Cisco Unity Failover Configuration and Administration Guide (With Microsoft Exchange), Release 4.x
Tasks Required When Failover or Failback Occurs

Table Of Contents

Tasks Required When Failover or Failback Occurs

Notifying Subscribers of the Active Server and the URLs to Use for Accessing Cisco Unity Web Applications

Notifying Subscribers to Update the Server Name in the Media Master

Changing Media Master Settings for Recording and Playback After Failover or Failback

T1 Integration: Enabling the Phone System to Send Calls to the Active Server After Failover or Failback Occurs


Tasks Required When Failover or Failback Occurs


This chapter contains the following sections:

Notifying Subscribers of the Active Server and the URLs to Use for Accessing Cisco Unity Web Applications

Notifying Subscribers to Update the Server Name in the Media Master

T1 Integration: Enabling the Phone System to Send Calls to the Active Server After Failover or Failback Occurs

Notifying Subscribers of the Active Server and the URLs to Use for Accessing Cisco Unity Web Applications

Notify subscribers when failover or failback occurs, and give them the correct URLs to use for accessing the following Cisco Unity web applications on the active server:

Cisco Unity Administrator

Status Monitor

Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (Subscribers use the Cisco PCA to access the Cisco Unity Assistant and the Cisco Unity Inbox.)


Note When subscribers access the Cisco Unity Administrator on the inactive server, they will not be allowed to save changes. When subscribers access the Cisco PCA on the inactive server, any changes they make in the Cisco Unity Assistant can be saved, but the changes are not replicated on the active server.


Notifying Subscribers to Update the Server Name in the Media Master

The Media Master control bar appears in the Cisco Unity Administrator, ViewMail for Outlook, the Cisco Unity Inbox, and on some Cisco Unity Assistant pages. By clicking the VCR-style controls, subscribers use it to make and play recordings. They specify whether it uses a phone or a computer microphone and speakers as recording and playback devices.

When failover or failback occurs, the phone does not work as a recording or playback device with the Media Master unless the Cisco Unity server name specified in the Media Master is updated accordingly. Depending on the application and your version of Cisco Unity, the server name may update automatically or subscribers may need to manually update the Media Master with the correct server name:

Cisco Unity Version 4.0(5) and later—For the Cisco Unity Assistant and the Cisco Unity Inbox, the server name specified in the Media Master is automatically updated after failover and failback. Subscribers do not need to do anything to use the phone as a recording or playback device with either application.

For the Cisco Unity Administrator and ViewMail for Outlook, the server name specified in the Media Master is not updated automatically. Subscribers who want to use the phone as the Media Master recording or playback device in either application must manually update the server name to the active server.

Cisco Unity Version 4.0(4) and earlier—After failover and failback, subscribers who want to use the phone as the Media Master recording or playback device must manually update the server name to the active server.

The next section contains a procedure for manually updating Media Master settings.


Note Subscribers who use a computer microphone and speakers as the Media Master recording and playback devices do not need to make changes after failover or failback.


Changing Media Master Settings for Recording and Playback After Failover or Failback

After failover or failback, do the procedure in this section to change the server name setting for the Media Master control bar in the Cisco Unity applications that you access, so you can continue to use the phone as the Media Master recording and playback device.

To allow subscribers in your organization to do the same, provide the names of the primary and secondary Cisco Unity servers, and refer subscribers to instructions in the "Choosing Recording and Playback Devices" section in the "Overview: Changing Recording and Playback Settings" chapter of the Cisco Unity User Guide or to Help in the Cisco Unity Assistant, Cisco Unity Inbox, and ViewMail for Outlook. The instructions walk subscribers through the process of updating the Media Master server name.

Note that updates to the Media Master are saved per user, per computer. This means that:

A subscriber who is logged on to the Cisco Unity Administrator, the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (in order to access the Cisco Unity Assistant or the Cisco Unity Inbox), or ViewMail can update the server name from any Media Master control bar Options menu. When Media Master settings are updated in any one of the applications, the update applies to all of the applications, as long as the subscriber accesses the applications from the same computer on which the change was made.

If a subscriber also uses another computer to access the Cisco Unity Administrator, the Cisco Unity Assistant, the Cisco Unity Inbox, or ViewMail (for example, a computer at home), the server name specified in the Media Master needs to be updated on the second computer as well.

If multiple subscribers share the same computer, the Media Master settings need to be updated for each subscriber who uses the computer.

To Change Media Master Settings for Recording and Playback After Failover or Failback


Step 1 Log on to the Cisco Unity Administrator, Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA), or ViewMail for Outlook, as applicable.

If you log on to the Cisco PCA, browse to the Cisco Unity Assistant or the Cisco Unity Inbox.

Step 2 Go to a Media Master control bar.

Step 3 On the Media Master control bar Options menu, click Options.

Step 4 In the Phone Record and Playback Settings dialog box, enter the name of the applicable server.

Step 5 Click OK.

Step 6 Repeat Step 1 through Step 5 on each computer that you use to access the applications.


T1 Integration: Enabling the Phone System to Send Calls to the Active Server After Failover or Failback Occurs

When Cisco Unity and the phone system use a T1 line for voice connections, the phone system cannot send calls to the secondary server when failover occurs. Similarly, after the secondary server is active and receiving calls and failback occurs, the phone system cannot send calls to the primary server.

This section contains two procedures. After failover occurs, do the first procedure, "To Enable the Phone System to Send Calls to the Secondary Server After Failover Occurs," to enable the phone system to send calls over a T1 line to the secondary server. (Alternatively, you can disconnect the T1 line that connects the primary server and the phone system.)

After failback occurs, do the second procedure, "To Enable the Phone System to Send Calls to the Primary Server After Failback Occurs," to enable the phone system to send calls over a T1 line to the primary server. (Alternatively, you can reconnect the T1 line that connects the primary server and the phone system.)

To Enable the Phone System to Send Calls to the Secondary Server After Failover Occurs


Step 1 On the primary server, exit the Cisco Unity software. For more information, see the "Exiting the Cisco Unity Software" section on page A-1.

Step 2 On the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Dialogic System Software > Dialogic Configuration Manager-DCM.

Step 3 On the Service menu, click Stop Service. A second Dialogic Configuration Manager window appears.

Step 4 When the message "Success: Dialogic service stopped" appears, click Close.


To Enable the Phone System to Send Calls to the Primary Server After Failback Occurs


Step 1 On the primary server, on the Windows Start menu, click Programs > Dialogic System Software > Dialogic Configuration Manager-DCM.

Step 2 On the Service menu, click Start Service. A second Dialogic Configuration Manager window appears.

Step 3 When the message "Success: Dialogic service started" appears, click Close.

Step 4 Start the Cisco Unity software. For more information, see the "Starting the Cisco Unity Software" section on page A-3.