General

This section provides an introduction to the web interface, requirements, and frequently used interface elements of Operations Monitor.

Requirements

Operations Monitor runs in any major web browser without extra plug-ins or add-ons.

Note:

Operations Monitor does not require Flash, Java or Microsoft Silverlight.

For information on the web browsers on which we test the web interface, see the Session Monitor 5.0 Release Notes.

In order to use the web interface of Operations Monitor, you must enable Javascript. It is recommended that you enable HTTP cookies for features such as remembering login credentials and the state of tables.

Interface Arrangement

On the left side of the Operations Monitor web user interface is the navigation pane. This navigation bar allows access to many of the features of Operations Monitor.

The right side of the Operations Monitor menu bar displays your username, which contains a list with following options:

My Profile for user settings.
Settings for administrative features.
License for the Oracle Communications Session Monitor license terms.
About the product for the Operations Monitor copyright information.
Help for access to the Operations Monitor online manual.
Setup to access the Session Monitor Platform Setup Application.
Logout to sign out.

Figure 3-1 Interface Arrangement

Language Selection

Currently, the Operations Monitor 5.0 Release supports only English language.

Panels

When you click an element in the navigation pane, a panel appears in the center of the browser window. This panel is a user interface element that displays data.

Many panels can be added to your dashboard for at-a-glance viewing. For more information, see the Dashboard section.

To collapse panels and display titles only, you can click the angle-bracket in the upper-right hand corner.

Figure 3-2 Panels

Another common user interface element is the tab panel.

Figure 3-3 Tabs Panel

Tooltips and Help

In the title bar of each panel is a ?-symbol. This is the information box. When you hover over the information box, a tooltip provides a brief description of the panel. When you click the ?-symbol, the corresponding section of the user manual appears in a new browser window or tab describing the panel and its functions.

Other user interface elements support tooltips. Hovering over an element with the mouse pointer often brings up a small box explaining the element underneath.

Windows

You may encounter modal windows overlaid on the user interface, similar to the windows of your desktop environment. These windows can be dragged by their title bar, and closed by clicking on the x -symbol or pressing the ESC key. These windows also contain Help and Close buttons at the bottom. The Help button opens the online Help in a new window, describing the current page and its functionality.

Refresh Button

Some areas of the interface contain a Refresh button that controls the update interval for the content of the page, panel, or section. It is identified by a circle of dots (flashing during refresh). Click the button once to refresh the corresponding content. It also contains a drop-down list to set the interval for the Auto Refresh.

Figure 3-4 Refresh Panel Data

Tables

The tables used in the Operations Monitor user interface offer some features to make the data most useful to you.

To adjust tables, hover above a column header. A down-arrow appears on the right side of the column header. To access the table menu, click the down arrow. The table menu options may differ depending on the data presented in the table.

Filters

Tables such as Calls, Registrations support the Filters feature. If a table column can be filtered, the Filters button is visible on the table menu bar.

Figure 3-5 Filters

String Filter Filters the table to display rows that contain the entered value as a sub-string. The input value is not exclusive. This filter menu provides a text field for entering the string.
Numeric Comparison Filter Restricts the table to rows where the comparison of the column value with the entered numeric results is 'true'. This filter menu provides three fields, one for each of the supported operators ( >, <, =). The = field cannot be used simultaneously with any of the other fields.
Date Comparison Filter Restricts the table to rows where the column value in the selected date range. This filter menu provides three items for choosing a date ( Before, After, On). With Before and After you can select the rows where the time stamp of the column values lies before and/or after the chosen day. With On you can select the rows of only the chosen day.
List Filter Restricts the table to rows where the column values contains the selected value. This filter menu provides a list of possible values, which you can choose by selecting or deselecting the corresponding check box.

Hiding and Unhiding Columns in Tables

You can choose to hide or unhide certain columns in each table.

In the Table view, drag the column separator to adjust the width of the column. The column width is maintained even after you log out of Session Monitor.
Select or deselect the check box to the left of each entry to select the entire row.
Click Set Columns to see a list of the available controls for hiding or unhiding columns for this table.

Figure 3-6 Set Columns window

Table 3-1 Set Columns Icons

Icons	Description
Figure 3-7 Drag to Reorder	Drag the tool next to the column name to reorder the column's appearance in the Table view.
Figure 3-8 Remove a Column	Click the tool next to the column to remove the column from the Table view. You can remove all columns, but for one, to save the changes made.
Figure 3-9 Drag to Add Column	In the Other Columns section, use the Drag tool to add the column to be displayed in the Table view, and also use this tool to reorder the position of the column in the display.
Figure 3-10 Append Column	In the Other Columns section, use the Add tool to append the column to be displayed in the Table view. You can add all columns to the current view.
Reset Columns	Deletes any customization made to the columns displayed, and reverts to the Default display of columns.

You can see the Set Columns controls in the following pages:

Registrations
Subscriptions
Dashboard panels for Calls, Registrations, and Subscriptions
Devices
User Tracking
IP Tracking

Pagination

Note the paging toolbar at the bottom of tables. The presence of this toolbar means that the table offers page-wise access to its data:

Figure 3-11 Paging Toolbar

Click Now to show current data.
Click Auto Refresh to toggle auto refresh to On or Off. The Auto Refresh button displays animation to indicate that the data is being refreshed.
Click the Calendar control to show data for a specific date.
Click the Next or Previous button to go to the next or previous page.
Click Stop to stop the loading data into the table.

Quick User Inspection

Tables such as Recent calls, Registrations, and the user table in User Devices have context menu entries to quickly trace or track a user. You can right-click on a table row to track or trace the user (in the Recent calls table, you can quickly inspect both the caller and the callee). For more information, see the Recent Calls, Registrations, and User Devices sections.

Figure 3-12 Context Menu for Calls

Charts

You may encounter metric charts that display values of a numeric property over a certain time span. Metric charts provide two important features:

Adjusting the temporal resolution.
Panning of the visible portion along the time line.

Figure 3-13 Charts

Details of the chart are displayed in a pop-up box on hovering the mouse over the chart. If more than 1 metric is selected to be displayed in the chart, they are color coded to indicate the different metrics

Adjusting the temporal resolution can be achieved using the Zoom buttons in the bottom-right corner of the chart. The buttons correspond to resolutions of five minutes to thirty days.

Operations Monitor's time-lined charts can be updated by clicking the Refresh button. This button also offers Automatic Refresh functionality from the button's drop-down list. For more information, see the Refresh Button section.

Controls Used in Panning a Chart

To pan the chart: click Right scroll or Left scroll buttons and drag. When you click Right scroll, the visible area is shifted further left (further in the past) on the time line. When you drag it to the left, the visible area is shifted further right (nearer to the present) on the time line.

Click Show Interval in Grid to filter the table to the time interval of the chart

Note:

Panning stops the automatic refresh of a chart. Automatic refresh is re-enabled after clicking on the Now button at the bottom of the chart.

Figure 3-14 Charts

Working with Message Flows

A message flow is a diagram of a call event or a registration event. The message flow displays the network devices involved in the call event or registration event and the protocol messages that have been exchanged between the network devices. For more information on how to configure the hosts on which the network devices run, see the Platform Devices section.

Displaying a Message Flow

To display a message flow of a call event or a registration event:

In a web browser, log in to Operations Monitor.
The Operations Monitor window appears.
In the navigation pane under Operations , do one of the following:
- To display a message flow for a call event:
1. Click Calls.
  The Calls page opens in the main display.
2. In the Recent calls table, right-click the row for which to display the call event's message flow and select Message flow.
  
  The Message Flow for Call: caller and callee window appears.
  
  where caller is the number that initiated the call and callee is the call number that received the call.
  
  Note:
  Message flows for a call event can also be displayed by right-clicking on the call row and selecting Message flow in the Calls going through this device tab on the Devices page.
  
  Figure 3-15 Message Flow
- To display a message flow for a registration event:
1. Click Registrations.
  The Registrations page opens in the main display.
2. In the Registrations table, select a registration event for which to display a registration message flow.
3. From the Registrations table tool bar, click the Message flow button.
  
  The Registration registration_number window appears.
  
  where registration_number is the number of the registration event.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Arranging Message Flows

In order to compare the network devices and protocol messages contained in multiple call events or registration events, you can open multiple message flows to view side-by-side in the same browser window, or you can open multiple message flows to view side-by-side in multiple browser windows.

To adjust the message flow window to fit in your browser screen, view a message flow in a new browser window, resize the message flow window, or view more of the message flow, do one or more of the following:

To adjust the width of the sequence diagram within the message flow window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Zoom in or Zoom out icons accordingly.
To view more of the message flow without resizing the message flow's window. Inside the message flow window, drag the message flow, or use the message flow window's scroll bar.
To view the message flow in another browser window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Open in a new window button.
To refresh the message flow window. In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Refresh button. For more information, see the Refresh Button section.
To select the parameters that must appear in the Device map, click the View drop-down list and select the parameters.
To select the devices that must appear in the Device map, click the Devices drop-down list and select the devices.

Customizing the Display of Contents within Message Flows

The contents displayed in the sequence diagram, protocol messages, and network devices within the message flow are customizable.

To customize the display of contents within message flows:

Verify that the message flow is displayed.
In the message flow window's toolbar, select the View menu.
From the View menu, select or de-select one or more of the following check boxes:
Enter the text of the second step here.
- Pin Devices
  When enabled, the devices are always visible at the top of the scrolling area.
- Unwind messaging
  By default, each network device appears only once and a transaction arrow is drawn for each message that passes between the hosts. When several messages are exchanged between two particular network devices, it becomes difficult to distinguish the call legs. When enabled, each call leg is drawn separately, which results in a wider diagram. Hosts that appear multiple times contain a number suffix, which is the number of times the host appears.
- Resolve IP addresses
  When enabled, Operations Monitor creates a reverse DNS lookup on the IP addresses of the network devices.
- Duplicates
  For retransmissions, only one SIP message appears. Enable this option to display all duplicate messages.
- Transport protocol
  When enabled, the message flow displays the transport protocol (TCP or UDP).
- IP addresses
  When enabled, the message flow displays the IP addresses for the source and destination of the message.
- MAC addresses
  When enabled, this option displays the MAC addresses for the source and destination of the message. In a scenario where one server is realized by several machines, this can be used to determine which machine was used to process the request.
- OPC/DPC
  When enabled, this option displays the originating point code (OPC) and the destination point code (DPC) for the source and destination of the message.
- Codecs
  When enabled, the message flow displays the media codecs of the caller and the callee. If the codecs are the same for the both the caller and the callee after the INVITE transaction is completed, the codecs are grouped.
- Absolute Time
  By default, the information below a transaction arrow displays the time that has passed after the first message was seen. When enabled, the date and time are displayed for each transaction arrow.
- Media
  When enabled, protocol messages for media transport, such as RTP, are displayed in addition to the signal.
  
  Note:
  For some protocols, the raw message is not available.
- DTMF Events
  When enabled, protocol messages for RTP events of the type DTMF are visible. The DTMF event will show the name and code of the tone. For tones 0-9 the name and the code are the same.
```
DTMF Event '2' (2)
DTMF Event '#' (11)
```
  Requires the View DTMF tones permission to be visible. See User Permissions.
- SIP URIs
  When enabled, the transaction arrows display the recipient's URI.
- Hide SIP Methods
  This submenu allows you to hide certain types of SIP messages based on their method. For example, enabling OPTIONS will remove all SIP messages from the diagram that have the method OPTIONS.
- MEGACO
  This submenu allows you to hide selected MEGACO message properties.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Customizing the Visibility and Position of Network Devices within Message Flows

By default, all networking devices are displayed in the message flow in the order of the call event transaction or the registration event transaction. The visibility and position of a network device is customizable in a message flow.

To customize the visibility and position of network devices within message flows:

Verify that the message flow is displayed.
In the message flow window's toolbar, select the Devices menu.
Do one or both of the following:
- To hide a network device, deselect the check box of the network device you want to hide. Alternatively, select the check box of the network device you want to display.
- To reposition a device in the sequence diagram, select the check box row of the network device you want repositioned and drag the check box row to the position you require. See the following figure.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Figure 3-16 Devices in the Device Map

Viewing Individual Protocol Messages

Protocol messages of the sniffed packet can be viewed and saved. For more information on saving a protocol message, see "Saving a Message Flow as an HTML File".

Each protocol message is numbered in brackets in the order of the call event transaction or the registration event transaction between the network devices.

To view individual protocol messages:

Verify that the message flow is displayed.
In the message flow, click the message type you wish to view, which appears above the message transaction arrow.
The Message transaction_number window appears.
where transaction_number is the number associated with the order of the transaction between the network devices.
(Optional) Resize, or move the protocol message by dragging the title bar of the protocol message's window to the required position within the message flow.
When you have finished viewing the protocol message, click the Close icon in the protocol message window's title bar.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Figure 3-17 Individual Protocol Message Window

Note:

The maximum number of messages for a flow is limited. You can change the limit value in System Settings. For more information, see "System Settings".

Viewing Call Event ISUP Protocol Messages

When a call event contains ISDN User Part (ISUP) binary content, you can view the ISUP binary content as human readable text.

To view call event ISUP protocol messages:

Verify that the message flow is displayed.
In the message flow, click the message type identified by [1], which appears above the message transaction arrow.
The Message transaction_number window appears.
Scroll down the protocol message until you see the Content-Type header. Do one of the following:
- If the Content-Type header's value contains either, multipart/mixed and one of the multiple parts is application/ISUP, or application/ISUP, go to step 4.
  For example:
  
  Content-Type:application/ISUP;boundary=A6B35A2329D0F2312C9F4692
- If the Content-Type header's value does not contain either, multipart/mixed and one of the multiple parts is application/ISUP, or application/ISUP, close the protocol message and click the next message.
Scroll down the protocol message until you see the decode ISUP body link.
Click the decode ISUP body link.
The ISUP binary content is decoded into human readable text and an ISUP message contained in Message transaction_number window appears.
When you have finished viewing the ISUP message, click the Close icon in the ISUP protocol message window's title bar.
When you have finished viewing the protocol messages, click the Close icon in the protocol message window's title bar.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Saving a Message Flow as an HTML File

You can save a message flow as an HTML file on your computer to view at another time or share with others. This is important when diagnosing issues.

To save a message flow as an HTML file:

Verify that the message flow is displayed.
In the message flow window's toolbar, click the Download button.
The Save As dialog box appears.
Browse to the directory in which you want to save the HTML file.
(Optional) In the File name text box, enter a file name for the HTML file.
By default, HTML files are named message-flow.html.
Click Save.
Press the ESC key, which closes the message flow window.

Saving a Call Event Message Flow as a PDF File

You can save a call event message flow as a PDF file.

To save a call event message flow as a PDF file:

In the navigation pane under Operations, click Calls.
The Calls page opens in the main display.
In the Recent calls table, right-click the row for which to create a call event PDF report file and select PDF report. The Create Report window appears.

Figure 3-18 Create Report

By default, few of the Report Content options are enabled as shown in the screenshot options are selected.
In the Report Content section, deselect the options you do not require in your report. Do not deselect the Messages option.
(Optional) In the Additional Info section's Report Comment (optional) text box, enter information about the report.
(Optional) In the Additional Info section's, Filename (optional) text box, enter a file name for the report.
By default, PDF files are named CallReport- YMDHMS-callid .pdf

where
- YMDHMS is the syntax for year, month, day, hour, minutes, and seconds that the file was generated.
- callid is the call event's identifier.
Click the Create button.
The Save As dialog box appears.
Browse to the directory in which you want to save the call event PDF file and click Save.
Click the Cancel button, which closes the Create Report window.

Note:

Because the decoded binary ISUP content can be lengthy, only two levels of information are displayed in the PDF report.

BICC Support

You can distinguish between ISUP and BICC messages by the protocol name looking at the Ladder Diagram section.

Currently, OCSM supports BICC calls with only SCTP transport layer protocol. Ensure that you enable the system setting SCTP quick push to see BICC calls on the Calls page. To enable the capture of BICC messages, enable SIP/ISUP from the Signaling Protocols page in PSA.

Note:

The platform device type must be STP to correlate BICC and ISUP messages.
The platform device type must be SGW to correlate BICC and SIP messages.

OCSM supports correlation among BICC, SIP, and ISUP messages. Apps such as Call count, Calls containing keywords, response code search apply to BICC calls in the same way as they apply to ISUP calls. Export of BICC calls is supported.

Limitations: ISUP and BICC protocols have very similar set of messages and hence, in the GUI, there is no way to differentiate ISUP and BICC signaling messages in a correlated call. A distinction between BICC and ISUP calls can be made by looking at the Message Flow information. Here messages are marked as 'ISDN User Part' and 'Bearer Independent Call Control'. There is also a difference in the size of the CIC for a BICC and ISUP message.

System Setting to Enable BICC Support

Support for BICC Protocol is the system setting that allows you to enable or disable the support of BICC signaling messages by OCOM.

You can access this system setting admin > settings > System Management > System Settings. This system setting is disabled by default..

Note:

The existing system settings which are applicable to ISUP protocol messages are applicable for the BICC protocol messages also. The system settings associated with ISUP messages have similar impact on ISUP and BICC messages.

Viewing BICC Calls in the Recent Calls Page

In the Calls Page You can filter BICC calls based on Originating Point Code (OPC) and Destination Point Code (DPC).

BICC messages along with OPC/DPC values are displayed in Recent Calls table. As the payload section of ISUP and BICC frames are very similar and these messages cannot be differentiated by protocol/message name in the GUI, as of now.

Calls page - The format of OPC/DPC supported is either ITUT(3-8-3) or ANSI(8-8-8) format. Currently, Operations Monitor does not support filtering with decimal value equivalent of OPC/DPC configured in ITUT/ANSI format, in the Device settings.

Figure 3-19 Viewing BICC calls in the Recent Calls Page

Viewing BICC Messages in the Call Info Window

A list of BICC messages along with it's details are shown completely in the Messages tab of the Call Info window.

In the ladder diagram, detail of each BICC message is shown.

BICC Advanced Metrics

The following is the list of KPIs that are updated when BICC messages are received.

In 'Advanced metrics', the following list of KPIs can be defined with certain range of Q 850 cause codes.

Number of ISUP Q 850 cause codes
Number of calls with Q 850 cause codes
Number of ISUP calls with Q 850 cause codes
Number of ingress legs with Q 850 cause code
Number of ISUP ingress legs with a Q 850 cause code