears, click the Synchronize button. A dialog will tell you that a message was successfully sent requesting synchronization to occur. Click OK. It can take several minutes for synchronization to complete. 8. The Configuration page reappears. Click OK. The completion of this process establishes a connection between the current CIC site and peer site and lets you view status of users who belong to that peer site. 9. To confirm that synchronization succeeded, select the Users container. The users from the site you just established connection with are shown in Interaction Administrator's list view. It is assumed these users are members of a workgroup that is enabled to span all sites. See Add Users to the Collective. Configuring a Peer Site to Route Calls to Another Peer Site There are three main steps in configuring a peer site to route calls to another peer site in a collective: 1. Creating a Tie Line. You do this outside CIC. 2. Configuring Dial Plan to route the call with the number associated with the Peer Site. 3. The current use of the Default Profile and the extended menu of 9 > 0 for Multi-Site routed calls. We recommend using a dedicated Attendant Profile at each site to catch the EMS Calls. Route Calls to a Peer Site To route calls to a peer site: In Interaction Administrator, navigate to Collective Peer Sites and obtain the phone number of the wanted peer site. If the Collective Peer Sites container does not show the wanted peer site, you need to define the site first. Configuration in Interaction Administrator and DCOM It is essential that you configure Multi-Site correctly in Interaction Administrator and DCOM. Incorrect configuration is a common cause of problems in using Multi-Site. Interaction Administrator Configuration In Interaction Administrator, set these values: Home Site CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 14

19 Peer Site SIP Line Dial Plan Workgroup Site Identifier: This should be a unique number in your Multi-Site "cluster." Password: Set a password for this CIC server. Use the password for the CIC administrator account. Note ID Dial String Digits: Leave as *90. This never needs to be changed. Name: For each server you want local users to span. Site Identifier: ID number of the Peer CIC server. You set this ID in the Peer's Home Site container. Phone Number: Assign the phone number to reach the peer site. It can be any number of digits, as long as the dial plan can "pick it up." Password: Password of Peer CIC server. You set this in the Peer's Home Site container. Use Note ID Dial String: Only select this if there is a direct ISDN tie line between sites. This can be cleared for any environment and will work correctly. Create one SIP line for each Peer Site. Proxy: IP address of corresponding CIC server. Access: Select the Denied Access check box. Add the IP address of the corresponding CIC server. Line Group: Create one line group for each Peer Site. Select the Use as Dial Group check box. Members: Add the corresponding CIC server. Create one dial plan for each Peer Site. The dial plan's Input Pattern should be the Phone Number that you set in corresponding Peer Site container. Classification: Local Dial Group: Select the corresponding Line Group. Classification: Local Dial String: [Corresponding Phone Number]@SERVERNAME Simulate Peer Site phone numbers to confirm that the call goes to the correct CIC server. Create a workgroup named "Multisite_SERVERNAME" where SERVERNAME is the name of your RTM server. Attendant Add spanning users to the workgroup. On the Configuration tab, select the Workgroup Spans Sites check box. The default profile and its schedule handle Multi-Site calls correctly. Default Schedule: Add a greeting Set the Repetition value to 3 so that the greeting repeats three times. Set the Wait value to 15 so that there are 15 seconds between repetitions Unselect the Listen for Extension Dialing check box. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 15

20 Do not make 9 - Extended Menu the default action. Do not make 0 - Multi-Site the default action. Subroutine: EMSSystemIVRCustomizations DCOM Configuration Configure the RTM server and peer sites as follows. On the RTM Server: 1. On the Windows Start menu, click Run, type DCOMCNFG, and click OK. Windows displays the Component Services window. 2. Navigate to Component Services Computers My Computer DCOM Config (see figure). 3. Right-click RTMServer and click Properties. 4. On the Location tab, select the Run Application on This Computer check box. 5. Close the dialog. On the Peer Site CIC servers: 1. On the Windows Start menu, click Run, type DCOMCNFG, and click OK. Windows displays the Component Services window. 2. Navigate to Component Services Computers My Computer DCOM Config. 3. Right-click RTMServer and click Properties. 4. On the Location tab, select the Run Application on The Following Computer check box. 5. Enter RTM SERVERNAME, where SERVERNAME is the name of the RTM server. 6. Close the dialog. Guidelines for User Extensions Multi-Site does not allow you to place calls to the station extensions of a peer server. You can only call user extensions. For example, Server A and Server B are peers. From a station or CIC client connected to Server A, you cannot call a station on Server B. You can call a user on Server B, either by dialing that user's extension, or by clicking that user's name in the CIC client. Similar user extensions on different peer sites when adding servers to a collective It is always important to plan ahead when creating user extensions in Interaction Administrator. This planning should be based on growth of the current site and continued growth of other sites or other CIC systems. Multi-Site can connect multiple CIC systems into CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 16

21 a collective and with the automatic propagation of user information will replicate user information throughout the collective. The reason this planning is so important is the issue of duplicating user extensions. A user who spans sites (a spanner ) on a CIC server that is part of a collective of CIC servers cannot have the same user extension as another user that spans sites (a spanner ) on another CIC server in that collective. In other words, there is an issue if User A on Server 1 who is part of a workgroup that spans sites has an extension of 8001 and User B who is part of a workgroup that spans sites on Server 2 has an extension of They will replicate through the collective with this extension but will have a problem getting calls and other services. This does not affect users who are not spanners, they are unique to their specific servers. What happens if I have two sites and they do have similar user extensions? Extensive planning should be involved in changing user extensions; they will have to be unique if a user is added to a workgroup that spans sites. A couple of examples: 1. Change the user extension all together (for example, User A on Server 1 has an extension of 8001, change it to 8801). 2. Add a digit to the beginning of the user s extension (for example, User A on Server 1 has an extension of 8001, change it to {for Server 1, User A extension 8001; User B on Server 2 has an extension of 8001, change it to {for Server 2, User B extension 8001). Grant Rights to Users You can define a set of permissions for users who log on to your site. For example, when a user from the Indy site logs on to the Boca site, the Boca system knows what rights the Indy user has. Users could have the ability to publish and manage handlers but not have master administrator rights enjoyed at their home site. Rights can be turned on or off at any time. 1. From Interaction Administrator, select Peer Site. 2. Open the peer site for which you want to set user rights. The Peer Site Configuration dialog appears. 3. Click the Trusted Access tab. Trusted Access refers to the ability a user has when logged on to a Peer Site. For example, a user could have the right to publish and manage handlers, but not have master administrator permissions enjoyed at the home site level. 4. Select the permissions you want to set. You can set the following access rights for users who log on to a peer site: CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 17

22 Publish Handlers Select this option to allow users who are logged on to the peer site to publish new or updated handlers on the CIC server. This applies only to users who have the Interaction Designer program and who are authorized to update production handlers or create new handlers on the CIC telephony server. If this option is not selected, users who attempt to publish handlers from Interaction Designer will see an appropriate error message. Manage Handlers Select this option to allow users logged on to the peer site to add or remove handlers published to the CIC server. If this option is not selected, users who attempt to manage handlers from Interaction Designer will see an appropriate error message. Master Administrator 5. Click OK. Select this option to allow users logged on to the peer site to view and change everything in Interaction Administrator and assign or remove all levels of administrator rights for any other CIC account, including others with master administrator rights. All property pages (especially Admin Access and Access Control) for the Default User, User, and Workgroup containers are visible to master administrators. This is not the case for other accounts without master administrator rights. Add Users to the Collective To add users who are members of a workgroup to the collective, you must enable the workgroup to span sites. This allows member users to be shared and replicated between sites. The following assumes that the workgroup exists. Follow these steps: 1. From Interaction Administrator, select Workgroup. 2. From list view, open the workgroup that you want to have the ability to span multiple sites. 3. From the Configuration tab, select Workgroup Spans Sites. 4. Click OK. 5. Click the Members tab. 6. Under Available Users, select the users you want to add to the spanning workgroup, and then click Add. The users are listed under Currently Selected Users. 7. Click OK. The completion of this process adds members of the workgroup to all connected peer sites. Interaction Administrator displays data and status of members of the workgroup in its list view when the Users container is selected. Note: Workgroup memberships are spanned and replicated across multiple sites, but workgroup queue information is not. RTM Server Command Line Parameters RTMServerU.exe can be started with optional command line parameters that register it as a local service or as a remote connection. These modes of operation have very different DCOM and Service settings, so command-line parameters were created to make it easier for PureConnect Customer Care or a setup program to configure or reconfigure Multi-Site. To install RTMServer as a local service: /Service [/Username={username}] [/Password={password}] CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 18

23 This option installs RTMServer as a service in the SCM and registers it for DCOM. You can optionally supply a user name and password, but it will fail to install if it is not a valid username/password combination. Example: RTMServerU.exe /Service /Username=<UserAccount> /Password=<Password> To install RTMServer as a remote connection: Installing RTMServer as a remote connection renames or removes the LocalServer32 entries applicable only to the service. Example: RTMServerU.exe /RemoteServer=<RemoteServerName> To register RTMServer as a local DCOM Server: Example: RTMServerU.exe /RegServer Registers it as a DCOM server to be run on the local machine To register RTMServer as a remote DCOM object: /RegClient={machine} Registers it as a remote DCOM object to be run on {machine} Example: RTMServerU.exe /RegClient={machine} To uninstall RTMServer (either mode): /UnRegServer Unregisters it as a DCOM client/server and removes it from the SCM. Each registration option will undo the others, so it is not necessary to run /UnRegServer between each use. Example: RTMServerU.exe /UnRegServer Changing a Site ID Note: Changing the Site ID can cause problems. If you change the Site ID, synchronization with peer sites is halted until IC System Manager is used to restart EMS (Multi-Site) on the servers where the Site ID has been changed. You must also delete all users with the old Site ID from every replicated server, recreate them on the home server, and then resync. If you need to change a Site ID to give a CIC server a unique ID, follow these steps: 1. From Interaction Administrator, select Home Site, and then double-click Configuration. The Site Configuration page appears. 2. In the Site Identifier box, type a number that will uniquely identify this CIC site. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 19

24 3. Click OK. A home site with a unique ID can be part of a collective. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 20

25 Chapter 4: Related Tools and Handlers Every CIC server has an event-handling engine called an Interaction Processor (IP). As part of its responsibility, the IP engine invokes handlers including those handlers that communicate with one another across multiple sites. Multi-Site messages in handlers are created using a set of Multi-Site and IpNotes tools available from the Interaction Designer. Using the Multi-Site messaging tools, you can construct an arbitrary message format within a handler and receive that message in another handler on a remote server. The format of the message is determined by the order in which the various elements are added to the message. On the receiving end, the elements must be read from the message in the correct order. The type of the element is checked when it is read, so an attempt to read the wrong element type results in an error. When a message is ready to be sent, the sender specifies a destination site ID and the object and event values that are used to start the notification on the receiving server. s are sent asynchronously, requiring no response, or synchronously, where the sending tool waits a specified amount of time for a response message to come back. The response message is read in exactly the same way as the original message by using the get tools in the same order as the sender used the put tools. To assist you with understanding how these tools work, three sample message handlers are provided. Along with these samples are detailed descriptions of the parameters associated with each tool. This should provide guidance on how to set the inputs and what to do with the outputs of each tool. Creating Handlers That Send s This section describes two message handlers: Handler1 is an example of a handler that sends a message but does not require a response. Handler2 shows you how to create a handler that sends a message that requires a response in a specified period of time. Later we will create the receiving handler (Handler3) that contains an initiator whose output is the incoming message handle and return routing information if the message requires a response. Sending a message that does not require a response (Handler1) You can create a handler that lets you send a message to a single server or all servers in a collective. The message does not require a response. Handler1 example In the following example, a message is created that results in a message handle that can be supplied to other Multi-Site message tools. A text string and integer are added into the message, and the message is sent as an event. 1. Start Interaction Designer, go to the Multi-Site tab, and add the following tools to a blank handler page: Multi-Site Create Multi-Site Put String Multi-Site Put Integer Multi-Site Send Event 2. Set the appropriate parameters for each tool. For a description of the parameters, see Multi-Site Tools. 3. Connect each tool so that the handler looks similar to the following: CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 21

26 4. Name and save the new handler. Sending a message that requires a response (Handler2) You can create a handler that sends a message to a specific server and then waits a specified period of time for a response. Handler2 example In this example, a message is created in much the way as in Handler1; however, only an integer is put into the message. This means that the message structure is fundamentally different from Handler1 and the receiving handler must recognize the difference in the two messages and unpack them accordingly. For information on the receiving handler, see Creating a handler that receives a message (Handler3). 1. Start Interaction Designer, go to the Multi-Site tab, and then add following tools to a blank handler page: Multi-Site Create Multi-Site Put Integer Multi-Site Send Request Multi-Site Get Integer 2. Set the appropriate properties for each tool. For a description of the parameters, see Multi-Site Tools. 3. Connect the tools so that the handler looks similar to the following: CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 22

27 4. Name and save the handler. Creating a handler that receives a message (Handler3) You can create a handler that can receive a message and then decide whether the message is a request that will require a response or an event that will not. The receiving handler bases the decision on the correlation ID provided by the initiator. If the correlation ID is equal to zero, the message is an event. If the correlation ID is not equal to zero, then the message is a request. Handler3 example Handler3 example assumes the message came from either Handler1 or Handler2. Start Interaction Designer and follow these steps: 1. From the File menu, click Change Initiator. The Interaction Handler Initiators window appears. 2. Select Multi-Site Received, and then click OK. Multi-Site Received is added to a blank handler page. 3. Go to the Multi-Site tab, and then add the following tools to the handler page: Multi-Site Get String Multi-Site Get Integer (2) Multi-Site Create Multi-Site Put Integer Multi-Site Send Response 4. Set the appropriate parameters for each tool. For a description of the parameters, see Multi-Site Tools. 5. From the Basic tab, add the Condition tool, and then set the Boolean so that zero takes the True exit path. 6. Connect the tools so that the handler looks similar to the following: CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 23

28 7. Name and save the handler. Multi-Site Tools This section discusses the Multi-Site tools (and one initiator) that were referred to in previous sections. The data types that can be added to and retrieved from a message are any of the Interaction Designer (ID) defined types Integer, String, and IpNotes. For more information about IpNotes, see IpNotes Tools. Multi-Site Create Creates a message in the system and then provides a handle to it as an output. The handle is used as an input to all other tools that operate on the message. An asterisk (*) indicates an external data type. Parameter Process Data Type Description Handle Output Handle* A valid handle to the newly created message. Success Exit Not applicable The path taken when the message is successfully created. Failure Exit Not applicable The path taken when the message creation fails. Multi-Site Get Integer Reads a data element form the message specified by the supplied handle. An asterisk (*) indicates an external data type. Parameter Process Data Type Description Handle Input Handle* A valid handle to the message. Integer Value Output Integer The value that is read from the message. The output will not contain a valid value unless the success exit path is taken. CIC Multi-Site Technical Reference 24