Basic AD-based Call Routing Best Practices

Overview

Below is the call diagram example used as a configuration reference for the remainder of this document.

Call Diagram Example

Prerequisites

Before beginning the AD configuration, investigate and answer the following:

• The FQDN/IP of the Domain Controller
• What AD attribute will be used as key to retrieve records? msRTCSIP-Line, name, or mail are common AD attribute to set as the LDAP search criteria.
• What area of the Active Directory should be searched?ADSIedit showing a typical location for an AD search

• Does the SBC have a license for Active Directory? For details, refer to Viewing Licenses for Node-Locked Licensing.

  Active Directory is part of the SBC base license. The latest base licenses are available at Ribbon Support Portal - Download Center.

ADSI Edit

SBC Active Directory Reference

For details on configuring an entry in the Domain Controller Table, refer to Adding and Modifying Domain Controllers.

For details on configuring the Active Directory Configuration for SBC to Domain Controller interactions, refer to Configuring the SBC Edge Portfolio for Active Directory.

SBC AD Configuration

The SBC must be configured for:

• Active Directory Integration
• Forked Calling
• AD-based Call Routing

Active Directory Integration for Call Routing

1. Access Settings and select Auth and Directory Services > Active Directory > Domain Controllers.
2. Enter the AD information for your network.
3. Select Auth and Directory Services > Active Directory > Configuration.

4. Configure the Active Directory Configuration:

   The minimum configuration for this example document should include the attributes: msRTCSIP-Line, name, displayName, mail, telephoneNumber

   
   

   Active Directory Configuration

   

Active Directory Verification

1. With the AD configuration completed, click Refresh Cache.
2. Click Display Statistics and verify that the AD queries are succeeding.
3. In the Domain Controller configuration, ensure Status is Up.

4. Click the Tasks tab and click Active Directory Cache Query. In the form, pick an AD attribute from the pulldown and supply a corresponding value. 

   Queries of the msRTCSIP-Line must match precisely what appears in the Skype Line URI for the desired user, unless Normalized Cache is configured to True. If the cache is normalized, the tel: will be removed from the Skype User Line URI.

SBC AD-based Call Routing

Use the following instructions to create Call Routes and Transformation Tables that perform the call routing noted detail in the Summary section diagram.

1. Create a Transformation table with an entry to search for a msRTCSIP-Line entry that matches the called number and returns the mobile number.
2. Create a new call route table, then a call route entry to the table.
3. Create a second transformation table with an entry to search for a msRTCSIP-Line entry that matches the called number. 

4. Add a second entry to theCall Route table to send the call to the Skype Server. As before, add the transformation table above to the call route below.

   • It is often necessary to change (normalize) a number before performing an AD lookup. The vast majority of lookups require just the addition of +countrycode (i.e. +1 for the US) for a number that is already 10 digits (areacode+number).
   • The Skype Line URI (msRTCSIP-Line) is different as it is always prepended with tel: and often postpended with ;ext=number. Since AD searches must be exact matches, the number must be corrected before the search. The following are some common normalization transformations.
   • If Normalize Cache is configured to True, the tel: will automatically be removed from msRTCSIP-Line before the SBC caches the number. Setting Normalize Cache to True is recommended.
   If your Operating Mode is configured to Online, normalization should always include tel: as Normalize Cache is not available in Online mode. Online mode is not recommended.

If you are planning to employ AD lookups for Skype Line URI(msRTCSIP-Line), the searches will likely require additional number translations. See below for a few common number normalizations for msRTCSIP-Line AD lookups:  

If your Skype Line URI: looks like this:

Skype Line URI

These are two common normalizations:

If your Skype Line URI: looks like this:

Skype Line URI

These are two common normalizations for a 4 digit extension: