Ask the Expert: Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) Version 10.0 - Upgrade, Migration, and New Features Overview

Question

            With Abhiram Kramadhati 
Welcome to the Cisco Support Community Ask the Expert conversation. This is an opportunity to learn and ask questions about the upgrade, migration methods, and new features of the latest released Version 10.0 of Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX) with Cisco expert Abhiram Kramadhati.
Abhiram will address the following on the latest release of Cisco UCCX Version 10.0:
Installation
Upgrade from previous versions - both Linux and Windows   
Migration from MCS to Cisco UCS environment - Different methods and best practices
New features - Overview and limitations
This discussion will center on install and upgrade best practices, changes in hardware support, and migration methods from MCS to Cisco UCS. He can also briefly discuss the new features introduced in 10.0. The discussion focuses the latest versions, but queries about general Cisco UCCX topics can be addressed too if time allows.
Abhiram Kramadhati is an engineer with the Contact Center Backbone group. He has been working with Cisco UCCX since he joined Cisco. During two years at Cisco, he has built his expertise around Cisco UCCX telephony applications, Java Telephony API (JTAPI) integration, Cisco UCCX system behavior, LDAP components, and Cisco UCCX as IP interactive voice response in Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE) environments. He also works on other technologies, including Unified Communications Manager and UCCE. He has been involved in many technical escalations in the Asia Pacific region. Abhiram also holds a CCIE in voice (40065).
For more details about this topic, refer to the recently published Tech-Talk Video and Blog.
Remember to use the rating system to let Abhiram know if you have received an adequate response. 
Abhiram might not be able to answer each question due to the volume expected during this event. Remember that you can continue the conversation in the Voice, Video, and Collaboration  community,  sub-community, Contact Center discussion forum shortly after the event. This event lasts through January 31, 2014. Visit this forum often to view responses to your questions and the questions of other community members.

Answer 1

Hi Anurag,
Thanks for your questions.
1:Is there change in DB architecture as CUIC is the only option as compared to previous linux version UCCX ?
I assume this is from the tables regarding historical data. The database schema essentially remains the same since UCCX 9.0 had CUIC too and we had a seperate DB Space for CUIC and we still continue with that. The traditional historical tables remain and the replication process remains the same too.
2:Is there any version change for Linux OS used as VOS,
The Linux version is Red Hat Linux 5. To be precise:
[root@uccx10pub /]# cat etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.7 (Tikanga)
3:Is there any API architecture change in UCCX 10 from previous releases ?
I can answer this more of an overview. The only enhancement in the API side is the introduction of REST API step in the script editor. You can now make REST calls from the script and this ofcourse opens up a whole new world of possiblities.
4:Since from UCCX 10 , we can only use either CAD or Finnesse at one  time, whats the impact of changing this after some time in production,  let say , i used CAD for 2 months and then i decided to move to Finesse,  whats the impact ? or is it a smooth change as switching CUIC and HRC  in previoius release ?
For the scenario you mentioned, there is absolutely no problem. The point to note is that the Finesse services are activated/deactivated but the CAD desktop services are ALWAYS running. The only condition to keep in mind is that you can use ONLY ONE type of agent desktop at any time.  Also if Finesse is not used and CAD operations are used extensively, it is advisable to shutdown the Finesse service.
5:Is 3rd Party UCS hardware supported by UCCX 10 instead of using Cisco manufactured UCS , can i use HP hardware for Virtualisation ?
Yes, it can be used. This is something called as "Third party specs based specification". The most important things seen for compatibility are:
Inter CPU Model
It it is on thVMWare Hardware Compatibilty List
You can get more information about this on the "Can I use this server?" section of UC Virtualized Hardware page:
http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/UC_Virtualization_Supported_Hardware#.22Can_I_use_this_server.3F.22
6:Is Host name change supported?
Yes, the hostname change is supported. The prcocedure is documented in the UCCX 10.0 Administration Guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cust_contact/contact_center/crs/express_10_0/configuration/guide/UCCX_BK_W1AF9DDD_00_uccx-admin-guide-10.0.pdf (Pg 168)
Cheers,
Abhiram Kramadhati