Edges Articles

When a customer experiences a call spike, or the utilization of other resources hits one of our thresholds, like memory usage, we can deploy more Cloud Edges into their environment via automation. Imagine if your computer was bogged down because of all of those pivot tables you’re working on, and you could tap the power of a second computer automatically.

If your customer has Cloud Edges and they know they expect increased call volumes starting on a particular day, they can also open a proactive case with Product Support, and their environment can be ready for that spike in advance. Just give Product Support notice a week in advance, and we can help!

When an environment needs to be scaled up, Genesys Cloud tooling adds another 50% of the current Edge count (so if the customer has 8 Edges, we add another 4 Edges), and balance across those. If that isn’t enough, we evaluate and add another 6 Edges, and so on, until the spike is over. The environment is then scaled back down gracefully, after their spike is over, too. 

The serial number of an Edge is a series of letters and numbers that is unique to each specific Edge that is manufactured and sold. The format for these serial numbers vary based on the version of the Edge.

Examples: MXQ81707DB, CCP103327446019008, ACG8003495.

Serial numbers are available on the physical Edge hardware itself, in the PureCloud UI, and in Supportability.

Using the Edge UI

  1. Go to Admin > Telephony > Edges > <Edge Name>.

Using Supportability

  1. Go to the Edges tab.

The PureCloud Edge is a server that makes telephony possible with PureCloud.

It handles SIP, Media (RTP), Architect call flows, and other related services to accomplish this.

Overview

Your customer may ask you when their Edges will upgrade, why every Edge isn’t on the same version, how they can get their Edges updated early, or for planning for an upcoming call event. Maybe they’re running an ad campaign during March Madness and expect lots of calls, so they’re interested in scaling edges up in advance. Maybe they’re part of a vaccine rollout and expect high call volumes, or it’s their busy season. This should help you know how to guide these conversations.

Edge versions (model)

An Edge Version is what most people would think of as the model of the Edge, like iPhone 8 or 11 Pro, and so on. Customers can purchase physical edges (Standard V3, Edge Mini, Edge Micro), or can use Cloud (AWS) edges, if they’re not a BYOC-Prem customer, as we reviewed in our last post.

Edge builds (software)

An Edge Build is the software version that the Edge is running. Think of this like smartphones: your iPhone 12 and my iPhone 10 could both be running iOS version 14.4.2, even though our phone versions are different. The terms Edge Build and Software Version both refer to software that runs on the Edge to make it function. Software Version is the term used in the Genesys Cloud UI. However, Product Support, Development Support, Development, and Professional Services will most commonly use the term Edge Build. 

Build numbers

Edge builds are normally referred to by their build number, such as 9982, however, the full build number is 1.0.0.9982. When looking in the Genesys Cloud UI the full version will be displayed.

Build release dates

New builds are released about every two weeks, but there are times where releases take longer.

As Edge builds are released they are announced in the Genesys Cloud Release Notes, specifically the Edge and Media Tier release notes. Edge builds are released first for Manual Update then about a week later for Automatic Update. This is done to allow customers time to test builds before automatic updates if desired. This method also allows customers waiting for important fixes to obtain them earlier than they would via automatic updates.

Build updates

Customers with Physical Edges can do the manual updates on their own, but customers with Cloud Edges would need to open a case with Product Support for us to upgrade their Edges if they cannot wait for the automatic update to be deployed.

Locate the build of your Edge

There are two locations for your build information, depending on the type of Edge you have:

  1. Go to Admin > Edges to view the Software Version column.
                -----OR-----
  2. [LDM Edges only] Go to Admin > Edges> [Edge name} > General tab.

How to update your Edge build

Edges can be updated manually, or automatically. Automatic updates may not be disabled; however, customers can control the window of time in which updates are applied. Customers will ask about this timing, because they’re used to thinking about doing the upgrades themselves, and they want to plan for testing. Helping to reassure customers that this process is automated, and they can sleep peacefully is a huge advantage for having a cloud-based contact center.

Physical Edges

Customers can configure auto update settings from the Site an Edge is assigned to:

  • How often updates are checked for (daily or weekly)
  • The window of time when updates are checked (All day, or a 2+ hour window)
  • Time Zone used to determine the time. 

When an automatic update initiates, the Edge immediately launches a call draining process, which is designed to ensure that all existing active calls on the Edge are allowed to complete normally before the software update begins. During the call draining process, no new calls are allowed on the Edge. (Other Edges in the group continue to accept new calls.) Call draining has a 3-hour time limit. After 3 hours any active calls are dropped and the Edge would then update.

The number of Edges that can be updated automatically per day is limited on the Genesys side to protect the Genesys Cloud platform. This limit is per AWS region and applies to all Orgs in the same region. Because of this limit it may take several update cycles for all Edges in an Org to be upgraded. For this reason, Genesys Cloud suggests setting a daily update window, instead of a weekly window.

Cloud Edges

For Cloud Edges, the update window is between 12 AM and 5 AM daily.  If the customer needs to adjust this window, they should open a case with Product Support to have the window adjusted.  Cloud Edge updates work a bit differently, and new Edge instances are created in AWS. You may hear Product Support refer to this as “spinning up” new Edges. If a customer has 12 Cloud Edges, the upgrade process creates 12 brand new Edges in AWS, and gracefully migrates phone registrations to the new edges. As calls drain off of the old version, those Edges are removed from the environment. When the Edges are removed, this also means that the logs from those Edges are gone, which can sometimes frustrate customers.  Our Dev team is working on a way to capture the logs, but it’s not live yet.

Why migrate to the Cloud model? 

The Cloud-based Edge deployment model has enormous benefits over their On-Premises counterparts.

Dollars to donuts

  • There is no additional charge to using Cloud-based Edges. 
  • The customer’s call capacity can be easily increased to meet their business needs with no added capital expenditure. 
  • No co-location cost. 
  • No physical Edge devices to buy (or replace after the three-year warranty lapses). 

Simplified environment 

  • Network, VPN, and Firewall/Security configuration make up the most common Product Support issues seen by the Genesys Cloud Product Support Telephony team. Taking the Edge out of equation allows customer and partner network engineers to wholly eliminate that variable.  
  • Improved supportability for both customers and the Genesys teams. 

No physical maintenance needed 

  • Cloud-based Edges have a lifetime warranty and are replaced with a brand-new instance monthly! 
  • Never again experience downtime due to the need to replace a failed physical Edge device.  
  • Save time with reduced troubleshooting and removing RMA potential. 

Speed and High Availability (HA) connection 

  • Direct connection to the AWS global carrier-class backbone 
  • Genesys Cloud Product Support engineers have a direct connection to Cloud-based Edge logs, meaning a failed or slow ISP connection will no longer hinder the investigation of their issues. 

Scalability 

  • Cloud-based Edges automatically scale to meet short-term unexpected volume spikes. 
  • Cloud-based Edges can be pre-scaled to handle expected business needs such as holidays, marketing campaigns, etc... 

Enhanced security 

  • Every Cloud-based Edge instance exists within a single virtual machine (VM) that has a maximum lifespan of 30 days for security purposes, after which the device is decommissioned, and a new VM/Edge instance takes its place.  
  • Genesys Cloud updates the OS/Security patches on Cloud-based Edges every 30 days so things are always current. 

Customers can choose to remain with their current Carrier if they meet Genesys Cloud Carrier requirements or can opt to move to Genesys Cloud Voice. Some upcoming Genesys Cloud features will only be available to customers using Cloud-based Edges.

How to begin the process

Genesys considerations

  • Customers cannot complete the project on their own due to certain permissions and backend tools that are only available to Genesys personnel.  
  • It is a recipe for frustration to allow a customer to try to migrate on their own due to its complexity and dependency on multiple Genesys teams to coordinate their efforts.  
  • The customer’s account team will need to amend their subscription by adding either Genesys Cloud Voice or BYOC Cloud.  

Customer considerations

  • How will removing physical Edges affect the path data/audio needs to travel?  
  • Physical Edges allow local carrier connections at each location with an Edge.  
  • BYOC Cloud requires that all data/audio flow in and out of the AWS Region the Org is in. 
  • Is their current carrier compatible with BYOC Cloud
  • Will any numbers need to be ported as part of this migration? 
  • Are the stations used by agents compatible with BYOC Cloud? 
  • Phone Compatibility Matrix 
  • Should the customer consider Amazon Direct Connect as part of this migration? 
  • Does the customer understand the importance of a stable and quality internet connection when using GCV/BYOC Cloud? 
  • What is the customer's normal concurrent call volume? GCV and BYOC Cloud Orgs are configured for 400 concurrent calls by default. If the customer runs higher than this, they will need to have their Org scaled to accommodate. 
  • The customer will need to work with Professional Services on the plan for migrating between their BYOC Prem and BYOC Cloud deployment. Sites, number plans, locations, trunks, stations, etc., are all affected by migrations. Migrations without downtime also add complexity to this plan. 
  • Does the customer have any Architect flows that dip into other systems, and are those systems accessible through the public internet? 
  • Is the customer's Networking team ready for the firewall changes that will be required? 

The process itself

These are the typical steps of a Premises to Cloud-based Edge, and the parties that will be involved with each step. 

  1. The customer decides that they want to migrate to the Cloud.
  2. Customer engages with their partner/CSM so Genesys can create a new quote with the correct Product/Features. 
  3. The new quote is signed, returned to Genesys, reviewed by Order Management & Finance, then approved. 
  4. After the quote is approved an order is created, and the CCDB/Subscription tied to the customers Cloud Deployment is updated with this new Order. 
  5. Billing Automation steps in and adds any new products added from the quote  
  6. Billing Automation does NOT remove any old items; this happens later. 
  7. The PS (Professional Services) team carries out their migration, and then cuts over to the new deployment model.  
  8. This is a large step, and could takes days, weeks, or months depending on the complexity of the migration. 
  9. After the migration is complete and confirmed stable, Genesys Cloud Product Support comes in and removes old configuration, products, and features.  
  10. Steps for this stage vary depending on what deployment model is being removed.  

Announcements

How do I create a My Support account?
  1. Navigate to: 
  2. Click the GET STARTED tab. 
  3. Click the Request My Support Account button. 
  4. You will be asked to supply your corporate email address. 
  5. You will be asked to specify which level of access you are requesting.
  6. There are three levels of access:
    • Basic
    • Read-Only
    • Read-Write (Designated Contact)
  7. If you are not certain which level of access is appropriate for your role, see My Support Access Levels.
What are the levels of access for the Support Portal?

My Support functions for each level of access

Levels of access are listed below from least amount of access to most. In each subsequent level after Basic, new access permissions are in bold type.

Basic

  • Log into My Support Portal
  • Register and attend live Tech Tutorials
  • View and download recorded Tech Tutorials
  • Search, view and download Knowledge Base content

Read-Only

  • Log into My Support Portal
  • Register and attend live Tech Tutorials
  • View and download recorded Tech Tutorials
  • Search, view and download Knowledge Base content
  • View existing Cases

Read-Write (Designated Contact)

  • Log into My Support Portal
  • Register and attend live Tech Tutorials
  • View and download recorded Tech Tutorials
  • Search, view and download Knowledge Base content
  • View existing Cases
  • Create new Cases, modify existing Cases, submit Feature Requests
  • Download software and order controlled software

Request an account

If you do not currently have an account on the My Support Portal, see Create a My Support Account for instructions on how to request one.

Request a different level of access

NOTE: If you are a member of an organization that has purchased Genesys products from one of our Genesys Partners, then your Designated Contact is a member of that Partner organization. However, you can still request Read-Only access using the process below. For more information on this, see: How a Genesys Partner Serves as Designated Contact for Their Customers.

  1. Login to the Support Portal. You will automatically be directed to the My Support Cases page.
  2. Click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
    • A screenshot of the Support Portal with a large orange arrow pointing to the words, "Welcome back, Matt Ryan."
  3. Click My Support Access from the drop-down menu.
  4. Complete the Request Additional Access form.
    • NOTE: If you are a member of a Genesys Partner organization and you are requesting Designated Contact status for one of your customers, in the Company/Partner Combinations (End User/Sold To) box, enter your Company name, the names of the companies/accounts you manage (if applicable), and corresponding Org IDs. If you need help locating an Org ID, go here. The Portal Admin team will seek approval from your company’s Designated Approver(s). Once approved, you will receive an email from donotreply@genesys.com with instructions.
  5. Click Submit Request.
  6. Please allow 48 hours or 2 business days for Product Support to process the request.
  7. A Product Support Admin may contact you by phone or email to obtain additional information.