Deploying Single Inbox for One Unity Connection Server

In a deployment that includes one Unity Connection server, the server connects with one or a few Exchange servers. For example, you can configure a Unity Connection server to access mailboxes on an Exchange 2003 server and on an Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010, or Exchange 2013 server.

Deploying Single Inbox for a Unity Connection Cluster

You deploy a Unity Connection cluster much the same way you deploy a Unity Connection server. Configuration data is replicated between the two servers in the cluster, so you can change configuration settings on either server. Note that the Unity Connection Mailbox Sync service, which is required for single inbox to function, runs only on the active server and is considered a critical service. If you stop this service, the active server fails over to the secondary server, and the Unity Connection Mailbox Sync service starts running on the new acting primary server.

If there are IP restrictions on the network, such as a firewall, consider the connectivity of both Unity Connection servers to the Exchange servers.

Deploying Single Inbox for a Unity Connection Intrasite Network

Unified messaging services are not replicated among Unity Connection servers in an intrasite network, so they must be configured separately on each server in the network.

Deploying Single Inbox During Gradual Migrations from Cisco Unity

We discourage gradual migrations in general because the process is complex and time consuming. We further discourage migrating messages during a gradual migration because users who are being migrated will encounter some behaviors that are confusing and atypical of Unity Connection. For more information, see the “Moving Mailboxes Between Mailboxes Stores” section of the “Message Storage” chapter of the 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/10xcucsag090.html.

Firewalls

If a Unity Connection server is separated by a firewall from Exchange servers, you must open the applicable ports in the firewall. If a Unity Connection cluster is configured, you must open the same ports in the firewall for both Unity Connection servers. For more information, 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.

You can specify a proxy server to route the traffic between Unity Connection and Microsoft Office 365. For more information, see the “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Micorosoft Office 365 for Unified Messaging” chapter of the Unified Messaging Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x available at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/unified_messaging/guide/10xcucumgx/10xcucumg025.html.

Bandwidth

For bandwidth requirements for single inbox, see the “Unified Messaging Requirements: Synchronizing Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes (Single Inbox)” section of 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.

Latency

Latency is closely intertwined with the number of connections (also known as synchronization threads or threads) that Unity Connection uses to synchronize Unity Connection and Exchange mailboxes. In a low-latency environment, fewer connections are required; conversely, in a high-latency environment, more connections are required to keep up with the number of operations that need to be synchronized to Exchange.

If you do not have enough connections, users will experience delays in synchronizing messages and in synchronizing message changes between Unity Connection and Exchange (for example, turning message waiting indicators off when the last voice message has been heard). However, configuring more connections is not necessarily better. In a low-latency environment, a busy Unity Connection server with a large number of connections to Exchange may significantly increase the processor load on the Exchange servers.

Note For better user experience, the round trip latency between Unity Connection and Office 365 server should not be more than 250 ms.

See the following sections for calculating the number of connections needed:

• Calculating the Number of Connections for One Unity Connection Server
• Calculating the Number of Connections for a Unity Connection Cluster
• Calculating the Number of Connections for a Unity Connection Server That Is Synchronizing with an Exchange CAS Array
• Increasing the Number of Connections

Calculating the Number of Connections for One Unity Connection Server

If you have one Unity Connection server with 2,000 or fewer users, and if round-trip latency between the Unity Connection and Exchange or Office 365 servers is 80 milliseconds or less, do not change the number of connections unless you encounter synchronization delays. The default setting of four connections will be sufficient in most environments to ensure good single-inbox synchronization performance.

If you have one Unity Connection server with more than 2,000 users or more than 80 milliseconds of round-trip latency, use this formula to calculate the number of connections:

Number of connections =
(Number of Unity Connection single-inbox users * (latency in milliseconds + 15)) / 50,000

If you have more than one Exchange or Office 365 CAS server, the number of Unity Connection single-inbox users is the largest number of single-inbox users who are assigned to one CAS server or CAS array. For example, suppose your Unity Connection server has 4,000 users and they are all single-inbox users. You have three Exchange or Office 365 CAS servers, with 2,000 users on one CAS server and 1,000 users on each of the other two CAS servers. For this calculation, the number of Unity Connection single-inbox users is 2,000.

Note The maximum number of connections is 64. Never reduce the number of connections to fewer than four.

For example, if your Unity Connection server has 2,000 users and 10 milliseconds of latency, and all of the mailboxes are homed on one Exchange or Office 365 server, you would not change the number of connections:

Number of connections = (2,000 * (10 + 15)) / 50,000 = 50,000 / 50,000 = 1 connection
(no change to the default value of four connections)

If your Unity Connection server has 2,000 single-inbox users and 100 milliseconds of latency, and all of the mailboxes are homed on one Exchange or Office 365 server, you would increase the number of connections to 5:

Number of connections = (2,000 * (100 + 15)) / 50,000 = 230,000 / 50,000 = 4.6 connections

Note This formula is based on conservative assumptions about user activity, and about Unity Connection and Exchange or Office 365 performance, but the assumptions may not be true in all environments. For example, if you are experiencing single-inbox synchronization delays after setting the number of connections to the calculated value, and if the Exchange servers have available CPU, you may want to increase the number of connections beyond the calculated value.

Calculating the Number of Connections for a Unity Connection Cluster

If both Unity Connection servers in a cluster are in the same location, so they have the same latency when synchronizing with Exchange or Office 365, you can calculate the number of connections the same way you do for one Unity Connection server.

If one server in a cluster is collocated with the Exchange or Office 365 servers and the other is in a remote location:

• Install the publisher server in the location with the Exchange or Office 365 servers. The publisher server should always be the primary server unless the server is offline for maintenance or is unavailable for some other reason.
• Calculate the number of connections for the publisher server, meaning the Unity Connection server with lower latency. If you calculate for the server with higher latency, during peak usage, synchronization may increase the processor load on the Exchange or Office 365 CAS servers to unacceptable levels.

When the remote server becomes the active server, for example, because you are upgrading Unity Connection, you may encounter significant synchronization delays. When you calculate the number of connections for the Unity Connection server that is collocated with Exchange, you are optimizing for the server with lower latency. This number of connections may not be able to keep up with the number of operations that need to be synchronized to Exchange or Office 365. The maintenance operations that require activating the subscriber server should be performed during non-business hours and you should limit the amount of time that the subscriber server is the active server.

Calculating the Number of Connections for a Unity Connection Server That Is Synchronizing with an Exchange CAS Array

Unity Connection is most likely to require a large number of connections with Exchange or Office 365 when connecting with a large CAS array. For example, when the Unity Connection server has 12,000 single-inbox users and the latency is 10 milliseconds, you would increase the number of connections to six:

Number of connections = (12,000 * (10 + 15)) / 50,000 = 300,000 / 50,000 = 6 connections

If your Exchange environment includes both a large CAS array and one or more Exchange or Office 365 servers that are not in the array, and if the calculated number of connections for the CAS array differs significantly from the number of connections for the individual Exchange or Office 365 servers, you may want to consider adding a Unity Connection server that is dedicated to the separate Exchange or Office 365 servers. Setting the number of connections to the lower value—for the standalone Exchange or Office 365 servers—will mean synchronization delays for the CAS array, while setting the number of connections to the higher value—for the CAS array—will mean a higher processor load on the standalone Exchange or Office 365 servers.

Increasing the Number of Connections

If you have more than 2000 users on a Unity Connection server or more than 80 milliseconds of latency, you can increase the number of connections from the default value of four. Note the following:

• The maximum number of connections is 64.
• Never decrease the number of connections to fewer than four.
• After you change the number of connections, you must restart the Unity Connection Mailbox Sync service in Cisco Unity Connection Serviceability for the change to take effect.
• As Unity Connection is optimized in future versions, the optimum number of the connections for a specific environment may change.
• If you have more than one Unity Connection server synchronizing with the same Exchange server or CAS array, you may increase the processor load on the Exchange CAS servers to unacceptable levels.

To increase the number of connections that Unity Connection uses for synchronizing with each Exchange server, run the following CLI command (when a Unity Connection cluster is configured, you can run the command on either server):

run cuc dbquery unitydirdb EXECUTE PROCEDURE csp_ConfigurationModifyLong (pFullName='System.Messaging.MbxSynch.MbxSynchThreadCountPerUMServer', pValue=<value>)

where < value > is the number of connections that you want Unity Connection to use.

To determine the current number of connections that Unity Connection is configured to use, run the following CLI command:

run cuc dbquery unitydirdb select fullname, value from vw_configuration where fullname = 'System.Messaging.MbxSynch.MbxSynchThreadCountPerUMServer'

Load Balancing

By default, the Unity Connection Mailbox Sync service uses four threads (four HTTP or HTTPS connections) for each CAS server or CAS array that Unity Connection is configured to synchronize with. Note the following:

• The threads are torn down and recreated every 60 seconds.
• All of the requests come from the same IP address. Configure the load balancer to distribute load from the same IP address to multiple servers in the CAS array.
• Unity Connection does not maintain session cookies between requests.
• If the load balancer for the existing CAS array does not produce the desired result with the load profile that the Unity Connection Mailbox Sync service puts on it, you can set up a dedicated CAS server or CAS array to handle the Unity Connection load.

Note Cisco Unity Connection is not responsible for troubleshooting the load balancer issues as it is an external third party software. For further assistance, please contact the Load Balancer support team.

Unified Messaging Services Account Accessing Exchange Mailboxes

Single inbox and the other unified messaging features require that you create an Active Directory account (called the unified messaging services account throughout the Unity Connection documentation) and grant the account the rights necessary for Unity Connection to perform operations on behalf of users. No user credentials are stored in the Unity Connection database; this is a change from Unity Connection 8.0, for which TTS access to Exchange email and access to Exchange calendars and contacts required that you enter each user’s Active Directory alias and password.

Using the unified messaging services account to access Exchange mailboxes simplifies administration. However, you must secure the account to prevent unauthorized access to Exchange mailboxes.

The operations that the account performs and the permissions that the account requires are documented in the “Creating the Unified Messaging Services Account in Active Directory and Granting Permissions for Cisco Unity Connection 10.x” section of the “Configuring Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and Microsoft Exchange for Unified Messaging” chapter in the Unified Messaging Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/unified_messaging/guide/10xcucumgx/10xcucumg020.html.

Deploying Exchange Servers

We tested single inbox with Exchange using standard Exchange deployment practices, which are thoroughly documented on the Microsoft website. If you are not following Microsoft deployment guidelines for Active Directory and Exchange, you should enable single inbox gradually, for small groups of users, and closely monitor Active Directory and Exchange performance as you add more single-inbox users.

Mailbox-Size Quotas and Message Aging

By default, when a user deletes a voice message in Unity Connection, the message is sent to the Unity Connection deleted items folder and synchronized with the Outlook Deleted Items folder. When the message is deleted from the Unity Connection deleted items folder (the user can do this manually, or you can configure message aging to do it automatically), it is also deleted from the Outlook Deleted Items folder.

If you are adding the single-inbox feature to an existing system, and if you have configured Unity Connection to permanently delete messages without saving them in the deleted items folder, messages that users delete using the Web Inbox or using the Unity Connection phone interface are still permanently deleted. However, messages that users delete using Outlook are only moved to the deleted items folder in Unity Connection, not permanently deleted. This is true regardless of which Outlook folder the message is in when the user deletes it. (Even when a user deletes a voice message from the Outlook Deleted Items folder, the message is only moved to the deleted items folder in Unity Connection.)

You should do one or both of the following to prevent the hard disk on the Unity Connection server from filling up with deleted messages:

• Configure mailbox-size quotas, so that Unity Connection prompts users to delete messages when their mailboxes approach a specified size.
• Configure message aging to permanently delete messages in the Unity Connection deleted items folder.

Note Beginning with Cisco Unity Connection 10.0(1) and later releases, when the mailbox size of a user starts reaching its specified threshold limit on Unity Connection, the user receives a quota notification message. For more information on mailbox quota alert text, see the “Controlling the Size of Mailboxes” section of the “Message Storage” 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/10xcucsagx/10xcucsag090.html.

Co-ordinating Mailbox-Size Quotas and Message Aging Settings in Unity Connection and Exchange

You can configure mailbox-size quotas and message aging in Exchange just as you can in Unity Connection. When you are configuring single inbox, confirm that the mailbox-size quotas and message aging in the two applications do not conflict. For example, suppose that you configure Unity Connection to delete voice messages that are more than 14 days old, and you configure Exchange to delete messages that are more than 30 days old. A user who returns from a three-week vacation will find emails in the Outlook Inbox for the entire period but will find voice messages only for the last two weeks.

When you configure Unity Connection single inbox, you will need to increase the mailbox-size quotas for the corresponding Exchange mailboxes. You should increase the quota for Exchange mailboxes by the size of the quota for Unity Connection mailboxes.

Note By default, Unity Connection allows outside callers to leave voice messages regardless of the mailbox-size quota for recipient mailboxes. You can change this setting when you configure system-wide quota settings.

Exchange can be configured to tombstone or retain messages that have been permanently deleted; when single inbox is configured, this includes Unity Connection voice messages in Exchange mailboxes. Ensure that this is the desired outcome for voice messages based on your enterprise policies.

Moving Exchange Mailboxes

If you configure unified messaging services to access specific Exchange servers, Unity Connection can only detect mailbox moves between Exchange servers for some versions of Exchange. In configurations in which Unity Connection cannot detect mailbox moves, when you move Exchange mailboxes between Exchange servers, you need to add new unified messaging accounts for the affected users and delete the old unified messaging accounts.

For the affected versions of Exchange, if you frequently move mailboxes between Exchange servers for load balancing, You should configure unified messaging services to search for Exchange servers. This allows Unity Connection to automatically detect the new location of mailboxes that have been moved.

For information on which versions of Exchange are affected, see the “Moving Microsoft Exchange Mailboxes for Cisco Unity Connection 10.x Users Configured for Unified Messaging” chapter of the Unified Messaging Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x at http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/unified_messaging/guide/10xcucumgx/10xcucumg030.html.

Exchange Clustering

Unity Connection supports using single inbox with Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2013 Database Availability Groups (DAG) for high availability if the DAGs are deployed according to Microsoft recommendations. Unity Connection also supports connecting to a CAS array for high availability.

Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003 clustering has not yet been tested. When testing is complete and clustering support has been determined, the “Unified Messaging Requirements: Synchronizing Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes (Single Inbox)” section of System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x will be updated with that information. The document is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.

Single Inbox Affecting Exchange Performance

Single inbox has a minor effect on Exchange performance in direct relationship to the number of users. For more information, see the white paper at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6789/ps5745/ps6509/solution_overview_c22-713352.html.

Exchange Autodiscover Service

If you configure unified messaging services to search for Exchange servers, do not disable the Exchange autodiscover service, or Unity Connection will not be able to find Exchange servers, and unified messaging features will not work. (The autodiscover service is enabled by default.)

Exchange Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2013

For information on Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 requirements when single inbox is configured, see the “Unified Messaging Requirements: Synchronizing Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes (Single Inbox)” section of System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 9.x will be updated with that information. The document is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.

When you are using Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2013, you need to:

• Assign the application impersonation management role to the unified messaging services accounts.
• Configure EWS limits for the unified messaging users (Exchange 2013 and Later).
• Configure EWS limits for the unified messaging users (Exchange 2010 SP2 RU4 and Later).
• Configure EWS limits for the unified messaging services accounts (Exchange 2010 SP2 RU3 and Earlier Releases).

Exchange Server 2007

When Exchange 2007 is supported:

• The “Unified Messaging Requirements: Synchronizing Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes (Single Inbox)” section of System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x will be updated with that information. The document is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.
• Unity Connection will support the single-inbox feature when Exchange mailboxes are homed on any combination of Exchange 2013, Exchange 2010, and Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2010, Exchange 2007, and 2003 servers.

When you are using Exchange 2007, you need to:

• Grant impersonation, may impersonate, and receive-as rights to the unified messaging services accounts.
• Grant unified messaging services accounts the permission to sign in locally.

Exchange Server 2003

When Exchange 2003 is supported:

• The “Unified Messaging Requirements: Synchronizing Unity Connection and Exchange Mailboxes (Single Inbox)” section of System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 10.x will be updated with that information. The document is available at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/requirements/10xcucsysreqs.html.
• Unity Connection will support the single-inbox feature when Exchange mailboxes are homed on any combination of Exchange 2010, 2007, and 2003 servers.

When you are using Exchange 2003, you need to:

• Grant the unified messaging services accounts send as, receive as, and administer information store permissions.
• Enable the WebDav service.

Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook

When single inbox is configured, users will have the best experience when they are using Microsoft Outlook for their email application and when Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook version 8.5 or later is installed. ViewMail for Outlook is an add-in that allows voice messages to be heard and composed from within Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, or 2003.

Versions of ViewMail for Outlook prior to 8.5 are not able to access voice messages that are synchronized into Exchange by the single inbox feature.

You can simplify the deployment of ViewMail for Outlook using mass-deployment technologies that use MSI packages. For information on customizing ViewMail for Outlook–specific settings, see the “Customizing ViewMail for Outlook Setup” section in the Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook Release 8.5(3) or later at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/vmo/release/notes/853cucvmorn.html.

When you enable single inbox (SIB) using unified messaging service, a new Voice Outbox folder appears under the Outbox folder in Outlook. Unity Connection creates this folder in Exchange and uses it to deliver voice messages to Unity Connection; this allows Unity Connection and ViewMail for Outlook to monitor a separate folder for delivery of voice messages.

Note When you move an email message from any Outlook folder to the Voicemail Outbox folder, the email message is moved to the Deleted Items folder. The user may retrieve that deleted email message from the Deleted Items folder.

For more information about ViewMail for Outlook, see:

• Quick Start Guide for Cisco ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook (Release 8.5 and Later) at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/vmo/quick_start/guide/85xcucqsgvmo.html.
• Release Notes for Cisco Unity Connection ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook Release 8.5(3) or later at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/vmo/release/notes/853cucvmorn.html.

Unity Connection Web Inbox

The Unity Connection Web Inbox is a web application that allows users to hear and compose Unity Connection voice messages from any computer or device that has internet access to Unity Connection. Note the following:

• Web Inbox can be embedded into other applications as a gadget.
• For playback, Web Inbox uses HTML 5 for audio playback when.wav playback is available. Otherwise, it uses QuickTime.
• For recording on a computer, Web Inbox uses a small Flash component. Users can also upload messages that were previously recorded.
• TRaP, or playback from a telephone integrated with a telephony integration can be used for playback or recording.
• New message notifications or events come through via Unity Connection.
• When the Web Inbox session is idle for longer than the 30 minutes, Connection disconnects the session. The session timeout settings are not reconfigurable.
• Web Inbox is hosted in the Tomcat application on Unity Connection.

Note Web Inbox supports both the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. However, the IPv6 address works only when Connection platform is configured in Dual (IPv4/IPv6) mode.

For more information on Web Inbox, see Quick Start Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Web Inbox at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/quick_start/guide/b_10xcucqsginbox.html.

Blackberry and Other Mobile Applications

Note the following about using mobile clients to access Unity Connection voice messages:

• Mobile clients such as Blackberry devices are supported with single inbox.
• Clients that use Active Sync technology and can playback encoded.wav files are supported with single inbox. The encoding will need to be known, because some codecs are not supported across all mobile devices.
• Cisco Mobility applications can be used to check voice mail directly in Unity Connection as in previous releases. However, these applications currently are not supported with single inbox.
• Mobile users can only compose voice messages if they have a Cisco Mobility application or if they call into the Unity Connection server.

IMAP Email Clients and Other Email Clients

If users use IMAP email clients or other email clients to access Unity Connection voice messages that have been synchronize to Exchange by the single-inbox feature, note the following:

• Unity Connection voice messages appear in the inbox as emails with.wav file attachments.
• To compose voice messages, users must either call into Unity Connection or use a recording device and an application that can produce.wav files.
• Replies to voice messages are not synchronized into the recipient’s Exchange mailbox.