Prerequisites and Planning
This chapter describes the prerequisites and planning considerations for the deployment of Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) 8.5 on Windows and Linux operating systems and includes information about the required software. It contains the following sections:
- GVP Installation DVDs
- Prerequisites
- Dialogic Telephony Cards
- Antivirus Software
- Host Setup
- PSTN Connector and GVPi Support in 8.1.5
- Voice Platform Solution Components
- HMT Permissions and Access Rights
GVP Installation DVDs
Genesys Voice Platform 8.1.3 and above components are shipped on two DVDs one containing the Genesys Voice Platform components and one containing the Genesys Media Server components. The 8.1.2 and earlier components are shipped on one DVD. The components on each DVD are listed in the table below:
| Component | 8.5.1 | 8.5.0 | 8.1.7 | 8.1.6 | 8.1.5 | 8.1.4 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesys Voice Platform (DVD #1) | ||||||||
| Resource Manager (RM) | ✔ | |||||||
| Media Control Platform (MCP) | ✔ | |||||||
| Call Control Platform (CCP) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Reporting Server (RS) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Squid Caching Proxy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supplementary Services Gateway (SSG) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Connector | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Connector | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||
| Policy Server (PS) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) Proxy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Genesys Media Server (DVD #2) | ||||||||
| Resource Manager (RM) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NO DVD |
| Reporting Server (RS) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NO DVD | |||
| Media Control Platform (MCP) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NO DVD |
| GVP Reporting Plugin for GAX | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NO DVD | |||
| Management Information Bases (MIB) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | NO DVD |
Prerequisites
Software Requirements for Windows
The table below summarizes the software requirements for GVP 8.5 deployments on Windows.
| Category | Requirements and comments |
|---|---|
| Operating system on GVP servers | |
| Genesys Voice Platform 8.5 (Mandatory) | Microsoft Windows Server 2003, SP2 and 2008:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2:
Notes:
|
| Operating system supporting components | |
| Reporting Server and Policy Server | Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 7.0 or later
Notes:
|
| Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 components
(Mandatory for GVP 8.1.1 and earlier 8.x releases) |
Common files:
Install these component from the Windows 2003 CD either by using Add/Remove Programs or downloading them from the Microsoft website. Notes:
|
| Reporting Server Database requirements | Required only on GVP servers that have Reporting Server DB installed:
Notes:
|
| Management and monitoring tools (Optional) |
Notes:
|
| Specific services and settings (Mandatory) | You must configure certain specific services and settings on each host before you install GVP. For more information, see Windows Services and Settings |
| Web browser (for administration)(Mandatory) | Used only from the administrator's desktop:
|
| Third-party supporting components | |
| Third-party TDM interface (Mandatory for PSTN Connector only) | If you are installing the PSTN Connector:
|
| Automatic speech recognition (ASR) (Optional) | Genesys recommends that the ASR servers are installed and operational before you install the Genesys Voice Platform. Genesys has validated the following third-party ASR software:
Notes:
|
| Text-to-speech (TTS) (Optional) | Genesys recommends that the TTS servers are installed and operational before you install the Genesys Voice Platform. Genesys has validated the following third-party TTS software:
Notes:
|
Software Requirements for Linux
The table below summarizes the software requirements for GVP 8.5 deployments on Linux:
| Category | Requirements and comments |
|---|---|
| Operating System on GVP Servers | |
| For Genesys Voice Platform 8.5 (Mandatory) | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x Advanced Platform
|
| Reporting Server and Policy Server | Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 7.0 or later.
Notes:
|
| Operating System Supporting Components | |
| Reporting Server Database | Required only on GVP servers that have Reporting Server DB installed:
Notes:
|
| Apache HTTP Server (Mandatory for GVP 8.1.1 and earlier 8.x releases) | httpd-2.0 or later.
Notes:
|
| Management and monitoring tools (Optional) |
Notes:
|
| Specific services and settings (Mandatory) | Notes:
|
| Web browser (for administration) (Mandatory) | Used only from the administrator's desktop:
|
| Third-party Supporting Components | |
| Automatic speech recognition (Optional) | Genesys recommends that the ASR servers are installed and operational before you install the Genesys Voice Platform. Genesys has validated the following third-party ASR software:
Notes:
|
| Text-to-speech (Optional) | Genesys recommends that the TTS servers are installed and operational before you install the Genesys Voice Platform. Genesys has validated the following third-party TTS software:
Notes:
|
Dialogic Telephony Cards
The PSTN Connector relies on Dialogic hardware and software to provide a gateway solution for customers with existing TDM-based networks to simplify the integration and migration to the GVP IP-based solution.
These Dialogic telephony cards are supported on Windows:
- Dialogic DM/V480A
- Dialogic DM/V1200BTEP
- Dialogic DM/V960A
- Dialogic D240JCT
- Dialogic DM/V600A
- Dialogic D480JCT
- Dialogic DM/V1200A
- Dialogic D300JCT
- Dialogic DM/V600BTEP
- Dialogic D600JCT
The PSTN Connector does not impose a limit on the number of cards it can support. Limitation arises from the number of PCI slot in the machine and the load on the PCI bus.
Dialogic Software
GVP supports Dialogic v6.0 with Service Update 241 for Windows, and Service Update 327 with RHEL Linux.
For information about how to install and configure the PSTN Connector, see Installing GVP with the Deployment Wizard and Provisioning the PSTN Connector.
Antivirus Software
Antivirus software can affect system performance and call response time. In an ideal deployment, antivirus software is disabled on GVP systems. However, Genesys understands the need to have antivirus protection on servers and, therefore recommends, at a minimum, that you exclude the GVP directory from virus scanning, and that you schedule system scans to occur at times when traffic is low.
Also, be aware that antivirus software may interfere with the installation of GVP during initial deployment. Make sure that the server is not running antivirus software, or any other third-party software, during installation.
Host Setup
GVP provides some flexibility in combining various components on one host; however, the following restrictions apply:
- If you are installing Genesys Administrator and (a single instance of) the Media Control Platform on the same host, you must install GVP by using the manual procedures and ensure that Genesys Administrator is shut down during the installation. Genesys does not recommend that you install Genesys Administrator on a host that has multiple instances of the Media Control Platform.
- If the Resource Manager is in active standby High Availability (HA) mode, Genesys recommends that other SIP components that communicate with the Resource Managers are installed on different servers, unless they support static routing and do not interfere with the Resource Manager's HA mechanism. When the Resource Manager is in active backup mode, it uses Network Load Balancing (NLB) (on Windows) or Virtual IP takeover (on Linux or Windows). Other SIP HA components (for example, SIP Server) that use the same HA mechanism as the Resource Manager can interfere if deployed on the same servers within the cluster. In addition, when a Virtual IP address is used, Windows NLB has a limitation, where the Virtual IP always resolves to localhost on servers within the NLB cluster.
- If you are installing the Media Control Platform and the PSTN Connector on the same host, ensure the value of the rtpthreadlevel option in the mpc section of the Media Control Platform to TIME_CRITICAL.
The following are some additional restrictions or requirements:
- In GVP 8.1.2 and Genesys Administrator 8.0.3, multiple instances of the Media Control Platform on a single server are supported. See Deploying Multiple Media Control Platforms.
- In GVP 8.1.2 and above, the Fetching Module is integrated with the Media and Call Control Platforms and the Squid proxy is optional.
- The Reporting Server can be deployed with one Resource Manager instances only, unless the Resource Manager is deployed in HA mode. When the Resource Manager is in HA mode, the Reporting Server recognizes the HA pair as a single instance.
- The Reporting Server Database (DB) is supported in the following ways:
- The Reporting Server DB does not have to reside on the server where Reporting Server is installed.
- The Reporting Server DB can be installed on Windows or Linux.
- The Reporting Server DB and the Reporting Server can be installed on different operating systems. (For example, the Reporting Server can be on Windows and the DB on Linux).
- You can mix GVP components that are installed on different operating systems within a deployment.
PSTN Connector and GVPi Support in 8.1.5
The PSTN Connector and Legacy GVP VoiceXML interpreter (GVPi) are not included in the 8.1.5 and above releases, but they are still supported and can be deployed in 8.1.5 environments. However, at least one instance of the 8.1.4 Media Control Platform is required to provide capability-based routing of PSTN Connector and GVPi requests for media services.
In other words, the 8.1.4 Media Control Platform can interoperate with all GVP 8.1.5 components, but the 8.1.4 PSTN Connector and GVPi can not.
For example, your 8.1.5 environment might be deployed in the following way:
- A pool of 8.1.5 Media Control Platform instances is deployed to enable new media capabilities like video.
- A pool of 8.1.4 Media Control Platform instances is deployed to support GVPi and/or the PSTN Connector (together in the same environment).
To do this, you must provision two separate MCP Logical Resource Groups (LRGs), each with different capabilities. For example:
- The 8.1.5 MCP LRG must have video and other media capabilities configured.
- The 8.1.4 MCP LRG must have the GVPi and PSTN Connector.
- The Resource Manager s capability-based routing feature must be configured to ensure that the PSTN Connector (using GVPi) calls are handled by the 8.1.4 MCP Resource Group only.
- To ensure the correct LRG processes the calls, create an IVR profile that requests the PSTN Connector/GVPi capability-based routing features (they must match the ones that are defined in the LRG).
To configure the Resource Groups and IVR Profiles to support this configuration, see the sections Using Resource Groupsand Creating IVR Profiles and DID Groups, and "IVR Profile Configuration for GVPi" in the Genesys Voice Platform 8.5 User's Guide.
Voice Platform Solution Components
This section describes the recommended, required and optional components, and the dependencies present in a successful deployment of a Voice Platform Solution.
| GVP | Management Framework | SIP Server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genesys Administrator | Configuration Server | ||
| 8.5.1 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.1 |
| 8.5.0 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.1 |
| 8.1.7 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.1 |
| 8.1.6 | 8.1.3 | 8.1.2 | 8.1.0 |
| 8.1.5 | 8.1.2 | 8.1.1 | 8.1.0 |
| 8.1.4 | 8.1.0 | 8.1.0 | 8.0.4 |
| 8.1.3 | 8.0.3 | 8.02 | 8.0.3 |
| 8.1.2 | 8.0.3 | 8.02 | 8.0.3 |
| 8.1.1 | 8.0.11 | 8.0.1 | 8.0.2 |
| 8.1.0 | 8.0.1 | 8.0.1 | 8.0.2 |
Voice Platform Solution and Dependencies
The following is an overview of a VPS and the associated dependencies:
- A centralized instance of Genesys Management Framework that includes the following components:
- Configuration Database
- Log DB Server
- Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle Database Server
- Configuration Server
- Genesys Administrator
- Solution Control Server
- Solution Control Interface (optional)
- Message Server
- Local Control Agent required on all GVP 8.5.0 hosts
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component (See Table: Versions Compatible With GVP for Management Framework versions that are compatible with each GVP release.)
- Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Server
- IVR Server 8.0
- Stat Server
- Universal Routing Server
- T-Server (switch-specific)
- Voice Platform (VP) Resource Manager:
- Mandatory component one or more per deployment
- Can be deployed as an active active or active standby pair for high availability
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP Media Control Platform:
- Mandatory component one or more per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP Call Control Platform:
- Optional component one or more per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP Reporting Server:
- Optional component one or more per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Prerequisite: Database Server (Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008 or Oracle 10 g, 11g)
- Prerequisite: Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6.0, Update 19 or later; Sun JRE 7.0 or later recommended
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP CTI Connector:
- Optional component one per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Prerequisite: IVR Server or Cisco Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) (based on the deployment)
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP PSTN Connector:
- Mandatory component for TDM integration many per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Prerequisite: Dialogic v6.0 with Service Update 241
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP Supplementary Services Gateway:
- Optional component many per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP Policy Server
- Optional component many per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Required: one Genesys SNMP Master Agent for each GVP component
- VP MRCP Proxy
- Optional component many per deployment
- Prerequisite: Local Control Agent
- Optional: SNMP Master Agent
VPS Components Minimum Deployment
At a minimum, the following components are required to deploy the VPS:
- Management Framework components
- Genesys Administrator
- SIP Server
- GVP components
- One Resource Manager
- One Reporting Server (optional)
- One Media Control Platform
- Fetching Module
- Squid Caching Proxy
Optional Components
The following components are optional:
- One or more additional Supplementary Services Gateways More than one instance can communicate with the same SIP Server, but each Supplementary Services Gateway instance must have a unique Resource DN.
- Multiple VP Resource Managers For high availability in active standby and active active HA modes.
- Multiple VP Reporting Servers For high availability in Active Standby.
- One or more additional VP Media Control Platforms with VP Fetching Module and VP Squid Depends on sizing.
- One or more VP Call Control Platforms with VP Fetching Module and VP Squid Depends on sizing.
- SNMP Master Agent See Voice Platform Solution and Dependencies.
- CTI Connector See CTI Connector and How the CTI Connector Works.
- PSTN Connector Optional only for customer who do not use traditional TDM technology in their environment, otherwise, it is required. See PSTN Connector and How the PSTN Connector Works.
- Policy Server Optional, but recommended for enterprise environments that include multi-tenant hierarchies. See How the Policy Server Works.
- MRCP Proxy Optional, but recommended in environments where MRCPv1 ASR/TTS usage reporting is required. See How the MRCP Proxy Works.
Options to Deploying VP Reporting Server
Genesys recommends that you deploy at least one VP Reporting Server per deployment. When VP Reporting Server is installed, GVP Reporting data can be viewed on the Monitoring tab in the Genesys Administrator GUI. VP Reporting Server also provides an API, which allows GVP reporting data to be used with third party reporting products.
If you do not require GVP historical reporting in your deployment, you can deploy VP Reporting Server without a Reporting Server database. This deployment option retains support for the GVP dashboard reports. If you do not require the historical or dashboard reports, installation of the VP Reporting Server is not required.
Startup Sequence for the VPS
The table below describes the recommended startup sequence that is used to start the VPS successfully at initial startup, or if any component in the solution is stopped and must be restarted. It includes only those components that are listed in VPS Components Minimum Deployment on page 198.
See the following procedures describe ways to stop and start GVP Application and Solution objects:
- Procedure: Starting and Stopping GVP Solution Objects
- Procedure: Starting and Stopping GVP Application Objects
- Procedure: Configuring Application Objects to Start Automatically
| Requirement | VPS component |
|---|---|
| Components that must be operational before you start the GVP components |
|
| GVP Components |
|
HMT Permissions and Access Rights
If you are deploying GVP in a multi-tenant environment, you must ensure that the service provider or GVP enterprise manager is the only user assigned to the super-users access group, and therefore, is solely responsible for managing DID Groups and defining tenants. In addition, to maintain numbering and naming uniqueness, which is a GVP requirement, tenants must not be assigned edit permissions for their own configurations. However, tenant users can be assigned read permissions, which enable them to read and modify their configurations and reports.
The tenant that is defined as the parent becomes the reference entry point in the tenant hierarchy. The parent tenant with read permissions can view their child tenants and their configurations and reports, but cannot view the child tenants below them (their grandchild tenants).