LumenVox' speech recognition and synthesis software is compatible with Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) using the MRCP interface.
After installing the UCCX system, and confirming that it is functional, you need to configure the MRCP interface that allows the UCCX system to communicate with the LumenVox Media Server, which handles all ASR and TTS requests.
Assumptions
These instructions assume that the LumenVox server, hosting the LumenVox Media Server and ASR and/or TTS services are located on a different server than the UCCX. We strongly recommend installing LumenVox on a separate server to UCCX
The following steps also assume that you have installed (Windows / Linux), configured and tested your LumenVox configuration independently of UCCX.
Note:
The The following configuration document is believed to be correct when working with Cisco UCCX 8.5 through UCCX 11.5, however minor differences between versions of the UCCX configuration screens may be seen.
The following network topology diagram is intended to provide a simple overview of the UCCX system, with an indication of where the LumenVox server(s) are associated. UCCX can be configured in a number of different ways, so this diagram is not meant to be inclusive, or meant to indicate the only way in which the system can be configured. Please refer to the UCCX documentation for more details.
Add LumenVox as your MRCP TTS Provider
You can use the UCCX TTS Providers Configuration web page to specify LumenVox as your TTS provider. This will be used in the following step to Add the LumenVox TTS Server.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystem > MRCP TTS > MRCP TTS Providers. This will open the MRCP TTS Provider Configuration web page.
In the MRCP TTS Providers configuration screen, click the Add MRCP TTS Provider in the upper left corner.
In the MRCP TTS Providers configuration screen, click the Add, then specify "LumenVox TTS" as your TTS provider then click OK.
In the MRCP TTS Provider Configuration page, click Add.
Note:
Don't worry about the UNKNOWN status currently shown for the LumenVox TTS Provider, since this is not fully configured yet and will be covered in the following section where the TTS Server will be configured.
Add LumenVox as your MRCP TTS Server
Once the above step has been completed to define LumenVox as an MRCP TTS Provider, you can then add a corresponding TTS Server Configuration.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystems > MRCP TTS > MRCP TTS Servers to open the configuration page.
In the MRCP TTS Server configuration screen, click the Add MRCP TTS Server in the upper left corner.
In the MRCP TTS Server configuration screen you should assign the IP address (or hostname) of your LumenVox server to the "Server Name" field
Select "LumenVox TTS" from the "Provider Name" drop-down list (this is the entry we created above).
Click Add Language to select any language options needed based on the TTS voices and language(s) you have installed and licensed on your LumenVox TTS server.
"Port Number" should match that listed in your RTSP_PORT setting in your media_server.conf settings on your LumenVox Server. By default, the LumenVox value for this setting is 554, however the Cisco default value may be 4900. We recommend changing the Cisco value to match the LumenVox setting of 554, however you may change both to 4900 if preferred. Whichever value you select, these should match in both your Cisco "Port Number" field and the LumenVox "RTSP_PORT" field. This will assign the RTSP (MRCPv1) connectivity port to be used.
Once the language(s) is set, you need to enable the language(s) and gender for the system to use then click Add.
Click OK to acknowledge that the default gender is configured for the server.
Select the Default Gender for TTS Provider
Use the MRCP TTS Default Gender Configuration web page to specify a default gender to use per locale, per provider. This TTS default gender setting is used whenever a prompt for a specific locale is specified without specifying the gender.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystems > MRCP TTS > MRCP TTS Default Genders to open the configuration page.
Choose the default gender setting for each locale (language) that is enabled. By default, this is set to "Neutral" unless configured explicitly here.
We recommend selecting a gender of your choice for each language.
At this point, the TTS provider status should be IN_SERVICE and the TTS Server should be REACHABLE if configured correctly.
Shown above is a correctly configured LumenVox TTS Provider, and below is a correctly configured LumenVox TTS Server.
Continue on to the next section to configure your ASR resources...
Add LumenVox as your MRCP ASR Provider
Use the UCCX ASR Providers Configuration web page to specify LumenVox as your ASR provider. This will be used in the following step to Add the LumenVox ASR Server.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystem > MRCP ASR > MRCP ASR Providers. This will open the MRCP ASR Provider Configuration web page.
Click the Add New icon in the upper left corner to add a new ASR provider for LumenVox
...then specify "LumenVox ASR" as your ASR Provider, along with the appropriate number of LumenVox ASR licenses you have installed in your LumenVox system, and select the "OSR 3.1.x" from the Grammar Variant drop-down menu then click Add to apply the changes and return to the previous page.
Note:
Don't worry about the UNKNOWN status for the LumenVox ASR Provider as it is not fully configured yet and will be described in the following section
Add the LumenVox ASR Server
Once the above step has been completed to define LumenVox as an MRCP ASR Provider, you can then add a corresponding ASR Server Configuration.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystems > MRCP ASR > MRCP ASR Servers to open the configuration page.
From the MRCP ASR Server Configuration page, click Add New
You should assign the IP address (or hostname) of your LumenVox server to the "Server Name" field.
Select "LumenVox ASR" from the "Provider" drop-down list (this is the entry we created above).
"Port" should match that listed in your RTSP_PORT setting in your media_server.conf settings on your LumenVox Server. By default, the LumenVox value for this setting is 554, however the Cisco default value may be 4900.
We recommend changing the Cisco value to match the LumenVox setting of 554, however you may change both to 4900 if preferred. Whichever value you select, these should match in both your Cisco "Port Number" field and the LumenVox "RTSP_PORT" field. This will assign the RTSP (MRCPv1) connectivity port to be used.
The corresponding RTSP_PORT setting in the LumenVox dashboard can be modified as shown here (this port number will be the same for both ASR and TTS):
Select any additional Locales (language) options needed, based on whichever ASR languages you have installed and licensed on your LumenVox server, then click Add or Update to apply these settings.
After this, you will be returned to the MRCP ASR Server Configuration page, which should list the newly created LumenVox ASR Server.
Note:
Do not worry about the UNREACHABLE status for the server as we still need to configure the MRCP ASR Dialog Group, which will be described in the next section.
Configure MRCP ASR Dialog Groups
After you have completed adding the LumenVox ASR Server (above), you can use the MRCP Groups Configuration web page to specify information about MRCP ASR dialog control groups, which enable UCCX applications to use speech recognition.
From the UCCX Administration menu bar, choose Subsystem > MRCP ASR > MRCP ASR Dialog Groups to open the configuration page.
Then, from the MRCP ASR Dialog Group Configuration page, choose Add New as shown below
This page will display a list of preconfigured entries, if applicable, with the following information:
Field | Description |
Group ID | Identifier for the group. |
Description | Description of this dialog group. |
Provider | Name of the MRCP ASR provider. |
Channels | Maximum number of sessions. |
This page also displays the number of licensed IVR channels.
From the MRCP ASR Dialog Group Configuration page, select the new LumenVox ASR entry we created earlier from the Provider Name list. Make sure that any language(s) added for the MRCP Server in the previous steps are selected then click Add.
The MRCP ASR Dialog Group Configuration web page will open, allowing you to configure options in the fields provided:
Important:
Note that your language selections here may differ from what is shown in the images here. Be sure to enable the appropriate languages you have licensed and intend to use.
At this point, the ASR Provider status should be IN_SERVICE and the ASR Server should be REACHABLE if configured correctly.
Above is shown a correctly configured LumenVox ASR Provider, and below is a correctly configured LumenVox ASR Server.
Note:
If the Provider status is OUT_OF_SERVICE at this point, you may need to check the firewall to ensure that the ports needed for LumenVox services are opened. For a complete list of ports needed by LumenVox services, please see the Firewall Configuration knowledge base article.
Testing The Integration
Once the system has been configured, make a call into the UCCX system to test the ASR and TTS functionality to confirm that connectivity between the two systems is working correctly.
Additional Information
Please refer to the Cisco Unified CCX Administration Guide for other configuration information relating to setting up your server.