Avaya 16-300272 User Manual

Broadcast Server User Guide

Release 2.1 (Service Pack)

16-300272

Issue 2.1

April 2006

Notice

Every effort was made to ensure that the information in this document was complete and accurate at the time of printing. However, information is subject to change.

Warranty

Avaya Inc. provides a limited warranty on this product. Refer to your sales agreement to establish the terms of the limited warranty. In addition, Avaya’s standard warranty language as well as information regarding support for this product, while under warranty, is available through the following Web site: http://www.avaya.com/support

Trademarks

DEFINITY is a registered trademark of Avaya, Inc. MultiVantage is a trademark of Avaya, Inc. Windows, Windows 2000, and Windows NT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Preventing Toll Fraud

“Toll fraud” is the unauthorized use of your telecommunications system by an unauthorized party (for example, a person who is not a corporate employee, agent, subcontractor, or is not working on your company's behalf). Be aware that there may be a risk of toll fraud associated with your system and that, if toll fraud occurs, it can result in substantial additional charges for your telecommunications services.

Avaya Fraud Intervention

If you suspect that you are being victimized by toll fraud and you need technical assistance or support, in the United States and Canada, call the Technical Service Center's Toll Fraud Intervention Hotline at 1-800-643-2353.

Disclaimer

Avaya is not responsible for any modifications, additions or deletions to the original published version of this documentation unless such modifications, additions or deletions were performed by Avaya. Customer and/or End User agree to indemnify and hold harmless Avaya, Avaya's agents, servants and employees against all claims, lawsuits, demands and judgments arising out of, or in connection with, subsequent modifications, additions or deletions to this documentation to the extent made by the Customer or End User.

How to Get Help

For additional support telephone numbers, go to the Avaya support Web site: http://www.avaya.com/support

• Within the United States, click the Escalation Management link. Then click the appropriate link for the type of support you need.

• Outside the United States, click the Escalation Management link. Then click the International Services link that includes telephone numbers for the international Centers of Excellence.

Providing Telecommunications Security

Telecommunications security (of voice, data, and/or video communications) is the prevention of any type of intrusion to (that is, either unauthorized or malicious access to or use of) your company's telecommunications equipment by some party.

Your company's “telecommunications equipment” includes both this Avaya product and any other voice/data/video equipment that could be accessed via this Avaya product (that is, “networked equipment”).

An “outside party” is anyone who is not a corporate employee, agent, subcontractor, or is not working on your company's behalf. Whereas, a “malicious party” is anyone (including someone who may be otherwise authorized) who accesses your telecommunications equipment with either malicious or mischievous intent.

. If you are:

Such intrusions may be either to/through synchronous (timemultiplexed and/or circuit-based) or asynchronous (character-, message-, or packet-based) equipment or interfaces for reasons of:

• Utilization (of capabilities special to the accessed equipment)

• Theft (such as, of intellectual property, financial assets, or toll facility access)

• Eavesdropping (privacy invasions to humans)

• Mischief (troubling, but apparently innocuous, tampering)

• Harm (such as harmful tampering, data loss or alteration, regardless of motive or intent)

Be aware that there may be a risk of unauthorized intrusions associated with your system and/or its networked equipment. Also realize that, if such an intrusion should occur, it could result in a variety of losses to your company (including but not limited to, human/data privacy, intellectual property, material assets, financial resources, labor costs, and/or legal costs).

Responsibility for Your Company’s Telecommunications Security

The final responsibility for securing both this system and its networked equipment rests with you - Avaya’s customer system administrator, your telecommunications peers, and your managers. Base the fulfillment of your responsibility on acquired knowledge and resources from a variety of sources including but not limited to:

• Installation documents

• System administration documents

• Security documents

• Hardware-/software-based security tools

• Shared information between you and your peers

• Telecommunications security experts

To prevent intrusions to your telecommunications equipment, you and your peers should carefully program and configure:

• Your Avaya-provided telecommunications systems and their interfaces

• Your Avaya-provided software applications, as well as their underlying hardware/software platforms and interfaces

• Any other equipment networked to your Avaya products

TCP/IP Facilities

Customers may experience differences in product performance, reliability and security depending upon network configurations/design and topologies, even when the product performs as warranted.

Standards Compliance

Avaya Inc. is not responsible for any radio or television interference caused by unauthorized modifications of this equipment or the substitution or attachment of connecting cables and equipment other than those specified by Avaya Inc. The correction of interference caused by such unauthorized modifications, substitution or attachment will be the responsibility of the user. Pursuant to Part 15 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Rules, the user is cautioned that changes or modifications not expressly approved by Avaya Inc. could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.

To order copies of this and other documents:

Call: Avaya Publications Center

Voice 1.800.457.1235 or 1.207.866.6701 FAX 1.800.457.1764 or 1.207.626.7269

Write: Globalware Solutions

200 Ward Hill Avenue Haverhill, MA 01835 USA Attention: Avaya Account Management

E-mail: totalware@gwsmail.com

For the most current versions of documentation, go to the Avaya support Web site: http://www.avaya.com/support

Contents

Preface vii

Audience vii

Introduction to Broadcast Server

With Broadcast Server you can create alerts for display on the screens of your Avaya IP telephones. You direct alerts to distribution lists. The phones to receive alerts might be in reception areas and conference rooms, guest rooms, staff members’ offices, factory floors, warehouses, and so on. The alerts can include meeting reminders, announcements, company logos, lunchtime menus, revenue-generating advertising content, the latest sales figures, company news, and anything other information that you want to share.

Broadcast Server includes the following features:

• “Pushed” priority alerts with audio notifications

• Flexible subscriber distribution lists

• Automatically generated and updated distribution lists, from one or

more LDAP directories and/or directories that can be saved in CSV (Comma-Separated Value) format

• Shared media libraries

• Alert protection

• Alert links to external services and applications

• Retrieval of missed alerts from the phone

• Audit trails and logging

• Simple installation and configuration

• Open XML API to support broadcasting from third-party applications

The following topics provide an overview to Broadcast Server:

• Broadcast Server Overview, page 2

• Opening and Using the Broadcast Server Interface, page 6

• Configuring Broadcast Server, page 6

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server Broadcast Server Overview

Broadcast Server Overview

Broadcast Server, a server-based application, manages alerts created by Broadcast Server users and sent to subscribers, according to rules and schedules defined by the Broadcast Server administrator and the individual alert creators. Broadcast Server users are individuals with an account on Broadcast Server. Subscribers are Avaya IP telephones.

Broadcast Server requires the Application Gateway for operation. While Broadcast Server provides an interface for creating and scheduling alert delivery, the Application Gateway manages alerts and transforms alerts for delivery to IP telephones. The Application Gateway also provides the Broadcast Server with device information and handles all communication with the IP telephones. The following illustration shows the general flow of an alert from a user to an IP telephone.

The following topics describe the basic concepts of Broadcast Server:

• Users, page 3

• Subscribers and Distribution Lists, page 3

• Alerts, page 4

• Sending Alerts, page 5

• BCS Interaction with Phones, page 5

Broadcast Server User Guide

Users

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server

Broadcast Server Overview

Broadcast Server has one administrative user (Administrator) with full access to all Broadcast Server controls. The Broadcast Server Administrator can create accounts for other users who will compose and send alerts in Broadcast Server. Users log in to the Broadcast Server through Microsoft Internet Explorer from anywhere in the organization or securely over the Internet.

Note The documents that you can download from the Application Gateway

includes a document, Sending Alerts to Avaya IP Phones from a PC, that you can change as needed and distribute to Broadcast Server users. The document explains how to perform the options available by default to Broadcast Server users.

When you create a user account, you specify the options available to the user. By default, a user can create, change, and delete alerts. You can restrict a user from creating or changing alerts. A user account can be further customized as described in “General user permissions,” page 20.

Subscribers and Distribution Lists

Subscribers (IP telephones) are added to Broadcast Server automatically. You configure the Application Gateway to add subscribers to Broadcast Server when IP telephones come online.

A particular list of subscribers is a distribution list. Distribution lists enable you to group subscribers and other distribution lists as recipients for alerts. When composing an alert, a user selects the distribution list(s) to receive the alert. By default, a user cannot add individual subscribers to a distribution list. The Application Gateway supports 256 lists.

You can configure the Application Gateway to automatically create distribution lists from the department information (“Department” field) obta ine d fr om you r LD AP o r CS V di rec tor y so urc es. Whe n an IP t ele pho ne comes online, the Application Gateway adds entries to the distribution list, using the phone extension (and dialing rules) to locate the associated department name in the directories. For information on configuring connections to LDAP and CSV directory sources, refer to the Phone Applications Suite Configuration Guide, Chapter 2, “LDAP/CSV Directory Configuration.”

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server Broadcast Server Overview

The Broadcast Server administrator can see all distribution lists while individual users can only see those lists they own and those that have been shared with them by the administrator. By default, the distribution lists created automatically from LDAP or CSV information are available only to the administrator (private).

To make a distribution list available to other users, the administrator must change the list ownership to shared, and then specify which users can use the list. For more information on distribution lists, see “Distribution List

Management” on page 27.

Alerts

An alert is the basic content item in the Broadcast Server and represents the information to be pushed to a phone. Alerts are delivered to the subscriber without requiring the subscriber to request outstanding alerts. An alert might consist of a meeting reminder that is scheduled for delivery at a particular date and time, or an Emergency announcement that takes precedence over other audio activity, including the playing of voicemail messages.

Alerts can include an audio notification which plays on the phone’s speakerphone or in the earpiece if the user is on the phone.

Alert content can consist of text and/or graphics (not all phones support graphics). An alert can also include up to two soft keys which cause the phone to either dial a number or link to a URL or an external service. For example, a soft key might:

• Cause the phone to go off-hook and dial a number associated with the

alert (perhaps dialing the number for the restaurant whose menu is currently being displayed on the phone).

• Link to an external service that allows an alert to serve as the

“front-end” for a specialized back-end system (such as a company’s Human Resources Web site).

• Display a Web URL (perhaps a page that contains event information).

Broadcast Server User Guide

Sending Alerts

Creating and sending an alert is easy through the Broadcast Server. You use a Web-based interface to configure the alert, a delivery schedule, and the distribution list(s) to receive the alert. An alert can consist of plain text and/or a graphic, audio, and soft keys.

BCS Interaction with Phones

The interaction of Broadcast Server with an IP phone depends on the priority of an alert.

Note When an alert is queued, it remains in the queue until the alert expires or

it is deleted from Broadcast Server.

For Emergency alerts:

• Alert is delivered to the phone, regardless of phone state (an

in-progress phone call is put on hold)

For Normal alerts:

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server

Broadcast Server Overview

• Alert is delivered to the phone if the phone is idle, whether on- or

off-hook

• Alert is queued for delivery if the audio is busy. However, if the Alert

includes text, the text will be displayed on the phone during the playing of a voice mail from the Voice Office menu. The user can stop playing the voice mail to listen to the broadcast.

• Alert is queued for delivery if the audio is idle but the phone GUI is in

use (for example, set is being programmed or Directory search is in progress)

• Alert is queued for delivery if the phone is powered down

For Background alerts:

• Alert is pushed directly to the Alerts list in the Voice Office menu.

• Alerts remain in the Alerts list until they expire or are deleted from

Broadcast Server.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server Opening and Using the Broadcast Server Interface

Opening and Using the Broadcast Server Interface

All administrative and user tasks are performed through a web-based interface. To open the interface, enter the following URL in a web browser:

http://ipAddress/BCS

where ipAddress is the IP address of the server on which Broadcast Server is running.

After you enter your login credentials, the Broadcast Server home page appears.

The home page for the Broadcast Server administrator provides access to all tasks. The home page for a Broadcast Server user provides access to a subset of tasks.

Many pages in the Broadcast Server interface contain icons that you can mouse over to view helpful information as well as click to make changes. The following example highlights two of the icons.

Click to view or change the alert.

Click to change the list owner.

Configuring Broadcast Server

The following information, intended for Broadcast Server administrators, assumes that you have installed Broadcast Server and performed the tasks described in the Phone Applications Suite Configuration Guide, Chapter 3, “Broadcast Server Installation.”

Broadcast Server User Guide

Initial Configuration

In typical usage, the Broadcast Server administrator enables a select group of users to broadcast alerts to distribution lists obtained from the Application Gateway (which is synchronized with LDAP or CSV directory sources). The general configuration steps in this topic apply to that scenario.

To initially configure the Broadcast Server, follow these general steps.

1. Make sure that the Application Gateway is synchronized with the

connected directories. For information, refer to the Phone Applications Suite Configuration Guide, Chapter 2, “LDAP/CSV Directory

Configuration.”

2. Create user accounts

To enable a user to log in to Broadcast Server and work with alerts, you must create an account for the user. The user privileges are described in “General user permissions,” page 20.

3. Define the items that should be available to users when they compose

alerts:

a. Distribution Lists

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server

Configuring Broadcast Server

By default, a distribution list obtained from a directory source is owned by the administrator and is private (meaning only the administrator can use the list).

To make a distribution list available to other users, change the ownership of the list from private to shared and then give all or individual users permission to send alerts to the list. For more information, see “Sharing distribution lists,” page 29 and “The

Distribution List User Permissions Page,” page 32.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 1 Introduction to Broadcast Server Configuring Broadcast Server

b. Media Files

Media files consist of alert tones and images files. (Image files are not supported on all phones.) The system media files provided with Broadcast Server are available to all users.

To make additional media files available to all users, add the files to the media library and change their owner to Administrator (shared). For more information, see “Media Management” on

page 35.

c. External Services

External services are network-based applications that can be launched from IP telephones. Users can provide IP phone users access to external services by adding a soft key to a broadcast alert.

To enable Broadcast Server users to include a soft key link to an external service in an alert, you must specify the service URL, as described in “External Service Management” on page 41.

Broadcast Server Maintenance

After initial setup, you will need to change Broadcast Server only when you add a user or add a distribution list, media file, or external service that you want to share. Distribution lists imported from a directory source are private unless you change their owner to Administrator (Shared).

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter

Application Gateway and Broadcast Server Operation

As shown in the following illustration, Broadcast Server communicates only with the Application Gateway. The Application Gateway provides Broadcast Server with device information and manages all communication with other servers and IP telephones. The Application Gateway also transforms alerts so that they are in the appropriate format for display and delivery to IP telephones.

Note Sites using a cluster of Application Gateways should configure all

Application Gateways in the cluster with the same Broadcast Server.

The Phone Applications Suite Configuration Guide explains the IP phone setup required for Broadcast Server. To enable communication between the Application Gateway and Broadcast Server, you specify in the Application Gateway Administration Tool the base URL where Broadcast Server is running. That is the only information that the Application Gateway needs to register with Broadcast Server.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 2 Application Gateway and Broadcast Server Operation

You can also configure connection information for one or more LDAP servers or CSV-formatted directory files, enabling the Application Gateway to automatically supply Broadcast Server with distribution lists.

When the Application Gateway detects that an IP telephone has come online, the Application Gateway collects from the IP telephone its MAC address, which it then uses to look up the phone’s extension in the IP/DN map. The Application Gateway sends that information to Broadcast Server where the information is used to update the subscriber list. The Application Gateway also uses the phone extension to locate the associated department name in the directory. The Application Gateway sends the department information to Broadcast Server where it is used to update the distribution list.

Any time that a particular telephone is updated, the Application Gateway collects the updated extension, user name, and department and sends that information to Broadcast Server.

If an extension is no longer used, it is not automatically removed from the distribution list, as the system has no way to determine if the extension is temporarily or permanently out of use. To remove an unneeded extension from distribution lists, use the Distribution List Membership page.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter

System Management

The System Management page is a single location for defining all Broadcast Server control parameters and for performing system-level tasks such as temporarily disabling the system.

Component Versions

This section lists the versions of the various components used by Broadcast Server and its supporting software. Technical support personnel typically use this information for troubleshooting.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 3 System Management Server configuration

Server configuration

Item Description

Suspend BCS button Click this button to temporarily disable the Broadcast

Server messaging functionality. Only use this feature if you believe that the Broadcast Server is causing a problem on your network or Communication Manager system.

Run configuration wizard button

Purge alerts after The period that inactive alerts will be retained in the

Click this button to re-run the Configuration Wizard at any time.

Broadcast Server database before being automatically deleted.

Support items

Item Description

Administrative contact The name of the Broadcast Server system administrator.

This name is displayed on help windows.

Support URL The URL where Broadcast Server users are directed to

when they have a support question.

Bug report URL The URL where Broadcast Server users are directed to

when they want to report a bug in the software.

Feature request URL The URL where Broadcast Server users are directed to

when they want to request a product feature.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 3 System Management

Home page tips

Item Description

Tip 1 The text to display in the first blue tip box on the Broadcast Server home page.

Tip 2 The text to display in the second blue tip box on the Broadcast Server home

page.

Tip 3 The text to display in the third blue tip box on the Broadcast Server home page.

Tip 4 The text to display in the fourth blue tip box on the Broadcast Server home

page.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 3 System Management Home page tips

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter

System Messages

System messages are status messages that the Broadcast Server places in the database when it detects system errors.

Note that these messages are not sent to subscribers or distribution lists – they are reserved for the Broadcast Server system administrator only. When you are logged into the Broadcast Server as the administrator, the system will check the messages list for any critical error messages. Each Broadcast Server page will display a red note indicating if you have critical messages waiting.

Icon Description

The message is informational only.

The message is a critical error.

The message has not been viewed.

Quick FAQ

How do I … Description

View message details Click the message in the record you want to view

Delete one or more messages Check the box next to each record you want to delete, or

check the box in the list’s title to select all records displayed. Then, click the Delete Selected button.

Remove the “new” indicator from a message

See only new, critical messages Check the Show only new, critical messages checkbox at

Email the contents of an message to our support organization

View the record and click the OK button.

the top of the list.

View the record by clicking the message, and then click the Click here to send this message to the support group link.

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter 4 System Messages Quick FAQ

Broadcast Server User Guide

Chapter

User Management

Broadcast Server users are individuals who can log in to Broadcast Server to create and manage content. The administrator’s task is to define users and assign privileges to those individuals. Privileges dictate to which distribution lists a user may send alerts, which portions of an alert that users may modify, and so on. You create and manage login IDs, user names, and passwords within Broadcast Server.

The User Management List

The user management page presents the list of Broadcast Server users that fulfill your current filter criteria. Individual user records are displayed with helpful icons to the left of each entry where required.

Note If too many user records are returned for the filter criteria entered, you

will need to modify your filter criteria or change your settings in the My Preferences page.

Broadcast Server User Guide

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