White Paper
All contents are Copyright © 1992–2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 4 of 18
Cisco EEM is a powerful and flexible automation technology that helps administrators to set
custom policies that control what actions a switch should dynamically take when particular events
occur.
At a later time, if users decide to unplug their phone and move it to a new location, then removing
the voice configuration on the previous switch port helps to strengthen security. This removal can
be done dynamically when the phone is unplugged, helping reduce administrative costs. This
dynamic switch configuration change is once again enabled by the Cisco EEM feature.
In addition to the EEM-based method of automatically configuring switch ports for voice, Cisco also
offers administrators who use Cisco Network Assistant, the GUI-based network management
application for small and medium-sized business (SMB) networks, another method to quickly
configure switches for voice. When a Cisco Unified IP Phone is plugged in, the Smartports Advisor
feature on the Cisco Catalyst switch can automatically send a dialogue box prompt to the Cisco
Network Assistant management interface. The administrator then has the option to apply the
appropriate Smartports voice macro (described later in the paper) to that switch port, simplifying
the Cisco Catalyst switch configuration for voice.
Additional Cisco technologies, such as Smartports macros or AutoQoS macros, can be used to
simplify and increase the accuracy of voice configurations on Cisco Catalyst switches. Cisco
Smartports macros include a suite of voice-critical macros and templates that can be applied to
any Cisco Catalyst switch port (for example, the Cisco Catalyst 6500, Catalyst 4500, Catalyst
3750, Catalyst 3560, and Catalyst Express 500) to make configuration much simpler. These
macros are based on Cisco best practices and experience with running IP Communications in the
network. With a standard or customized Cisco Smartports macro, an administrator no longer has
to log into each network switch port and configure all the parameters for ports that support IP
Communications, including such parameters as voice VLANs, port security, Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) snooping, and Spanning Tree PortFast. Instead, the company can
automatically upload a single template to a switch that includes all the proper settings. Cisco
Smartports macros do not function in third-party or multivendor network environments, translating
into loss of a powerful cost- and time-saving tool. Administrators can also develop custom
Smartports macros that take advantage of other time-savings Cisco technologies, such as
AutoQoS.
Cisco developed AutoQoS macros in response to customer demand for a faster way to deploy
QoS configurations, which may have to be set on hundreds or thousands of switch and router
ports to assure optimal voice and video quality, regardless of network congestion. This powerful
feature of Cisco IOS Software automatically handles a range of tasks traditionally done manually,
including classifying applications, generating policies, configuring the proper QoS configurations,
monitoring and reporting to test QoS effectiveness, and enforcing service-level consistency. After
Cisco AutoQoS evaluates a network environment and determines policy, with only one command it
configures the port on an access switch to prioritize voice traffic—and it still offers the flexibility to
adjust and tailor QoS settings to customer-specific requirements. It also automatically monitors
QoS settings and makes this information available in reports, with notification of abnormal events.
In network environments that lack Cisco AutoQoS, applying QoS involves many repetitive steps
that must be applied individually to each switch in the network. Although Cisco AutoQoS enhances
the operation of voice traffic from any source, it has been specifically optimized and tested only on
a Cisco end-to-end infrastructure. Cisco has completed extensive benchmarking encompassing
thousands of hours to deliver the highest compatibility of Cisco AutoQoS across Cisco switches,
routers, and IP phones.