VGW - MGCP the Easy Way

     Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) is a is a plain-text (sent over UDP on port 2427) protocol used by call-control devices (like Communications Manager), known as media gateway controllers (MGCs) or call agents (CAs), to take control of a specific port on a gateway. Cisco Communications Manager knows and controls the state of each individual port on the gateway.

     If you want the fastest and automated way of configuration an MGCP gateway, you can utilize the "ccm-manager config server" CLI command. Having this automated MGCP configuration does not allow for partial/fractional T1 PRI's, but what you can do is enable the automation, modify the T1 manually, and disable the automation after all of the commands have been populated. Here's the steps in setting up an MGCP gateway:

1. On the gateway, set the "ip domain name" and "hostname"(eg. BR1.company.com)
1. This provides the full domain name which MGCP utilizes to register the gateway
2. Configure the gateway on Cisco Communications Manager
1.  CM Administration > Device > Gateway
2. Add New
3. Select specific Gateway Type (eg. Cisco 3945)
4. Select MGCP as the protocol
5. Set the full domain name of the router and CUCM Group
6. Set the appropriate modules 
7. Configure each of the endpoints/circuits
3. From the Gateway's CLI configure MGCP
1. mgcp bind control source-interface <voice interface or loopback>
2. mgcp bind media source-interface <voice interface or loopback>
3. ccm-manager config server <CUCM IP Address Primary> <CUCM IP Address Secondary>
4. ccm-manager config
5. ccm-manager mgcp

 MGCP Messages:

Command	Message Name	Sent By	Description
AUEP	AuditEndpoint	CallManager	Determines the status of a given endpoint.
AUCX	AuditConnection	CallManager	Retrieves all the parameters associated with a connection.
CRCX	CreateConnection	CallManager	Creates a connection between two endpoints.
DLCX	DeleteConnection	Both	From CallManager: Terminates a current connection.
			From Gateway: Indicates that a connection can no longer be sustained.
MDCX	ModifyConnection	CallManager	Changes the parameters associated with an established connection.
RQNT	NotificationRequest	CallManager	Instructs the gateway to watch for special events such as hooks or DTMF tones. It is also used to instruct the gateway to provide a signal to the endpoint (for example, dial tone and busy tone).
NTFY	Notify	Gateway	Informs the Cisco CallManager when requested events occur.
RSIP	RestartInProgress	Gateway	Informs the Cisco CallManager that an endpoint or group of endpoints are taken out or placed back into service.

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CUCM - Service Parameters

     Service Parameters are global settings on multiple CUCM services (CallManager, IP Voice Media, Extension Mobility, etc.) that may apply to all servers (clusterwide parameters) or to only specific nodes (server parameters).

     Keep in mind that for Service Parameters, there is an "Advanced" button at the top of the page which presents additional Service Parameter options!


Service Parameters

Parameter Name	Suggested Value	Parameter Value	Description
CDR Enabled Flag	True	False	Enables Call Detail Records
CDR Log Calls with Zero Duration Flag	False	False	Enables CDR for calls that never connected or that lasted for < 1 sec
Station KeepAlive Interval	30	30	Interval between KeepAlives from IP phones to CUCM
Station and Backup Server KeepAlive Interval	60	60	KeepAlive interval between phone and secondary CUCM
T301 Timer (Alerting Timeout)	180000	180000	How long CUCM waits to receive the Alerting message
T302 Timer (Interdigit Timeout)	10000	15000	Timer after each digit is pressed before pushing the call through
Strip + on Outbound Calls	False	False	CUCM strip + on outbound for MGCP GWs and SIP Trunks. H.323 ALWAYS strips the + sign.
Built-in Bridge Enable	On	Off	Enables builtin bridge to save on conferencing resources. G.711 supported only.
Device Mobility Mode	On	Off	Allows roaming phones to dynamically associate with the local device pool
Display Device Mobility Location During Phone Registration	True	True	Displays the Device Mobility location when booting up
Off-hook to First Digit Timer	15000	15000	Time CUCM waits for the first digit to be dialed
Privacy Setting	True	True	Enables (True) or disables (False) the Privacy feature
Allow Peer to Preserve H.323 Calls	True	False	Allows H.323 GW to preserve an active call during a loss of connection to CUCM
SIP Min-SE Value	1800	1800	Minimum Session Expiration timer for SIP
SIP Session Expires Timer	1800	1800	Interval between session refresh requests
Call Park Display Timer	15	10	Time that Call Park number is displayed
Call Park Reversion Timer	60	60	Call reverts back to original phone if not answered
Party Entrance Tone	False	True	Determines if a tone will play when a party joins or exits a call with more than two parties (barge, cbarge, conference, join, meetme)
Block Offnet to Offnet Transfer	False	False	Blocks the ability to transfer an offnet call to another offnet number
Suppress MOH to Conference Bridge	True	True	Don’t play MOH on conference bridges
Drop Ad Hoc Conference	Never	Never	Ad Hoc Conference bridges stay up as long as two users are on the conference
Maximum Ad Hoc Conference	16	4	Maximum Ad Hoc Conference Participants
Maximum MeetMe Conference Unicast	16	4	Maximum MeetMe Conference Participants
Advanced Ad Hoc Conference Enabled	True	False	Conference Chaining and control Enabled
Forward Maximum Hop Count	8	12	Maximum times a single call can be forwarded or diverted. For Q.SIG calls, the maximum value is 15.
Forward No Answer Timer	16	12	The Global FNA timer setting
Max Forward Hops to DN	8	12	Max number of forwards allowed for a DN. Prevents call routing loops within CUCM
G.722 Codec Enabled	Enabled	Enabled	Enabled G.722 advertisement
Automated Alternate Routing Enable	False	False	Enables CAC Automated Alternate Routing
Single Button Barge/CBarge Policy	CBarge	Off	Sets the Single Button Barge feature to use barge, CBarge or disable
Allow Barging When Ringing	False	False	Allows users to barge before the phone is answered
Stop Routing on Out of Bandwidth Flag	False	False	Call routing behavior for calls through trunks when not enough bandwidth is available. Used for subsequent route lists and AAR/Locations.

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