This wizard configures devices to make IP telephony work well, even when the switch cluster is also carrying video traffic, critical data traffic, or both.

To use the wizard, you and your network must meet these prerequisites:

Select a description of your network setup: star topology, redundant uplink topology, or U topology.

Tell the wizard which devices are in the access layer and which are in the backbone layer by selecting devices and moving them into the correct lists.

Selecting a device in the Access-Layer Devices list and clicking Add moves it to the Backbone-Layer Devices list. Selecting a device in the Backbone-Layer Devices list and clicking Remove moves it to the Access-Layer Devices list.

This table shows which devices can be in which layers and where you see them listed by default.

Device Layer It Can Belong To Default Layer
Catalyst 3550-12 Backbone Backbone
Catalyst 3550-24 Either Access
Catalyst 3550-48 Either Access
Catalyst 2950 Either Access
Catalyst 3500 XL Access Access
Catalyst 2900 XL Access Access

Tell the wizard which access-layer devices have (or will have) IP telephony connections and which do not by selecting devices and moving them into the correct lists. (By default, the wizard selects any IP phones connected to the interfaces.)

Selecting a device in the Other Access-Layer Devices list and clicking Add moves it to the IP Phone Connection Points list. Selecting a device in the IP Phone Connection Points list and clicking Remove moves it to the Other Access-Layer Devices list.

When you finish, only the devices that have (or will have) IP telephony connections should be in the IP Phone Connection Points list. Only the devices with no IP telephony connections should be in the Other Access-Layer Devices list.

Select the type of IP telephony connection that you will use.

If you will use both connection types, run the wizard once for each type.

At the top of this window you see the name of an access-layer device that has (or will have) IP telephony connections. Tell the wizard which interfaces on the device will be used for IP telephony by:

  1. Selecting one or more interfaces from the Available Interfaces list
  2. Clicking Add to move your selections to the Selected Interfaces list

Interfaces that already have IP telephony connections should be in the Selected Interfaces list by default.

If an interface in the Selected Interfaces list does not have (or will not have) an IP telephony connection, select it and click Remove.

To the right is a table of interfaces whose native VLAN could not be determined. For static-access interfaces, the wizard automatically uses the access VLAN as the native VLAN. For other interfaces, however, you must specify the native VLAN. A default VLAN is provided if you do not know the native VLAN to assign or if you are not familiar with VLANs.

If the Cisco CallManager is directly connected to a cluster member, check the box. Then, from the Host Name and Interface lists, select the device and interface to which the CallManager is connected. The wizard uses your selections to assign the CallManager to the voice VLAN, enabling it to send packets to and receive packets from IP phones.

If the CallManager resides outside the cluster, do not check the box. You have to manually ensure that the CallManager can send and receive traffic on the voice VLAN.

Enter the voice VLAN ID that the IP phones will use.

If your PC is connected (a) directly to the command switch or (b) to a device outside the cluster that is connected to the command switch, click Yes; otherwise, click No.

A connection to the command switch enables the wizard to configure uplinks for voice. Without this connection, you have to manually configure the uplinks to be 802.1Q trunks in a subsequent step.

Because your PC is not connected to the cluster, you must manually configure the cluster uplinks as 802.1Q trunks. At the right you see a list of the uplinks to configure that way. For each one, go to the VLAN window and follow these steps:

  1. Click the Assign VLANs tab.
  2. Select an interface that matches an uplink shown here.
  3. Click Modify.
  4. Set the mode to 802.1Q Trunk.