Cisco VG400 Analog Voice Gateway

Cisco VG400 Analog Voice Gateway

The Cisco VG400 is a Cisco IOS^® XE Software-based analog phone voice gateway. It connects analog phones, fax machines, modems, and speakerphones to an enterprise voice system based on Cisco Unified Communications Manager. The tight integration with the IP-based phone system is advantageous for increased manageability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Businesses can also use the VG400 with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express to effectively augment an Integrated Services Router (ISR) environment. Either topology environment will support business needs for a high concentration of analog voice ports for modem calls, fax calls, and analog supplementary services (Figures 2 and 3).

The Cisco VG400 offers Cisco IOS XE Software manageability on analog phone lines to enable them to be used as extensions of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express system.

Features and Benefits

●     Cisco IOS XE Software-based hardware: The hardware supports a uniform Cisco Command-Line Interface (CLI) and Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) for ease of gateway configuration and operation.

●     Robust voice quality: Cisco experience in providing toll-quality packet-voice service helps ensure that the VG400 provides the clear, robust voice quality end users have come to expect from telephony services.

●     Investment protection: Customers can continue to use existing analog phones, fax machines, and modems while taking advantage of IP telephony. Basic analog phone connectivity is needed when the infrastructure (wiring) or application does not support or require IP phones. The Cisco VG400 is the ideal platform to support distributed and low- to medium-density analog phone line deployments, allowing organizations to deploy IP telephony without having to purchase IP phones for all users and to continue using existing devices. The VG400 can also be used in a Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express environment and migrated to a Cisco Unified Communications Manager deployment with 100 percent investment protection.

●     Reduced barrier to entry: The Cisco VG400 provides a low-cost alternative for low-end analog phones and allows organizations to take advantage of IP telephony with a lower overall IP telephony investment.

VG400 Integration with Cisco Unified Communications Manager

VG400 Integration with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express

Analog Phone Connectivity

The Cisco VG400 is ideal for analog phone deployments ranging from centralized to sparsely concentrated or distributed topologies. It provides high availability at locations with Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) fallback, with ease of manageability using Cisco IOS XE Software monitoring features. It offers many supplementary analog calling features depending on the call control and signaling type used. Table 1 lists the supplementary analog calling features available.

Table 1.             Supplementary Analog Features

The Cisco VG400 supports SCCP Feature Access Codes (FACs) in conjunction with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express. Refer to Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express documentation for details.

Fax and Modem Connectivity

The Cisco VG400 supports fax machines and modems. When connected to fax machines, the VG400 supports T.38 Fax Relay and Fax Pass-Through. T.38 Fax Relay technologies allow transfer of faxes across the network with high reliability using less bandwidth than a voice call. All modems can be connected to the VG400 and will be transferred over the network using modem pass-through.

Protocols supported

●     SCCP

●     H.323v4

●     MGCP

●     SIP

●     Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)

●     Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP)

●     Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)

●     HTTP server

●     SNMP

●     Telnet

●     Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

●     DNS

●     Call survivability – MGCP failover to an H.323 connection to the SRST router

●     T.38 Fax Relay and Fax Pass-Through

●     V.150.1 MER Modem Relay, GW Controlled Modem Relay, and Modem Pass-Through

●     Support G.711 and G.729a

●     RADIUS and TACACS+ for Telnet and authorization

VG400 Models

The Cisco VG400 has a fixed port configuration with flexibility to configure FXS and FXO ports inside the same chassis.

The VG400 is available in the form factors depicted in Table 2.

Table 2.             Form Factors

The VG400 improves upon the previous generation of Cisco VG202XM and VG204XM Analog Voice Gateways. These improvements include:

●     On-board Digital Signal Processor (DSP): The FXO and FXS in VG400 contain an onboard DSP and don’t require the VG400 to have a dedicated Packet Voice DSP Module (PVDM) on the motherboard. The DSP on the voice module is necessary for the voice features. It also provides for echo cancellation of up to 128-ms echo-tail length for demanding network conditions.

●     FXS-E (extended loops) support: FXS ports on the VG400 support FXS-E with the following details:

◦     Higher loop current (35 mA) to accommodate specialty phones

◦     Longer loop length for loops with 26 AWG wire, up to 11,000 feet (3400 meters)

◦     Higher ringing voltage (65 Vrms, no load)

●     FXO failover bypass ports: A failover bypass port, also called a failover trunk bypass, provides a way to use designated analog phone ports to make phone calls through the PSTN during a power outage.

Table 3 summarizes the supported FXO failover bypass and FXS-E-enabled ports in the VG400 models.

Table 3.             Feature and Port Comparison

Software Compatibility

The Cisco VG400 does not natively support Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE), Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express, or Cisco Unified Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST). Additionally, it does not support DSP farm capability. These functions are available only in the Cisco 4000 Series Integrated Services Routers. Table 4 lists the software versions compatible with the VG400.

Table 4.             Software Compatibility

Technical Specifications

Table 5 lists the technical specifications for the Cisco VG400’s FXS and FXO ports. Table 6 gives the environmental specifications for the VG400. Table 7 lists the regulatory standards compliance.

Table 5.             Technical Specifications for FXS and FXO Ports