.. _concepts-users-and-subscribers:

Users and Subscribers
-----------------------

Overview
...........

Users become subscribers in VOSS Automate when they're provisioned with services. 

The concept of a VOSS Automate user allows you to stage users into 
VOSS Automate 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. For example, once a 
VOSS Automate 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 Automate User * Exists only on VOSS Automate.
                   * Represents VOSS Automate 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 Automate 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 Automate user 
                     is sent to a downstream UC app.
                   * Exists only at site level on VOSS Automate. 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**).

================== ===============================================================================================



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 Automate user, to subscriber. 

#. Sync user from LDAP into VOSS Automate. A VOSS Automate user is created. 
#. Move the VOSS Automate 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 Automate users to a UC application, such as 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 Automate. These users remain as VOSS Automate users (a corresponding subscriber is not 
   created). 


.. rubric:: Additional Functionality of VOSS Automate User

VOSS Automate users also allow: 

===================== ===================================================
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. 
===================== ===================================================



VOSS Automate User and Corresponding Subscriber
.................................................

All subscribers have a corresponding VOSS Automate user. This allows the user to sign
in to VOSS Automate (using either local authentication, LDAP authentication, or SSO
authentication), and to track the provisioning status. 

You can create a subscriber directly, via:   

* The Admin portal
* Bulk load
* Cisco Unified CM sync

A VOSS Automate 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 Automate 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 UC application end user is created, 
and disappears when the UC application end user is deleted (either on the UC application, such as 
Cisco Unified CM directly or from VOSS Automate). 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 (such as the Cisco Unified CM end user), the
subscriber is available to view in the list view. When the UC application
data is deleted (such as the Cisco Unified CM end user), the subscriber disappears.

Unlike VOSS Automate users, there is no local data in VOSS Automate 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 UC applications 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 UC application, such as adding or deleting end users, 
   appear in VOSS Automate 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 Automate 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 Automate 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>