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VoIP and EPICenter-Avaya Integrated Management
The import does not require any user input. A message box appears that shows the progress of the
import action and reports on the total number of phones imported. When the import has completed,
click OK.
When the import is done, EPICenter will have a list of IP phone MAC addresses, along with IP
addresses, extensions, and status, which are correlated with ports on Extreme Networks switches.
Although IP phone information (based on MAC Poller data) is kept in the EPICenter database, the
phones are not included in the device inventory, and are visible only through the Properties display of
the device to which the phones are connected, or through the IP Phones report. IP phones connected to
Extreme Networks devices do not appear in the Component Tree or on any Topology maps.
IP Phone location and status data is based on information learned by the EPICenter MAC Poller. The
MAC Poller collects MAC address and other information about the devices it detects on the edge ports
of Extreme Networks devices. The MAC Poller determines whether a port is an edge port or a trunk
port based on whether the port runs EDP.
For IP Phones connected directly to ports on Extreme Networks devices, the MAC Poller can accurately
detect IP phone information. For IP phones connected to Avaya devices, however, the MAC Poller will
only be able to detect the phone when it appears on a port on an Extreme Networks device. This can
result in multiple phones appearing on a single port (the port connecting the Extreme device and the
Avaya device), or a phone appearing on more than one port (if a second Avaya device contacts a phone
on an Avaya device through an Extreme Networks device. Figure 50 shows an example of this:
Figure 62: IP phone connection scenario
8:6
8:5
8:1
hostA
phone 3
phone 1
phone 2
In the scenario shown in Figure 62, phones 1 and 2 are connected to an Avaya system, which is
connected to an Extreme Networks system via port 8:5. Because the link between the Avaya and
Extreme systems does not run EDP, the EPICenter MAC Address Poller will see that link as an edge
port, and will detect both phones 1 and 2 on port 8:5 on the Extreme Networks switch (assuming the
phones have been active). Phone 3, which is directly connected to an edge port (8:1) on the Extreme
Networks switch, will be correctly detected by the MAC poller.
Further, if hostA on the second Avaya system connects to phone 1, 2, or 3 (for example, pings one of
those phones) then the MAC poller will also detect that phone on port 8:6.
If phones 1 and 2 remain inactive for a sufficient length of time their FDB entries will time out, the
EPICenter MAC Address Poller will no longer find them, and they will no longer appear on either ports
8:5 or 8:6. Since port 8:6 is a trunk port, it is possible to disable FDB edge port polling through the
EPICenter Inventory Manager for that specific port, which would prevent the phones from being
detected on that port.
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EPICenter Concepts and Solutions Guide