VQ Conference Manager Device Management and Automation (DMA) is our latest functionality. If it is new to you, this blog will provide useful information about setting up DMA, including importing data from Cisco’s TelePresence Management Suite.
Before you start with DMA, here are a few essential things you should know…
It is important to note that within the initial DMA releases, the DMA functionality access control features are not yet enabled. However, DMA is an integrated ‘module’ of the VQ Conference Manger (VQCM). It requires a ‘non-personal’ user profile to access DMA using the ‘/dma’ URL.
DMA has been designed to support the VQCM Tenant model. For each defined Tenant on a platform, there is a separate DMA ‘container’. The devices of one Tenant cannot be seen or managed by the users (of any level) of another.
Users who require access to the devices of multiple Tenants can be permissioned to do so. They must switch between Tenants using the link at the top of the DMA page to ‘Change Tenant’ and access the associated devices.
The main side-bar menu item allows a user to switch between the Tenants they have been permissioned for. This feature is designed to support environments where some users of DMA are responsible for the devices of more than one Tenant.
The current Tenant is displayed in the top left of the DMA page and can be used to switch between permissioned Tenants.
DMA requires access to read from and write to Cisco devices (systems) at times during its operation. An account with ‘Admin’ level rights is required to do this. To align with security ‘good practice’, we recommend creating a dedicated ‘Service Account’ to do this.
If you already have such an account in use in TMS (this is often the default ‘admin’ account with a changed password), we recommend using this same account to avoid making changes to your devices prior to migration.
The Service Account is also specific to the Tenant, meaning that the security model is maintained at all levels.
Creating a Service Account
Before you log in to DMA, make sure your user has access to the Tenant. Then, log in to DMA and click on the “Tenants” menu item at the bottom of the main menu bar
You will be presented with a page listing the Tenants on the VQCM server that you are permissioned to access. Select the Tenant that you want to set up the Service Account for…The resulting page has only two fields, Username (for the Service Account) and Password. Enter the Service Account name that you want VQ to use to communicate with endpoints and the password it will have.Please ensure that you use a suitably ‘strong’ password that conforms to any organisation security policies. If you rotate passwords on a defined schedule, then this is where it should be updated.
Remember, endpoints must also be updated with the new password.
One of the greatest challenges faced when moving to a new management system of any kind is the migration of the data in systems being replaced.
VQ has addressed this with DMA. It provides tooling where it is possible to:
Extract data from an existing TMS system
Transform data
Load it into the DMA database
Please note: We recommend taking a copy/mirror of the TMS SQL database for migration use to avoid the risk of any performance impact.
In the initial ‘1.x’ releases of DMA, we will provide tools that can be run outside of the DMA platform. These tools can be used to extract and load devices under management, Phone Books and configuration templates from existing TMS systems.
Interested in finding out more?
This blog discussing setting up DMA is one of a series of blogs. The others in the series cover:
https://www.vqcomms.com/media/thumbnail_Integration_v1.png7191280Katie Burchellhttps://www.vqcomms.com/media/VQ-Logo-Portrait-White-1-2.pngKatie Burchell2023-03-16 14:57:192023-03-16 15:08:21Setting up DMA and importing data from TMS
VQCM’s DMA Directory Services enable businesses to easily manage large Cisco-collaboration device estates. It helps streamline processes when using hierarchical address book functionality.
So, what is DMA Directory Services? Let’s discuss the basics.
DMA Directory Services – the basics
Data Sources
Data sources are basis of any Address Book that is to be created in and made available by DMA Directory Services to the video endpoint devices in your environment.
The first and most important data source for DMA is its own list of devices under management, your organizations devices. This source is predefined in DMA and named ‘Internal DMA’ by default.
In this first release of DMA, the application supports the creation of Address Books from the Internal DMA devices list, sub-sets (using filters) of the Internal DMA list or imported data from pre-formatted CSV files.
Address Books (Phone Books)
DMA Address Books are designed to replicate Cisco’s TMS ‘Corporate Directory’ Phone Book. They are created primarily from the DMA managed device list and are made searchable to assigned video endpoints via the same SOAP XML API method used by TMS.
DMA Address Books can be accessed by endpoints that have been set to ‘TMS mode’ in Phone Books and have the URL set to point at the VQ Conference Manager server’s DMA Directory Service.
The Address Books are secure and can only be accessed by ‘Assigned’ (permissioned) groups of devices in the same way they are in TMS through the ‘Set on Systems’ command. In addition to replicating the method of querying/searching the Address Books, DMA Directory Services supports the presentation of the results based upon the hierarchy defined using the Locations feature
Locations
Locations in DMA can be equated to the hierarchy that was previously created in TMS using the Navigator function. The primary use case for Locations is essentially as a categorization and filing system for your devices.
In the main orgaizations use location, hierarchies describe the physical and geographic locations of devices, e.g., regions, countries, states and cities. They might also use an organisational design that allows for clear identification of who owns a device or what it is used for, possibly in an environment where devices are not stationary.
To begin building out or adding to your hierarchy, select the Locations feature from the side bar menu
Click on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page to create a new top level ‘node’.
If you want to add a new ‘child’ node to an existing branch, click on the ‘Action’ dots at end of the chosen ‘parent’ node. You will be presented with a drop-down list of available actions.
Click ‘Add Node’ and you will be given a box to name the new node.Name the new node and click ‘Done’ to save it into the hierarchy. The same process can be used to edit an existing node, or to delete a node that is no longer in use. Please note: To delete a node, it must first be empty of other nodes and devices.
Labels
In DMA, we have introduced a new concept not seen in TMS but often seen in more modern workflow applications – Labels.
Labels are additional free text ‘tags’ that can be added to devices enabling additional groupings and identification when filtering devices for actions. In our examples, we show one of the most common use cases we have seen, tagging ‘VIP’ devices – though we’re sure there are plenty of others.
Having discussed the basics concepts, let’s now look at how to create and work with Address Books, step by step.
How to create and work with DMA Directory Services Address Books
Creating an Address Book
To create an Address Book, you must first have a Data Source to connect it to. The data source will have been added in DMA v1.0 either by importing the devices from TMS or importing from a CSV file using the CSV Import Tool available from VQ.
Step 1
Select the Address Book feature from the side bar menu.
Create a new Address Book by clicking the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page.Select the Data Source that will be used to create this Address Book.Save the Address Book.
The new address book will now be included in the Address Book list.
Step 2
While still in the Address Book, select the ‘Assign to Devices’ tab.
Click the ‘Add Filter’ button to begin creating a list of target devices.
Using the filter creation box, build your device list to be assigned the Address Book.
Once you’re happy with the list, check the boxes of the systems the Address Book will be assigned to and (the top box selects all devices shown on the current page) click the ‘Assign’ button to make the Address Book available to the selected endpoint devices.
Assigning Address Books to endpoints
To provide access to an Address Book from a video endpoint device or group of devices, use the ‘Assign’ action.
Select Address Books from the side bar menu.
Locate the Address Book to be assigned to and click on the ‘Action’ button.
Select ‘Assign to Devices’ from the drop-down menu to enter the Address Book assignment tab.
Once in the Assign to Devices page click the ‘ADD FILTER’ button.
Using the filter creation box build your list of devices to be assigned the Address Book.
Once you’re happy with the list, check the boxes of the systems the Address Book will be assigned to, and(the top box selects all devices shown on the current page) click the ‘Assign’ button to make the Address Book available to the selected endpoint devices.
Working with data sources
If you want to use a sub-set of the DMA Internal Device list to create an Address Book to be used by specific devices, then you will need to create a new Data Source. The new data source can be filtered to contain only the devices you wish to appear as contacts in it.
Select the Data Sources option on the side menu bar.
Select the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page.
Give the new Data Source a name that describes the devices that you are going to filter into this new source, e.g., ‘UK Systems’
Create a filter that selects only the devices that you want in the final Address Book, e.g., ‘Location – Equals – UK’
Confirm that the endpoints you are expecting to see are now selected and Save the data source.
Note: In this first release of DMA, there is only one Data Source available, the Internal DMA device database. This can be created from imported TMS device data or using a specially formatted CSV file.
Future releases will include Data Sources that have been created by connecting to external sources of data such as CUCM, Active Directory or LDAP.
Interested in finding out more?
This piece on DMA Directory Services is one of a series of blogs. The others in the series cover:
For decades, organizations have relied on Cisco TelePresence Management Server (TMS). It has been used on-premise as a part of Cisco Meeting Server and Cisco video conferencing device ecosystems.
Having developed our Meeting Services functionality, for CMS and a strong user base, VQ began to be asked by numerous customers whether we could expand into device management and started looking at the option seriously.
Roll forward and in conjunction with Cisco, VQ has developed VQ Conference Manager DMA (Device, Management and Automation). DMA is designed as the on-premise replacement for TMS.
While DMA’s initial focus is to provide a suitable replacement for TMS for customers, DMA is not designed as a TMS clone. Instead, as with the existing Meeting Services capability of VQCM, DMA brings plenty of ‘VQ feature goodness’, including;
Directory Services – Includes a ‘folder per address book’ view on Touch and Navigator panels
Device Configuration– A redefined the approach to building, scaling, and managing the complexity of configuration templates for large environments
Device Maintenance – Advanced endpoint security and certificate management, automation of tasks and workflow and branding/software file storage & management.
Interested? The most recent in our DMA blog series, we discuss VQ DMA, including how to use it and available features. Read on for more information.
Page Features and Layout
Let’s look at the DMA UI.
Depending on role restrictions, the UI may look differently.
When viewing the UI, administrators have full access to DMA. Users with restricted permissions with not have access to all menus and options. The examples used in this blog are from an administrator view.
Side Bar Main Menu
DMA functionality is grouped by main categories in the side bar menu
Devices
Directory Services
Device Configuration
Applications
Tenants
Users
Exit
Exit
The Exit button is always shown at the bottom of the side bar and will log you out of DMA and return you to the VQ Conference Manager login page.
Navigating through categories works in the same way. The following are the key concepts:
Drop Down
Clicking on fields with a small triangle ‘twisty’ at the end will display a drop-down menu, as will clicking on the three dots shown in any ‘Action’ column.
Lists
You can re-sort most lists in DMA by clicking the title of the relevant column. A small arrow next to the column title will indicate whether the sorting is ascending or descending. Some lists may have hundreds or even thousands of entries. Rather than show them all in a single list, most lists in DMA are split into pages with < and > arrows at the bottom.
Filters
Clicking on the Filter icon above most Device lists will display a filter creation box. This box allows you to filter devices to/from your selection. Devices can currently be filtered by Name, Location and Label.
Tabs
Many pages in DMA have multiple views available. These views are shown as tabs across the top. In the example screenshot, there are multiple pages available. Pages include: · View · Assign · Remove · Activity The active tab is underlined highlighted in blue text.
Add to List
Where it is possible (or required) to create or add to a list, the, Add to List ‘+’ icon will be displayed at the top of the list.
Edit a List Action
When there are actions available for a list, the three dots icon will be displayed. Clicking this icon will display a drop downaction list.You’ll also notice DMA looks different from the existing VQ Conference Manager Meeting Scheduling and Management pages. While it may appear differently, is the underlying architecture the same? The architecture of the VQCM platform is essentially unchanged. A new URL (https://servername.domain/dma/) has been added to the CM-Admin list to enable users to directly access DMA.
Logging into VQ DMA
Also note…. There are no additional servers to install or major configuration differences. There are, however, slight differences including, specifying user profiles and Access Control ACLs for access to the DMA functionality. And finally………… The End Point Agent (EPA) introduced in version 3.9.0 to deliver One-Button-to-Push (OBTP) messages to Cisco video endpoints (Devices) has been expanded. It now ‘talks’ in more detail to devices using the Cisco Collaboration Endpoint Software API.
How do I migrate to VQ Conference Manager DMA from TMS?
Migrating to DMA is relatively straightforward. It begins with moving all TMS ‘Bookings’ to Conference Manager. Once complete, move to switching endpoints to use VQ’s Directory Services for Phone Books.
Using this guide and our DMA Device Configuration Blog , you’ll migrate your ‘Persistent’ templates and bulk changes to Device Configuration. Then finally, you’ll onboard your devices.
If you want to discuss migrating to VQCM’s DMA, please contact us using one of the methods at the end of this blog.
Interested in finding out more?
This is one of a series of blogs. The others in the series cover:
So, what is Device Configuration? Let’s begin with the basics.
Device Configuration is where detailed configuration management of Cisco collaboration devices can be performed using pre-defined Templates and Cisco xAPI commands.
It is also where Device Management and Automation (DMA) can be provided with reference information (Locations and Labels). These will be used to configure device details in the DMA database.
Please note: In the initial releases of DMA the Locations of devices are extracted from the TMS database and are not directly editable in DMA. In a similar way Labels are also not currently editable in DMA and of course, will not have been extracted from TMS as it doesn’t support them.
There are however ways of bringing devices into DMA with Locations and Labels assigned using our CSV import features. This might be worth experimenting with in your lab environment.
Device Configuration Basics
Important: Device Templates is a new menu item in VQCM 3.11 (DMA 1.1). We recommend that you read the, ‘DMA Device Templates and Templates Modules chapter in our 3.11 Release Notes, before using the features outlined below.
Device Templates in DMA are the equivalent of the ‘Configuration Templates’ function found in the ‘Systems’ section of TMS. The primary use case for Device Templates is ensuring standard configurations are applied to all endpoints in the environment. This process assures critical security, performance and capability settings are maintained.
Before creating templates, you will need to create one or more Template Modules. These contain the commands or configuration settings that will be sent to the collaboration device.
Template Modules
Template Modules are a new concept unique to DMA. We have introduced them with the aim to reduce the amount of work required to create, manage and change configurations in large environments.
To begin creating modules in DMA, select the Template Modules menu item on the side bar menu.
Step 1
Create a new module by clicking the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page
In the Settings tab, give the module a name and description
Step 2
Select the Commands tab to begin adding the required xAPI configurations and commands to the module.
Add commands to the module one at a time. This process can be done either by typing directly into the field or by copying and pasting from the xAPI Reference Guide.
Click ADD to write the command to the module.
To add a multiline command, tick the Multiline Command check box to activate the multiline command entry box.
Type or paste the command text into the entry box. You must ensure that the last line is a period (full stop).
Step 3
Once all the required commands have been added to the module, you can return to the Settings tab to ‘Enable’ the module ready for use in a template.
You must click save to save the commands and settings to the module.
Alternatively, you can click save to store the module and return directly to the Template Modules page. Note that if you do this, the module will be created but be in a disabled state until the ‘Enable’ switch is set.
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Note: DMA provides a direct link to the online Cisco xAPI resource website
If you are unable to access this internet resource, PDF versions of the guide can be downloaded from here.
Device Templates
DMA’s Device Templates consist of:
Template modules – containing the required commands or configurations settings
A list of devices that the template must be applied to
Details of when this should be done -if ‘persistent’ i.e., to be re-applied regularly to the devices
Step 1
Create a new template by clicking the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the page.
The template must be given a name and at least one template module must be selected for the template to save.
Select the module[s] to be included in the template using the drop-down menu.
The selected modules will be displayed in the field showing their status.
A ‘green tick’ symbol indicates that the module is enabled, and its settings will be included in the template at run/send time.
A ‘red cross’ symbol indicates that the module is currently disabled and will not be included at run/send time.
Note: The template can be sent to devices in this state, but disabled modules will be ignored until enabled in the Template Modules area.
Step 2 (optional)
If the template is to be re-sent on a regular schedule to devices i.e., it is ‘Persistent’, then the Persistent check box must be ticked.
Note: Devices can only be assigned one persistent template in DMA to avoid potential conflicting settings be sent at different times to a template. However, it is still possible to send ‘one time’ settings to a device using a non-persistent template.
The page will automatically display the Apply Time selector to begin setting time, recurrence interval, and day of week.
Once these settings are chosen, the template can be saved.
Note: Persistent templates can be identified by the persistent ‘chip’ displayed on pages or in lists against the template name
Step 3
Once saved, you will be sent back to the Device Templates page. You are now ready to begin selecting the devices that the template will be sent to.
Locate the template that has just been created and click on the Action ‘dots’ to display the Action menu.
Select the ‘Add to Group’ tab. Selecting this tab will bring up the template action page to add target devices.
Note: The template action page will alert the user to any disabled modules that will be ignored at run/send time and provide a link to identify them.
To begin adding devices to the group, a filter is required to identify the required endpoints from the DMA database of devices. Click the ‘Filters’ icon and the filter builder dialogue will be displayed.Build your filter using the options presented.
The in-scope devices will be displayed on the main page. Click outside of the filter builder to see them.
Select the devices to be included in the group by either clicking the ‘All Displayed Items’ check box, or individually select the devices, if not all are required.
Once your selection is made, click the ADD button to add the device to the template group.
Then, confirm the action.
DMA will confirm that the group has been successfully created.
The devices will now be displayed in the VIEW GROUP tab.
Note: To remove devices, click the REMOVE FROM GROUP tab and repeat the above process of filtering and selecting devices.
Step 4
After you’ve created a template and added devices to the group, you may want to send it to those devices rather than waiting for the scheduled time (if ‘Persistent’). Alternatively, if the template is not persistent, it will need to be sent manually to devices using this process.
Select the SEND NOW tab.
Select the devices from the group that you want to send the template to.
Then, click the SEND button to execute and confirm the send action.
You will be automatically taken to the ACTIVITY tab where the status of the send action will be displayed. On send completion, a summary of the send action results will be displayed.
In this example, one device was sent the template successfully and one failed after three attempts. The failure message will identify the device that failed and provide an explanation or possible reason for the failure.
The template send routine of DMA doesn’t currently check if an endpoint is currently in a call when sending, this will be added in a future update.
Interested in finding out more?
This blog is the first in our DMA series. The others in the series will cover:
We’re pleased to announce that VQ Conference 3.11 is now available to download.
The 3.11 release is another big step forwards; we’re now 2 releases into DMA and with this release we’re adding Device Configuration.
TMS users will love the fact we’ve kept some the principals from TMS; we’ve added what we think are some great features – componentizing the configuration files into modules and labels being two to call out. And a great UI.
Several other big things to look out for:
We’ve added a Snap-shot images option to the Activity page. In this first version, we’re limiting it to a single participant per meeting; the plan is that we’ll extend this out in a future release to offer a strip of Snap-shot images per meeting.
Recurring Meetings can now be hosted on Temporary Meetings and, drum roll……., we now support PIN/Passcodes per meeting in a Recurring Meeting sequence.
3.11 looks great and we think you’ll love it. VQCM 4.0 customers can expect to see 4.1 appear in the very near future featuring the new 3.11 functionality. Behind the scenes, the third phase of DMA and some other great things are making their way to completeness which you can expect to see in 3.12 and 4.2.
The VQ Team has had a busy schedule so far this year. We’ve had a great time attending ISE in Barcelona and Cisco Live in Amsterdam and have also been focused on our next release of VQ Conference Manager.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re looking ahead to our upcoming 3.11 update to VQ Conference Manager.
Read on for:
Webinar discussing VQCM 3.11
New demo videos for VQCM DMA – Directory Services and Device Configuration
VQ’s Cisco Live experience and upcoming US trips
Our new Enterprise Agreement purchasing options
Details of our remote training courses for VQCM
Thoughts from the new members of the VQ Team
What’s new at VQ?
The VQ Team Travels Europe
Our recent events have had the team buzzing with excitement; Cisco Live EMEA was a fantastic week showcasing VQ Conference Manager to the Cisco community.
The World of Solutions was a hive of activity, and VQ shared some interesting trends from the event in this video.
Next stop? Steve Holmes and Giles Adams are heading out to the US in March.
We’ll be in Washington DC the week of 20th March and then heading over to Enterprise Connect in Orlando the following week.
VQCM 3.11 Webinar Next Week
At Cisco Live EMEA, we discussed VQCM’s 3.11 update, which brings additional functionality, such as Device Configuration, our Snapshot image option and more.
We will be discussing the latest functionality on the way in our 3.11 release webinar on Wednesday 8th March at 4pm GMT.
There are many exciting updates to share from VQ this month, from new purchasing options to refreshed training courses.
VQ is pleased to announce a new Enterprise Agreement purchasing option for VQ Conference Manager, tailored to CMS users. Watch the full announcement here.
Watch herefor an overview of our remote training courses, providing users with the skillset to maximise VQ Conference Manager.
Adrian, a UI Software Engineer who joined the team late last year, shares his early experience at VQ:
“I’ve been a member of the UI team at VQ Communications since September of 2022. Although it’s only been a few months, my experience so far has been extremely positive.
I get to work with some very talented developers on exciting software in an environment that encourages collaboration and is open to new ideas.
I already feel like my contributions are helping move things forward, and I’m looking forward to progressing in this role.”
Also joining the VQ Team is Joel Price as our new Customer Success Manager:
“I have worked in the Unified Communications industry for close to 20 years. During that time, I have held various roles for one of the largest global distributors of Unified Communication solutions, helping resellers, integrators, partners and various types of organisations get maximum value from their investment.
I am looking forward to meeting you all, learning about your business and finding out how I can best assist you.
My number one goal is to help accelerate your success through the use of our VQ Conference Manager platform.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of help with anything – my email is: jprice@vqcomms.com.
Grab your favourite holiday treat and delve into the VQ newsletter as we close out the year.
2022 has been full of milestones for the VQ Team, delivering exciting functionality for VQ Conference Manager and the first releases of our Cisco TMS replacement – DMA.
This month we hear from VQ’s CEO, Mike Horsley, on what the future holds. We take a look at our 2023 roadmap and share our refreshed Black Belt training content.
Read on for
VQ’s CEO previews the year ahead
A webinar packed with 2023 updates
VQ’s upcoming trips and product releases
Refreshed Cisco Black Belt Academy content
What’s new at VQ?
2023 is right around the corner – find out what’s coming from VQ
Last week we hosted our final webinar of the year, sharing a glimpse of what’s coming soon on VQ’s product roadmap in 2023.
In this session, the team explored the new functionality we added to VQCM this year, as well as our upcoming releases for VQ DMA.
The atmosphere at VQ is buoyant, as we look forward to rolling out VQCM 3.11 early in 2023.
Beyond our latest product release, we’re also excited to share that we’re at Cisco Live in Amsterdam this February.
We’ll also be at ISE in Barcelona in January. Looking further ahead, we will also be at Cisco Live in Las Vegas and Infocomm in Florida in June.
If that wasn’t enough, more partner and customer trips are also planned throughout 2023.
We’ll have more details to share very soon, but in the meantime, update your contact preferences so you don’t miss any updates from us.
Cisco Corner
Our Cisco Black Belt is back
We’re ready to share our latest Cisco Black Belt Academy content.
Want to learn more? Read our new blogwith Cisco recapping the new training, which now includes information about DMA and how to migrate customers from Cisco TMS.
The feedback has been positive from the 80+ people who have used our Black Belt training – get started today.
Inside VQ
Wrapping up 2022 with Mike Horsley
“2022 has been a big year at VQ. I thought I’d outline some of what’s been happening:
The team has grown quite substantially, we’re now at 40+ people and it’s always great to see new hires joining and becoming productive members of the team. Product management is now in the capable hands of Jon English and the last 18 months or so of process refinements have resulted in a very well-oiled product development process. This is a big deal as we want to ensure that adding more engineers results in a corresponding increase in output. Marketing has expanded substantially with a large addition of talent from the team at Bamboo.
Our TMS replacement functionality, DMA, is making good progress and about to take its next major step at 3.11. VQCM 3.9 introduced OBTP, VQCM 3.10 introduced TMS Style Hierarchical Phone Books and Directory Services. VQCM 3.11 is due to ship end of January and adds device Configuration for Cisco CE and RoomOS devices. Other nice “newness” coming in 3.11 includes CMS Snap-shots and a major lift on recurring meetings with the addition of PINs/passwords per meeting instance. The Outlook plug-in has also had a year-long upgrade cycle to add recurring meeting support, space selection and a range of configuration options to deliver the functionality required by the customer.
We’re seeing strong demand for TMS replacement functionality and the relationship with Cisco is working incredibly well. 2023 looks like it’ll be another exciting year.
To close, from all of the VQ team, I’d like to thank you for being such amazing customers and wish you a great Holiday season and New Year.”
https://www.vqcomms.com/media/Happy-holidays-scaled.jpg19202560Katie Burchellhttps://www.vqcomms.com/media/VQ-Logo-Portrait-White-1-2.pngKatie Burchell2022-12-14 10:23:462022-12-16 09:59:41VQ’s Monthly News – December
2022 has been a big year at VQ and I thought I’d outline some of what’s been happening….
The team has grown quite substantially, we’re now at 40+ people and its always great to see new hires joining and becoming productive members of the team. Product management is now in the capable hands of Jon English and the last 18 months or so of process refinements have resulted in a very well-oiled product development process. This is a big deal as we want to ensure that adding more engineers results in a corresponding increase in output. Marketing has expanded substantially with a large addition of talent from the team at Bamboo.
OurTMS replacement functionality, DMA, is making good progress and about to take its next major step at 3.11. VQCM 3.9 introduced OBTP, VQCM 3.10 introduced TMS Style Hierarchical Phone Books and Directory Services. VQCM 3.11 is due to ship end of January and adds Device Configuration for Cisco CE and RoomOS devices.
Other nice “newness” coming in 3.11 includes CMS Snap-shots and a major lift on recurring meetings with the addition of PINs/passwords per meeting instance. The Outlook plug-in has also had a year-long upgrade cycle to add recurring meeting support, space selection and a range of configuration options to deliver the functionality required by the customer.
We’re seeing strong demand for TMS replacement functionality, our relationship with Cisco is working incredibly well and 2023 looks like it’ll be another exciting year.
To close, from all of the VQ team, I’d like to thank you for being such amazing customers and partners and wish you a great holiday season and new year.
https://www.vqcomms.com/media/clint-patterson-1-wBnPhsmJY-unsplash-scaled.jpg17102560Mike Horsleyhttps://www.vqcomms.com/media/VQ-Logo-Portrait-White-1-2.pngMike Horsley2022-12-12 15:01:582022-12-12 15:47:252022 End of Year Review
This November, we’re excited to share more on our upcoming VQ Conference Manager 4.0 release. Our popular Cisco Black Belt training content has been refreshed and Steve Holmes shares his experience from the Cisco Partner Summit.
Read on for:
An update on VQCM 4.0
VQ’s recent Engineering Takeover webinar
Cisco Black Belt content is back
Steve Holmes reflects on his recent US trip
What’s new at VQ?
VQCM 4.0: We’re only just getting started
VQ Conference Manager 4.0 is on track for release this month and we’re incredibly excited to start the next phase of our VQCM journey.
4.0 has been approved by the United States Department of Defence and can be found listed on the DISA Approved Product list (aka APL). Google “DOD APL”. Select VQ as a supplier and you’ll see our APL certificate in all its glory.
Stayed tuned for a VQCM 4.0 release announcement coming soon.
Dive deeper
Want to learn more about the automated testing tools we used for VQ Conference Manager?
You can watch our full VQ Engineering Takeover webinar on-demand with detailed demonstrations from the VQ Team.
It was a busy summer and early autumn for Team VQ with the delivery of VQCM 3.10 and our attendance of Cisco Impact both major highlights. Others include:
Our Cisco Black Belt training content receiving a refresh, so that our learning maps now include VQ DMA. Cisco partners canlearn more here.
Learn how to configure Cisco TMS-style hierarchical address books in our blog.
Earlier this month VQ Communications’ Vice President of Sales, Steve Holmes was invited to Cisco’s exclusive Partner Summit in Las Vegas. Steve shares his experiences from the event below:
“Well, here I am back in Las Vegas once again to meet our colleagues at Cisco, learn more about the company’s upcoming technology updates, and the opportunity to continue the conversations we started during Cisco Impact 2022.
For me, nothing beats face-to-face contact with those championing us within Cisco and it was great to be invited to such an important event in Cisco’s annual calendar.”
How to use VQCM’s Device Management and Automation (DMA)
This latest post in our series of feature blogs introduces the first release of VQ Conference Manager DMA. This first release enables the creation of hierarchical Address Books/Directories, which are designed to replace the Phone Books feature of Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS).
This functionality includes searchable numbers and addresses on your video endpoints, so you can dial the number by person or room name, rather than having to remember the number.
How to configure DMA’s address books and directories
The first thing you’ll notice, if you are familiar with the VQCM’s user interface, is the new design:
Throughout, you can change the order of the columns, turn them on and off and apply filters and so on.
To make a change or see the available options, use the ellipses on the right-hand side:
At the top level, we have the Tenant. Each Tenant has a dedicated Address Book/Directory and list of Devices.
Next, we have the list of Devices:
This is the complete list of all the endpoints which can be included in and can access a Directory.
Each Device has two attributes, a Location and a Label:
Let’s have a look at the Location first:
If you are familiar with TMS, the Location here is analogous to the System Navigator Folder view in TMS. Here you can add new folders and add devices to a given folder within the hierarchy. Typically, you’d name your folders after the locations in your organisation, although you don’t have to
VQ DMA’s Locations are a very similar concept; a mechanism for you to define where in the organisation your endpoints are, and you can go to a depth of five within the hierarchy. This allows, for example, continents, country, state, city and building.
So, you add your Devices, you set your Locations and you add the Location to a device.
If you go back to the Devices, you’ll see another column called Labels:
Label is a new concept, which TMS does not have. Labels are free form text which allows you to add an additional identification to your device, for example “VIP Systems” or “Meeting Rooms”.
The next thing to look at are the Data Sources:
Just like in TMS, Data Sources is a list of Devices. This list is built using Location and optionally Label filters. It’s either, or, or both. So, for example, you could have a Data Source for all Devices in the UK, or the demo systems in the US, or, indeed, all executive systems world-wide.
Out of the box there is a predefined Data Source called All Systems. There is no filter on it. It contains all Devices or Contacts in your database. In this example, the Devices in All Systems are shown as follows:
You can add as many Data Sources as you wish.
Finally, you have the Address Books. An Address Book is a list of Data Sources.
Let’s recap...
Devices have a Location and optionally a Label. Data Sources are built using filters on Location or Label and Address Books are built using Data Sources.
How to assign an Address Book to your Devices
The final part of setting up is similar to TMS – assigning an Address Book to your Devices.
To do this you Click on Assign to Devices, select the required filter and the Devices and assign them.
Example of Assigning Address Books
In this example, we have four devices in an Address Book called Parallel House. Each of the devices will be assigned this Address Book:
In this example, the location in the address book is also called Parallel House:
To make things simple to follow, we’ve also called the address book ‘Parallel House’.
Within the Address Book, we need to add a Data Source.
In this example we’ve named the Data Source Demo Suite, which contains the four endpoints in the ‘Parallel House’ Location:
Next, we need to assign the ‘Parallel House’ Address Book to each of the endpoints:
Having assigned the Address Book to the devices, what does this look like on the device itself?
Here you can see the device with the endpoints listed in the Parallel House Address Book.
This blog is just a very brief introduction of how to set up and use Address Books and Directory Services in VQ Conference Manager DMA. For more detailed information, view our ‘Introducing DMA – Directory Services’ video. If you have any questions,join our Webex Space.
Finally, for those looking for a more detailed understanding of VQ Conference Manager DMA’s capabilities, we offer a three-day training course delivered by our partner, TeKnowLogical Solutions.
https://www.vqcomms.com/media/14-1.png7211381Katie Burchellhttps://www.vqcomms.com/media/VQ-Logo-Portrait-White-1-2.pngKatie Burchell2022-10-17 15:32:532022-10-17 15:32:54How to use VQCM’s Device Management and Automation (DMA)
