Unity 4.X and WIN2003/Avaya G3 - CiscoUnityBU?

[brian-henry]

I have a customer that will be installing Win2003 for the OS on Unity 4.0.4sr1 and Exchange 2003.

They would like there Avaya G3 to use Unity as the VM for everyone until they eventually go to pure Cisco.

Since the Dialogic Boards to not work on MS-OS2003!! What options is Cisco working on to make this happen?

This is a huge opportunity for Cisco and is a large project and would hate to see them stick with Avaya if we cannot come up with a valid solution within the next month because they are just in a pilot stage right now and they would like to see t his work with Avaya(Unity) to roll onto Phase 2.

Thanks in advance!

a Question for Jeff or CiscoUnityBU.

The Docs say that when installing Unity on WIN03 and Exchange 2003 they only option is UM, however we had some people from Cisco say that it can also be installed as VM what is the truth?

[eschulz]

At this time, if your environment requires Dialogic voiceboards then Unity must be installed on a Windows 2000 server. You might also consider foregoing the Dialogic boards altogether and instead use a Q.SIG trunk, routing through either CCM or EGW. Here are a couple docs to get you started in that direction:

http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps5820/c1072/ccmigration_09186a00803b51e7.pdf

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/prod_configuration_guide09186a008021f6ca.html

For future consideration, Cisco is currently working in two directions. One is to qualify newer Dialogic software that will function under Windows 2003. The second direction is qualification of Intel's PIMG device with the Avaya G3. Since the PIMG connects to Unity via SIP, it will not impact the choice of OS.

Finally, at this time Exchange 2000 is the only supported partner message store when Unity is deployed as Voice Mail only. Note also that Microsoft does not support running Exchange 2000 on Windows 2003. So as a corollary, Windows 2000 is the only supported OS for running Unity in a VM only configuration.

Regards,

Eric

[brian-henry]

Thanks for your reply Eric.

What would you recommend for the best option to tie the G3 to Unity?

Q.SIG trunk through

CCM or EGW?

I really like the PIMG but I know its only being developed.

[eschulz]

Really depends on the planned direction for when "they eventually go to pure Cisco." If Call Manger is in the plans for that then might as well start with it from the get-go.

My personal recommendation however would be to stick with a Win2k Unity server and run with Dialogic boards. This is partly because I have limited experience running centralized voicemail across Q.SIG trunks. I suspect you'll need ample support from Avaya to ensure things like MWI and RDNIS are properly handled on the G3 side.

Cisco has already released and supports PIMG for use with Siemens HiCom. Heavy load testing with a G3 is currently in progress down the hall from me. It should be avaialbe soon (sorry I don't have a specific timeframe).

-Eric