System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Configure Core Settings for Device Pools

Publisher

Cisco Systems

URL

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/admin/15/systemConfig/cucm_b_system-configuration-guide-15/cucm_b_system-configuration-guide-14_chapter_0111.html

Published

2026-09-22

Updated

unknown

Accessed

2026-09-24

HTTP status

200

License

Cisco documentation; all rights reserved; no-redistribution; short excerpts and locators only

Source notes citing this source

• Unified CM supports up to 2000 regions. in context
• A region's maximum audio bit rate works as a filter: Unified CM takes the codecs both sides of a call leg share, drops those above the maximum, and picks the preferred codec from the rest. in context
• Unified CM 15 documentation says a device pool can be assigned to phones, gateways, trunks and CTI route points. in context
• Cisco advises against using the default Unified CM server group because the name is not descriptive and can cause confusion. in context
• A Cisco Unified CM Group is a prioritised list of up to three redundant servers: a primary node and up to two backup nodes, with list order setting priority. in context
• Device pools are configured in Cisco Unified CM Administration under System > Device Pool. in context
• The device pool's Connection Monitor Duration sets how long a phone monitors its connection to Unified CM before it unregisters from SRST and reregisters with Unified CM. in context
• The Release 15 device pool chapter lists these device pool settings: Date/Time Group, Region, Phone NTP Reference, Cisco Unified CM Group, Media Resource Group List and SRST Reference. in context
• Cisco groups the core device pool settings into three areas: Network Time Protocol for SIP devices, Regions for bandwidth and audio codecs, and Cisco Unified CM Groups for call-processing redundancy. in context
• In Unified CM, Date/Time Groups define time zones, and the administrator assigns configured Phone NTP References to the appropriate Date/Time Group. in context
• In Unified CM 15, a device pool provides a common set of configurations for a group of devices, so devices inherit the pool's settings instead of each device being configured individually. in context
• Unified CM supports up to 2000 regions. in context
• The User Hold and Network Hold MOH Audio Source fields that sat on the 3.1(2) device pool are not among the device pool settings in the Release 15 chapter, so the 3.1(2) field set should not be assumed to describe current releases. inferred in context
• Within Cisco's Release 15 NTP task flow, the administrator adds an NTP server, chooses Symmetric Key or Autokey authentication, configures Phone NTP References, and then adds a Date/Time Group. in context
• Each device pool has exactly one Unified CM group assigned, and that is how a device gets its Unified CM group. in context
• Cisco says administrators can create as many device pools as they need, typically one per location, though pools can also be organised by function. in context
• When selecting a codec, Unified CM takes the codecs that match on both sides of a call leg and filters out any that exceed the maximum audio bit rate configured between the regions. in context
• For scalability and lower resource use, Cisco recommends using the region default values from the Service Parameters Configuration window wherever possible. in context
• Cisco's Release 15 regions task flow runs in this order: customise audio codec preferences, configure clusterwide defaults for regions, then configure region relationships. in context
• SCCP phones do not need Phone NTP References because they obtain network time from Unified CM directly through SCCP signalling. in context
• For SIP phones on Unified CM, Phone NTP References must be configured and assigned through the device pool, so that each SIP phone is pointed at an appropriate NTP server. in context
• An SRST reference is assigned to devices through the device pool's SRST Reference field. in context
• Cisco's Release 15 core-settings task flow runs in this order: configure Network Time Protocol, configure region relationships, configure Cisco Unified CM Groups, then configure device pools. in context
• Unified CM picks a call leg's audio codec by taking the codecs both sides support, removing those above the region's maximum audio bit rate, and then choosing the most preferred remaining codec from the audio codec preference list. in context

Cite this source record

APA

WarmTransfer. (2026, September 22). System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Configure Core Settings for Device Pools. WarmTransfer. https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/sources/cisco-cucm-sysconfig-15-device-pools

BibTeX

@misc{warmtransfer-cisco-cucm-sysconfig-15-device-pools,
  title  = {System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 15 and SUs - Configure Core Settings for Device Pools},
  author = {{WarmTransfer}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/sources/cisco-cucm-sysconfig-15-device-pools},
  note   = {Cisco Systems, accessed 2026-09-24}
}