on 05-29-2009 08:37 PM - edited on 03-25-2019 06:24 PM by ciscomoderator
Here are the questions submitted during the "How to Migrate Legacy Voicemail Systems" workshop held May 28, 2009. Many answers have been provided, and others are still being worked on.
If you missed the live workshop, then view the replay on the Cisco Knowledge Network web site.
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# | Question | Response |
1 | What happens if I need more than 15,000 VPIM contacts on Unity Connection when using VPIM networking? | |
2 | Is a VPIM "bridgehead" server required or recommended with Unity Connection? | |
3 | When is Unity Connection 7.1 expected to be released? | Target is 6/12/2009 |
4 | can you leverage OWA for remote mobile phones to get voicemail with connection? | There are several options for integrating Unity Connection with Exchange and OWA. You can use Message Forward -- this sends the voicemail to an email mailbox, such as one residing on Exchange. This then enables access via OWA. |
5 | When will unity be support on VM and/or Cisco's Unified Computing platform? | Cisco Unity today supports virtualization with VMWare ESX and therefore support the Cisco Unified Computing System |
6 | how does connection support fax server-in another inbox or? | Fax Server integration with Unity Connection requires a separate box for the Fax Server. |
7 | How about speach to text conversion capabilities (read a spoken voicemail)? Any support there? | Cisco Unity Connection does not currently support Speech to Text. |
8 | where can i get more details on the exchange/owa integration for connection? i need to know exactly what the capabilities are. | You can find more information about Cisco Unity Connection on cisco.com: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/index.html |
9 | can you have combine voicemail only and UM in the same box? | For UM, the message store must always be off-box. You can mix VM and UM licenses on the same Unity server though. |
10 | Would be interested to have you expand on the launguages, specifically multiple languages on a single server | Cisco Unity Connection supports 5 concurrent languages on an single box. |
11 | what's the difference between integrated messaging and unified messaging? | From a client perspective, very little. Unified messaging uses a single message store, while integrated has a seperate store for voicemessages. Integrated messaging uses an IMAP integration at the client to provide messages in your email client. |
12 | Any plans to support speach to text in the near future? Are there third party vendors Cisco works with? | |
13 | my fax question relates to what the end user sees in outlook | It would show in your voicemail inbox within outlook |
14 | Is Hungarian a currently available language? | Yes, Hungarian is available |
15 | can we partition the ports on the Unity; meaning ports 1-16 are for CUCM integration and from 17-32 is PIMG integration? | Yes, you can have multiple integrations on a single unity connection/unity server |
16 | Are there plans on future versions to expand language support beyond 5 concurrent? | |
18 | What are the restrictions , interactions with dial plan overlay between legacy end points and the new IP Cisco endpoints | This topic is addressed in the second half of the presentation. |
19 | How would one replace a TIMG/PIMG? | TIMG/PIMG's are extenal gateways, and can be physically replaced whenever required |
20 | and is connection better serves between legacy and Cisco via QSIG or ISDN trunks | QSIG is required for supplementary services such as Message Waiting Indicator (MWI), transport of call diversion information, and path replacement |
21 | Any compatibility with Centrex on a DMS100? | Yes, we support integration to these large PBX types through PIMG/TIMG gateways. Yes, yes we can integrate Cisco Unity and Unity Connection to Nortel DMS 100 using SMDI, and PIMG or TIMG |
22 | Would they be replaced thru Cisco? and would the software be preloaded on the new gateway? | Yes, Cisco would replace the PIMG/TIMG if the items are covered under warranty/maintenance contract. They come with the software reuqired |
23 | If the legacy PBX's and Unity Connections will sit in two different parts of the U.S. - is it better to house the PIMG/TIMG local to the PBX or local to Unity Connections? | Local to the PBX as the PIMG talks SIP to Cisco Unity/Connection |
24 | does Unity support transcoding? so, now i can install it as g711 and it can get g729 calls without MTPs | Yes, Cisco Unity will do Transcoding. However it requires CPU resources and it is a best practice to utilize external hardware transcoding. |
25 | are there MTP requirements for Unity with SIP integrations to CCM? | only if your site required transcoding. for regular calls b/w Unity and Cisco Unified Communications Manager over SIP trunks, the voice path does not have to terminate onto an MTP |
26 | why do you need excange and unity on the same vlan like he mentioned | Exchange can be placed on different subnets, segments, or further across the network. We prefer to host Unity very closely to the Exchange server as a best practice. There there are some specific requirements regarding bandwidth and latency. |
27 | Is Fax built in the Unity Connection/UNITY? | No. An external fax server is required |
28 | I've heard some presentations say that to run Unity Connection over a WAN (one server in primary center and one in secondary), you have to meet bandwidth and latency requirements. Is that correct? | That is correct. |
29 | what is different between unity and unity connection | Cisco Unity is a Windows-based messaging platform and may be deployed using your existing exchange email store for your voice messages. Cicso Unity Connection is a Linux-based integrated messaging solution with VMs stored on-box. |
30 | What was Chris referring to when he said you could run servers in a distributed environment without bandwidth constraints? | Chris is referring to running multiple nodes within a Cisco Unity Connection network; versus a single Active-Active pair which equals to a node. |
31 | Are there plans to inculde more servers to the same cluster? | |
32 | with the Unity Conn Active/Active, do we have a virtual IP address? how do we manage failover? | Each server has its own IP address...ports are split or shared between servers...clients can be redirected via DNS or load balancer...for example |
33 | How would connections work with Groupwise? | Cisco Unity Connection supports accesing voicemails from the Cisco Personal Communication Assistant (web-client) or via IMAP Clients. Currently there is not a specific Groupwise Client. |
34 | Can you pls explain inter-operability of differnt protocols on Unity like SIP, h232 | I'm not sure I understand your question; however, Unity can use SIP trunks to integrate to Cisco UCM platforms. Then, Cisco UCM can use a different protocol, such as H.323 and/or ISDN (or SIP trunks) to connect to the rest of the voice network |
35 | In Active/Active state, are all 288 ports able to be assigned, or are some of the ports virtual for failover | All 288 ports are active 144 on each server. No virtual ports. |
36 | Does Unity require reboots every so often or in reference to Active Directory or Exchange maintenance? | Cisco Unity is designed to work without having to be rebooted. Its a best practice to reboot Cisco Unity when the DC or Exchange Unity is connected to is rebooted to prevent them from getting out of sync, but not required. |
37 | What is available for LDAP support especially multiple LDAP sources? | Versions supported -- does that answer your question? |
38 | Do I understand correctly that if MWI is required off the legacy PBX then SIP integration is not possible? | The answer depends on the legacy PBX. Some legacy PBXs do not support SIP Notify, some only support subscribe/notify, some only support unsolicited notify method |
39 | Is french canadian supported for speech on unity connection? | French Canadian is supported on clients and TUI interfaces (e.g. greetings); but not the Automatic Speech Recognition Server. |
40 | Why are the failover between two sites bandwidth requirements so high? What is being replicated that needs that bandwidth? Isn't it only failover keep alives and SQL data? The messages are elsewhere, typically. | On Cisco Unity Enterprise, the Failover requirements are associated between the connection between Unity server and Exchange server where the MAPI protocol across the WAN must be supported. Exchange is not clustered across the WAN in this model. |
41 | how do you license for standby dr server? | Purchase a failover license, or if you already have FO and want a cold standby, then purchase a second server license but without users and your account team will work with us to create a license for that system that matches your primary system. |
42 | And further, with Standby redundancy, i believe the bandwidth requierment is >90 Mbps...why so much bandwidth? | It is due to SQL replication |
43 | any plans to integrate with Novell Groupwise? | There are third party products that enable integration with Novell Groupwise for Cisco Unity Connection |
44 | OK, GW is IMAP compliant, so would a VM show up in my groupwise as a link or woudl the actual VM .wav file be attached? | It shows up in a secondary inbox; GW IMAP would only allow playing of "non-secure" messages. As a result, the wav file is attached. Alternatively, you could configure email notification with a link the the Web-Client. |
45 | any plans on updating the design guide for Unity? | The design guide for Cisco Unity 5.0 applies to Unity 7.x and any updates required for 7.x are being updated in that doc. A seperate design guide was created for virtualization with Cisco Unity however. |
46 | Is there a Unity Connection 7.x VoD or other training material i.e related to the configuration ... | Yes, an associated Cisco Unity web site "CiscoUnityTools.com" provides specific training on Unity and Unity Connection tools, processes and topics. |
47 | Do you have any docs or other information on GW inegration that would help me demonstrate this for my managers? | There is a third party product that enables tighter integration with Groupwise; other information can be found on Cisco.com: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/index.html |
48 | Did I hear you correct when you said that unity connections is not available in HA using qsig integration to ISR and PBX ? | Cisco Unity only runs into this issue. Connection with High Availability supports qsig with HA. |
49 | Also have a question about supported Exchange clustering. When design doc says that Standby Continuous Replication (SCR) is not supported, does that mean that it cannot be used AT ALL in the enviroment? can we use SCR to restore logs and then connect Uni | SCR is now supported. We are in the process of updating the documentation |
50 | Does cobras have the ability to merge multiple unity versions to one connetions server as well? | Yes COBRAS can collapse multiple Cisco Unity servers into a single connecdtion server. See details here: http://www.ciscounitytools.com/Applications/COBRAS/Help/COBRAS.htm#_Toc226357064 |
51 | When migrating from Unity 4.2 with exchange to a Unity Connections 7 without using an exchange message store do the messages as well as the greetings transfer for each user mailbox? | Yes |
52 | do we also have interoperatibility with avaya modular messaging? | Not directly. It can be done using Avaya Message Networking platform |
53 | Is it possible to bridge Unity 4.2 to Avaya Modular messaging | Even though Avaya MM supports analog Octelnet, formal interop testing between MM and Unity has not been performed. Avaya Message Networking paltform is usually used, along with VPIM protocol |
54 | Sending a VPIM message from Unity to Unity Connection is a MX record needed | An MX record can be used, but is not required. |
55 | Is the Directory Push feature a one-time only push of the directory, or does it automatically keep the directory up to date accross the network? | Are you referring to Networking between Unity Connection or VPIM Networking? Either. DIgtal Networking between Cisco Unity Connection servers continuously keeps the directory up to date |
56 | When forwarding VPIM messages to Connection can you send messages to alternate extensions? | Yes. it's required for the SQL replication |
57 | What is the extent of your integration with Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 | Microsoft has stated only Microsoft Exchange UM is supported with OCS |
58 | is there more detail available on the Message Forward to email/exchange for OWA access? i have a customer where this capability is important and i've proposed Unity UM because i was not aware of this functionality. | Yes; we also have Message Store and Forward in 7.1. More information is available in the Administration Guide |
59 | SMDI is what Bridge/AMIS? | SMDI stands for simplified message desk interface. it's a protocol used by voicemail platforms/PBX's to exchange call-related data and message waiting requests between voicemail systems and pbx's. SMDI is not a protocol or way to exchange voicemail messages via network connection |
60 | Does Unity / Unity Conn work support SMDI? or can we have an integration with it through CUCM? | Cisco Unity and Unity Connection support SMDI integrations to PBXs via the PIMG/TIMG gateways.... |
61 | We have a Unity 4.2 server small and also a large Avaya Modular Messaging. It may be a while B4 we can migrate completely to Unity only. Both are integrated to our UCM 4.2 cluster. The avaya via QSIG. Is it possible to trransfer messages between the 2? | Not via QSIG, you can do a direct VPIM integration the Modular Messaging system... |
62 | unity connection again - is the message store and forward in 7.1 available yet and is the admin guide available yet? i only see 7.x | The accept and relay message handling action will be in 7.1....7.1 should be released within the next 2 weeks....at that time, the documentation will be made available. |
63 | Any migration tools for call application trees? | From Cisco Unity to Unity Connection, yes, using the COBRAS tool. From legacy VM systems, unfortunately no, but there is a Audio Text Manager tool out there on http://www.ciscounitytools.com that's available to help recreate the call handlers or trees |
64 | On Unity, do i have a tool to export the users greatings? | Using the COBRAS tool, yes...but you can only restore to Cisco Unity or Unity Connection. |
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