Administering Siebel Communications Server

This chapter describes how to configure and run Siebel Communications Server components, including how to enable session communications for your applications. It includes the following topics:

Siebel Server Requirements for Siebel Communications Server

In order for you to be able to use Siebel Communications Server within your enterprise, you must ensure the following requirements for the Siebel Server.

When you configure the Siebel Server after installation, you must include the Communications Management (CommMgmt) component group.
You must enable the Communications Management component group.

The topics that follow describe the Siebel Communications Server components and describe additional Siebel Server requirements.

Note: For more information about running, configuring, or monitoring Siebel Server components, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

This topic contains the following information:

Server Components for Siebel Communications Server

The Communications Management component group includes these server components:

Communications Session Manager (CommSessionMgr). Supports multichannel user-interactive sessions for agents using the communications toolbar for voice, email, or other types of work items. For more information, see Enabling Session Communications and Administering Communications Session Manager.
Communications Configuration Manager (CommConfigMgr). Loads and caches communications configuration data for agents using functions supported by Communications Session Manager. For more information, see Administering Communications Configuration Manager.
Communications Inbound Receiver (CommInboundRcvr). Receives inbound work items and, in some deployments, queues them for processing by Communications Inbound Processor. Work items can include email messages (for Siebel Email Response). For more information, see Siebel Email Administration Guide.
Communications Inbound Processor (CommInboundProcessor). For deployments of Siebel Email Response supporting nonreal-time work items, this component processes inbound work items that were queued by Communications Inbound Receiver. For more information, see Siebel Email Administration Guide.
Communications Outbound Manager (CommOutboundMgr). Processes outbound communications, for email, fax, wireless messages, or page channels. Supports communication requests, whether directly or through Siebel Workflow. Also supports outbound capabilities for Siebel Email Response and for the Send Email, Send Fax, and Send Wireless Message commands. For more information, see Siebel Email Administration Guide.
Page Manager (PageMgr). Used to send pages by the Send Page command. Also used by some workflow processes in Siebel Workflow. For more information about setting up and using Page Manager, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.
Email Manager (MailMgr). Used to send email by some workflow processes in Siebel Workflow. For more information about setting up and using Email Manager, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

Running Siebel Communications Server in Heterogeneous Server Environments

Siebel Communications Server supports heterogeneous server environments. Because Communications Server components such as Communications Session Manager load driver library files, the applicable components must be enabled on the same platform that the driver was developed for. For heterogeneous operation, the Application Object Manager can run in parallel on a different platform. For more information, see the Certifications tab on My Oracle Support, and see also About Communications Drivers and Profiles.

Using Siebel Server Load Balancing with Siebel Communications Server

If you use Siebel Server load balancing to implement load balancing among multiple instances of Siebel Server, then, for each Siebel Server participating in load balancing, you must enable the Communications Management component group, as noted, and enable or start any applicable Communications Server components.

If you are also using Communications Session Manager, then you must set the Enable Communication parameter to True for each Application Object Manager instance. For more information about enabling communications, see Enabling Session Communications.

Note: Siebel Server load balancing does not load balance requests for Siebel Communications Server. Rather, in this case the Application Object Manager from which a Communications Server request is made is load-balanced and requires that the necessary Communications Server components be enabled and running.

For more information about installing and configuring Siebel Server and Siebel Server load balancing, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using and Siebel System Administration Guide.

Enabling Session Communications

Interactive session-based communications can be enabled for employees who use the Siebel Web Client or the Siebel Developer Web Client (the Siebel Mobile Web Client in connected mode).

Note: The Siebel Developer Web Client is supported for administration, development, and troubleshooting usage scenarios only.

Session-based Communications Server functionality can be accessed either through server components or business services, depending on your Siebel client deployment choices.

Note: This topic applies only to enabling communications activities that use the communications toolbar or menu commands for handling voice and email channels for interactive communications.

For information about using the communications toolbar and menu items, see Using the Communications Toolbar and Using Communications Menu Commands.

For information about the communications architecture, see About Siebel Communications Server Architecture.

This topic contains the following information:

About Communications Session Modes

Supported modes of operation for session communications are as follows:

Siebel Web Client. Server-based communications session. (Most customers are likely to use this mode.)
Siebel Developer Web Client. Two modes are available:
- Server-based communications session
- Local communications session

Server-based communications sessions use the Communications Session Manager server component. Local communications sessions do not use this component, but rather perform communications processing locally.

The Communications Client and Communications Session Manager business services run on the Application Object Manager for Siebel Web Client deployments. These business services run locally for Siebel Developer Web Client deployments.

To enable communications, you configure the Siebel Web Client through the Application Object Manager. You configure Siebel Developer Web Client through the application configuration file, such as uagent.cfg for Siebel Call Center.

Prerequisites for Enabling Session Communications

In order for agents to be able to use communications features, you must set up your communications environment. For more information, see Process of Configuring Siebel CTI. In particular:

Siebel communications-related products (such as Siebel CTI, or Siebel Email Response) must be licensed, configured, and available. Applicable third-party communications systems also must be configured and available.
For scenarios requiring the Communications Session Manager or Communications Configuration Manager server component, these Siebel Server components must be enabled and running. Also, they must be available for the instances of the Application Object Manager that connect to them for each agent’s communications session.
Call center users must have been defined as agents within a communications configuration, as described in Specifying Agents. (Demo users are predefined in the sample communications configuration data.)
For CTI (voice-call handling), telesets and extensions must be defined, and the telesets must be associated with actual users who run the Siebel application.

Parameters for Application Object Manager and Siebel Developer Web Client

This topic describes the parameters for the Application Object Manager (for Siebel Web Client) and Siebel Developer Web Client. These parameters are described in the following table.

Note: The Siebel Developer Web Client is supported for administration, development, and troubleshooting usage scenarios only.

The type of client that you use determines how the parameters are specified:

For deployments of the Siebel Web Client, parameters are specified as server component parameters for the Application Object Manager that is to support communications users.
For deployments of the Siebel Developer Web Client (where applicable), parameters are specified in the [Communication] section of the application configuration file, such as uagent.cfg for Siebel Call Center, for each communications user’s Siebel client.

Note: For the parameters listed in the following table, if the parameter value is changed while the Application Object Manager is running, then the changed value affects communications sessions for all users who log in subsequently.

Table Object Manager and Developer Web Client Parameters for Communications Sessions

Parameter Name	Display Name	Default Value	Description
CommConfigCache	Communication Configuration Cache	False	Enables or disables the caching of communications configuration data on the Application Object Manager. Note: This parameter applies to the Siebel Web Client only, not to the Siebel Developer Web Client. When CommConfigCache is True, after the first agent logs in, subsequent agent logins for the same configuration download the configuration data from the cache. This speeds up the login process and reduces memory usage for each agent session. This parameter can be used with or without the Communications Configuration Manager component and the CommConfigManager parameter. For more information, see the description of the CommConfigManager parameter.
CommConfigManager	Communication Configuration Manager	False	Enables or disables use of the Communications Configuration Manager (CommConfigMgr) for loading and caching communications configuration data to reduce configuration downloads. When this parameter is False, communications configuration data is loaded separately for each agent session, with no caching. When this parameter is True, Communications Configuration Manager is employed to load and cache communications configuration data. After the first agent logs in, subsequent agents using the same configuration download the configuration data from the cache, thereby speeding up the login process. For more information, see Administering Communications Configuration Manager.
CommConfigManager Name	Communication Configuration Manager Name	CommConfigMgr	Specifies the name of the Communications Configuration Manager server component to use when the parameter CommConfigManager is True. A global deployment might, for example, use different components for different languages within the same enterprise.
CommEnable	Enable Communication	False	Enables or disables session-based communications for agents. When this parameter is True, the communications toolbar and menu elements are displayed and activated for agents who are associated with a configuration. When this parameter is False, the communications toolbar and menu elements are not displayed. If an agent is not associated with a configuration, then the communications toolbar is not displayed, even if CommEnable is True. Enabling communications has many additional requirements, which are described in Configuring Siebel CTI
CommLocalDriver	Local Communication Driver	False (as component parameter) True (as configuration file parameter for Siebel Developer Web Client)	Specifies on which computer interactive communications drivers are loaded by the channel manager for each agent communications session: For either the Siebel Web Client or the Siebel Developer Web Client: when this parameter is False, interactive drivers are loaded on the Siebel Server computer where Communications Session Manager is running. For the Siebel Developer Web Client: if this parameter is True in the configuration file, then interactive drivers are loaded on each agent’s Siebel client. For the Siebel Web Client: if this parameter is True on the Application Object Manager, then interactive drivers are loaded on the Application Object Manager. For more information, see Administering Communications Session Manager.
CommLogDebug	Log Debug Message	False	Specifies whether the log file specified with the CommLogFile parameter must contain extra detail.
CommLogFile	Log File	SComm.log	Specifies the name of the log file to create for each agent’s communications session. For example, where the parameter is set to SComm.log, files named SComm_user.log are created, where user is each agent’s Siebel login name. These files are written in the `log` subdirectory of the Siebel Server or Siebel Developer Web Client installation directory.
CommMaxLogKB	Maximum Log Size (KB)	1024	Specifies the maximum size, in Kilobytes, of log files specified using CommLogFile.
CommMaxMsgQ	Maximum Message Queue	64	The maximum number of messages to be queued for the agent’s communications toolbar. If the number of messages exceeds the maximum, then the oldest message is discarded. For example, with the default value of 64, the most recent 64 messages are queued. If a 65th message arrives, then the oldest message in the queue is discarded in order for the new message to be received. It is recommended that you use the default setting unless you require changing it. If you set this value too low, then older messages might be deleted in some cases, such as in a slow network environment. If you set this value too high, then server resources might be overused, by storing many messages for agents who experience browser problems that interrupt the session. The behavior is also subject to the general session timeout defined for Siebel Web Client deployments. If an agent’s session times out, then all toolbar messages for the session are cleared.
CommReleaseLogHandle	Release Log Handle	True	True indicates that the log file handle for each agent is released after logs have been generated. The default setting of True provides better scalability because the handles are released, but it can slow down performance in some cases. When CommReleaseLogHandle is True, some log files might not be generated if the number of concurrent users exceeds the file-handle capacity provided by the operating system.
CommReqTimeout	Request Timeout	600	Specifies the number of seconds to wait for a response from the Communications Session Manager for a particular communications interaction.

Parameters for Communications Session Manager

Parameters relating to log files can be specified as server component parameters for Communications Session Manager. These parameters are described in the following table.

Note: For the parameters listed in the following table, if the parameter value is changed while the Communications Session Manager is running, then the changed value affects communications sessions for all users who log in subsequently.

Table Communications Session Manager Parameters

Parameter Name	Display Name	Default Value	Description
LogDebug	Log Debug Message	False	Specifies whether the log file specified with the LogFile parameter must contain extra detail.
LogFile	Log File	SComm.log	Specifies the name of the log file to create for each agent’s communications session. For example, where the parameter is set to SComm.log, files named SComm_user.log are created, where user is each agent’s Siebel login name. These files are written in the `log` subdirectory of the Siebel Server installation directory.
MaxLogKB	Maximum Log Size (KB)	1024	Specifies the maximum size, in Kilobytes, of log files specified using LogFile.
ReleaseLogHandle	Release Log Handle	True	Indicates that the log file handle for each agent is released periodically, after logs have been generated. The default setting of True provides better performance. When ReleaseLogHandle is False, some log files might not be generated if the number of concurrent users exceeds the file-handle capacity provided by the operating system.

Enabling Communications Sessions for Siebel Web Client

Users can access communications using the Siebel Web Client by connecting the Web browser to an Applications Object Manager for which server component parameter values are set as described in this topic. For more information about setting server component parameter values, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

To enable or disable session communications for Siebel Web Client users

On each Application Object Manager that is to support users for whom session communications must be available, set the server component parameter CommEnable (Enable Communication) to True. Alternatively, to disable communications, set it to False. To set this parameter, do one of the following:
- Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, then the Servers view. Specify the Siebel Server, and select Call Center Object Manager (for example) in the Components list. Set a value for the Enable Communication parameter in the Parameters list (for this component).
- On the command line, run Siebel Server Manager, specifying your Siebel Gateway, Siebel Enterprise Server, and Siebel Server, as appropriate. In Server Manager, enter (on one line) a command like the following, as appropriate for your Application Object Manager component:
```
change parameter CommEnable=true for component SCCObjMgr_enu
```

After you set the CommEnable parameter value, the change takes effect for each subsequent user login. Optionally, you can ask existing users to log out and log in again. For more information about using Siebel Server Manager (GUI or command line), see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Enabling Communications Sessions for Siebel Developer Web Client

This topic describes how you can enable communications using the Siebel Developer Web Client, which is the Siebel Mobile Web Client in connected mode. Enabling communications is subject to your having the appropriate license keys. Oracle does not support the Siebel Developer Web Client in production environments. It is recommended that you restrict the use of this client to development and test environments. Support for this client in these environments is restricted.

Enabling Communications Using Command-Line Option

You can enable communications in the Siebel Developer Web Client by including the command-line option /ct at the end of the command line, such as in the application shortcut. Any of the Siebel Business Applications can support this command-line option.

Enabling Communications by Modifying Configuration File

You can enable communications in the Siebel Developer Web Client by setting the following parameter in the [Communication] section of the application configuration file, such as uagent.cfg for Siebel Call Center:

CommEnable = True

Administering Communications Session Manager

This topic describes how to administer the server component Communications Session Manager. The short name for this component is CommSessionMgr. This server component uses generic configuration parameters and does not have to be configured. However, you can configure logging parameters. For more information, see Parameters for Communications Session Manager.

Overview of Communications Session Manager

The Communications Session Manager supports multichannel user-interactive sessions for agents using the communications toolbar for voice, email, or other types of work items. It manages agent sessions, for which applicable interactive communications drivers are loaded into memory.

For most Siebel client deployment choices, the Communications Session Manager must be available for the instances of the Application Object Manager that connect to it for each agent’s communications session.

In each case, the component that is employed is identified through the applicable data source for the Siebel application session. For each data source, a specific Siebel Gateway, Siebel Enterprise Server, and Siebel Server are associated. The Communications Session Manager component must be enabled and running on this Siebel Server.

Alternatively, you can specify the following communications configuration parameters, to identify the Communications Session Manager to use:

GatewayAddress. Specify the Siebel Gateway. For example, specify a value like gateway-host.
EnterpriseServer. Specify the Siebel Enterprise Server. For example, specify a value like siebel.
RequestServer. Specify the Siebel Server. For example, specify a value like server-host.
CommSessionMgr. Specify the Communications Session Manager. For example, specify a value like CommSessionMgr.

If an agent logs in using a configuration containing these parameters, then the agent is connected to the component identified by these values. For more information about these parameters, see Specifying Parameters for a Communications Configuration.

For information about how the CommLocalDriver parameter relates to the Communications Session Manager component, see Parameters for Application Object Manager and Siebel Developer Web Client.

When Communications Session Manager Is Unavailable

If the Communications Session Manager stops running or becomes unavailable for some reason, then all connected users (agents) receive the following message in an alert-type dialog box in their browser: Connection to Communications Server is down. Toolbar is reset!

For each such agent, the communications toolbar displays as if no communications driver is loaded. That is, the toolbar is displayed but most of the toolbar buttons are unavailable.

Running Communications Session Manager

When the Communications Management component group is enabled, the Communications Session Manager component is started automatically. For any computer on which you do not want to run Communications Session Manager, configure the Siebel Server not to start it.

Communications Session Manager is a batch-mode component. It relies on the services of the Server Request Broker and Server Request Processor server components. These components must be running on the Siebel Server for communications to be processed successfully.

Note: If your CTI middleware server is restarted, then, depending on the third-party vendor requirements, you might also have to restart the Communications Session Manager server component that connects to it.

For more information about configuring, starting, and stopping Siebel Server components, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Administering Communications Configuration Manager

This topic describes how to administer the server component Communications Configuration Manager. The short name for this component is CommConfigMgr. This server component uses generic configuration parameters and does not have to be configured.

The Communications Configuration Manager enhances application performance when agent communications sessions are initiated. It does this by reducing or eliminating the downloading of communications configuration data for each session. After the first agent login that uses a particular configuration, for all subsequent logins with the same configuration, the configuration is loaded from a cache rather than loaded from the database.

For information about enabling the use of this component using the CommConfigManager parameter, see Parameters for Application Object Manager and Siebel Developer Web Client.

The Communications Configuration Manager must be available for the instances of the Application Object Manager that connect to it for each agent’s communications session.

In each case, the component that is employed is identified through the applicable data source for the Siebel application session. For each data source, a specific Siebel Gateway, Siebel Enterprise Server, and Siebel Server are associated. The Communications Configuration Manager component must be enabled and running on this Siebel Server.

Note: Enable the Communications Configuration Manager only after the communications configuration has been thoroughly tested and you are ready to deploy it to your agents. If any changes are made to the communications configuration, then you must restart the Communications Configuration Manager component in order to refresh the cached configuration data.

Running Communications Configuration Manager

When the Communications Management component group is enabled, the Communications Configuration Manager component is started automatically. For any computer on which you do not want to run Communications Configuration Manager, configure the Siebel Server not to start it.

For more information about configuring, starting, and stopping Siebel Server components, see Siebel System Administration Guide.