A P P E N D I X A

Opening a Case With TAC

The Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) provides unparalleled technical support service to Cisco
customers, partners, and resellers. To best meet customer’s needs, TAC provides two types of support:
• Online at the Cisco TAC Web Site www.cisco.com/tac
• Via email/phone through the TAC Escalation Center
When you need help from the TAC, you have three options for opening a case with the TAC:
1. Web Access
The TAC Service Request Tool automates the process of opening a case with TAC. The Service
Request Tool is available around-the-clock at the following URL:
http://tools.cisco.com/ServiceRequestTool/create/launch.do
The TAC Service Request Tool automatically suggests solutions during the case open process. This
provides the opportunity for you to resolve your issue before you actually open a case. If you must
open a case, the TAC Service Request Tool allows you to check its status and add updates.
You can also use Technical Documentation and Support web site, a detailed collection of tools and
technical documents written by TAC engineers, to analyze common issues and provide solutions that
is available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/index.html
2. Email Access
A case may also be opened via email by sending a message to [email protected].
3. Phone Access
There are several different phone numbers to use when calling the TAC depending on your location
in the world. The current numbers are listed below:

Region Telephone Number

Asia-Pacific +61 2 8448 7107
North America 1 800 553 2447
EMEA +32 2 704 5555

You can also check the TACWeb site for local access phone numbers.

Note Opening a case via the web or e-mail automatically defaults it to a priority 3 or 4 case.
If you have a priority 1 or 2 case, you should open the case with the GCC via phone.

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 Appendix A Opening a Case With TAC
Information You Will Need

Information You Will Need

When you open a case with the Cisco TAC, you must provide preliminary information to better identify
and qualify the issue. You may need to provide additional information, depending on the nature of the
issue. Waiting to collect the following information upon the engineer's request after opening a case
inevitably results in resolution delay.
• Required Preliminary Information
– Network Layout
– Problem Description
– General Information
• TAC Web
• CCO Cases
• Attachments
• Cisco Live!
• Remote Access

Required Preliminary Information

For all issues, always provide the following information to TAC. Collect and save this information for
use upon opening a TAC case and update it regularly with any changes.
• Network Layout
• Problem Description
• General Information

Network Layout
A detailed description of the physical and logical setup, as well as all the following network elements
involved in the voice network (if applicable):
• Cisco CallManager(s)
– Version (from Cisco CallManager Administration choose Details)
– Number of Cisco CallManagers
– Setup (stand-alone, cluster)
• Unity
– Version (from the Cisco CallManager Administration)
– Integration type
• Applications
– List of installed applications
– Version numbers of each application
• IP/voice gateways

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 Appendix A Opening a Case With TAC
TAC Web

– OS version
– Show tech (IOS gateway)
– Cisco CallManager load (Skinny gateway)
• Switch
– OS version
– VLAN configuration
• Dial plan—Numbering scheme, call routing
Ideally, submit a Visio or other detailed diagram, such as JPG. Using the whiteboard, you may also
provide the diagram through a Cisco Live! session.

Problem Description
Provide step-by-step detail of actions that the user performed when the issue occurs. Ensure the detailed
information includes
• Expected behavior
• Detailed observed behavior

General Information
Make sure that the following information is readily available:
• Is this a new installation?
• If this is a previous version of a Cisco CallManager installation, has this issue occurred since the
beginning? (If not, what changes were recently made to the system?)
• Is the issue reproducible?
– If reproducible, is it under normal or special circumstances?
– If not reproducible, is there anything special about when it does occur?
– What is the frequency of occurrence?
• What are the affected devices?
– If specific devices are affected (not random), what do they have in common?
– Include DNs or IP addresses (if gateways) for all devices that are involved in the problem.
• What devices are on the Call-Path (if applicable)?

TAC Web
Use TAC Web, a detailed collection of tools and technical documents written by TAC engineers, to
analyze common issues and provide solutions. See the presentation covering TAC Web tools and content
that is available to help you use this tool at the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/public/support/tac/home.shtml

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 Appendix A Opening a Case With TAC
CCO Cases

CCO Cases
Opening a case through CCO gives it priority over all other case-opening methods. High priority cases
(P1 and P2) provide an exception to this rule.
Provide an accurate problem description when opening a CCO case. That description of the problem
returns URL links that may provide you with an immediate solution.
If you do not find a solution to your problem, continue the process of sending your case to a TAC
engineer.

Attachments
Attach reports to a case by sending an email to the engineer and attaching a zip file for documents larger
than 100 Kb.
At the following URL, use the Manage a TAC Case section, please login link to log in as a registered
user:
http://www.cisco.com/public/support/tac/contact.shtml

Cisco Live!
Cisco Live!, a secure, encrypted Java applet, allows you and your Cisco TAC engineer to work together
more effectively by using Collaborative Web Browsing / URL sharing, whiteboard, Telnet, and clipboard
tools.
Access Cisco Live! at the following URL:
http://c3.cisco.com/

Remote Access
Remote access provides you with the ability to establish Terminal Services (remote port 3389), HTTP
(remote port 80), and Telnet (remote port 23) sessions to all the necessary equipment.

Caution When setting up dial-in, do not use login:cisco or password:cisco because they constitute a
vulnerability to the system.

You may resolve many issues very quickly by allowing the TAC engineer remote access to the devices
through one of the following methods:
• Equipment with public IP address.
• Dial-in access—In decreasing order of preference: analog modem, Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) modem, virtual private network (VPN).
• Network Address Translation (NAT)—IOS and private Internet exchange (PIX) to allow access to
equipment with private IP addresses.
Ensure that firewalls do not obstruct IOS traffic and PIX traffic during engineer intervention and that all
necessary services, such as Terminal Services, start on the servers.

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 Appendix A Opening a Case With TAC
Cisco Secure Telnet

Note TAC handles all access information with the utmost discretion, and no changes will be made to the
system without customer consent.

Cisco Secure Telnet

Cisco Secure Telnet offers Cisco Service Engineers (CSE) transparent firewall access to
Cisco CallManager servers on your site.
Cisco Secure Telnet works by enabling a Telnet client inside the Cisco Systems firewall to connect to a
Telnet daemon behind your firewall. This secure connection allows remote monitoring and maintenance
of your Cisco CallManager servers without requiring firewall modifications.

Note Cisco accesses your network only with your permission. You must provide a network administrator at
your site to help initiate the process.

Firewall Protection
Virtually all internal networks use firewall applications to restrict outside access to internal host systems.
These applications protect your network by restricting IP connections between the network and the
public internet.
Firewalls work by automatically blocking TCP/IP connections that are initiated from the outside, unless
the software is reconfigured to allow such access.
Corporate networks normally permit communication with the public Internet but only if connections
directed to outside hosts originate from inside the firewall.

Cisco Secure Telnet Design

Cisco Secure Telnet takes advantage of the fact that Telnet connections can easily be initiated from
behind a firewall. Using an external proxy machine, the system relays TCP/IP communications from
behind your firewall to a host behind another firewall at the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
Using this relay server maintains the integrity of both firewalls while supporting secure communication
between the shielded remote systems.

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 Appendix A Opening a Case With TAC
Cisco Secure Telnet Structure

Figure A-1 Cisco Secure Telnet System

Cisco SecureTelnet
Customer Cisco TAC

tndconnect Customer Internet Telnet client

firewall
Telnet Telnet

Cisco
CallManager Relay server TAC engineer
Cisco
firewall

34433
Cisco Secure Telnet Structure
The external relay server establishes the connection between your network and Cisco Systems by
building a Telnet tunnel. This enables you to transmit the IP address and password identifier of your
Cisco CallManager server to your CSE.

Note The password comprises a text string upon which your administrator and the CSE mutually agree.

Your administrator starts the process by initiating the Telnet tunnel, which establishes a TCP connection
from inside your firewall out to the relay server on the public Internet. The Telnet tunnel then establishes
another connection to your local Telnet server, creating a two-way link between the entities.

Note The Telnet client at the Cisco TAC runs in compliance with systems running on Windows NT and
Windows 2000 or with UNIX operating systems.

After the Cisco CallManager at your site accepts the password, the Telnet client that is running at the
Cisco TAC connects to the Telnet daemon that is running behind your firewall. The resulting transparent
connection allows the same access as if the machine were being used locally.
Once the Telnet connection is stable, the CSE can implement all remote serviceability functionality to
perform maintenance, diagnostic, and troubleshooting tasks on your Cisco CallManager server.
You can view the commands sent by the CSE and the responses issued by your Cisco CallManager
server, but the commands and responses may not always be completely formatted.

Where to Find More Information

For detailed information, refer to the Cisco CallManager Serviceability Administration Guide.

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