.. _concepts-users-and-subscribers:
Users and Subscribers
-----------------------
Users become subscribers in VOSS-4-UC when they're provisioned with services.
The primary purpose of a VOSS-4-UC user is to allow you to stage users into
VOSS-4-UC before assigning a site and UC applications. As part of the process
of assigning users with phones and/or services and configuring these in the
downstream UC App, the system creates a subscriber entry for the user. Once a
VOSS-4-UC user is sent to the Cisco Unified CM, a corresponding subscriber
is created in the system.
The table describes the main differences between user and subscribers:
================= ===============================================================================================
VOSS-4-UC User * Exists only on VOSS-4-UC.
* Represents VOSS-4-UC local data associated with a user.
* Includes the user's details.
* Can exist on different hierarchy levels.
* Can be created independently of a user (can exist on its own).
* Can be created on VOSS-4-UC directly or imported from an external source, such as LDAP.
* Becomes a subscriber when it is assigned with phones and/or services.
* Managed via the **Users** page (default menu: **User Management > Users**).
Subscriber * Exists on the UC applications (such as Cisco Unified Communications
Manager, Cisco Unity Connection, Microsoft, Avaya, WebEx).
* Represents UC application data associated with a user.
* Is always associated with a user since it is created once the corresponding VOSS-4-UC user
is sent to a downstream UC app.
* Exists only at site level on VOSS-4-UC. Therefor, before a user is provisioned with
phones and/or services, it must be placed in the relevant site.
* Managed via the **Subscribers** page (default menu: **Subscriber Management >
Subscribers**).
================= ===============================================================================================
.. rubric:: Users, Subscribers, and the User Provisioning Workflow
Both users and subscribers are impacted during user provisioning operations, such as
LDAP sync, Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Cisco Unified CM) sync, or user bulk loading.
A typical "top-down" approach to user provisioning progresses from LDAP, to VOSS-4-UC user, to subscriber.
#. Sync user from LDAP into VOSS-4-UC. A VOSS-4-UC user is created.
#. Move the VOSS-4-UC user to a site (default menu: **User Management > Move Users**)
#. Push the user to the UC applications. The corresponding subscriber can be created from
either of the following:
* **Subscribers** page (default menu: **Subscriber Management > Subscribers**)
* **Quick Add Subscriber** page (default menu: **Subscriber Management > Quick Add Subscriber**).
.. note::
You do not need to send all VOSS-4-UC users to a Cisco Unified CM and have a
corresponding subscriber created; this is the administrator's decision, based
on criteria associated with each user. We recommend that you filter out any users
from LDAP that are not eligible for UC services. It is possible that some
ineligible users cannot be filtered due to missing attributes and thus get synced
into VOSS-4-UC. These users remain as VOSS-4-UC users (a corresponding subscriber is not
created).
.. rubric:: Additional Functionality of VOSS-4-UC User
Besides allowing you to stage users prior to sending to Cisco Unified CM, VOSS-4-UC
users also allows:
===================== ===================================================
LDAP sync The workflows to manage syncing users from LDAP.
LDAP authentication Enabling and disabling LDAP authentication.
SSO Enabling and disabling SSO authentication.
Provisioning status Tracking where the user comes from (LDAP, Cisco
Unified CM, manual configuration), and the
hierarchy the user was originally added to.
Moving users Between hierarchy nodes.
===================== ===================================================
.. rubric:: VOSS-4-UC User and Corresponding Subscriber
All subscribers have a corresponding VOSS-4-UC user. This allows the user to sign
in to VOSS-4-UC (using either local authentication, LDAP authentication, or SSO
authentication), and to track the provisioning status.
You can create a subscriber directly, using either of the following:
* The Admin portal
* Bulk load
* Cisco Unified CM sync
A VOSS-4-UC user instance is created automatically. If staging is not required (such
as when configuring a subscriber directly on a site, using bulk loading), the
administrator does not need to add a VOSS-4-UC user explicitly (as a separate step).
Subscribers provide all of the UC application provisioning logic by distributing
the user configuration to each of the UC applications, and combine most of the
data associated with a user into one logical entity:
* Cisco Unified CM users
* Phones
* Lines
* Extension Mobility profiles
* Remote destinations
* Voicemail
* WebEx users
A subscriber is simply a representation of data in the UC applications. Each subscriber
"comes into existence" when the Cisco Unified CM end user is created,
and disappears when the Cisco Unified CM end user is deleted (either on Cisco Unified CM directly
or from VOSS-4-UC). The subscriber is removed even if there are phones, lines, or profiles
remaining that were previously associated with the corresponding user.
When the UC application data is created (specifically, the Cisco Unified CM End User), the
subscriber is available to view in the list view. When the UC application
data is deleted (in particular, the Cisco Unified CM End User), the subscriber disappears.
Unlike VOSS-4-UC users, there is no local data in VOSS-4-UC that defines the subscriber; it is
all based on data in the UC applications themselves.
In the **Subscribers** list view (default menu: **Subscriber Management > Subscribers**), any
user that has a Cisco Unified CM End User instance appears in the list, regardless of
whether there is any other data associated with the user (such as phone or line).
.. note::
Any changes on the Cisco Unified CM, such as adding or deleting end users,
appear in VOSS-4-UC only after a sync is performed. Refer to the "Data Sync"
section of the Guide for more information on data syncing.
Since subscribers are a representation of the data in the UC applications, they may be
updated either in VOSS-4-UC or in the UC applications directly.
* When updating a subscriber on the **Subscribers** page (default menu: **Subscriber Management > Subscribers**),
the data on the UC application is updated immediately.
* When updating a subscriber directly in the UC applications, the changes are visible in
VOSS-4-UC the next time you view the subscriber.
.. note:
The UC applications provide accurate information about the user configuration
so you can use whichever interface you prefer.
.. rubric:: Related Topics
*
.. raw:: latex
User Provisioning Use Cases in the Core Feature Guide
.. raw:: html
<a href="user-management-and-subscriber-management-use-cases.html">User Provisioning Use Cases</a>
*
.. raw:: latex
Multi-vendor Subscribers in the Core Feature Guide
.. raw:: html
<a href="concepts-multi-vendor-subscribers.html">Multi-vendor Subscribers</a>