Understanding and Configuring Meet-Me Conferencing on CUCM

This is a compilation of useful and clarifying notes that I've gathered related to Meet-Me conferencing.  While it appears nice and simple to use and troubleshoot on the surface, this feature (Meet-Me Conferencing) can be a tricky thing to troubleshoot.  I've found that my ability to troubleshoot has improved as my understanding of the technology has improved.

In my real job,  I've occasionally received the trouble report, "I can only get 10 people on my Meet-Me Conference!  I need over a 100!"  Sometimes, it's simply adjusting the service parameter listed below in this blog entry.  Other times, it is not.  That doesn't tell the whole story.  Necessary conference bridge resources are also required, and an understanding of how they will be allocated.  Anyway, here they are - I hope that they help your understanding, or at the very least, encourage some additional study of this topic.

Meet-Me Conferencing Installation Checklist

• Configure the conference bridge(s) that will be used to facilitate the meet-me conferencing feature.  This can be either software or hardware in type.  Note that the initiator must have access to these conference bridge resources by nature of the MRGL assigned to the initiator.
• Configure the Meet-Me Number/Pattern.  This will be the number or range used by Meet-Me Conference initiators.
• Modify the Phone Template (if needed) so that the Meet-Me Conference button is available to only those that can initate the conference.
• If users will use the Join, ConfList, and RmLstC softkeys, modify either the Standard Feature or Standard User softkey template and assign the modified softkey template to the user device.
• Adjust the Maximum MeetMe Conference Unicast service parameter if necessary.

Starting and Joining a Meet-Me Conference

Meet-me conferences require that a range of directory numbers be allocated for exclusive use of the conference. When a meet-me conference is set up, the conference controller chooses a directory number and advertises it to members of the group. The users call the directory number to join the conference. Anyone who calls the directory number while the conference is active joins the conference. This situation applies only when the maximum number of participants that is specified for that conference type is not exceeded and when sufficient streams are available on the conference device.

When you press Meet-Me on the phone in order to initiate a meet-me conference, Cisco Unified Communications Manager considers you the conference controller. The conference controller provides the directory number for the conference to all attendees, who can then dial that directory number to join the conference. If other participants in a meet-me conference press Meet-Me and the same directory number for the conference bridge, the Cisco Unified Communications Manager ignores the signals.

Note:  You do NOT press Meet-Me on the phone to JOIN a meet-me conference.  This is only used to START a conference.

Note:  The conference bridge for a meet-me conference is allocated on the basis of the configured Media Resource Group List (MRGL) for the endpoint that initiates the conference. Cisco Unified Communications Manager does not take into account whether the conference initiator is video-capable to allocate a conference bridge for meet-me conference calls.

Note:  It is also important to consider that any conference resources that are not added to a media resource group becomes a part of the default MRGL and therefore, available for everyone's use.

Increasing Number of Meet-Me Participants or Sessions

Complete these steps in order to increase the number of participants or sessions for a meet-me conference on Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

1. Go to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager web administration page, and choose System> Service Parameters.  Note: Choose Service > Service parameters for Cisco CallManager 4.x.
2. Choose the publisher server from the Server drop-down list.
3. Choose Cisco call manager service from the Service drop-down list.
4. Select the Maximum MeetMe Conference Unicast parameter under the Clusterwide Parameters (Service ) section. You can increase or decrease the meet-me sessions for the conference.

Note: The value of the Maximum MeetMe Conference Unicast field depends on the capabilities of the software/hardware conference bridge. For example, a software conference bridge conferences up to 128 participants. When a conference is created, the system automatically reserves a minimum of three streams. If you specify a value less than three, it allows a maximum of three.

Note:  If the software conference bridge is configured for 48 streams, the Max meetMe conference Unicast is set to ten, and you have four meet-me numbers, you can have up to four meet-me conferences of ten participants each.

More Information
CUCM Administrator's Guide, Release 7.x