Q&A from "How to Migrate Legacy Voicemail Systems" Workshop - Look here before you post a question!

[Laura Douglas]

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.