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Customizing the Cisco Unity System

Customization of the Unity system is required to meet the specific customer requirements. This section discusses commonly used customization areas in Unity, such as the Class of Service (CoS), Subscriber Template, Account Policy, Subscribers, Public Distribution Lists, Call Management, Call Handlers, Network, and Reports pages that are accessed from the Cisco Unity System Administration (SA) page. This section gives you a better understanding of how various options work and provides customization examples for XYZ that enable you to develop settings based on your needs.

To configure Cisco Unity, go to the Unity SA page, shown in Figure 7-13, by following this URL:

http://IP_address_of_Unity_Server/web/sa.

The Unity SA page is divided into the following five categories, and each category is further divided into many subcategories (see the following list). Depending on the type of Unity licenses purchased for your system, you might see some additional or fewer subcategories under each main category. For example, if you have not purchased Bridge licensing and AMIS licensing options for your Unity server, you will not see these two options listed under the Network category.

Subscribers

Call Management

Reports

Network

System

Subscribers

The Subscribers category under the SA page is divided into the following subcategories:

Subscribers

Subscriber Template

Class of Service

Public Distribution Lists

Account Policy

The next few sections cover the customizations required for the previous subcategories for deploying the Unity at XYZ Inc. In the following sections, the subcategories are not covered in the order they appear in the SA page. They are covered in the order that simplifies the customization of Unity.

Class of Service

To access the CoS settings from the SA page, click the Class of Service option to open the Class of Service page, shown in Figure 7-14.

The first step in the customization of the Cisco Unity system is to define the CoS, which specifies the level of access granted to the end users. This access includes what features subscribers can use and the different levels of access that an administrator might have within the Unity System Administrator.

After you define the CoS settings, assign them to the corresponding subscriber templates that will be used as default settings for the different users.

The following sections describe in turn each of the options in the list on the left side of the Class of Service page.

Profile

For XYZ, CoS profiles are required for the following types of users:

Managers

Employees

Tier 1 support group

The Tier 1 support group members provide first-level support and escalate problems to the system administrator, who takes care of Tier 2 support. To access CoS profiles, click Profile on the Class of Service page.

Table 7-13 shows the CoS profiles and the settings for each CoS that is required by XYZ.

Subscribers

The Subscribers menu option is useful for verifying the CoS that is assigned to different users. It is also used to reassign a CoS to a user, such as when a regular employee moves to a "manager" status. To configure subscribers, click Subscribers on the Class of Service page.

System Access

The System Access option allows you to define the level of access granted to users to administer the entire Unity system or parts of the system. To configure system access, click System Access on the Class of Service page.

XYZ users who are members of SupportTier1_CoS require access to some parts of the Unity Administration windows. For the CoS profiles Managers_CoS and Employees_CoS, do not check the Cisco Unity Administrator Application Access check box. For the CoS profile SupportTier1_CoS, the access permissions are set as shown in Table 7-14.

Note

The Unity system administrator must take care of all other administration tasks that are not assigned to SupportTier1_CoS. To achieve this, you can either define another CoS Unity Administrator and grant all permissions on the System Access page or assign the Default Administrator CoS to those users who are responsible for the administration of Unity.

Transfer

Enabling the Transfer page settings allows subscribers to change their call-screening and call-holding options. However, if too many subscribers use these features, the Unity ports will be kept busy too long. The best practice is to enable them for selected groups of subscribers only when needed. To configure transfer options, click Transfer on the Class of Service page.

The call-screening and call-holding options are not enabled for all three CoS profiles in XYZ, as shown in Table 7-15.

Note

The transfer option does not work when the CallManager has control over the call. This option is influential only when the Unity System handles call control, such as when somebody dials the company's general number and uses the AutoAttendant to reach a certain person. When someone dials the DID extension, such as the call, CallManager controls and these values and settings do not come into play.

Messages

The maximum length of the message that callers can record for subscribers is configurable through the options on the Messages page. To configure messages, click Messages on the Class of Service page.

At XYZ, the maximum length of recorded messages for managers is set to 600 seconds, to allow them to send company announcements of up to 10 minutes. For all other users, the length of recorded messages is limited to 300 seconds. These values are shown in Table 7-16, along with the other values on the Messages page.

The following list provides a few more details about three of the Messages page settings:

Maximum Length of Message Refers to the length of the message that subscribers who are assigned to this CoS can record for any other subscriber in Unity.

Deleted Messages Are Copied to the Deleted Items Folder XYZ will check this box to allow maximum flexibility and cover mistakes by end users (and limit the number of support calls). Most Outlook clients are configured to empty the Deleted Items folder upon exiting. XYZ is not concerned about hard disk capacity because the price per gigabit of hard disk is low compared to the problems related to unexpected loss of important information. Other mechanisms are in place at XYZ to control the amount of disk space used and to avoid running out of storage capacity.

Live Reply Check this box to allow users to reply to a caller who has left a message. This is mainly useful for internal callers, because the CLID representation depends on the local telephone company.

Greetings

The Greetings page parameter sets the greeting recording length allowed for the subscribers who are assigned to this CoS. To configure greetings, click Greetings on the Class of Service page. Leave the Maximum Greeting Length field at 90 seconds (default) for all the CoS profiles.

Licensed Features

The Licensed Features page allows you to configure and control how licensed features can be assigned to users. To configure licensed features, click Licensed Features on the Class of Service page.

For XYZ, configure the Licensed Features page for the Unity system, as described in Table 7-17. The following list explains the reasons for choosing these values:

Fax Mail None of the third-party fax servers is integrated with the Unity server for XYZ, so do not check this box.

Text-to-Speech for E-Mail Messages Because the number of TTS sessions is limited, XYZ will offer this feature only to managers (Managers_CoS profile) and not to the rest of the staff.

Cisco Unity Assistant This is checked for all three profiles to offer web-based administration of mailbox settings to all users.

Cisco Unity Inbox (VMI) This is checked to allow users to work with their inbox even when they are not connected with their own personal laptop.

Note

Before you enable the licensed features, ensure that the Unity license keys purchased allow the use of any of the previous enabled features for all users, to avoid inconvenience to the users.

Restriction Tables

Restriction tables are extremely important to prevent toll fraud in the Unity system. The settings on the Restriction Tables page (click Restriction Tables on the Class of Service page) depend on the local dial plan. You can build different restriction tables to restrict or limit the Unity notification destinations. For example, you can allow managers to set up notifications to be sent to their cell phone when a new voice mail is waiting in their inbox, but limit employees' notification destination to internal phone numbers. To achieve this, you have to configure the CSS on the voice-mail ports (refer to Table 7-3, definition of Css_vmports) in the CallManager to reach internal and local telephone numbers and configure separate restriction tables for managers and employees in Unity. The restriction table for managers is configured to allow them to set a local phone number as the notification device, whereas the restriction table for employees is configured to allow them to set only an internal phone number as the target notification device.

The disadvantage of this approach is that you have to configure and maintain the restrictions at the CallManager level (using the CSS on the voice-mail ports) and in Unity by using restriction tables. The best practice is to set these restrictions in CallManager so that, for any troubleshooting issues, you can focus only on CallManager and do not have to deal with both systems.

Because the XYZ policy allows notifications to be set to local and internal numbers and this is already taken care of in the CallManager, you do not need to define restriction tables.

Subscriber Template

The Subscriber Template page, accessed by clicking Subscriber Template on the Cisco Unity SA page, allows you to create different templates, where each template identifies a certain group of mailboxes with its own specific features, such as password restrictions, call-transfer settings, conversation settings, and so forth.

Templates can be used to create a group of users who have specific features, whereas individual users can still be adapted on a per-user basis after the template has been used for individual user creation. The next few sections introduce you to the various options available in the Subscriber Template page and the customization performed on the Unity servers at XYZ, Inc.

Profile

The Profile page settings define how Cisco Unity identifies a subscriber. To configure profiles, click Profile on the Subscriber Template page. The settings on the Profile page for subscriber templates are explained here:

Name This defines the name of the template. You need three subscriber templates for XYZ to differentiate three different types of subscriber classesemployees, managers, and support tier 1 group.

Class of Service The options available here are the ones described and configured in the "Class of Service" section earlier in this chapter. You need to choose the appropriate option from the drop-down list.

Active Schedule This enables you to define the regular business hours. This setting determines the out-of-office hours, during which Unity plays the Closed Greeting. If the company policy is flexible regarding working hours and days, set this option to All Hours All Days.

Self-Enrollment at Next Login If this option is checked, when the new user signs into the Unity system for the first time, they are asked to change the initial password, record their first and last name, record their personal greeting, and so on.

List in Phone Directory The user is not listed in the directory unless this option is checked. This option is useful if a company has some people who are not on site but have a local mailbox to receive networked messages from other people (for example, the Australian office).

Show Subscriber in E-Mail Server Address Book Unless this check box is checked, the subscriber is not listed in the address book. This means, for example, that users who are addressing messages in Outlook will not find the subscriber. You can uncheck this option if you are not using Unified Messaging but voice mail only. This is also a viable option for Internet subscribers,.

Exchange Alias Generation This default alias can be overwritten when a subscriber is added or defined. If the company is deploying Unified Messaging and already has an Exchange server and AD in place, this field is irrelevant. (All users exist in the AD and in the Exchange server.)

Table 7-18 lists the entries required on the Profile page for XYZ to create the subscriber templates.

Account

You can use the settings on the Account page to lock out all the user accounts that are associated with the template and define a billing ID for the user accounts. To configure the user accounts, click Account on the Subscriber Template page.

The Account page enables you to set the following options:

Locked Check this box to lock the newly created subscriber account.

Billing-ID Fill in the department code of the employee to whom this mailbox is assigned. This is useful when generating department-wide billing reports.

Table 7-19 shows the Account page settings used for XYZ for subscriber templates.

Passwords

The settings on the Passwords page control the password policies for the voice mailbox. To configure passwords, click Passwords on the Subscriber Template page. The following options are available:

User Cannot Change Password The best practice is to force users to change passwords once a month, which is accomplished by leaving this box unchecked, the default. This allows the users to change the passwords.

User Must Change Password at Next Login Check this box for initial installation to force users to change their passwords and not enable them to leave it on the default value, which is the same for everybody.

Password Never Expires Leave this box unchecked (default setting) for security reasons.

Phone Password for New Subscribers The default password is 12345. If you change this default value, you need to communicate this password to all users who need to access the Unity system for the first time. Users use this first-time password to log in and complete the self-enrollment process. By checking the User Must Change Password at Next Login check box, Unity forces the user to change the password.

Password for New Windows Accounts The default password is 12345678. Unity can create the account in the AD for the user during the user account creation in Unity. The password entered in this field is used to set the initial Windows password for the user. In a Unified Messaging deployment, this field is irrelevant, because the users already exist in the AD.

For XYZ, Table 7-20 lists the configured Passwords page values. All the subscriber templates have the same password policies. This is typical, because the security policy is the same for the entire company and does not differ from one employee type to another.

Conversation

The Conversation page settings allow you to configure and customize the way that Unity interacts with the subscribers. To configure the Conversation page, click Conversation on the Subscriber Template page. The following is a list of various options and their recommended settings:

Menu Style Choosing Full (default) provides extended menus for all new users.

Volume This field is applicable only for analog integrations/DTMF.

After Logging On Play Checking Subscriber's Recorded Name enables users to hear their spoken name after logging in. Also, if you check Alternate Greeting Notification, Unity notifies the user whether the alternate greeting is enabled. (See the upcoming "Greetings" section.)

Before Playing Messages Play Checking Message Type Menu enables users to hear the number of voice/e-mail messages they have, before they start to listen to their messages. This gives them an option to jump straight to their e-mails if they want during a phone conversation.

New Message Play Order The order is determined by the way your company uses the messaging environment. Voice mails routinely contain sensitive information, so the best practice is to put them at the top of the list, followed by e-mails, faxes, and finally receipts and notices.

Saved Message Play Order Follow the best practices described for the New Message Play Order option.

Before Playing Each Message, Play:

Checking Sender's information announces the originator of the message. This will be the phone number of the party that left the voice mail if the PSTN was able to deliver that message. If another Sydney-based employee from XYZ leaves a message, the spoken name will be heard here instead of the phone number.

Checking Message number announces the number.

Checking Time that the message was sent indicates when the message was sent to the mailbox.

After Playing Each Message, Play Do not choose Time the Message Was Sent, because this information is announced before each message is played. (See the previous bullet.)

Table 7-21 lists all the settings and the values selected for XYZ for all three types of subscriber templates: Emp_Template, Mgr_Template, and Sup_Template.

Call Transfer

The Call Transfer page allows you to configure how calls are handled when coming from the Unity AutoAttendant and going to the subscriber. To configure the Call Transfer page, click Call Transfer on the Subscriber Template page. The settings are explained here:

Transfer Incoming Calls to Subscriber's Phone? Choose Yes, Ring Subscriber's Extension to transfer incoming AA calls to that user's phone.

Note

The default option, No (Send Directly to Subscriber's Greeting), transfers calls to the user's greeting. It never rings the user's phone, so make sure to change this setting from its default value.

Transfer type Checking Supervise Transfer and specifying three rings causes Unity to keep control of the call when it is not answered within three rings.

If the call is busy Checking No Holding avoids taking up too many voice ports on the Unity system.

Gather calling information Checking boxes such as Ask Caller's Name and Confirm are useful in highly secured environments such as federal investigatory agencies and others. XYZ does not need these options, so they are not checked. Do not check Introduce unless it is for a call center environment, which is not relevant for XYZ.

Table 7-22 lists the Call Transfer page values selected for XYZ for all three types of subscriber templates (Emp_Template, Mgr_Template, and Sup_Template).

Greetings

Each subscriber can have up to five types of greetings. To configure the greetings, click Greetings on the Subscriber Template page.

The Greetings page allows you to configure the following settings for each greeting type:

Greeting Enables you to choose one of the available five types of greetings.

Status Enables you to disable or enable the selected greeting; for example, when you want to play the closed hours greeting on the active schedule as the working hours greeting, disable the 'closed' greeting. You cannot disable the standard greeting.

During Greeting (Allow/Caller Input) By checking this option, you can control whether the user enters any digits, such as an extension number of a user or a digit to reach a call handler.

The settings for all the greetings are the same in XYZ for all three types of subscriber templates (Emp_Template, Mgr_Template, and Sup_Template).

Subscribers can enable any of the greetings, record the messages, and perform many other customizations to their mailboxes by accessing Cisco PCA. To access Cisco PCA from any web browser, enter the following URL:

http://UNITY_SERVR_IP_ADDR/ciscopca

As an example of the Cisco PCA interface, refer to Figure 7-5. Figure 7-15 shows the Greetings window in the Unity Assistant. Users can enable and record their greeting preferences from this page.

Standard Greeting

Standard Greeting is the default greeting that is played all the time until another greeting overwrites it. Table 7-23 shows the Standard Greeting page settings for XYZ. For Source, System is checked because every user of XYZ will be asked to record their own personal greeting. For general mailboxes, the system administrator will set this to Recording and record a corresponding greeting for this mailbox.

Closed Greeting

Unity plays the Closed Greeting to callers after business hours. The period that is considered after business hours depends on the schedule configured in Unity, which you can check by clicking Schedules on the Cisco Unity SA page. The Closed Greeting overrides the Standard Greeting. XYZ has the Closed Greeting disabled.

Busy Greeting

The Busy Greeting is played to callers when the extension is busy, such as when a user is on another call. Because XYZ has flexible hours for its employees, the Busy Greeting is disabled.

Internal Greeting

Unity plays the Internal Greeting for internal users only. For example, the Internal Greeting is played when an employee calls another employee and the called employee is not available to answer the call. This greeting is disabled for XYZ.

Alternate Greeting

Subscribers can use the Alternate Greeting to announce to callers their out-of-office notification greeting when they go on vacation or are away from the office for a long time. You should leave the Alternate Greeting disabled when you create user accounts. The Alternate Greeting overrides all other greetings.

Table 7-24 shows the Alternate Greeting settings configured for XYZ.

Caller Input

The Caller Input page options allow callers to enter the digits during the greeting. Unity forwards the calls to a call handler or to any other configured action. Users cannot configure these menu options. Only an administrator has access to configure the keys. To configure the Caller Input page, click Caller Input on the Subscriber Template page. Table 7-25 gives the settings configured for XYZ.

The settings for the Caller Input page are the same in XYZ for all three types of subscriber templates (Emp_Template, Mgr_Template, and Sup_Template).

Messages

The settings on the Messages page (click Messages on the Subscriber Template page) allow you to set the following options:

Maximum Message Length Limits the length of the message that an outside caller can leave to a subscriber, created with this subscriber template. Note that this option is different from the one of the same name that appears in the Class of Service > Messages page that controls the length of the message that a subscriber can leave for another subscriber.

After Message Action Designates a subsequent action after an outside caller leaves a message to a subscriber. The default action is to send a Say Goodbye call handler. You also have an option to send the call to any other configured call handler. Leave this setting at its default value.

Callers Can Edit Messages Allows outside callers to review and re-record their messages.

Mark Messages as Urgent The options under this setting determine whether a caller can mark the message as urgent. Many implementations choose the Ask Callers for Their Preference option to allow a caller to make a decision.

Language that Callers Hear The Inherited option means the language that the caller hears is based on the call handler that receives the call for XYZ. This will be Australian English, but the Inherited option allows users to select different languages when they are installed in the future.

Use MWI for Message Notification Choose Use MWI for Message Notification, and as MWI Extension, configure the value 'X' to allow integration with CallManager for all extensions in the system.

Table 7-26 shows the Messages page settings for XYZ for all three types of subscriber templates (Emp_Template, Mgr_Template, and Sup_Template).

Distribution Lists

Multiple Directory Handlers" section later in this chapter for more information.)

Before you add users to the preceding distribution lists, the administrator has to create the distribution lists from the Cisco Unity SA page (by clicking Public Distribution Lists). If you are deploying Unity in Unified Messaging mode, you can use the distribution lists that are already created in the AD/Exchange environment.

Message Notification

The Message Notification page settings allow subscribers to configure various destinations, such as their home phone or pager, as notification devices on which they should be notified about the arrival of new voice mail. To configure the Message Notification page, click Message Notification on the Subscriber Template page.

With XYZ, you do not need to configure the Message Notification page, because all users of XYZ will be encouraged to select their work phone as the main notification device from the Cisco PCA application. This will result in (toll-free) internal calls that do not need public PSTN connectivity. This is a per-user setting (each user has their own personal phone number); therfore, these parameters are left blank in the profiles.

Account Policy

The settings that you make on the Account Policy page (accessed by clicking Account Policy on the Cisco Unity SA page) determine telephone password restrictions and account lockout policies.

Each of these parameters indicates the setting that influences the security of the Unity system. These settings affect only telephone access to the subscriber's account for the Unity systemthat is, how they gain access to their Unity voice mailbox over the telephone. The settings have no effect on account policy for accessing the user pages, for example (AD passwords). Changes made on these pages take effect immediately.

Phone Password Restrictions

The options on the Phone Password Restrictions page allow you to configure restrictions on the phone's password, such as the length of the password, the password age, and so forth. Choose the appropriate values based on your company's password policy. To set phone password restrictions, click Phone Password Restrictions on the Account Policy page.

Table 7-28 lists the Phone Password Restrictions page options selected for XYZ.

Phone Lockout Policies

The options on the Phone Lockout Policies page allow you to configure the lockout policy that prevents the user from logging into the voice-mail system via the TUI after making a certain number of unsuccessful login attempts. This page also enables you to configure when to reset or change the lockout policy and other options. To set phone lockout policies, click Phone Lockout Policies on the Account Policy page.

Table 7-29 lists the options selected for XYZ. As you can see, the lockout policy is set to Forever after three invalid attempts. Users are required to contact the support group staff and identify themselves to get the account unlocked.

Subscribers

The Subscribers page allows you to create the subscribers in the Unity system. In a large-scale deployment, use the Unity Bulk Import Tool shipped with Unity to create users in bulk. All the Unity tools are accessible from the Unity server via the Cisco Unity Tools Depot. To configure subscribers, click Subscribers under the Subscribers category (not under the Reports category) on the Cisco Unity SA page.

The next few sections explain the different fields that you can modify when you are creating a single user, such as password settings, notification devices, and so forth.

Note

Many of the settings on the various pages under the Subscribers page, such as Profile page, Account page, Phone Password page, and Conversation page, are the same as those that appear on the Subscriber Template > Profile page, discussed earlier in the "Subscriber Template" section. The values for the fields within these pages default to the values that are configured on the Subscriber Template page. Therefore, this section and the following sections explain only the fields that are new.

Note

To create multiple users who share many common settings, apply a subscriber template. After you create the users, you can change these common settings on a per-user basis. Keep in mind that changing the settings in the template affects the newly created user accounts. User accounts that were created earlier keep all the settings of the template before it was changed. You can rely on bulk change tools (such as the Bulk Edit Tool available in the Cisco Unity Tools Depot) for mass changes.

Profile

To set the subscriber profiles, click Profile on the Subscribers page. The following list explains the additional parameters for XYZ on this Profile page that do not appear on the Profile page for subscriber templates:

Extension Enter the proper four-digit extension for this user.

Fax-ID Leave this field empty, because faxes are not an offered service within XYZ.

Recorded Voice That is used for the end user to record their spoken name.

Unity Node Serial Number This was assigned during the Analog OctelNet Protocol setup.

Legacy Mailbox ID This was used before the Sydney users who were on the Octel system.

Account (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The Account page allows the Unity administrators or support tier 1 group staff to see whether the subscriber phone and Unity GUI account are locked or unlocked. They can unlock the account if the user account has been locked because of too many unsuccessful login attempts. To configure the account, click Account on the Subscribers page.

Phone Password (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The options on this Phone Passwords page are similar to the options that are available on the Passwords page under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. The only difference is that this Phone Passwords page allows administrators to reset the phone password if the user forgets their password. To configure the password options, click Phone Password on the Subscribers page.

Private Lists

The Private Lists page is not available in the Subscriber Template page. Private lists, unlike public distribution lists, are personal to individual users and are not accessible to users other than the owner. Through the Private Lists page, administrators can create private distribution lists for high-profile users. To configure private lists, click Private Lists on the Subscribers page.

As an example of how to configure the Private Lists page, the following shows the settings for the direct staff of the CEO of XYZ:

Name of List CEO direct staff.

Recorded Name Record the name as "CEO direct staff."

Members Add members to the list who are part of this group.

Everyone who has access to the CEO's mailbox can add members to or create members for this list. The CEO can also access the web-based Cisco PCA. In addition, users can create private lists through Cisco PCA.

Conversation (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The settings on the Conversation page are the same as those described in Table 7-21 for the Conversation page available under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. You can change the default conversation settings, created through the subscriber template, for a specific user based on the user's requirements. To configure the Conversation page, click Conversation on the Subscribers page.

Call Transfer (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The settings on the Call Transfer page are the same as those described in Table 7-22 for the Call Transfer page available under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. You can change the default call-transfer settings, created through the subscriber template, for a specific user based on the user's requirements. To configure the Call Transfer page, click Call Transfer on the Subscribers page.

Greetings (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The settings on the Greetings page are the same as those described in Tables 7-23 and 7-24 for the Greetings page available under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. You can change the default greeting settings, created through the subscriber template, for a specific user based on the user's requirements. Individual users can change or record their own greetings through the Cisco PCA interface, as shown in Figure 7-15. To set the greeting, click Greetings on the Subscribers page.

Caller Input (Defaults to the Template Settings)

The settings on the Caller Input page are the same as those described in Table 7-25 for the Caller Input page available under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. You can change the default caller input settings, created through the subscriber template, if a specific subscriber wants a specific call handler to act on an input key during the greeting (that has to be adapted accordingly). To access the Caller Input page, click Caller Input on the Subscribers page.

This feature can be implemented on a user-by-user basis, but it requires specific customization per mailbox, which can only be done by the administrator and is time-consuming (one-off solutions per user).

Messages

The settings on the Messages page are the same as those described in Table 7-26 for the Messages page available under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. You can change the default Messages settings created through the subscriber template. On a per user basis, you can customize any parameter related to a subscriber that is set through a Class of Service.

You can also synchronize the MWI lamp on the subscriber phone through this page. The default value of the MWI Extensions field is X, which lights the MWI lamp on the subscriber extension. If a subscriber needs to light the MWI lamp on a different phone or more than one phone whenever a new voice mail arrives, you can configure the list of such extensions on the Messages page. When you configure multiple extensions, Unity informs the phone system to send the MWI notifications to all the configured extensions. To configure the message settings, click Messages on the Subscribers page.

Message Notification

The options on the Message Notification page allow subscribers to configure various message notification devices to notify them of new voice messages.

The Message Notification page also appears under the Subscriber Template menu option on the SA page. The best practice is to set the values on a per-user basis. Users can configure the message notification and add their devices via the web-based Cisco PCA interface. To set message notifications, click Message Notification on the Subscribers page.

With XYZ, all users are encouraged to select their work phone as the main notification device, because that will result in (free) internal calls only.

Table 7-30 shows various parameters on the Message Notification page.

Alternate Extensions

Unity distinguishes between an internal caller (subscriber) and an external (outside) caller based on the CLID. When you call a Unity system from an internal extension, Unity prompts for the password. When called from an outside phone such as a cell phone or an extension that is not assigned to a subscriber in Unity, Unity plays an external greeting.

To configure Unity to recognize as an internal number other phone devices, such as a subscriber's cell phone or home phone number, and prompt for a PIN instead of playing the external greeting, configure such devices as alternate extensions. This saves time when an internal user is on business travel and wants to check their voice mail; they do not need to enter their extension number followed by a PIN to authorize to the Unity system. Unity automatically recognizes the phone number, provided the local telephone company presents the digits to Unity, and prompts for the password. Unity supports configuring up to nine unique alternate extensions per subscriber. To configure alternate extensions, click Alternate Extensions on the Subscribers page.

Follow these steps to add an alternate extension:

When configuring alternate extensions for a subscriber, such as a cell phone number, you need to know how the PSTN delivers the subscriber number to the Unity system, and use the same number to configure the alternate extension.

Public Distribution Lists

Clicking Public Distribution Lists on the Cisco Unity SA page enables you to create public distribution lists that every user of the Unity system can access. The following sections describe the options on the left side of the Public Distributions Lists page.

Profile

The Profile page lets you create the public distribution list. To create distribution lists, click Profile on the Public Distribution Lists page. The following list describes some of the parameters on the Profile page:

Recorded voice Record a spoken name so that users receive confirmation when addressing a message to this list.

Extension Assign an extension that fits the dial plan. Use an extension that is a non-DID number. Subscribers can dial the extension number to address the message to this distribution list. The extension numbers must be unique throughout the Unity system.

Show Distribution List in E-Mail Server Address Book Choose this option to allow access/confirmation from Outlook.

Table 7-31 shows the settings for one distribution list for XYZ. Refer to Table 7-27 for a list of the distribution lists needed for XYZ. If you are deploying into an existing AD/Exchange network, you do not need to create new distribution lists. You can use the existing distribution lists in the AD/Exchange network.

Members

The Members page allows you to add, delete, or verify the membership of users in a distribution list. To configure the members in a distribution list, click Members on the Public Distribution Lists page.

Call Management

You can use the options under the Call Management category on the SA page to create different call handlers with specific functions. The most important and useful handlers are in effect by default and do not have to be created again. The Call Management category has the following subcategories available:

Call Handlers

Directory Handlers

Interview Handlers

Call Routing

Restriction Tables

The next few sections discuss the subcategories used in deploying the Unity at XYZ, Inc.

Call Handlers

Call handlers answer calls, greet callers with recorded prompts, provide callers with information and options, route calls, and take messages. Call handlers are a basic component of Cisco Unity and provide one-key routing through the Unity system. Your plan for call handlers can be simple, using only the predefined Cisco Unity call handlers, or you can create an unlimited number of new call handlers. To configure call handlers, click Call Handlers on the Cisco Unity SA page.

The following are three default call handlers that are preconfigured in Unity:

Opening Greeting Used with the Unity AA application

Operator Forwards the calls to the operator

Goodbye Unity says "Goodbye" and disconnects the call

Figure 7-16 shows the call management map required for XYZ. Before you design the call handlers, the best practice is to map the call flow, as shown in Figure 7-16.

In Figure 7-16, when the external caller reaches the Unity AA application (that is the Opening Greeting call handler, the default), they have three choices:

Press 1 to reach the sales and support group (call handler).

Press 4 to reach the employee directory (directory handler).

Press 0 to reach the operator. This operator extension can be a single phone number or the hunt group number (operator call handler).

Press *, in which case Unity prompts for the extension number followed by the PIN. This option allows internal subscribers to check their voice mail. (This is the default.)

The steps required to configure the call management plan depicted in Figure 7-16 are as follows:

The sections that follow discuss the settings required for the SalesSupport call handler on the following pages, which are accessible from the Call Handlers page:

Profile

Call Transfer

Greetings

Caller Input

Messages

Profile

The Profile page allows you to create the new call handler. To access the Profile page, choose Profile on the Call Handlers page. Table 7-33 shows the settings required for the new call handler SalesSupport.

Call Transfer

The Call Transfer page options specify the call treatment for the call after it reaches the call handler. For the SalesSupport call handler, the call is transferred to the Call Handlers greeting. This option plays the SalesSupport Call Handler greeting before transferring the call to the Sales and Support personnel at XYZ.

For general call handlers, only the Standard condition has to be configured. If this call handler gets another setup during Alternate conditions, for example, also configure the Alternate parameters. To access the Call Transfer page, choose Call Transfer on the Call Handlers page.

Table 7-33 shows the parameters on the Call Transfer page for the SalesSupport call handler.

Greetings

To access the Greetings page, choose Greetings on the Call Handlers page. The following list explains the parameters on the Greetings page:

Status Check Enabled for the greeting that is being configured here.

Select Source Recording The system administrator for Unity records a spoken name for this call handler, which callers who are connected to this call handler will hear. The recording is "Thank you for calling the Sales and Support group at XYZ, Inc. Your call will be transferred to the next available agent."

During Greeting Check Allow Caller Input.

After Greeting Choose the destination for the caller, after the greeting is heard:

Take Message Select this option to allow to the caller to leave a message. Unity delivers the message to the subscriber or to a distribution list that is configured on the Messages page under the Call Handler page.

Send Caller To This option allows moving toward another call/interview handler, subscriber or to the Hang Up handler, which disconnects the caller. With XYZ, the call has to be transferred to the Sales and Support group extension number. The Unity administrator will create a subscriber named "SalesSupport" with a specific assigned extension number, which can be a shared line on multiple user phones that are part of the Sales and Support group. When selecting SalesSupport, two options are available: Send to Greeting For and Attempt to Transfer For. Choosing Send to Greeting For will forward the call directly to the greeting instead of ringing the Sales Support group extension number.

Table 7-34 shows the Greetings page settings configured for the SalesSupport call handler.

Caller Input

The Caller Input page allows callers to enter digits during the greeting to transfer out of the call handler and reach another place in the CallManager tree. To access the Caller Input page, click Caller Input on the Call Handlers page.

Table 7-35 lists the values that need to be configured on the Caller Input page for the SalesSupport call handler. The other settings on this page are left to their default values. You can expand the tree depicted in Figure 7-16 to include more user options here.

Messages

The options configured on the Messages page are applicable only if the Take Message check box is checked on the Call Handlers > Greetings page (see Table 7-34). You can configure the subscriber mailbox or a public distribution list as a message recipient. The settings configured on the Messages page are not applicable for the call management plan depicted in Figure 7-16, because the call is transferred to the SalesSupport group extension.

To configure messages, click Messages on the Call Handlers page. Some of the parameters available on the Messages page are described next. Table 7-36 shows the settings required for XYZ:

Maximum Message Length Enables you to specify the length of the message that callers can leave for this call handler.

After Message Action Check Say Goodbye to have the line hang up after the message. It is also possible to select another call handler if applicable.

Callers Can Edit Messages Checking this option allows callers to review and rerecord their messages.

Mark Messages as Urgent Checking Ask Callers for Their Preference allows callers to mark their messages as urgent.

Directory Handlers

The Directory Handler call handler allows callers to find a person who is present in the Unity directory. It is part of the Unity AA setup. It is also possible for XYZ to create customized directory handlers, which can be accessed from a certain extension number to limit or expand the search scope or to change the search options. Refer to the "Multiple Directory Handlers" section to see how to use various search options in a centralized call-processing and voice-mail messaging deployment to provide customized site-specific opening greetings and directory handlers.

To configure the directory handlers, click Directory Handlers from the SA page. The options on this page are described in the following sections.

Profile

Unity creates a default directory handler that you can use without modifications. To access it, click Directory Handlers > Profile on the Call Handlers page. Table 7-37 shows the settings for the default directory call handler.

Search Options

To access the Search Options page, click Directory Handlers > Search Options on the Call Handlers page. The following are the parameters on the Search Options page. The values for XYZ are shown in Table 7-38.

Search In Check Dialing Domain. (For XYZ, this is the same as selecting Local Server because XYZ does not define dialing domains.)

Search By Check Last Name/First Name.

Match List Options

The Match List Options page settings specify whether, on a unique match, Cisco Unity routes the caller to the extension automatically or first asks the caller to confirm the match. This page also specifies how Cisco Unity presents directory matches to callerseither by stating the extensions ("for Ramesh Kaza, press 321; for Jon Doe, press 234...") or by offering a menu of choices ("for Ramesh Kaza, press 1; for Jon Doe, press 2..."). Table 7-39 lists the settings used for XYZ. To configure the Match List Options page, click Directory Handlers > Match List Options on the Call Handlers page.

The Caller Input page settings specify what Cisco Unity should do if the user does not enter digits and the expiration time for entering a digit. To configure caller input settings, click Directory Handlers > Caller Input on the Call Handlers page. Table 7-40 lists the settings configured for XYZ.

Interview Handlers

Interview handlers provide a list of questions to an outside caller and, after each list, a beep tone that allows a response. This response is sent to the mailbox or a public distribution list specified in the configuration. Note that the questions are not recorded with the answers, so the only thing that is going to be received by the mailbox recipient is a list of answers without the questions. To configure interview handlers, click Interview Handlers on the Call Handlers page.

XYZ is not going to create customized interview handlers to collect customer information for incoming calls, either during or after business hours. Its experience is that collecting information from customers via the phone is not always reliable. For example, if a customer calls using a cell phone and has a bad connection, the customer might leave his name and phone number, but it might not be audible to XYZ, preventing a follow-up call to the customer; thus, the customer will think that XYZ has not returned his call, resulting in an unhappy customer.

Call Routing

The Call Routing page information is used to direct calls into the system. There is a difference between direct calls into the system and calls that are forwarded from an employee's station because they did not answer the phone. These two types of calls are described next. To access call-routing information, click Call Routing on the Call Handlers page.

Direct Calls

If you make a call from a subscriber phone to the Unity system, Unity treats that call as a direct call. To configure direct calls, click Call Routing > Direct Calls from the SA page.

The default settings are not changed for XYZ. The following call handlers handle users dialing into the main Unity access number:

Attempt Sign-In The system will try to associate the caller with a subscriber on the system.

Default Call Handler This connects the call to the opening greeting to allow AA functionality, sign-in from a nonsubscriber phone, and so forth.

Forwarded Calls

Forwarded calls are calls that are forwarded to the Unity system after a caller has dialed a subscriber's extension but the subscriber hasn't picked up. This type of call is directed to the call handlers that are specified in the Forwarded Calls page. (Click Call Routing > Forwarded Calls from the SA page.)

The following default settings for the forwarded calls are not changed for XYZ:

Attempt Forward to Greeting The system will try to associate the called party with a subscriber and play back the corresponding greeting to the calling party.

Default Call Handler This connects the caller to the opening greeting to allow AA functionality, connection to the operator, and so on.

Restriction Tables

Settings for the Restriction Tables page are the same as those discussed in the "Restriction Tables" section, earlier in the chapter, with regard to the Class of Service option on the SA page. Refer to that section for more information.

Network

The Network category on the SA page includes the configuration pages for the following subcategories:

Primary Location

Delivery Locations

Amis Options

Bridge Options

Configuring the various settings available on these configuration pages is required to enable the networking feature in Unity. To access the Network menu, click Network on the SA page.

Primary Location

Locations are Cisco Unity entities that contain the addressing information needed by Unity to send and receive messages, for any transport mechanism in use. Each Unity server is associated with one location (referred to as the default or primary location), which is created during installation and cannot be deleted. The primary location uniquely identifies the Unity server. Creation of additional delivery locations is required when setting up a Unity bridge. To configure primary locations, click Primary Location on the Network page.

All the subscribers of XYZ from Sydney are identified with the Unity server in Sydney through this primary location. The next sections cover the following configuration options in the Primary Location subcategory:

Profile

Addressing Options

Profile

Table 7-41 shows the settings on the Profile page (click Primary Location > Profile on the SA page) for XYZ. The Dial ID is used to call anyone in Australia from any other XYZ site in the world. Recording the spoken name for the Sydney site is important because when you are in a later phase, multiple sites are online. This allows the users from San Jose to hear confirmation when addressing a message to a user in Sydney that they are really addressing a message to the subscriber who resides on the Sydney system. The SMTP domain name is used if Unity is networked with other Unity systems or with other voice-mail systems via SMTP or VPIM.

Addressing Options

The primary location addressing options allow you to control the scope of the search that Cisco Unity performs when searching for a matching extension when a subscriber addresses a message. To access this page, click Primary Location > Addressing Options on the Network SA page.

Because XYZ intends to move toward a networked Unity system for its worldwide operation in the future, the settings in Table 7-42 were chosen to allow maximum flexibility to the users who are addressing messages across the different sites. XYZ has only one dialing domain (no partitioning) because every user has a unique extension number across the globe. With that set, the Limit Searches To setting can indicate Dialing Domain instead of Global Directory.

Delivery Locations

Delivery locations are Cisco Unity objects that contain the addressing information that Cisco Unity needs to send messages to and receive messages from other voice-mail systems. The other voice-mail systems might or might not be Unity. One delivery location is required that corresponds to each remote messaging system that the local Cisco Unity server communicates with. To access the Delivery Locations page, click Delivery Locations on the SA page.

XYZ requires one delivery location for the Unity system to communicate with the Octel system in San Jose via Unity Bridge networking. To configure the delivery location destination type Bridge, the Unity system must have the Bridge Option license.

The next sections cover the following configuration options in the Delivery Location subcategory:

Profile

Prefixes

Subscriber Creation

Profile

The Profile page defines the remote Octel system for the local Australian users. The DialID before the four-digit extension number to address a message to a San Jose user is 152, and the mailbox length is four digits (so that the Octel system receives the last four digits only). To access the Profile page, click Delivery Locations > Profile on the SA page. The values for XYZ are listed in Table 7-43.

The Remote Mailbox Length field is not relevant for XYZ, as explained in the next section, "Prefixes."

Prefixes

Because XYZ has a well-planned dial plan, the Prefixes option is not important here. There is a unique Dial ID for the San Jose destination from the Australian Unity system. you do not need to decouple the Octel dial plan from the Unity/Bridge dial plan.

If there is an overlap in the voice-mail dial plan Dial ID, prefixes can help in setting up network messaging. The Remote Mailbox Length in the Profile page settings is optional when not using Dial ID but is mandatory when Dial ID is used.

For XYZ, the situation is as follows:

Sydney Dial ID = 611, mailbox length is four digits

San Jose Dial ID = 152, mailbox length is four digits

To configure prefixes, click Delivery Locations > Prefixes on the SA page.

Subscriber Creation

The Subscriber Creation page settings are applied to all auto-created subscribers on the Bridge that represent users on the Octel system in San Jose. These settings reflect how Octel text names that do not contain commas should be parsed into first and last names for auto-created Bridge subscribers. Unity stores the first name and last name in two different fields, which allows users to search based on either first or last name, whereas Octel stores the name in a single field. Therefore, when you are creating the subscribers in the Bridge, the Bridge system must know how to treat the single name received from Octel.

The system administrator for the Unity system must talk to the service organization that is managing the Octel system before arriving at the settings required for the Subscriber Creation page. To access this page, click Delivery Locations > Subscriber Creation on the SA page.

Table 7-44 shows the Subscriber Creation page settings used for the San Jose Octel delivery location for XYZ.

Bridge Options

The settings that are configured on the Bridge Options page apply to all auto-created Bridge subscribers created on the Bridgehead server. These options include the following:

Subscriber Creation

Synchronization

Unknown Caller

To access the Bridge settings, click Bridge Options on the SA page.

Subscriber Creation

Because the Unity environment fully integrates within the AD forest, all employees of XYZ are known in the AD environment. That is why XYZ is not going to do an auto-creation or modification of users who reside on the Octel system. In addition, by not allowing changes automatically, it is easier to keep the environment under control. This is a good idea, because AD is the backbone for all other IT-related infrastructure.

The only thing that is not available in AD is the spoken name option, because that gets stored on the local Octel server in San Jose. Retrieving those names is advantageous. The users from Sydney, when addressing a message to somebody in San Jose, will hear name confirmation by the voice of the addressed person.

These names are exchanged via the NameNet protocol as part of the analog OctelNet communication between the Bridge and the Octel server in San Jose. Table 7-45 lists the Subscriber Creation page settings (click Bridge Options > Subscriber Creation on the SA page) that are used to create the subscribers for XYZ.

Synchronization

At this point in the Unity system configuration, the system administrator of XYZ will see the node-id (27975) and the name of the Bridge. When you click the Synchronize button, the information for all Unity subscribers who are currently configured on the server will be sent to the Bridge and can be used in a consecutive NameNet session with the Octel server in San Jose.

Under normal circumstances, when you are initially creating all the Unity subscribers and then creating the Unity node on the Bridge, forced directory synchronization is not necessary. To access the Synchronization page, click Bridge Options > Synchronization on the SA page.

Unknown Caller

Because Bridge subscribers are not listed in the phone directory, this information is not relevant to XYZ. To access these settings, click Bridge Options > Unknown Caller on the SA page.

System

The System category, accessed by clicking Reports > System on the Cisco Unity SA page, includes general settings to configure and administer the Unity system, available on these pages:

Configuration

Schedules

Holidays

Licensing

Authentication

Integration

Ports

Configuration

Configuration settings contain general Cisco Unity settings such as the default schedule, system security, and the cleanup interval for log files, in addition to information about the Cisco Unity server.

To access these settings, click Configuration on the SA page.

Settings

The Settings page options allow you to set basic schedules and to specify the number of days to keep the log and report files. Understanding these settings is important, because higher values require larger amounts of available hard disk space. The Settings page also displays the available hard disk space on all the configured drives in the Unity system.

Enabling the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adelman) factor increases the security when accessing the voice mail through the TUI. By checking the RSA Two Factor check box, Unity contacts an external authentication server before granting the access to the phone user.

To access the Settings page, choose Configuration > Settings on the SA page. Table 7-46 shows the settings used for XYZ.

Software Version

The Software Version page displays the current Unity version and the versions of other software components within the Unity system. This information is useful when working with the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to resolve issues. To access this page, choose Configuration > Software Version on the SA page.

Recordings

The parameters on the Recordings page allow you to configure various recording features. The DTMF Clip Length setting indicates how much to truncate at the end of a recording when a message is terminated with a touchtone. To access this page, choose Configuration > Recordings on the SA page.

Table 7-47 shows the other settings used in XYZ.

Contacts

The Contacts page lets you put in the name and phone numbers of the person who is responsible for maintaining the Unity system. This helps the support tier 1 group users to contact the Unity system administrators if required. To access this page, choose Configuration > Contacts on the SA page.

Table 7-48 lists various settings available on the Contacts page and the settings used for XYZ.

Phone Languages

Unity uses one of the loaded languages for doing phone conversations with the user. If you have multiple languages loaded on the Unity system, you can specify the user's phone language preference on the Subscriber Template > Conversation page.

The Phone Languages page displays available languages based on the language licenses purchased. If you do not see the language that you expect to use, ensure that you have purchased the license to use that language. To access this page, choose Configuration > Phone Languages on the SA page.

Table 7-49 shows the phone language settings used at XYZ.

GUI Languages

The GUI Languages page settings determine the language page used to display the Cisco Unity Administration window and other applications, such as Cisco PCA. To access this page, choose Configuration > GUI Languages on the SA page.

Table 7-50 shows the GUI Languages page settings used at XYZ.

Schedules

Because XYZ will have All Hours All Day schedule settings, it will leave the Schedules page settings to the defaults. In the future, when working hours become more fixed, Out-of-Office and Closed conditions will be used for certain greetings. The future schedule changes will be made accordingly. To access this page, click Schedules on the SA page.

Holidays

The system administrator inputs all public holidays for the upcoming year on the Holiday page. System administrators should put a reminder on their calendar to update this page at the beginning of each year. By default, the Unity system has only January 1 and December 25 configured as holidays.

Unity checks the Holidays page data entered with the current system date. If a caller calls into the Unity system on one of the holidays, the Unity system plays the Closed Greeting. To set the holidays, click Holidays on the SA page.

Table 7-51 lists the holidays observed at XYZ.

Licensing

The information on the Licensing page displays the number of licenses purchased (Licensed Features) that allow the use of certain features, such as multiple languages. It also displays the number ports and so forth.

System administrators need to monitor this page to upgrade the licensees, if the system is getting close to its maximum allowed licenses. To access this page, click Licensing on the SA page.

Authentication

Subscribers need to supply the Windows logon account information to successfully access the Cisco PCA. The Windows logon information is stored in the subscriber's computer as encrypted cookies in the browser cache.

You can avoid storing this information on the subscriber's computer to prevent unauthorized access to Unity Active Assistant. More importantly, you can prevent unauthorized access to the Unity SA interface by configuring the Unity system not to remember the logons, as shown in Table 7-52. To access this page, click Authentication on the SA page.

Integration

The Integration page (click Integration on the SA page) displays the Unity integration settings with other systems. The Cisco CallManager option is a read-only window that indicates the Cisco CallManager settings as they relate to Unity. The information on this page is useful when troubleshooting the Unity integration with Cisco CallManager.

The other options for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Circuit-Switched Integration are grayed out if Unity has no such integrations, which is the case with XYZ.

Ports

Ports or sessions are a licensed feature in Unity. The ports are used not only to accept incoming calls, but also to light the MWI lamp on the IP Phone headset, to send notification about new voice mails to subscribers who configured the Message Notification settings, and to handle outgoing transfers. Therefore, the Unity system administrator must distribute the licensed ports based on the calling needs of the organization. Consider the following factors when distributing the ports:

Number of subscribers who use the message notification feature and the frequency of the notifications

Business dependency on the voice-mail system

The extension numbers that are displayed on the Ports page are the voice-mail port numbers configured in the CallManager server. Both should match.

In the Sizing Unity Ports and Sessions sections described earlier in this chapter, XYZ requires a 32-port Unity system. The secondary Unity server will also have 32 ports configured with the same extension numbers. To configure the ports, click Ports on the SA page.

The approach followed in distributing the Unity ports for XYZ is as follows:

Because XYZ employees (other than the executive team) rely heavily on e-mail and less on voice-mail messaging, a ratio of 27:5 (roughly 20 percent) is used to determine the number of ports assigned to incoming/outgoing traffic.

Twenty-eight ports are dedicated for answering calls.

The other four ports are used for outgoing traffic, so the Enabled, Message Notification, Dialout MWI, and Trap Connection check boxes are checked.

The system administrator always assigns the last four ports to calls that have to go out from Unity to the CallManager; this is to avoid as much as possible clashes between an incoming call and the Unity system trying to initiate an outgoing call or message on the same port.

Table 7-53 shows the voice message port settings and their functions.

You can use the Ports Usage Analyzer Tool, available in the Unity Tools Depot, to monitor the port-utilization status. If you determine that not enough ports are available for incoming calls (queuing of calls on the CallManager is currently not possible), you can increase the number of ports assigned to incoming calls to more than 28.