External callers can't leave VM, internal works fine

[Randall White]

I am setting up a new installation of Unity 4.0.4, with CCM 4.1.3. It is using Exchange 2003 as a message store.

The problem is that calls from outside get an error message when they try to leave a voice mail. You can hear the subscriber's personal greeting, but after the greeting plays you hear an error message saying that the system can't record the message. Calls to the same subscriber from internal phones work fine, you get an MWI indicator and can play back the message as expected.

What are some of the possible causes for this? I can understand the message store being offline, but then why do internal calls work OK? I would think that if this was a permissions problem in CallManager, that the outside caller wouldn't even get to the Unity prompt.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Randy

[eschulz]

Could it be that the failure is not external versus internal but rather identified versus unidentified? i.e. what happens when you call from an internal phone that is not associated with a Unity subscriber? Similarly, what happens when you call from an external number that provides caller ID which matches an alternate extension for a subscriber?

The type of failure you describe makes sense for unidentified callers because all messages from unidentifed caller are sent from the Unity_ account. Thus a failure in this account (e.g. mailbox has reach a size limit) can prevent Unity from delivering these messages. Messages from identified callers are not affected because they are sent from the subscriber's own Exchange account.

Either way, check the Unity application event log. This is always a good place to look when callers are getting sent to an error prompt.

-Eric

[Randall White]

Thanks, that's apparently what's happening. I get the same problem from an internal extension that's not registered w/ Unity. The app log shows this message:

The Unity mailbox for sending outside caller messages is not availble.....

**** EDIT ****

I found the Unity_ account, it appears to have the correct permissions, but I suspect it is in the wrong folder.

Thanks, Randy

[Randall White]

Problem solved. I had to call up TAC, it turned out that the Unity_ account didn't have an e-mail address. You find this by right clicking the account and under properties view the E-Mail addresses tab. I needed to add an SMTP account.

Randy

[david.wild]

I am having a similar issue but messages from outside queue up in the Unity MTA folder did you find a resolution?

Regards

[david.wild]

have just found this on the forum.

http://forums.cisco.com/eforum/servlet/NetProf?page=netprof&forum=Unified%20Communications%20and%20Video&topic=Unified%20Communications%20Applications&CommCmd=MB%3Fcmd%3Dpass_through%26location%3Doutline%40%5E1%40%40.1dd70e70/6#selected_message