The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
Cisco collaboration solutions facilitate rich interactions between your distributed and mobile users to enhance team performance, encourage innovation, improve productivity, and accelerate the decision-making process. Cisco Unity Connection is a robust unified messaging and voicemail solution that accelerates collaboration by providing you with flexible message access options. It also provides the IT department with management simplicity.
Access and manage voice messages from your email inbox, web browser, Cisco Jabber®, Cisco Webex® app, Cisco® IP phone, smartphone, or tablet with Cisco Unity® Connection. Easily prioritize messages and respond quickly to colleagues, partners, and customers. If you are on the go or simply prefer to do so, you can use the speech-activated tools for hands-free message retrieval.
For IT, Cisco Unity Connection is an “integrated by design” extension of Cisco Unified Communications Manager. It is easy to manage with Cisco Prime® Collaboration, our single application for unified management of the entire voice and video deployment. Cisco Prime Collaboration simplifies deployment, provisioning, monitoring, and system management.
Cisco Unity Connection is robust and secure, and is designed for complex, distributed global deployments with support for high availability, redundancy, and branch-office survivability. It is fully virtualized and runs on the Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS®) or on hardware that meets minimum specifications, such as servers and blades manufactured by IBM and HP.
Cisco Unified Communications Manager is the industry leader in enterprise call and session management platforms, with more than 300,000 customers worldwide, more than 120 million Cisco IP phones and soft clients deployed. Cisco Unified Communications Manager is the core of Cisco’s collaboration portfolio. Cisco Unity Connection is the single choice for voice messaging deployed alongside Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
What’s new with Cisco Unity Connection Version 14
Table 1 lists major features in Cisco Unity Connection version 14
Table 1. High-level features in Cisco Unity Connection version 14
| Feature |
Benefits |
| Enhanced user experience |
|
| Cisco SpeechView for Unity Connection in HCS mode |
● Introduces voicemail transcriptions natively to Unity Connection deployed in HCS mode
● HCS customers do not need to switch to Unity Connection in Enterprise mode to leverage the SpeechView feature
|
| Notification event for transcriptions |
New event is introduced to notify voicemail client application when the transcription becomes available client applications, like Webex, can now implement voicemail transcriptions for end users |
| Simplified administration |
|
| High-availability proxy and Tomcat restructuring |
● Increases WebApp stability
● Restart individual Tomcat container/instances without impacting other web apps
● Faster startup time of web apps
● Faster client login into Unity Connection
● Better serviceability with new RTMT counters for monitoring a WebApp session
|
| SpeechView with non-Microsoft Exchange Server |
● Customers that receive voicemail transcriptions with SpeechView can now use a different mailbox than an on-premises MS Exchange server to receive incoming email messages containing the transcription from the SpeechView server
● Eases deployment by removing the hard dependency on an MS Exchange server
|
| Security and compliance |
|
| Secure access to Unity Connection databases |
● Secures the interface used for database interactions
● Reduces the threat surface
|
| Improved security and compliance through Cisco’s Secure Development Lifecycle (CSDL) |
● Improvements have been added in:
◦ Administrative access security ◦ Application security ◦ Threat surface reduction ◦ Logging and auditing ◦ Web security (XSS and injection vulnerabilities) ◦ Privacy and data security ◦ Vulnerability management ◦ Cryptographic support (X.509) |
| Cloud enablement |
|
| Unified Messaging with Google Workspace |
● Allows customers to use Unified Messaging with Google Workspace, which is a commonly used office suite
● Enables a single inbox view in the Gmail client
● Enhances productivity by offering work emails and voicemails in the same view
|
| Centralized certificate management |
● Manage certificates in a single place through Unity Connection in Webex Control Hub
● Monitor and manage both identity and trust certificates across clusters
● Distribute certificates across the Unified Communications applications’ trust stores
● View expired or about to expire certificates in a simple dashboard
● Gain insights into certificate consolidation and those certificates that are out of compliance
|
| Enhanced scale for Unified Messaging with Microsoft Office 365 |
● Provides better scale for customers using Unified Messaging with O365
● Eases the deployment by having increased Unified Messaging users on a single node
● Reduces cost for customers by decreasing the number of Unity Connection nodes needed
|
Note: Cisco Webex Cloud-Connected UC features, such as centralized certificate management, are release-agnostic. These features are compatible with Cisco Unity Connection versions 11.5, 12.0 and 12.5 as well.
Simplifying Release Number Scheme: Please note, for Unity Connection v14 onwards, Cisco has adopted a whole number release numbering structure. There will be no (dot)releases, like (dot) 5 in past version releases. Service Upgrade release will be published on top of the main release through its Software Maintenance cycle.
Table 2. Localization languages
| Localization |
| The Cisco Unity Connection Telephony User Interface (TUI), end-user GUI, and Text-To-Speech (TTS) engine are available in the following languages:
● Arabic
● Catalan
● Chinese (Hong Kong, Mandarin TUI with simplified and traditional Chinese GUI, simplified Mandarin TTS, but not traditional Mandarin TTS)
● Czech
● Danish
● Dutch
● English (U.S., U.K., and Australian)
● English TTY
● Finnish
● French (European and Canadian)
● German
● Greek
● Hebrew
● Hungarian
● Italian
● Japanese
● Korean
● Norwegian
● Polish
● Portuguese (Brazilian and European)
● Russian
● Spanish (European and Latin American)
● Swedish
● Turkish
|
The Cisco Unity Connection system runs as a virtual machine on the Cisco UCS or spec-based hardware. Refer to the Cisco Unity Connection supported platform list for hardware configuration and scalability requirements.
See a full, updated list of supported email clients, web browsers, and desktop operating systems for use with Cisco Unity Connection.
Type of licenses
● Basic User License - Cisco Unity Connection user and interoperability functions are offered under a single, low-cost Basic user license that you can use for all core functionality (voicemail, unified messaging, or integrated messaging).
● Enhanced User License - Get all the user and interoperability functions available with the Basic license plus the Cisco Survivable Remote Site Voicemail capability for branch-office users. Enhanced licensing provides a second standby mailbox at the branch office for remote users.
● Cisco SpeechView (transcription services) is an additional per-subscriber, subscription-based license that provides speech-to-text capability. Learn more about Cisco SpeechView.
Note: Both Basic and Enhanced capabilities are provided with Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing (UWL) and Cisco UC Enterprise Agreement Licensing.
Ordering Cisco Unity Connection Version 14
● Starting with Cisco Unity Connection 12.0 and continuing with 12.5, only Smart Licensing is supported. Licenses are Smart Entitlements. Customers must create a Smart Account.
● Cisco Smart Licensing: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/buy/smart-accounts/software-licensing.html.
● Cisco Smart Software Manager: https://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/smart-software-manager/index.html.
● Cisco Smart Software Manager Satellite: https://www.cisco.com/go/smartsatellite.
● Cisco Smart Accounts: https://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/smart-software-manager/smart-accounts.html.
Ordering information
Cisco Unity Connection software and Messaging licenses are ordered through a Cisco Collaboration Flex offer. Product SKUs include A-Flex-3, A-Flex-3-EDU, or A-Flex-3-FEDRAMP. Refer the Flex 3.0 Ordering Guide for more details: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/partners/tools/collaboration-ordering-guides.html
New purchase of Cisco Unity Connection Version 14
Customers ordering Cisco Unified Communications Manager may select calling options under A-Flex-3, A-Flex-3-EDU, or A-Flex-3-FEDRAMP. Choose the appropriate buying model — either Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Named User (NU). Unity Connection is included in EA, NU Professional, and NU Enhanced.
When ordering NU Access or Unity Connection by itself, select the Unity Connection option from the Calling Add-on.
Refer to the Flex 3.0 Ordering Guide for more details: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/partners/tools/collaboration-ordering-guides.html
Upgrades with Software Support Service (SWSS) to Cisco Unity Connection Version 14
Customers with Software Support Service (SWSS) should use My Cisco Entitlements (MCE) to order the Cisco Unified Communications 14 server software suite and upgrade licenses for the SWSS term. The Cisco Global Licensing Operations (GLO) team can assist in upgrading licenses if customers experience any issues in the MCE conversion portal. Raise a GLO case at: https://mycase.cloudapps.cisco.com/case
Upgrades without SWSS to Unity Connection Version 14
Customers that do not add SWSS when upgrading to Cisco Unity Connection 14 may order through an EA or NU option in Flex (use the A-Flex-3 SKU) and maintain their subscription. If you want to upgrade to Unity Connection 14 only without SWSS, then order Unity Connection under the Calling Add-on. Refer the Flex 3.0 Ordering Guide for more details: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/partners/tools/collaboration-ordering-guides.html
Migrating Cisco Unity Connection 10.x and above (PLM-based licenses) to Cisco Unity Connection 14
● Customers must create a Smart Account and a Virtual Account before starting a migration or upgrade. For more details on Smart Accounts and Virtual Accounts, refer to: https://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/smart-software-manager/smart-accounts.html
● Migration to a smart license-enabled version is available only with an active SWSS contract
● Moving from Version 10 and Version 11 classic licenses to Smart Licenses can be performed on Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM) and from the traditional License Registration Portal (LRP). These are self-service portals.
● Two types of migration are supported:
◦ Product activation key (PAK)-based - Migration can be done for already fulfilled, partially fulfilled, and unfulfilled PAKs
◦ Device-based - Can be used to convert Cisco Prime License Manager (PLM)-based licenses to smart entitlements
● PAKs or devices (PLM) can be assigned to a Smart Account and Virtual Account in LRP and then converted to Smart Licenses. Select your version (14 or 12).
● The Global Licensing Operations (GLO) team may assist in converting classic licenses if you encounter any issues in the self-service conversion portal on LRP or CSSM. Raise a GLO case at: https://mycase.cloudapps.cisco.com/case
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