Understanding CME Overlays with Dual-Line DNs
Normally I talk about overlays in the context of data center/SDN/cloud but today I’m going out into left field and am going to talk about voice! :-)
I freely admit that I’m a noob when it comes to Cisco voice so I’m not sure if the behavior I’m about to describe is obvious or not. It wasn’t obvious to me and I only figured it out after running into the issue for real and troubleshooting it to resolution.
The issue stems from my misunderstanding about how dual-line ephone-dns function when used in an overlay.
The Desired Behavior
Here’s the scenario: Cisco Communications Manager Express (CME) with a handful of IP phones registered to it. There’s no Communications Manager (UCM); the dial plan lives entirely within CME. PSTN connectivity is via (4) POTS lines terminated on FXO ports on the router running CME.
The desired behavior is to have incoming calls from the PSTN ring on all the IP phones simultaneously. If a second call comes in, it should ring on all the remaining phones, and so on.
The Original CME Config
Here’s what the original CME config looked like. At least, the parts of the config relevant to this blog Continue reading