Table Of Contents

Setting Up Client Applications

Overview: Client Applications

Securing and Changing Cisco Unity Phone Passwords

Setting Up Subscriber Phones

Setting Up Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco

Understanding Cisco PCA Authentication and How to Secure Cisco PCA Passwords

How Authentication for the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant Works

Securing and Changing Cisco PCA Passwords

Defining Cisco PCA Logon, Password, and Lockout Policies

Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

How Subscribers Use the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

Task List for Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

Configuring Subscriber Browsers to Use the Cisco PCA

Setting Up Subscriber Workstations So That Subscribers Can Use the Media Master

Determining Which Recording and Playback Devices Subscribers Will Use

What Happens When Subscribers Use the Phone as Their Recording and Playback Device

What Happens When Subscribers Use a Computer Microphone and Speakers as Their Recording and Playback Device

How Subscribers Specify Their Recording and Playback Device Preferences

Setting Up Text Message Notifications

SMTP Message Notifications

SMS (SMPP) Message Notifications

Setting Up Client Applications

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Overview: Client Applications

Cisco Unity subscribers can send and manage voice, fax, and e-mail messages by using a touchtone phone or by using Lotus Notes with IBM Lotus Domino Unified Communications (DUC) for Cisco. In addition, the Cisco Unity Assistant lets subscribers personalize the Cisco Unity phone settings that control how they interact with Cisco Unity by phone.

This chapter reviews the preparations necessary for setting up subscriber phones and workstations so that subscribers can access and use Cisco Unity client applications. See the following sections for details:

•Securing and Changing Cisco Unity Phone Passwords—This section summarizes how Cisco Unity phone passwords are assigned, secured, and changed.

•Setting Up Subscriber Phones—This section lists the tasks that you must do so that subscribers can access Cisco Unity by phone.

•Setting Up Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco—This section lists the tasks for setting up e-mail clients for Unified Messaging subscribers.

•Understanding Cisco PCA Authentication and How to Secure Cisco PCA Passwords—This section describes how authentication works with the Cisco PCA, how subscriber passwords are changed and secured, and the account policy options available for Cisco PCA logons, passwords, and lockouts.

•Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant—This section summarizes what you must do so that subscribers can use the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant to access the Cisco Unity Assistant. In addition, the section addresses how to configure subscriber browsers to use the Cisco PCA.

•Setting Up Subscriber Workstations So That Subscribers Can Use the Media Master—This section explains how subscribers use the Media Master to make and play recordings over the phone, or by using the computer microphone and speakers, and what you need to do to allow them to use the preferred devices.

•Setting Up Text Message Notifications—This section summarizes the text message notifications available with Cisco Unity, and explains what you need to do before you can enable text message notifications for subscribers or offer them as options that subscribers can set up themselves in the Cisco Unity Assistant.

Related Documentation

•See the "Integrating a Fax Server with Cisco Unity" chapter for information on setting up FaxMail, if applicable. For details on how subscribers manage fax messages, see the "How Subscribers Manage Fax Messages" section.

•When you have set up subscribers to use the Cisco Unity client applications, review the tasks presented in the "Preparing Subscribers, Operators, and Support Desk Personnel to Work with Cisco Unity" chapter to orient subscribers and operators to Cisco Unity.

•For a list of supported versions of Cisco Unity combined with the supported versions of the software on subscriber workstations, refer to the Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity and the Software on Subscriber Workstations, available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/cmptblty/clientmx.htm.

•For supported languages, refer to the Cisco Unity System Requirements, and Supported Hardware and Software, available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/sysreq/40_sysrq.htm.

Securing and Changing Cisco Unity Phone Passwords

You can change the phone password for an individual subscriber on the Subscribers > Subscribers > Phone Password pages in the Cisco Unity Administrator at any time. Alternatively, you can use the Cisco Unity Bulk Import wizard to change the phone passwords for multiple subscribers at the same time. (Refer to the Cisco Unity Bulk Import Help for details.)

Each subscriber should be assigned a unique phone password. It is a good idea to specify a long—eight or more digits—and non-trivial password when you set subscriber phone passwords, and if you allow subscribers to change their own passwords, encourage them to do the same. For information on setting up the account policy that applies when subscribers access Cisco Unity by phone—including minimum phone password length, see the "Account Policy Settings" chapter.

When their accounts are configured to allow them to do so, subscribers can use the Cisco Unity phone conversation or the Cisco Unity Assistant to set their phone passwords. (See the "Subscriber Phone Password Settings" section on page 17-5 to set up subscriber accounts so that subscribers can change their own passwords.) Neither the Cisco Unity conversation nor the Cisco Unity Assistant require subscribers to enter their old phone passwords to reset them.

Subscriber template settings include an initial phone password for subscribers, which should have been changed either during installation or at the time that the subscriber accounts were created. See the "Phone Password Settings" section on page 13-5 for details. For suggestions on how to handle distributing initial phone passwords to subscribers, see the "Subscriber Orientation" section on page 9-1.

Note that Internet subscribers cannot log on to Cisco Unity by phone or use the Cisco Unity Assistant.

Setting Up Subscriber Phones

As applicable, do the following tasks so that subscribers can access Cisco Unity by phone.

Set Up Cisco Unity to Handle Busy and Unanswered Calls

For each subscriber phone, enable call forwarding to Cisco Unity, so that busy and unanswered calls to the subscriber extension are transferred to Cisco Unity to handle. Cisco Unity then uses the call transfer settings for each subscriber to determine, for example, whether callers will be put on hold or sent directly to the subscriber greeting.

Specify a "Messages" Button

For each subscriber phone, enable the subscriber phone so that the subscriber can use a "Messages" button or a similar speed-dial button on the phone to dial the internal Cisco Unity phone number for your organization. This makes calling Cisco Unity to check messages or to change personal settings by phone quick and easy for the subscriber, as the subscriber does not have to dial the number for Cisco Unity from his or her desk phone.

Install TTY Prompts

A TTY prompt set, available in U.S. English (ENX) only, can be installed and used just like any other supported phone language. When the TTY prompt set is installed, subscribers and outside callers who use TTY can call Cisco Unity and use the same features that a hearing caller can use. However, note the following exceptions:

•TTY tones are not available for use in navigating through the Cisco Unity conversation.

•Some TTY phones do not have the capability to send DTMF tones. In this case, TTY users may need to use the phone keypad for system navigation.

To install the TTY prompt set, see the "TTY Overview" section.

Setting Up Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco

By using Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco, Cisco Unity subscribers can send and manage voice, fax, and e-mail messages from their IBM Lotus Notes Inbox. Subscribers can use Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco to send voice messages to other subscribers, to non-Cisco Unity subscribers, and to public distribution lists.They can play and record voice messages by using the VCR-style recording and playback controls presented in the message form.

Cisco Unity activates a message waiting indicator (MWI) on the subscriber phone when a subscriber receives a new voice message. After the subscriber listens to all new messages over the phone, Cisco Unity immediately turns off the MWI—unless the subscriber chooses to save a message as new—to reflect that the subscriber has no new messages. However, when a subscriber listens to new messages by using Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco, Cisco Unity relies on the Domino server to determine whether the subscriber has listened to new messages. As a result, subscribers who work with Lotus Notes offline will report that MWIs on their phones do not turn off in a timely manner. Advise subscribers that when their Lotus Notes client replicates with the Domino server, the MWI will be turned off.

Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco is not a licensed feature, nor does it require that you give subscribers special class of service (COS) privileges or passwords to use it. To set up Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco, install Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco on each subscriber workstation, as applicable. Refer to the Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco documentation for details.

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Caution Do not run Lotus Notes on the Cisco Unity server while Cisco Unity is running, or Cisco Unity may stop functioning. To troubleshoot or test Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco on the Cisco Unity server, you must stop Cisco Unity before you start Notes. When you are finished troubleshooting, exit the Notes software, and shut down and restart the Cisco Unity server.

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Understanding Cisco PCA Authentication and How to Secure Cisco PCA Passwords

Cisco Unity offers application-level authentication to allow subscribers to access the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA). This means that IIS is configured so that the Cisco PCA uses Anonymous authentication, and therefore Cisco Unity authenticates the credentials that subscribers enter when they log on to the Cisco PCA. Note that unlike the Cisco Unity Administrator, you cannot change the authentication method used by the Cisco PCA.

Subscribers use their IBM Lotus Notes user names and the Internet passwords for their Domino user accounts log on to the Cisco PCA. By default, when subscribers log on to the Cisco PCA, their user credentials are sent across the network to Cisco Unity in clear text. The information that a subscriber enters on the Cisco PCA pages is also not encrypted. For increased security, we recommend that you set up Cisco Unity to use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. See the "Manually Setting Up Cisco Unity to Use SSL" chapter for details.

As a best practice, we recommend that Cisco Unity administrators not use the same subscriber account to log on to the Cisco Unity Administrator that they use to log on to the Cisco PCA.

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Caution If you want to use the Upgrade to More Secure Internet Password Format option that is available in the Domino Administrator, you must install Notes version 5.0.11 or later on the Cisco Unity server. Otherwise, Cisco Unity subscribers will not be able to log on to Cisco PCA.

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To learn more about Cisco PCA authentication and subscriber account policies, see the following sections:

•How Authentication for the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant Works

•Securing and Changing Cisco PCA Passwords

•Defining Cisco PCA Logon, Password, and Lockout Policies

How Authentication for the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant Works

1. A Cisco Unity subscriber starts Internet Explorer and attempts to browse to the Cisco PCA website.

2. Internet Explorer tries to get the home page for the Cisco PCA from IIS.

3. IIS allows access to Cisco Unity based on the privileges for the IUSR_<Computer name> account. (This is the anonymous account that by default IIS uses for Anonymous authentication.)

4. Cisco Unity presents the Cisco Unity Log On page, which is displayed in the browser.

5. The Log On page prompts subscribers to enter the Domino credentials, as shown in Table 8-1.

Table 8-1 Cisco Unity Log On Page for Domino Credentials 

Field Name	Description
Full Name	Subscribers enter the full Lotus Notes user name that is associated with their Cisco Unity subscriber account. The full name consists of the user name, any organizational units that the Domino Person document resides in, and the IBM Domino certifier domain. (For example, a subscriber enters Terry Campbell/Sales/Cisco.)
Internet Password	Subscribers enter the Internet password for their Domino user account.

6. Internet Explorer sends the credentials—in clear text—to Cisco Unity. (To mitigate this security risk, you can set up Cisco Unity to use SSL.)

7. Cisco Unity searches the Domino Address Book for a Person document associated with the user name that the subscriber entered on the Log On page. When the user name is found, Cisco Unity retrieves the encrypted password from the Person document and compares it with the password that the subscriber entered on the Log On page.

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Note By default, the connection between the Cisco Unity server and the Domino server is not encrypted. Refer to the Domino documentation for details on encrypting network data on a server port. It is also a good idea to discuss potential performance issues with the Domino administrator for the organization before enabling encryption on the Domino server.

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8. If Cisco Unity can authenticate the Domino credentials, Cisco Unity confirms that there is a subscriber account associated with the Domino Person document used to authenticate the subscriber, and that the subscriber account has the proper COS rights. If the subscriber account exists and it has the proper COS rights, Cisco Unity presents the first page of the Cisco PCA website, which is displayed in the browser.

If the Domino credentials cannot be authenticated, or if the subscriber account does not exist or does not have the proper COS rights, Cisco Unity presents a web page that indicates that the subscriber does not have permission to view the Cisco PCA website.

Securing and Changing Cisco PCA Passwords

Subscribers cannot use the Cisco Unity phone conversation or the Cisco Unity Assistant to change their Cisco PCA passwords, nor can administrators change them in the Cisco Unity Administrator. Instead, subscribers can change their Cisco PCA passwords only in Lotus Notes.

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Note Subscribers may assume that their phone and Cisco PCA passwords are the same. As a result, they may think that they are changing both passwords when Cisco Unity prompts them to change their phone password during first-time enrollment.

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The password for accessing the Cisco PCA is inherited from the password settings in Domino. (For increased security, you can use the settings on the Authentication pages to prohibit the use of blank passwords, even when the Domino account allows them. See the "Authentication Settings" section on page 28-11 for details.)

Defining Cisco PCA Logon, Password, and Lockout Policies

The account policy that you specify on the Authentication page in the Cisco Unity Administrator determines how Cisco Unity handles situations when subscribers attempt to log on to the Cisco PCA and repeatedly enter incorrect passwords; whether subscribers can use blank passwords; the number of failed logon attempts that Cisco Unity allows before the subscriber account cannot be used to access the Cisco PCA; and the length of time that a user remains locked out. In addition, you can use the settings on the Authentication page to specify whether the Log On page for the Cisco PCA offers subscribers the following options:

•Remember User Name

•Remember Password

•Remember Domain

When subscribers specify that Cisco Unity remember their user name, password, or domain, subscribers will not have to enter them the next time that they log on to the Cisco PCA. Instead, the fields are automatically populated in the Log On page.

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Tip Allowing subscribers to specify whether Cisco Unity remembers their credentials may reduce support desk requests for the information. Alternatively, for security reasons, you may not want the Log On page to offer subscribers the above options. If this is the case, you can uncheck the Remember Logons for __ Days check box on the Authentication page to prevent the options from appearing on the Cisco PCA Log On page, and to require that subscribers enter their user name, password, and domain each time that they log on to the Cisco PCA.

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To customize the logon, password, and lockout policies that Cisco Unity applies when subscribers use the Cisco PCA to access Cisco Unity, see the "Authentication Settings" section on page 28-11.

Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

See the following sections:

•"How Subscribers Use the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant" section

•"Task List for Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant" section

How Subscribers Use the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

Subscribers use the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA) to access the Cisco Unity Assistant. The Cisco Unity Assistant is a website that gives subscribers the ability to customize personal settings—including recorded greetings and message delivery options—on their workstations.

Subscribers use their IBM Lotus Notes user names and the Internet passwords for their Domino user accounts to log on to the Cisco PCA. (Cisco PCA passwords are not related to Cisco Unity phone passwords, nor are they synchronized with them.)

The Cisco PCA is not a licensed feature, nor are subscribers required to have COS rights to access it. Any Cisco Unity subscriber can access the Cisco PCA at http://<Cisco Unity server>/ciscopca. (Note that the URL is case-sensitive.) However, subscribers do require proper COS rights to the Cisco Unity Assistant.

In version 3.1 and earlier, the Cisco Unity Assistant was known as the ActiveAssistant, or AA. Subscribers who use the following ActiveAssistant URLs will be automatically redirected to the Cisco PCA website:

•http://<Cisco Unity server>/web/aa

•http://<Cisco Unity server>/ActiveAssistant

Task List for Setting Up the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

The Cisco PCA is installed on the Cisco Unity server during installation. To allow subscribers to access it, you do not need to install any additional files on subscriber workstations; however, you must complete the following tasks:

1. As applicable, give subscribers proper COS rights to the Cisco Unity Assistant. See the "Class of Service Features Settings" section on page 14-10.

2. Understand how authentication works with the Cisco PCA, and any security issues that may affect your organization. Also, secure Cisco PCA passwords and confirm that you have defined an appropriate logon, password, and lockout policy for all subscribers who will access the Cisco PCA. See the "Understanding Cisco PCA Authentication and How to Secure Cisco PCA Passwords" section.

3. Confirm that the directory in which Cisco Unity is installed (the default directory is CommServer) and all subdirectories under that directory are excluded from virus scanning. (Typically, this is done during Cisco Unity installation.) Refer to the virus-scanning software Help for information on excluding directories from scanning.

4. Optional: Exclude return receipts from the Cisco Unity Inbox. (Return receipts are delivery and read receipts.) For details on setting up this functionality, refer to the Advanced Settings Tool Help. The setting is called Unity Inbox—Exclude Return Receipts from the Inbox.

5. Configure subscriber browsers to use Cisco Unity web applications. See the "Configuring Subscriber Browsers to Use the Cisco PCA" section.

Configuring Subscriber Browsers to Use the Cisco PCA

To allow subscribers to access the Cisco PCA, configure their browsers to:

•Enable Active scripting

•Download and run ActiveX controls

•Enable Java scripting

•Accept all cookies

•Automatically check for newer versions of temporary Internet files

Bookmarking Web Pages

When subscriber browser settings are set to cache temporary Internet pages automatically, subscribers can create a bookmark or Favorite to access a Cisco Unity Assistant web page, but the page will be read-only. Explain to subscribers that they should bookmark the Cisco PCA home page, rather than individual pages in the Cisco Unity Assistant. (Subscribers should not change their browser settings as a workaround; when the browser is not set to automatically check for newer versions of temporary Internet files, the Media Master control is not displayed correctly.)

Managing Security Alerts When Using SSL Connections

If you set up Cisco Unity to use SSL, consider that the Cisco PCA website automatically uses an SSL connection every time that a subscriber points the browser to either website. However, until the digital certificate is added to the trusted root store on the subscriber workstation, the browser will display a message to alert the subscriber that the authenticity of the site cannot be verified, and therefore its content cannot be trusted.

To prevent the browser from displaying the security alert, you can distribute the certificate to the trusted root store for all users in the domain by adding it to the Group Policy, or you can tell subscribers how to add the certificate to the trusted root store on their own computers by providing them with the following "To Add the Cisco Unity Certificate to the Trusted Root Store on Subscriber Workstations" procedure. See the "Manually Setting Up Cisco Unity to Use SSL" chapter for additional details about SSL.

Depending on your organization, it may be a good idea to provide subscribers with the "To Add the Cisco Unity Certificate to the Trusted Root Store on Subscriber Workstations" procedure even if you distributed the certificate to the trusted root store for all users in the domain, as the browser will display the security alert any time that subscribers access the Cisco PCA from a workstation that does not belong to a trusted domain (for example, from a computer at home).

To Add the Cisco Unity Certificate to the Trusted Root Store on Subscriber Workstations

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Step 1 On each subscriber workstation, start Internet Explorer.

Step 2 Go to http://<The Certificate Authority server>/certsrv.

Step 3 On the Microsoft Certificate Services page, under Select a Task, click Retrieve the CA Certificate or Certificate Revocation List.

Step 4 Click Next.

Step 5 Click the Install This CA Certification Path link.

Step 6 When prompted, click Yes to add the certificate to the Root Store.

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Setting Up Subscriber Workstations So That Subscribers Can Use the Media Master

The Media Master control bar appears on each page of the Cisco Unity Assistant where subscribers can make and play recordings—either by using the phone, or by using the computer microphone and speakers and clicking the Media Master controls. (Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco offers a similar, VCR-style recording and playback device in the message form.)

Figure 8-1 Media Master Control Bar

The Media Master control bar relies on DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model), and does not work through a firewall that blocks DCOM communications. Keep this in mind when setting up subscribers for remote access. As an ActiveX control, subscribers must configure their browsers to download and run ActiveX controls, and they must have local administrative rights to their workstations in order for it to install properly. (When subscribers have local administrative rights to their workstation, the Media Master automatically installs the first time that subscribers open a Cisco Unity Assistant page that contains it. On subsequent visits to web pages that contain it, the Media Master is created from the locally installed copy.) Subscribers who do not have their browsers configured to download and run ActiveX controls or do not have the Media Master properly installed will see a red X instead of Figure 8-1.

To learn more about setting up subscriber workstations to use the Media Master, see the following sections:

•Determining Which Recording and Playback Devices Subscribers Will Use

•What Happens When Subscribers Use the Phone as Their Recording and Playback Device

•What Happens When Subscribers Use a Computer Microphone and Speakers as Their Recording and Playback Device

•How Subscribers Specify Their Recording and Playback Device Preferences

Determining Which Recording and Playback Devices Subscribers Will Use

When determining the recording and playback devices that you want subscribers to use, consider the following:

•The phone offers the best sound quality for recordings, and serves as the default recording and playback device for the Media Master.

•In order for subscribers to use the phone as a recording and playback device, Cisco Unity must have at least one voice messaging port designated for this purpose (see the "Voice Messaging Port Settings" section on page 28-14 for more information). Note that when a subscriber listens to messages or other recordings by using a computer microphone and speakers, no ports are used, which decreases the load on the Cisco Unity server and leaves ports open for other functions.

•You must provide sound cards, speakers, and microphones to subscribers who do not want to use the phone as their recording and playback device.

What Happens When Subscribers Use the Phone as Their Recording and Playback Device

When subscribers use the phone as a recording and playback device in the Cisco Unity Administrator, the Cisco Unity Assistant, or Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco, the following occurs:

a. The subscriber clicks the applicable option in the client application to make or play a voice recording.

b. The client application asks Cisco Unity to place a call to the subscriber extension, and Cisco Unity calls the extension.

c. When making a recording, the subscriber answers the phone, and begins recording the message, name, or greeting. When the subscriber hangs up, the client application tells Cisco Unity that the recording is finished.

When playing a recording, the subscriber answers the phone, and the client application asks Cisco Unity to play the message. Cisco Unity streams the recording over the phone.

What Happens When Subscribers Use a Computer Microphone and Speakers as Their Recording and Playback Device

When subscribers use a computer microphone and speakers as a recording and playback device in the Cisco Unity Administrator, the Cisco Unity Assistant, or Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco, the following occurs:

a. The subscriber clicks the applicable option in the client application to make or play a voice recording.

b. When making a recording, the subscriber begins speaking into the microphone. When the subscriber clicks the applicable option in the client application to stop recording, the client application tells Cisco Unity that the recording is finished.

When playing a recording, Cisco Unity streams the message to the client application. Streaming occurs on demand, regardless of network traffic. The client application begins to play the message through the speakers as soon as a few seconds of the message are buffered in memory on the subscriber workstation.

How Subscribers Specify Their Recording and Playback Device Preferences

Subscribers can set their own recording and playback device preferences. For example, the Media Master Options menu allows subscribers to choose their own recording and playback devices. Media Master recording and playback settings are saved per user, per workstation. This means that:

•A subscriber who is logged on to the Cisco Unity Administrator or the Cisco PCA can change recording and playback devices from any Media Master Options menu. The recording and playback devices that a subscriber chooses apply to all Cisco Unity applications, as long as the subscriber accesses the applications from the same workstation on which the changes were initially made.

•If multiple subscribers share the same workstation, each subscriber who uses the workstation must indicate a choice of recording and playback devices.

•If a subscriber has updated the choice of recording and playback devices from one workstation, but also accesses the Cisco Unity Assistant, or Lotus Notes with DUC for Cisco on a different workstation (for example, from a computer at home), the choice of recording and playback devices must be indicated for the second workstation as well.

Setting Up Text Message Notifications

Cisco Unity can send message notifications in the form of text messages to text pagers, text-compatible cell phones, and e-mail addresses. When a message arrives that matches the criteria selected in the message notification settings, the Cisco Unity Messaging System sends a text message entered by you or the subscriber, such as "Urgent message for Technical Support."

There are two types of text message notifications available with Cisco Unity. See the following sections for a summary of each type, and information on what you need to do before you can enable text message notifications for subscribers or offer them as options that subscribers can set up themselves in the Cisco Unity Assistant.

•SMTP Message Notifications

•SMS (SMPP) Message Notifications

SMTP Message Notifications

By using SMTP, Cisco Unity can send text message notifications to text pagers that support SMTP when subscribers have received a new voice, e-mail, or fax message. Cisco Unity can also use SMTP to send a text message notification to an e-mail address. This is especially useful when subscribers use text-compatible cell phones or other devices that have been assigned an SMTP address by their wireless or mobile service provider.

In order for subscribers to receive SMTP message notifications from Cisco Unity, your site must have an SMTP gateway. When the gateway is set up, you can use the Text Pager 1 or Text Pager 2 options on the Subscribers > Subscribers > Message Notification page to enable Cisco Unity to send text message notifications by using SMTP. Alternatively, subscribers can enable the same devices on the Notification Devices page in the Cisco Unity Assistant.

Note that when a site without an SMTP gateway attempts to deliver text message notifications, the notification attempt fails and a nondelivery receipt (NDR) is sent to the Cisco Unity Messaging System and then routed, by default, to the Unaddressed Messages distribution list. (For more information, see the "How Cisco Unity Handles Messages Without a Specific Recipient" section.)

To enable SMTP message notifications for subscribers, see the "Subscriber Template Message Notification Settings" section on page 13-23 or the "Subscriber Message Notification Settings" section on page 17-23, as applicable. If the service provider that most subscribers use for their cell phones or other devices simply convert incoming SMTP message notifications to SMS messages, consider using SMS (SMPP) message notifications instead. The following "SMS (SMPP) Message Notifications" section details the advantages of using SMS messaging.

SMS (SMPP) Message Notifications

With the services and information provided by a wireless carrier, mobile messaging service provider or similar company, Cisco Unity can use the Short Message Peer-To-Peer (SMPP) protocol to send message notifications in the Short Message Service (SMS) format to GSM cell phones and other SMS-compatible devices when subscribers receive a new voice, e-mail, or fax message. SMS is a "store and forward service," which means that messages are not sent directly to the device used by the message recipient. Instead, an application like Cisco Unity—known as an External Short Message Entity (ESME)—submits a message to the SMS Center (SMSC). The SMSC then forwards the message to the device.

Advantages Over SMTP Message Notifications

An advantage of using SMS is that the subscriber device receives message notifications much faster than when using SMTP. The subscriber device does not have to be on the GSM network at the time that Cisco Unity sends the message to the SMSC, nor when the SMSC forwards it. The GSM network holds the SMS messages until the device is available; when the device is available, the delivery of the queued messages to the device takes just a few seconds. In addition, you can configure Cisco Unity so that each notification message replaces the previous one. Note that this functionality may not be supported by all mobile service providers.

SMS Message Length Limitations

An SMS message is a short text message. The acceptable message length for an SMS message varies depending on the service provider, the character set used to compose the message text, and the specific characters used in the message text. In general, you can use the following table to determine how long SMS messages can be:

Character Set	Message Length Limitation
7-bit	160 alphanumeric characters
8-bit	140 alphanumeric characters
16-bit	70 alphanumeric characters

Because Cisco Unity supports all three of the above character sets, the Cisco Unity Administrator and the Cisco Unity Assistant allow subscribers to enter up to 160 characters of message text. However, depending on the character set you configure Cisco Unity to use, messages that are shorter than 160 characters may be truncated. The text of the message and the message count (assuming subscribers choose to include the message count) constitute total message length.

Cost Considerations

When setting up SMS (SMPP) message notifications, consider that service providers typically charge for each SMS message or group of messages sent. Thus, the more SMS (SMPP) message notifications that Cisco Unity sends to subscriber devices, the higher the costs to your organization. For this reason, you may want to restrict the use of this feature to a group of subscribers (you can do so by assigning owners to the SMPP providers that you create on the System > SMPP Provider page), or you may want to ask subscribers to limit the number of message notifications that they receive by message type or urgency. For example, subscribers can specify in the Cisco Unity Assistant that Cisco Unity will send message notifications only when new voice messages arrive, or only when a new voice or urgent e-mail message arrives, and so on.

Tasks for Setting Up SMS (SMPP) Message Notification

To enable SMS (SMPP) message notifications for subscribers with SMS-compatible devices, do the following tasks:

1. Set up an account with a mobile messaging service providers that offers SMS messaging. Cisco Unity works with any service provider that supports the SMPP version 3.3 or SMPP version 3.4 protocols.

2. Gather the information needed to allow Cisco Unity to communicate with the SMPP server at the SMSC affiliated with your contracted service provider, and enter the information on the System > SMPP Provider page.

For example, you will need to know the SMPP server name, TCP port, account name and password, and other similar information, as indicated in the documentation that your service provider gave you on setting up a messaging server to communicate with an SMSC. See the "SMPP Provider Settings" section on page 28-15 for additional details and procedures.

3. When the Cisco Unity server is set up behind a firewall, configure the TCP port that is used by the SMPP server to connect to Cisco Unity to allow incoming and outgoing communication between Cisco Unity and the SMPP server.

4. Set up SMS (SMPP) message notification for yourself or another willing subscriber, and test to see if the device receives the SMS (SMPP) notification as expected. If notifications are not working, confirm that you entered the settings on the System > SMPP Provider page as indicated in the documentation that your service provider gave you. Contact your service provider for assistance, as needed.

When you are ready to enable SMS (SMPP) message notifications for subscribers, see the "Subscriber Template Message Notification Settings" section on page 13-23 or the "Subscriber Message Notification Settings" section on page 17-23, as applicable. Subscribers can also set it up for themselves in the Cisco Unity Assistant.

Note that while neither the Cisco Unity Bulk Import wizard nor the Bulk Edit utility (available in Tools Depot) allow you to enable SMS (SMPP) message notifications, you can use the Bulk Edit utility to disable SMS (SMPP) notifications at any time for multiple subscribers at once. For logging and troubleshooting information, refer to the "SMS Notifications Are Not Working at All" section in the "Message Notification" chapter of the Cisco Unity Troubleshooting Guide. The Cisco Unity Troubleshooting Guide is available at http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/c_unity/tsg/tsg404/dom/index.htm.