Table Of Contents
Networking in Cisco Unity
Overview: Networking in Cisco Unity
Networking Options
Message Addressing Options
Locations and External Subscribers
Voice Connector
Active Directory Schema Extensions
Comparison of AMIS, Bridge, and VPIM Networking
Cisco Unity Version Support
Interoperability
General Connectivity Costs
Supported Voice Gateways
International Availability
Blind Addressing
Addressing by Name or by Extension
Spoken Name Confirmation
Audio Formats Supported
Delivery Receipt/Read Receipt
Directory Information Sharing
Directory Synchronization
Distribution Lists
Exchange Version Support
Mailbox ID Translation
Fax Messaging
Message Transport Time Considerations
Private Messages
Simultaneous Analog Sessions for Message Delivery to or from Remote Voice Mail System(s)
Urgent Messages
Road Map to the Networking Documentation: Where To Go from Here
Networking in Cisco Unity
Overview: Networking in Cisco Unity
In Cisco Unity, "networking" is the general term for messaging between Cisco Unity servers, and between Cisco Unity and other voice messaging systems. The term networking has a broad definition and encompasses the following ideas:
•
Subscribers associated with one Cisco Unity server can use the phone to send voice messages to:
–Subscribers associated with another Cisco Unity server.
–Individuals with access to a computer connected to the Internet.
–Individuals who use a voice messaging system other than Cisco Unity.
•Unidentified callers can find any subscriber in the phone directory and leave a voice message. Depending on the phone system and network configuration, unidentified callers who reach the Cisco Unity automated attendant or directory assistance can be transferred to any subscriber phone, even to the phone of a subscriber who is not associated with the local server. (Note there are limitations to this functionality. See the "Notable Behavior" section for more information.)
See the following sections in this chapter for more information:
•Networking Options
•Locations and External Subscribers
•Voice Connector
•Active Directory Schema Extensions
•Comparison of AMIS, Bridge, and VPIM Networking
•Road Map to the Networking Documentation: Where To Go from Here
Networking Options
The main goal of networking in Cisco Unity is to deliver messages from a Cisco Unity server to a target, and from the target to Cisco Unity. The networking options available in Cisco Unity are defined according to a combination of the message transport mechanism and the target, as illustrated in Table 1-1.
Table 1-1 Networking Options
Networking Option
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Description
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Digital Networking
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Allows messaging among multiple Cisco Unity servers connected to a single, global directory. The message transport agent (MTA) is the message transport mechanism between servers. You use this option when the Cisco Unity servers access a shared voice mail directory. (See "Requirements for Setting Up Digital Networking" section for more details.)
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SMTP
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Allows messaging among Cisco Unity servers that access separate voice mail directories. Messages are sent over the Internet or any TCP/IP network using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Subscriber accounts created for use with SMTP Networking are called Internet Subscriber accounts.
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Internet Subscribers
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Allows messaging with individuals over the Internet or any TCP/IP network by using SMTP. The recipient receives the message as an e-mail with a WAV attachment. Internet Subscribers can have local extensions, recorded voice names, and greetings, and be listed in the directory, but they do not have mailboxes in the local Exchange network. Messages are addressed to Internet Subscribers as they are to regular subscribers, but the messages are sent to the e-mail address that you specify when creating the Internet Subscriber. Internet subscriber accounts can be created on the local Cisco Unity server to represent Cisco Unity subscribers on a server in a separate directory, and vice versa. When a subscriber on the local server sends a message to a subscriber on the remote server, the recipient receives voice messages.
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AMIS
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Allows messaging with other voice messaging systems that support the Audio Messaging Interchange Specification analog (AMIS-a) protocol. In essence, the sending voice messaging system calls the receiving voice messaging system, there is an exchange of DTMF tones as defined by the protocol, the sending system plays the message, and the receiving system records it.
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Bridge
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Allows messaging between Cisco Unity and an Octel system on an Octel analog network by using the Cisco Unity Bridge. The Cisco Unity Bridge acts as a networking gateway between Cisco Unity and the Octel system, and allows the systems to exchange voice and fax messages. Messaging between Cisco Unity and the Bridge is done over the Internet or any TCP/IP network by using SMTP. Messaging between the Octel servers and the Bridge is done by using the Octel analog networking protocol. The Bridge must be installed on a separate and dedicated platform.
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VPIM
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Allows messaging with other voice messaging systems that support the Voice Profile for Internet Messaging (VPIM) protocol. VPIM allows different voice messaging systems to exchange voice, text, and fax messages over the Internet or any TCP/IP network. VPIM is based on SMTP and the Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) protocol.
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Message Addressing Options
With SMTP, AMIS, Bridge, and VPIM Networking, you can set up different addressing options:
•Blind addressing—With blind addressing, Cisco Unity has the information it needs to send messages to the remote voice messaging system, but the local Cisco Unity server does not have specific information about the subscribers associated with the remote server (such as their extensions and recorded voice names).
•"External" subscribers—You create Internet, AMIS, Bridge, and/or VPIM subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server to correspond to subscribers on the remote voice messaging system. These external subscribers (also referred to as "proxy users") can have local extensions, recorded voice names, and greetings, and can be listed in the directory, but they do not have mailboxes in the local Exchange network. Messages are addressed to an external subscriber as they are to a regular subscriber, but the messages are sent to the appropriate mailbox on the remote voice messaging system.
•A combination—The various ways of sending and receiving messages, as detailed in Table 1-1, are not mutually exclusive. For example, if the Cisco Unity servers in your organization are set up to access a global directory (and thus can make use of the Digital Networking option), you can still add Internet Subscriber accounts for contractors working at home, and also set up Cisco Unity so that subscribers can send and receive voice messages from a field sales office where the Cisco Unity server is connected to a separate network. And if you are migrating users from an existing voice messaging system to Cisco Unity in stages, you can add AMIS connectivity to the mix, as Figure 1-1 depicts.
Figure 1-1 Networking in Cisco Unity
Locations and External Subscribers
Regardless of which networking option you choose, the setup process is similar.
For each networking option, you customize the settings for the primary location. Each Cisco Unity server has a default or primary location, which is created during installation and which cannot be deleted. The primary location contains information that identifies the Cisco Unity server to other messaging systems—which may or may not be Cisco Unity systems. See the "Overview: Primary Location Settings" section on page 7-1 for more information.
For all networking options except Digital Networking, you create delivery locations. A delivery location contains the network information that Cisco Unity needs to send messages to other messaging servers—which may or may not be Cisco Unity servers. You create a delivery location for each voice messaging server that the local Cisco Unity server will communicate with.
For all networking options except Digital Networking, you may need to create "external" subscribers (that is, Internet, AMIS, Bridge, and/or VPIM subscribers). The messages for external subscribers are stored externally to the Cisco Unity voice message store. When creating external subscribers, you supply addressing information so that Cisco Unity can send messages to them. For example, when creating an Internet Subscriber, you supply the subscriber e-mail address; messages are sent to that e-mail address instead of to an Exchange mailbox on the local network.
Voice Connector
The Cisco Unity Voice Connector for Exchange is a Cisco Unity networking component that enables messaging between:
•Cisco Unity servers that access separate directories
•Cisco Unity servers and other voice messaging systems
There are two Voice Connectors:
•Voice Connector for Exchange 5.5—When your network consists only of Exchange 5.5 servers, then use the Voice Connector for Exchange 5.5.
•Voice Connector for Exchange 2000—When your network consists only of Exchange 2000 servers or a mixture of Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5 servers, then use the Voice Connector for Exchange 2000.
The Voice Connector performs the following functions with the networking options:
•Digital Networking—The Voice Connector is not needed with Digital Networking because the Cisco Unity servers access the same directory.
•SMTP Networking—The Voice Connector allows Cisco Unity systems in separate directories to exchange messages. The Voice Connector preserves the Cisco Unity-specific attributes in the outgoing messages for SMTP transport. The Voice Connector on the receiving end interprets and restores the preserved attributes so that the receiving Cisco Unity recognizes them as a voice message from a remote Cisco Unity subscriber.
•AMIS Networking—The Voice Connector takes care of routing voice messages to the applicable UAmis_<servername> mailbox for outgoing analog delivery and routing incoming AMIS voice messages from the Cisco Unity AMIS bridgehead to the recipient mailbox.
•Bridge Networking—The Voice Connector performs the message conversion that allows Cisco Unity to exchange messages with the Bridge. The Voice Connector for Exchange 2000 is the only Voice Connector supported with this networking option.
•VPIM Networking—The Voice Connector performs the message conversion that allows Cisco Unity to exchange messages with other Cisco Unity servers or other voice messaging systems by using the VPIM protocol. The Voice Connector for Exchange 2000 is the only Voice Connector supported with this networking option.
Active Directory Schema Extensions
When Cisco Unity is installed in a network that consists only of Exchange 2000 servers or in a mixed-mode environment with both Exchange 2000 and Exchange 5.5 servers, a small subset of Cisco Unity data is stored in Active Directory. Therefore, before installing Cisco Unity, the Active Directory schema must be extended. In addition to the schema extensions required before installing Cisco Unity, the Active Directory schema must be extended before setting up the following:
•Bridge Networking
•VPIM Networking
•The Voice Connector for Exchange 2000 that shipped with Cisco Unity versions 3.0(x) through 3.1(x)
Note Beginning with Cisco Unity 4.0, schema extension are not required for the Voice Connector because it stores its data in the Windows Registry of the Exchange server on which it is installed.
The schema extensions needed to support Digital Networking and AMIS Networking are part of the general set of schema extensions for Cisco Unity.
For detailed information about the data that is stored in the directory, refer to the White Paper: Cisco Unity Data and the Directory and White Paper: Active Directory Capacity Planning, available on Cisco.com at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/prod_technical_reference_list.html.
Comparison of AMIS, Bridge, and VPIM Networking
AMIS, Bridge, and VPIM Networking can be used for networking Cisco Unity with other voice messaging systems. However, there are several differences among these networking options, as described in the following sections:
•Cisco Unity Version Support
•Interoperability
•General Connectivity Costs
•Supported Voice Gateways
•International Availability
•Blind Addressing
•Addressing by Name or by Extension
•Spoken Name Confirmation
•Audio Formats Supported
•Delivery Receipt/Read Receipt
•Directory Information Sharing
•Directory Synchronization
•Distribution Lists
•Exchange Version Support
•Mailbox ID Translation
•Fax Messaging
•Message Transport Time Considerations
•Private Messages
•Simultaneous Analog Sessions for Message Delivery to or from Remote Voice Mail System(s)
•Urgent Messages
Cisco Unity Version Support
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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Cisco Unity 3.1(2) and above.
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Cisco Unity 3.1(3) and above.
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Cisco Unity 4.0(1) and above.
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Interoperability
For the most up-to-date list of supported voice messaging systems, refer to Cisco Unity System Requirements, and Supported Hardware and Software on Cisco.com, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/prod_pre_installation_guides_list.html.
General Connectivity Costs
Note that these are the costs associated with Cisco Unity. There may be additional connectivity costs associated with enabling AMIS, Octel Analog Networking, or VPIM for the voice messaging system with which Cisco Unity exchanges messages.
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•License for the Cisco Unity server that functions as an AMIS bridgehead.
•Analog ports on the Cisco Unity server. Connectivity can be made in one of two ways: by using voice cards, or through supported voice gateways. (See the "Supported Voice Gateways" section.)
•Analog lines for message delivery.
•Applicable long distance charges if the Cisco Unity bridgehead server and the remote voice messaging system are physically located in different areas.
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•License for the Cisco Unity server that functions as a bridgehead.
•A separate server for the Bridge software. Each server supports up to 24 ports.
•Voice cards for the Bridge server.
•Analog lines for message delivery between Bridge and Octel nodes.
•Applicable long distance charges if the Bridge server and the Octel system are physically located in different areas.
•SMTP network bandwidth for message delivery between Bridge and Cisco Unity.
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•License for the Cisco Unity server that functions as a VPIM bridgehead.
•SMTP network bandwidth for message delivery.
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Supported Voice Gateways
For the most up-to-date list of supported voice gateways, refer to Cisco Unity System Requirements, and Supported Hardware and Software on Cisco.com, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/prod_pre_installation_guides_list.html.
International Availability
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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All countries in which Cisco Unity is sold.
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Bridge version 2.0(1)
•North America
Bridge version 2.1(1)
•North America
•CTR-21 (Western Europe)
•United Kingdom
•Japan
•Australia
•Hong Kong
Note There are Cisco-supported voice boards for the Bridge in these countries. Some deployment designs may service users in countries that are not on this list, but only when the Bridge server itself is located in one of the countries listed. In addition, the Bridge server is supported only when using the English-language version of Windows 2000 server, and the Bridge software is not localized in any language other than English.
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All countries in which Cisco Unity is sold.
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Blind Addressing
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox.
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox.
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox.
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Note In version 3.1 and earlier, the Cisco Unity Inbox was known as the Visual Messaging Interface or VMI.
Addressing by Name or by Extension
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox when AMIS subscribers exist in the Cisco Unity directory.
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox when Bridge subscribers exist in the Cisco Unity directory.
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Available through the Cisco Unity TUI, ViewMail, and the Cisco Unity Inbox when VPIM subscribers exist in the Cisco Unity directory.
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Spoken Name Confirmation
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•Available when a recorded voice name exists for the AMIS subscriber.
•Voice names for AMIS subscribers must be recorded individually in the Cisco Unity Administrator.
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•Available when a recorded voice name exists for the Bridge subscriber.
•Voice names for Bridge subscribers may be recorded individually in the Cisco Unity Administrator. However, because the Bridge supports directory information sharing, the text and recorded voice names of Octel subscribers are retrieved on a usage basis, and Bridge subscribers are automatically created in the Cisco Unity directory with the retrieved text and voice names. Similarly, the text and voice names of Cisco Unity subscribers are retrieved by the Octel servers on a usage basis, and directory entries are automatically created on the Octel servers with the retrieved text and voice names.
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•Available when a recorded voice name exists for the VPIM subscriber.
•Voice names for VPIM subscribers must be recorded individually in the Cisco Unity Administrator.
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Audio Formats Supported
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•The AMIS protocol is not dependent on audio format.
•The Cisco Unity servers may use any of the supported codecs.
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•Octel Analog Networking is not dependent on audio format.
•The Cisco Unity servers must use either the G711 or the G729a codec in order to communicate with the Cisco Unity Bridge servers.
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•VPIM supports the following audio formats: G711, G726, and MSGSM.
•The Cisco Unity servers may use any of the supported codecs.
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Delivery Receipt/Read Receipt
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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The AMIS protocol does not support this functionality. A request for a delivery or read receipt may be allowed on either Cisco Unity or the remote AMIS voice mail system when addressing, but the request will not result in a receipt.
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Requests for a delivery or read receipt generated by Cisco Unity are always returned from the Octel system as delivery receipts. The receipt is sent to the sender once the message is delivered to the Octel node, regardless of when the Octel system places the message in the subscriber mailbox or when the message is actually read.
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Requests for a delivery or read receipt generated by either Cisco Unity or the remote VPIM system are honored, although both are treated as requests for delivery receipts.
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Directory Information Sharing
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•If the remote AMIS system is configured to send the recorded voice name in messages, Cisco Unity will play it as part of the message.
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•With Octel analog networking, the Avaya Octel NameNet feature is supported. The Cisco Unity Bridge, paired with a Cisco Unity bridgehead server, participates in Octel analog networking, propagating text and voice names among nodes on the analog Octel network.
•If the remote Octel system is configured to send the recorded voice name in messages, Cisco Unity will play it as part of the message.
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•Cisco Unity can be configured to include the recorded voice name and/or vCard of the sender in messages to the remote VPIM systems.
•If the remote VPIM system is configured to send the recorded voice name and/or vCard in messages, Cisco Unity will make them available as part of the message.
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Directory Synchronization
Distribution Lists
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•The AMIS protocol does not support delivery to a distribution list on the recipient voice messaging system. Each message from Cisco Unity to the AMIS system must be addressed to a mailbox ID on the remote system. (Note that an administrator on the remote system may be able to configure a mailbox ID to forward messages to a distribution list.)
•AMIS subscribers can be members of Cisco Unity public or private distribution lists.
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•Octel Analog Networking does not support delivery to a distribution list on the recipient voice messaging system. Each message from Cisco Unity to the Octel system must be addressed to a mailbox ID on the remote system. (Note that an administrator on the remote system may be able to configure a mailbox ID to forward messages to a distribution list.)
•Bridge subscribers can be members of Cisco Unity public or private distribution lists.
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•VPIM subscribers can be members of Cisco Unity public or private distribution lists.
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Exchange Version Support
In a mixed Exchange 5.5/Exchange 2000 network, all Cisco Unity servers in the organization must be configured to communicate with an Exchange 2000 server.
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•Exchange 5.5.
•Mixed Exchange 5.5/Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
•Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
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•Mixed Exchange 5.5/Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
•Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
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•Mixed Exchange 5.5/Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
•Exchange 2000 (Standard or Enterprise).
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Mailbox ID Translation
Mailbox ID translation is the ability for Cisco Unity users to address a message to remote subscribers with the number of digits that the remote system expects to receive, without having to manually enter extra digits.
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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Not available.
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Not available.
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Additional digits can be automatically added to the beginning of the mailbox numbers for the Cisco Unity sender and remote recipient on messages sent from Cisco Unity subscribers. The same digits can be removed from the beginning of the remote sender and Cisco Unity mailbox numbers for delivery to Cisco Unity subscribers.
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Fax Messaging
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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The AMIS protocol does not support this functionality.
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Supported.
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VPIM supports only the TIFF-F message format.
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Message Transport Time Considerations
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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•Analog delivery of the message from the sending system to the receiving system is the most significant contribution to transport time.
•The minimum analog delivery time can be calculated by multiplying the actual recording length of the message by the number of recipients of the message. The AMIS protocol requires a separate analog transmission of the message for each recipient.
•For example, a five-minute message with 10 recipients would require a minimum of 50 minutes for the analog transmission.
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•Analog delivery of the message from the sending system to the receiving system is the most significant contribution to transport time.
•The minimum analog delivery time is the actual recording length of the message.
•Octel Analog Networking allows a single analog transmission of a message addressed to multiple recipients, which the receiving node will deliver to all intended recipients.
•For example, a five-minute message with 10 recipients would require a minimum of 5 minutes for the analog transmission.
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•Exchange routing time and SMTP delivery time to a remote VPIM system are the only considerations.
•For example, a five-minute message with 10 recipients would likely take less than one minute to transmit.
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Private Messages
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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The AMIS protocol does not support this functionality. Messages marked private when they are sent are not marked private when the recipient retrieves them.
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Supported. Messages marked private when they are sent are marked private when the recipient retrieves them.
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Supported. Messages marked private when they are sent are marked private when the recipient retrieves them.
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Simultaneous Analog Sessions for Message Delivery to or from Remote Voice Mail System(s)
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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Supported.
•Limited to Cisco Unity voice mail port availability.
•Ports available to place outgoing AMIS calls can be configured in the Cisco Unity Administrator (but not per AMIS destination).
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Supported.
•Limited to Bridge server analog port availability.
•Maximum number of ports to deliver simultaneously to any single node, and the threshold to initiate and disconnect additional calls, can be configured per Bridge server.
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N/A.
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Urgent Messages
AMIS
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Bridge
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VPIM
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The AMIS protocol does not support this functionality. Messages marked urgent when they are sent are not marked urgent when the recipient retrieves them.
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Supported. Messages marked urgent when they are sent are marked urgent when the recipient retrieves them.
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Supported. Messages marked urgent when they are sent are marked urgent when the recipient retrieves them.
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Road Map to the Networking Documentation: Where To Go from Here
If your installation includes multiple Cisco Unity servers networked together and accessing a common directory, much of the information that you need is included in the "Digital Networking" chapter. Start with this chapter even if you will also be using other networking options.
If you plan to set up blind addressing to other Cisco Unity servers that access separate directories, or to set up Internet Subscriber accounts, see the "SMTP Networking" chapter.
If you plan to use AMIS to communicate with another voice messaging system, see the "AMIS Networking" chapter.
If you plan to use VPIM to communicate with another voice messaging system, see the "VPIM Networking"chapter.
If you plan to use the Bridge to communicate with Octel systems on an Octel analog network, see the Cisco Unity Bridge Networking Guide, available on Cisco.com at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/products_installation_and_configuration_guide_books_list.html.
Regardless of which networking option you choose, you need to customize the settings for the primary location. See the "Primary Location Settings" chapter.
If you have an earlier version of AMIS or the Voice Connector installed, review the information in the "Upgrade and Uninstall Information" chapter.
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