Cisco Unity Connection 10.x Overview

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Cisco Unity Connection is a feature-rich voice messaging platform that runs on the same Linux-based Cisco Unified Communications Operating System used by Cisco Unified Communications Manager. Unity Connection scales to support enterprise organizations with up to 100,000 users.

Unity Connection includes the following features and components:

End-User Features

• Flexible User Interface
• Automated Attendant Functionality
• Speech Connect
• Dial Plan Flexibility: Partitions and Search Spaces
• Video Greetings
• Languages
• Synchronization of Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes—Single Inbox
• Access to Calendar, Meeting, and Contact Information
• Desktop Message Access
• Desktop Message Access
• Accessing Voice Messages Using SMTP-based HTML Notifications
• Transcriptions of Voice Messages (SpeechView)
• Mobile Clients
• Fax Messages

System Administration

• Flexible Administration and Serviceability
• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Licensing
• LDAP Directory Synchronization and Authentication
• Security

Supported Servers and Phone Systems

• Supported Unity Connection Platforms
• Supported Phone Systems

Enterprise Features

• Unity Connection Clusters (Active/Active High Availability and Redundancy)
• Networking
• Third-Party Voicemail Interoperability

For links to additional related documentation on Cisco.com, see the “For More Information” section.

Flexible User Interface

There are two ways in which users can interact with Unity Connection by phone:

• Phone keypad keys—Users press keys on any touchtone phone to respond to prompts or select menu options.
• Voice commands—Users speak into the phone handset, headset, or speaker phone, and Unity Connection responds to their voice commands.

Note Users who are configured for the voice-recognition conversation have the option to press keys on the phone keypad for a primary set of commands rather than say a voice command.

The users can also press a key to toggle between the voice-recognition and touchtone conversations (by default, users press 9 to toggle between conversations, though you can use the Custom Keypad Mapping tool to assign a different key or keys). If users are assigned to the voice-recognition conversation and press 9while in the main menu, they are switched to the touchtone conversation, and vice versa.

The Unity Connection conversations can be customized both by administrators and by end users to maximize company and individual productivity. Users can configure the system to manage calls and messages in the way that is most comfortable and convenient for them, which makes messaging more efficient for “power users” and occasional voicemail users alike. In addition, for users who are accustomed to third-party voicemail conversations, Unity Connection offers multiple conversation keypad mappings that can be further customized, as well as the option to create a new conversation using the Custom Keypad Mapping tool.

To maximize the productivity of mobile workers, consider enabling the speech-activated voice command interface. This interface allows users to browse and manage voice messages and to call other Unity Connection users or personal contacts using simple, natural speech commands.

The phone interface also allows for access to Microsoft Exchange calendars, contacts, and emails, and to Cisco Unified MeetingPlace.

Note Microsoft Exchange calendars and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace cannot be configured simultaneously for a Connection user.

Automated Attendant Functionality

Unity Connection includes a full-featured automated attendant that is customizable to suit the needs of your organization. Unity Connection provides a number of different call management elements that you can combine to customize how your system handles calls and collects input from callers. You can use the default configuration to play a company greeting to callers, allow them to enter user extensions or reach a directory of users, or reach an operator. You can also add and customize elements to create complex audio-text trees that can ask callers a series of questions and record their responses, offer tiered menus of product information, route calls to a support queue during working hours and to a mailbox after hours, immediately play legal disclaimers or “snow day” recordings to all callers before allowing them to interact with the system, and so on.

For information on call management in Unity Connection and the various elements that make up the Unity Connection conversation such as call handlers, directory handlers, interview handlers, call routing tables, schedules and holidays, and restriction tables, see the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x. Also in that guide is information on creating a call management plan, how outside callers and users interact with the Unity Connection conversation, and how administrators and users can customize the Unity Connection conversation. The guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx.html.

In an auto attendant configuration, Unity Connection is designed to take maximum load of eight calls per second per node or 16 calls per second for Unity Connection cluster.

In auto attendant configuration, Unity Connection recommends you to:

• Use Active-Active topology for distributing the traffic between publisher and subscriber in case of cluster. To achieve Active-Active topology, select the round robin routing on Cisco Unified CM.
• Evaluate the overall solution architecture periodically as the load on the solution grows over time.
• Implement Call Admissions Control (CAC) functionality on Cisco Unified CM to limit Unity Connection port utilization to 80% when number of calls reaches peak volume.
• Verify the system behavior under auto attendant peak call load in pilot or lab before deploying.

If auto attendant traffic volume exceeds more than eight calls per second per node or 16 calls per second for Unity Connection cluster, you should use Cisco Voice Portal (CVP) in place of Unity Connection.

Speech Connect

Unity Connection includes a speech-enabled enhancement to the automated attendant functionality, called Speech Connect. Speech Connect uses voice-enabled directory handlers that allow both employees and outside callers can say the name of an employee and instantly be connected, without having to navigate an audio-text tree, and without knowing the extension of the employee. For easy access for employees, you can configure a Speech Connect speed dial on user phones.

If multiple employees have the same name or if Speech Connect does not have a perfect match for the name spoken by the caller, it presents numerous name choices for the caller and can include additional information such as the employee location or department.If a user or a call handler does not have a recorded name, Unity Connection uses Text to Speech to play the display name of the user or call handler.

With text-to-speech feature enabled in Unity Connection, user can play the emails using phone that are accessible through the configured unified messaging account (Exchange or Office 365).

For detailed information about setting up directory handlers, see the “Directory Handlers” section of the “Call Management” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsag080.html.

Dial Plan Flexibility: Partitions and Search Spaces

Dial plan flexibility is supported through the use of partitions and search spaces, with which you can segment the Unity Connection directory for both dialing and addressing. For example, partitions and search spaces can be configured to allow for overlapping extensions, abbreviated dialing, or multi-tenant configurations.

If a user in a partition sends a voice message to another user in some other partition and both the users belongs to the same search space and share the same extension, then the called party partition gets replaced with the calling party partition. To resolve the overlapping of dial plan:

• Use E.164 numbers with both the calling party and called party extensions.
• Disable Identified User Messaging in System Settings of Unity Connection Administration to disable the Phone Number Resolution and users see only the phone number of the called party and not the phone number of the calling party who left the voicemail message.

For more information on using partitions and search spaces, see the “Dial Plan” section of the “Call Management” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag080.html.

Video Greetings

Unity Connection 10.0(1) and later releases have enhanced the current greeting experience by providing the video greetings to the caller. Unity Connection allows subscribers to record a video greeting for both identified users and outside callers. Presenting video greetings to outside callers is enabled from the class of service for the subscribed users.

You can record and play the following six types of personal video greetings:

• Standard
• Busy
• Alternate
• Internal
• Closed
• Holiday

Note Error greetings are played audio only.

Unity Connection 10.0(1) supports the following video-enabled endpoints:

• Cisco 99XX and 89XX Series Endpoints
• Cisco 79XX and 69XX Series Endpoints with Cisco Unified Video Advantage
• Cisco Jabber for Windows 9.2(3) or later
• Cisco Jabber for Mac 9.2(1) or later
• Cisco Jabber for iPad 9.3(21386) or later

For more information on video endpoints, see the “Requirements for Using Video Greetings Feature” section in the System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html#pgfId-594228.

For more information on Cisco Jabber with operating systems, see the release notes for the product at releases http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11678/prod_release_notes_list.html.

To enable video greetings for a Unity Connection deployment, the administrator must first integrate Unity Connection with a MediaSense 10.0 or later as a Video Service. This MediaSense instance must be dedicated to the Unity Connection system. To enable access to the Video Greetings feature, administrators must map the Video Service to the applicable subscriber accounts.For more information on configuring video service account for Video Services, see the “Configuring Video Services” and “Configuring Video Services Accounts” sections of the "Video" chapter in System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag150.html.

Upon receiving a call for a video greetings enabled user account, Unity Connection applies all the pre-checks required to establish a video call. A user is able to record and play video greetings if all the pre-checks required for each video call are satisfied. For more information on pre-checks, see the “Task List for Configuring Video Greetings” section of the "Video" chapter in System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag150.html.

Languages

When multiple languages are installed, you can configure the language for system prompts that are played to users and callers. Separate greetings can be recorded for users and call handlers in each language that is installed on the system. Routing rules can be configured to set the language for a call based on how the call reached the system.

For a list of supported languages, see the “Available Languages for Unity Connection Components” section of System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html#pgfId-585821.

Synchronization of Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes—Single Inbox

You can configure Unity Connection to synchronize voice messages in a Unity Connection user mailbox with the user Exchange mailbox. For more information, see:

• The “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Microsoft Exchange for Unified Messaging” chapter and
• The “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Microsoft Office365 for Unified Messaging” chapter

of the Unified Messaging Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/unified_messaging/guide/10xcucumgx.html.

You can configure Unity Connection to synchronize voice messages in a Unity Connection user mailbox with the user Exchange mailbox configured on Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS-Dedicated) environments as well as other third party hosted dedicated Exchange environments.

Note Third-party hosted Exchange solution provider is responsible for the qualification or testing of the third-party Exchange environment to ensure proper integration with Unity Connection.

Bandwidth and latency requirements are identical to the bandwidth and latency requirements for on-premise Microsoft Exchange environments. The following attributes of BPOS-D environments are identical to the attributes of on-premise Microsoft Exchange environments:

• Throttling Policy
• Impersonation Account
• Scalability

For more information, see "Latency" and "Bandwidth" sections of the “About Single Inbox” chapter.

You can also configure Connection to synchronize voice messages in Unity Connection user mailbox with the user Exchange mailbox configured on Microsoft Office 365(Exchange 2010 based wave 14).

Access to Calendar, Meeting, and Contact Information

When Unity Connection is configured for a calendar integration, users can access calendar and meeting information from Cisco Unified MeetingPlace, Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express, and Microsoft Exchange, and can import Exchange contacts for use by rules created in the Personal Call Transfer Rules web tool and for use by voice commands when placing outgoing calls.

Note MeetingPlace Express is not supported with Unity Connection 10.x.

For more information, see the applicable document:

• The “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Microsoft Exchange for Unified Messaging” chapter and
• The “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Unified Messaging” chapter

of the Unified Messaging Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/unified_messaging/guide/10xcucumgx.html.

Desktop Message Access

Unity Connection supports access to voice messages through a wide range of desktop clients, including:

• IMAP clients—Third-party IMAP clients such as email clients are supported for accessing voice messages from Unity Connection. Users can read, reply to, and forward messages from these types of clients. For more information, see the “Integrated Messaging” section of the “Messaging” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag110.html..

Beginning with Unity Connection 10.0, IMAP clients are supported when Unity Connection is configured in the following modes:

– IPv4 only mode

– Dual Mode(IPv4/IPv6)

For more information see the “Changing the IP Address or Hostname of a Unity Connection Server” of the “Maintaining Cisco Unity Connection Server” chapter of the Install, Upgrade, and Maintenance Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x at the following link http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/install_upgrade/guide/10xcuciumgx/10xcuciumg050.html.

• Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook plug-in—In addition to basic IMAP access to Unity Connection voice messages, the ViewMail for Outlook form allows playing and recording messages from the Outlook client using either the phone or workstation speakers and microphones. Users can compose, read, reply to, and forward messages when using ViewMail. For more information on the ViewMail for Outlook client, see the “Configuring an Email Account to Access Cisco Unity Connection 10.x Voice Messages” chapter of the User Workstation Setup Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/user_setup/guide/10xcucuwsx/10xcucuws030.html.
• Web Inbox —The Web Inbox is an application that enables users to play, compose, reply to or forward, and manage Unity Connection voice messages using a web browser. The Web Inbox replaces the Messaging Inbox web tool that was available in the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant in earlier releases of Unity Connection.
• Cisco Unified Personal Communicator—Cisco Unified Personal Communicator is a desktop client that allows users to play voice messages. Users can read and delete messages from Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. For more information, see the CUPC product pages at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6844/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
• Cisco Unified Messaging with IBM Lotus Sametime —Cisco Unified Messaging with IBM Lotus Sametime integrates Unity Connection voicemail into the IBM Lotus Sametime instant messaging application, allowing users to play their voice messages within Lotus Sametime. A list of all voice messages, including the caller name or number and the date and time, are displayed in a panel on the client window. Users simply click to play their voice messages. They can also sort and delete messages directly from the Lotus Sametime application. For more information, see the Release Notes for Cisco Unified Messaging with IBM Lotus Sametime at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_release_notes_list.html.
• Visual Voicemail —Visual Voicemail is part of the Cisco Unified Communications Widgets suite of applications. Visual Voicemail allows users to view, listen, compose, forward, delete, and respond to voice messages from their Cisco Unified IP Phone display without having to dial into their Unity Connection mailboxes. Visual Voicemail provides enhanced functionality compared with Unity Connection Phone View, an older application that provides limited access to messages from the phone display. You should use Visual Voicemail rather than the older feature. For system requirements and information on installing, configuring, and using Visual Voicemail, see the documentation at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9829/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.
• RSS Feeds—As an alternative to checking messages by phone or using the Web Inbox, an IMAP client users can retrieve voice messages using an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader. When a user marks a message as read, the message is no longer displayed in the RSS reader, but a saved copy is available in the Unity Connection mailbox of the user. For more information on configuring Unity Connection to supply RSS feeds, see the “Configuring an RSS Reader to View Voice Messages” section of the “Advanced System Settings” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag170.html.
• Jabber - Unity Connection 10.x supports Cisco Jabber as client. For more information on Cisco Jabber for Android, see the release notes for the product at releases http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11678/prod_release_notes_list.html

Accessing Voice Messages Using SMTP-based HTML Notifications

Unity Connection allows you to deliver embedded HTML notifications for a new voice message via SMTP to the end users. The HTML notifications on the computer support both Web email clients(such as Google Mail or Yahoo Mail) and desktop email clients (for example, Microsoft Outlook and IBM Lotus Notes). However, the HTML notifications on the mobile support only Web email clients.

Unlike the text-based SMTP notifications, the HTML notification functionality makes listening to your voice message just a click away. Once the user clicks on the play option in the new HTML-based notification email, the Mini Web Inbox browser-based client application is loaded to play that notified voice message. The HTML notification is also an alternative to traditional Unified Messaging and IMAP messaging, which allows integration with not only Exchange and Domino, but with Gmail as well.

The content and format of the HTML notifications received via email can be customized through a notification template, custom variables, and custom graphics. Cisco Unity Connection Administration and the Cisco Unity Connection Provisioning Interface (CUPI) APIs can be used to work on notification templates. The administrator need to follow a checklist and must take care of few steps while working on notification templates.

To use the HTML notification templates, the HTML notification device must be enabled and a notification template must be assigned to it. For more information on checklist for the HTML notifications, see the “Setting Up HTML Notification” section of the “Notifications” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag140.html.

The users are also allowed to set up an HTML notification device and configure the other settings using the Messaging Assistant web tool of Cisco Personal Communications Assistant(PCA). The user can access the notified voice message clicking the hyperlink given in the email for launching the Mini Web Inbox. With Mini Web Inbox, the user can play, reply, reply all, forward, or delete the voice messages using a phone or a computer. On mobile, Mini Web Inbox is supported via telephone record and playback (TRAP) connections on the native browser.

For more information on the Mini Web Inbox, refer to the Quick Start Guide for the Cisco Unity Connection Mini Web Inbox available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/quick_start/guide/b_10xcucqsgminiinbox.html.

The new HTML-based notifications functionality provides user with a new set of the Cisco Unity Connection Imaging Interface (CUII) APIs. In addition, there are certain set of activities that can be performed by the administrator and the user with some new introduced set of CUPI APIs.

For more information on how to manage notification templates using the Cisco Unity Connection Imaging Interface (CUII) and Cisco Unity Connection Provisioning Interface (CUPI) APIs, see the Cisco Unity Connection APIs, available at the http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Cisco_Unity_Connection_APIs.

To troubleshoot any issue while creating templates or launching the Mini Web Inbox, see the “Troubleshooting Mini Web Inbox in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter of the Troubleshooting Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/troubleshooting/guide/10xcuctsgx/10xcuctsg217.html.

Transcriptions of Voice Messages (SpeechView)

SpeechView provides transcription of user voice messages. Users can view transcriptions of their messages using an IMAP client that is configured to access their voice messages. The transcription text can also be sent to an email address or mobile device.

In Unity Connection, based on your requirements, you can select either standard or professional SpeechView service to read the voicemail. The standard SpeechView service is a fully automated transcription service. However, professional SpeechView service involves automated transcription as well as human assistance in converting speech to text and delivering the text version of the voice message to your email inbox.

For information on configuring SpeechView, see the “SpeechView” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag130.html.

Mobile Clients

Unity Connection supports access to voice messages from Windows mobile phones, RIM BlackBerry devices, and Symbian OS phones through Cisco Unified Mobility Advantage and Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator. Cisco Unity Connection also supports Cisco CIUS tablet as client. Apple iPhones with Unity Connection are supported via Cisco Mobile.

Unity Connection 10.x supports Cisco Jabber as client. For more information on Cisco Jabber for Android, see the release notes for the product at releases at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11678/prod_release_notes_list.html.

For information on Cisco Mobile and Cisco Jabber (for Android, Nokia, Windows, and iPhone) 7.x, 8.x and 10.x, see the applicable document at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7271/prod_release_notes_list.html.

Fax Messages

Users can send a fax to a fax machine for printing (users can specify the fax number by phone), download a fax from a supported IMAP client, and forward fax messages to other Unity Connection users.

Note Cisco is not going to sell Cisco fax server after May 2011 but the support for fax server continues until May 2014.

When used in conjunction with fax detection on the Cisco IOS gateway, users can have a single number to receive both voice calls and fax calls, with voice calls forwarding to Unity Connection and fax calls forwarding to the third-party fax server. For more information, see the “Fax Server” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag180.html.

Unity Connection can integrate with the following third-party fax servers to support fax messages:

• OpenText Fax Server, RightFax Edition, version 10.x and later ( http:\\www.opentext.com)
• Sagemcom Xmedius Fax SP version 6.5.5 ( http:\\www.sagemcom.com)
• Cisco Fax Server, version 10.x

Users can send a fax to a fax machine for printing (users can specify the fax number by phone), download a fax from a supported IMAP client, and forward fax messages to other users. When used in conjunction with fax detection on the Cisco IOS gateway, users can have a single number to receive both voice calls and fax calls, with voice calls forwarding to Unity Connection and fax calls forwarding to the third-party fax servers. For more information, see the “Third-party Fax Servers Integration in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter.

Flexible Administration and Serviceability

See the following sections:

• Administrative Tools
• End User Web Tools

End User Web Tools

When end users are given access to the browser-based Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA), they can also be granted access to the following web tools:

• Messaging Assistant—Allows users to quickly and easily change and manage personal settings such as voicemail options, passwords, personal distribution lists, and message-delivery options.
• Cisco Unity Connection Personal Call Transfer Rules—Allows users to create call transfer rules that forward and screen incoming calls based on caller, time of day, or calendar status. (Personal Call Transfer Rules are supported only when Unity Connection is integrated with Cisco Unified Communications Manager phone systems.)
• Web Inbox —Allows users to send and access voice messages.

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Note Users can directly access the Web Inbox navigating to http://<Connection host name>/inbox.

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To learn more about these tools, see the applicable User Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x and the Help for each tool. Unity Connection user guides are available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_user_guide_list.html.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)

Unity Connection includes several Representational State Transfer (REST) application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide provisioning, messaging, and telephony access to Unity Connection. These APIs provide the ability to integrate Unity Connection features into existing enterprise-wide provisioning management systems and messaging clients.

The APIs are REST interfaces that standardize operations such as add, delete, view, and modify.

See the following sub-sections:

• Cisco Unity Connection Provisioning Interface (CUPI)
• Cisco Unity Connection Messaging Interface (CUMI)
• Cisco Unity Connection Telephony Interface (CUTI)
• Cisco Unity Connection Notification Interface (CUNI)
• Cisco Unity Connection Imaging Interface (CUII)

Licensing

In Unity Connection, licenses are only required for users and features, which includes SpeechView, SpeechView Pro, and SpeechView Connect.The licenses are now managed by the Enterprise License Manager (ELM) server. To use the licensed features on Unity Connection, the valid licenses for the features must be installed on the Enterprise License Manager (ELM) server and Unity Connection must communicate with the ELM server to obtain the license. The ELM server provides centralized, simplified, and enterprise-wide management of user-based licensing. For more information on the ELM server and its configuration, see the Enterprise License Manager User Guide available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/elmuserguide/9_0_1/CUCM_BK_E596FD72_00_enterprise-license-manager-user-90.html.

Unity Connection remains in the Demonstration (Demo) mode until it connects with the ELM server. For information on Unity Connection licenses, see the " Managing Licenses in Cisco Unity Connection “chapter of the Install, Upgrade, and Maintenance Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x, available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/install_upgrade/guide/10xcuciumgx/10xcuciumg060.html.

LDAP Directory Synchronization and Authentication

If you are using a supported LDAP directory for your corporate directory, Unity Connection gives you the option to synchronize a small subset of user data in the Unity Connection database with user data in the LDAP directory. In addition, if you configure directory synchronization, you can have Unity Connection authenticate user access to Unity Connection web applications against Active Directory credentials. You can also configure Unity Connection to periodically resynchronize Unity Connection user data with user data in the LDAP directory.

Unity Connection LDAP directory support does not require directory schema extensions, and access to the directory is read-only.

Unity Connection also supports standalone users and users imported from Cisco Unified Communications Manager via AXL. Both standalone users and users imported from Cisco Unified CM can be converted to LDAP users at any time.

For more information on Unity Connection support for LDAP synchronization and authentication, see the “LDAP Directory Integration with Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter.

Security

Revised April 11, 2014

Unity Connection supports security in a number of areas of the product:

• Platform —Unity Connection is based on the Linux-based Cisco Unified Communications Operating System. The operating system is locked down, and no root access is allowed. For more information on the Cisco Unified Communications Operating System, see the Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/os_administration/guide/10xcucosagx.html.
• Security Enhanced Linux(SELinux) —In previous Unity Connection releases, Cisco Security Agent was installed on the Unity Connection server to secure communication with other servers and with clients. With Unity Connection 8.6, Cisco Security Agent has been replaced with Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux).The SELinux access-control security policies have been configured specifically for Unity Connection. For example, the same TCP and UDP ports that must be opened in a firewall to allow inbound and outbound communication are also opened in SELinux. For a list of these ports, see the “IP Communications Required by Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter of the Security Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/security/guide/10xcucsecx/10xcucsec010.html.

Note You cannot change the SELinux security policies.

You can disable SELinux policy enforcement using the utils os secure CLI command if necessary, for example, for troubleshooting. However, by disabling SELinux, you are subjecting the Unity Connection server to unauthorized access. For more information on the utils os secure CLI command, see the applicable Command Line Interface Reference Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Solutions at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_maintenance_guides_list.html.

• Call signaling and media stream —Unity Connection allows for authentication and encryption of call signaling and media with both SCCP and SIP trunk integrations with Cisco Unified Communications Manager. For more information, see the “Integrating Cisco Unity Connection 10.x with Phone System” chapter.
• Unauthorized access —In order to help prevent unauthorized access, Unity Connection allows for authentication polices (for both phone and web access) that can control the number of attempted sign-ins, account lockout policies, minimum password lengths, and password expiration. For more information, see the “Authentication Rules” section of the “System Settings” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag160.html.
• Unauthorized transfers and dial outs —Unity Connection restriction tables control which numbers are allowed for transfers and dialouts, thus locking down unauthorized use of the system by users and helping prevent toll fraud. For more information, see the “Restriction Tables” section of the “Call Management” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsag080.html.
• Secure messages —Unity Connection supports secure messaging. For more information, see the “Secure Messages” section.
• Communications between Cisco Unity Connection and clients—For more information on securing the communications between Unity Connection and clients, see the “Securing Communications Between Unity Connection and Clients” section.
• Single Sign-On

– OpenAM Single Sign-On —The single sign-on feature allows end users to log in once and gain access to Cisco Personal Communications Assistant, Web Inbox, Cisco Unity Connection Administration, and Cisco Unity Connection Serviceability applications. The single sign-on feature uses Active Directory and OpenAM simultaneously to provide single sign-on access to client applications. For more information, see the “Single Sign on in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x" chapter of the Security Guide for Cisco Unity Connection at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/security/guide/10xcucsecx/10xcucsec061.html.

– SAML Single Sign-On- The Security Assertion Markup Language Single Sign-On (SAML SSO) feature has enhanced the existing single sign-on feature in Unity Connection. SAML SSO allows a user to gain single sign-on access with Unity Connection subscriber web interfaces and across the administrative web applications on the following Unified Communication products that includes Unity Connection, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified IM/Presence.

The SAML SSO feature requires Active Directory and Identity Provider to provide single sign-on access to web applications on Unified Communication products. SAML SSO allows the LDAP users to login with a username and password that authenticates on Identity Provider. The non-LDAP users with administrator rights login to Cisco Unity Connection Administration using Recovery URL. When SSO login fails ( e.g. If Identity Provider or Active Directory is inactive), Recovery URL provides alternate access to the administrative and serviceability web applications via username and password. For more information on SAML SSO, see the Quick Start Guide for SAML SSO in Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/quick_start/guide/10xcucqsgsamlsso.html.

Note Non-LDAP users are the users that reside locally on Unity Connection server.

A user signed in to any of the supported web applications on Unified Communication products (after enabling the SAML SSO feature) also gains access to the following web applications on Unity Connection:

Note To allow users to access Web Inbox and Mini Web Inbox, you must have a user with mailbox. Also navigate to Unity Connection Administration> Class Of Service > Licensed Features and make sure that the Allow Users to Use the Web Inbox, Messaging Inbox and RSS Feeds check box is checked.

With Unity Connection 10.5(1) and later, VMRest APIs expand single sign-on access (SSO) support to include authentication using a SSO OAuth 2.0 token.

• Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)- The Cross-Origin Resource Sharing feature has extended the support to the client applications of a cross domain server to access content on a Unity Connection server using VMRest APIs.

With Unity Connection 10.,5 and later, the client applications are allowed to process the cross-origin requests in a more secured way. CORS uses HTTP headers to establish an agreement between the web browser and Unity Connection server to provide services to permitted domains.

For more information on CORS, see the “CORS” section of the “System Settings” chapter in System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x, available at

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/administration/guide/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag160.html.

• Multi-Server Certificate Support for Tomcat- Multi-server Subject Alternate Name (SAN) is a section defined under X.509 certificate extensions. SAN contains multiple Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN) or hostnames or other valid names. X.509 technology allows placing a trust in the identity of an entity such as Internet websites when it is digitally signed by a Certificate Authority (CA). SAN field allows multiple FQDNs, domain names or other approved names to be included in X.509 certificate. This way a user does not need to generate a certificate for each server. Instead one certificate identifies multiple servers.

Note In telephony integration, multi-server SAN certificate is supported only with secure SIP integration. However, with secure SCCP integration, only single-server certificate is supported.

For more information on Configuring, Generating CSR and Downloading CSR using Multi-server SAN Certificate, see the “Security” chapter of the Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection - Release 10.x, available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/os_administration/guide/10xcucosagx/10xcucosag060.html.

Tenant Partitioning

Tenant Partitioning is a cloud based voice mail solution where service providers provide voice mail service to multiple small medium businesses (SMB) on a single installation of Unity Connection.A tenant is a logical grouping of objects within the Unity Connection appliance that together make an independent tenant (customer) hosted on the server. Unity Connection allows you to have more than one tenant on a single installation. These tenants exist as islands within the server and would have no knowledge of each other.Tenant Partitioning is the Unity Connection feature that enables the appliance to host more than one tenant. For more information, see the “Overview of Tenant Partitioning “chapter.

Supported Unity Connection Platforms

For a list of servers that are qualified for use with Unity Connection, including detailed hardware specifications, the maximum number of ports, the maximum number of users, the total number of minutes of message storage, and so on, see the Cisco Unity Connection 10.x Supported Platforms List at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/supported_platforms/10xcucspl.html.

Note that when a customer configures a Unity Connection cluster (active/active high availability), two Unity Connection servers are required:

• The publisher server, which publishes the database and message store.
• The subscriber server, which subscribes to the database and message store on the publisher server.

Note Both servers can service call traffic and client/administration traffic.

Voice Recognition is also supported on the Unity Connection servers. For capacity planning for voice recognition, see the Cisco Unity Connection Supported Platforms List.

Supported Phone Systems

Cisco Unity Connection natively integrates with Cisco Unified Communications Manager and with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express through Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) or through a SIP trunk.

If the customer integrates Unity Connection with a circuit-switched phone system, additional hardware is needed:

• Many integrations with circuit-switched phone systems use PIMG or TIMG units for analog, digital, or T1 interfaces. Serial integrations (SMDI, MCI, and MD-110) with analog interfaces also require special cables. For more information about PIMG/TIMG integrations, see the applicable integration guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html.
• If the customer integrates Unity Connection with a QSIG-enabled phone system, an ISR voice gateway is required. For more information, see the applicable integration guide at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html.

Unity Connection can also be integrated with multiple phone systems. For more information, see the Multiple Phone System Integrations Guide for Cisco Unity Connection 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/integration/guide/multiple_integration/cuc10xintmultiple.html.

For the requirements of the phone system integration, see the System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.

For more information on phone system integrations, see the “Integrating Cisco Unity Connection 10.x with Phone System” chapter.

For supported deployment models, see the “Overview of Cisco Collaboration System Components and Architecture” chapter of the Cisco Collaboration System 10.x Solution Reference Network Designs (SRND), available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/srnd/collab10/collab10.html.

Support for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)

Unity Connection provides IPv6 support for various Unity Connection features. To view the list Unity Connection features that support IPv6 address, refer to “Support for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)” in the Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/release/notes/10_0_1cucrn.html.

Support for Comet Notifications over SSL

Added April 11, 2014

Unity Connection 10.5(1) and later allows the user to send comet notifications over SSL. To send comet notifications over SSL, you need to enable comet notification over the SSL mode using the CLI command utils cu jetty ssl enable. For more information on CLI commands that enable or disable Connection Jetty over SSL, see the Command Line Interface Reference Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Solutions Release 10.0 (1) http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/cli_ref/10_0_1/CUCM_BK_CBEED39F_00_cucm-cli-reference-guide-100.html.

When Unity Connection Jetty over SSL mode is enabled, you need to restart the Unity Connection Jetty service so that Unity Connection Jetty and comet notification client use the new SSL certificates. In case of Unity Connection cluster, each node supports:

• 2500 mailboxes with comet notifications over SSL mode
• 5000 mailboxes with comet notifications over non-SSL mode

For more information on restarting connection Jetty, see the “Securing Cisco Unity Connection Administration, Cisco PCA, Cisco Unity Connection SRSV, and IMAP Client Access to Cisco Unity Connection” section of the “Using SSL to Secure Client/ Server Connections in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter of the Security Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, Release 10.x, available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/security/guide/10xcucsecx/10xcucsec065.html#pgfId-1076634.

Unity Connection Clusters (Active/Active High Availability and Redundancy)

Unity Connection supports a two-server active/active cluster to provide high availability and redundancy. Both servers in the Unity Connection cluster run Unity Connection, and both accept calls, HTTP requests, and IMAP requests. If one server in the Unity Connection cluster becomes inactive, the other server continues to provide the end-user functionality including voice calls, HTTP requests, and IMAP requests. In this situation, a lower port capacity is available for taking voice calls. For more information, see the “Cisco Unity Connection 10.x Clusters (Active/Active High Availability)” chapter.

Networking

Each Unity Connection server (or cluster) has a maximum number of users that it can serve. When the messaging needs of your organization require more than one Unity Connection server or cluster, or you need a way to combine multiple Unity Connection directories or to internetwork Unity Connection with Cisco Unity, you can link Unity Connection servers or clusters together to form sites, and link a Unity Connection site with another Unity Connection site or with a Cisco Unity site to form a Cisco Voicemail Organization.

Unity Connection supports three types of networking:

• Legacy Networking

– Intersite Networking

– Intrasite Networking

Note SMTP Protocol is used for directory synchronization within a network.

• VPIM Networking
• HTTPS Networking

Beginning with Unity Connection 10.0(1) and later, a new type of networking, HTTPS Networking, is introduced to connect different Unity Connection servers and clusters in a single site network. The main objective of introducing HTTPS networking is to increase the scalability of Unity Connection deployments. The architecture of HTTPS networking is scalable both in terms of number of Unity Connection locations and the total directory size. HTTPS Protocol is used for directory synchronization within a network.

Note In Unity Connection 10.0(1), legacy networking is also supported to connect multiple Unity Connection servers in a network. However, you should deploy a new network as per HTTPS networking. Legacy networking includes both intrasite (digital) and intersite networking.The legacy and HTTPS networking are not supported simultaneously in the same network.

For more information on HTTPS networking, see the HTTPS Networking Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x, available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/https_networking/guide/10xcuchttpsnetx.html

For more information on Legacy and HTTPS networking design, see the “Networking in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter

Third-Party Voicemail Interoperability

Unity Connection supports Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) version 2, which allows the exchange of voice and text messages with other messaging systems. You can use VPIM Networking to network Unity Connection with other voice messaging systems, including Cisco Unity, Unity Connection, Cisco Unity Express, or any third-party voice messaging system that supports the VPIM version 2 protocol.

For more information on VPIM Networking design, see the “Networking in Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” chapter.

For More Information

System Requirements

The System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x lists the requirements for installing the Cisco Unity Connection system.

The document is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.

Compatibility

The Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity Connection and the Software on User Workstations includes the supported version combinations for Cisco Unity Connection and the software installed on user workstations, including browsers and versions supported for each browser when using the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant and Cisco Unity Connection web tools, supported IMAP clients, and information on the versions of Microsoft Outlook that are supported with ViewMail for Outlook and ViewMail for Notes.

The SCCP Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express includes the supported version combinations for SCCP integrations with Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.

The SIP Trunk Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express includes the supported version combinations for SIP trunk integrations with Cisco Unity Connection, Cisco Unified Communications Manager, and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.

All three documents are available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_device_support_tables_list.html.

Supported Deployment Models for Cisco Unity Connection and Phone Systems

For supported deployment models, see the “Cisco Voice Messaging” chapter of the Cisco Unified Communications System 10.x SRND at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/srnd/10x/uc10x.html.

Deploying ViewMail for Outlook

Deploying the ViewMail for Outlook (VMO) Windows Installer File (MSI) is supported through any software distribution package that supports the Windows Installer File (MSI) format. For more information, see the Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook, available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_release_notes_list.html.

Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection

Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection contain information on new and changed requirements and support, new and changed functionality, limitations and restrictions, open and resolved caveats, and documentation updates.

Release notes are available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_release_notes_list.html.

Documentation Guide for Cisco Unity Connection

The Documentation Guide for Cisco Unity Connection contains descriptions and links for all documentation produced for a particular Unity Connection release.

The Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_documentation_roadmaps_list.html.