Table Of Contents
Setting Up Broadcast Messaging
System Broadcast Messages Overview
Task List for Setting Up and Offering Access to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
Setting Up the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
Enabling Subscribers to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages
Using the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator and the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool to Send and Manage System Broadcast Messages
About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool
Setting Up Broadcast Messaging
System broadcast messages are recorded announcements that are sent to everyone in an organization (or to particular location(s) within an organization). You determine whether subscribers can use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator to send and/or update broadcast messages. (By default, Cisco Unity subscribers are not enabled to use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator.)
See the following sections in this chapter:
•
System Broadcast Messages Overview
•Task List for Setting Up and Offering Access to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
•Setting Up the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
•Enabling Subscribers to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages
•Using the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator and the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool to Send and Manage System Broadcast Messages
System Broadcast Messages Overview
Though system broadcast messages may sound similar to regular voice messages, they are not simply voice messages sent to a large distribution list. A system broadcast message is unique in the following ways:
•System broadcast messages are played immediately after subscribers log on to Cisco Unity by phone—even before they hear message counts for new and saved messages. After logging on, subscribers hear how many system broadcast messages they have and Cisco Unity begins playing them.
•For each system broadcast message, the sender specifies how long Cisco Unity will broadcast the message. The sender can specify that a system broadcast message is "active" for a day, a week, a month—even indefinitely. Subscribers hear only the system broadcast messages that are active at the time that they log on to Cisco Unity.
•Subscribers must listen to each system broadcast message in its entirety before Cisco Unity allows them to hear new and saved messages or to change setup options. Subscribers cannot fast-forward or skip a system broadcast message.
•If a subscriber hangs up before playing the entire system broadcast message, the message plays again the next time that the subscriber logs on to Cisco Unity by phone (assuming that the message is still active).
•When a subscriber has finished playing a system broadcast message, the message can either be replayed or permanently deleted. Subscribers cannot respond to, forward, or save system broadcast messages.
•Subscribers can receive an unlimited number of system broadcast messages.
•Subscribers receive system broadcast messages even when they exceed their mailbox size limits and are no longer able to receive other messages. Because of the way that the messages are stored on the Cisco Unity server, they are not included in the total mailbox size for each subscriber.
•New subscribers hear all active broadcast messages immediately after they enroll as a Cisco Unity subscriber.
•System broadcast messages do not light message waiting indicators (MWIs) on subscriber phones, nor do they cause distinctive dial tones to notify subscribers of a new message when they pick up their desk phone receiver. System broadcast messages also do not trigger message notifications for alternative devices, such as a pager or another phone.
•Unified Messaging subscribers do not receive system broadcast messages in their e-mail Inboxes.
Task List for Setting Up and Offering Access to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
Use the following task list to set up broadcast messaging:
1. Set up the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator on each Cisco Unity server. See the "Setting Up the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator" section.
2. (Optional) Use the Advanced Settings tool on each Cisco Unity server to specify:
–Maximum recording length of system broadcast messages. By default, subscribers can record messages up to 3,600,000 milliseconds (60 minutes) in length. The setting is called Conversation—System Broadcast Message Maximum Recording Length.
–The order in which Cisco Unity presents system broadcast messages to subscribers. By default, the oldest messages play first. The setting is called Conversation—System Broadcast Message Playback Order.
–How long Cisco Unity retains expired system broadcast messages on the server. By default, Cisco Unity purges the WAV file and any data associated with a message 30 days after its end date and time. The setting is called Conversation—System Broadcast Message Retention Period.
–The number of days that a system broadcast message remains active when the subscriber does not specify an end date and time. The default is 30 days. The setting is called Conversation—System Broadcast Message Default Active Days.
–How often Cisco Unity checks for new system broadcast messages. By default, Cisco Unity checks for new messages every five minutes. The setting is called Conversation—System Broadcast Message Check Frequency.
See Advanced Settings Help for details on each setting. (The Advanced Settings tool is available in Tools Depot.)
3. Enable subscribers to send system broadcast messages. See the "Enabling Subscribers to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages" section.
4. Let the applicable subscribers know how to access and use the two tools for sending and managing system broadcast messages. See the "Using the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator and the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool to Send and Manage System Broadcast Messages" section.
Setting Up the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
To send a system broadcast message, Cisco Unity subscribers log on to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator—a special conversation that allows them to send and/or update system broadcast messages. You can give subscribers access to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator in one of the following ways:
•Create a call handler to send subscribers to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator—You can create a new call handler, assign it a unique extension, and specify that Cisco Unity sends the subscriber to the Broadcast Message Administrator as the after-greeting action. To make the transfer quick and seamless to subscribers, select a blank greeting for the call handler.
See the "Creating and Modifying Call Handlers" section on page 4-2 for instructions.
•Set up a Custom Keypad Mapping conversation that maps a key to the Broadcast Message Administrator and offers it to subscribers in the main menu—By using the Custom Key Map utility, you can add the Broadcast Message Administrator to the options offered to subscribers at the main menu. Then, configure subscriber accounts to use the Custom Keypad Mapping conversation.
See the "Using the Custom Keypad Mapping Utility to Customize the Conversation" section on page 14-14 for instructions.
•Offer the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator as a one-key dialing option from a greeting—You can specify that Cisco Unity will send a caller to the Broadcast Message Administrator (on the Caller Input page for any call handler or subscriber greeting) when a caller presses a particular key during the greeting. For example, you could specify that Cisco Unity sends the caller to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator when a subscriber presses a particular key during the Opening Greeting or even during his or her own greeting.
To set up a one-key dialing option for accessing the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator, use caller input settings for a call handler to send callers to the Broadcast Message Administrator conversation when they press the key that you specify during a call handler greeting. Then, enable caller input for the applicable greeting. Optionally, you can (re)record the greeting to mention the key that callers can press in the call handler greeting. (For example, "...for the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator, press 3.")
•Set up a special "Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator" phone number and routing rule—See the documentation for the phone system to set up a new phone number. Then, on the Call Management > Call Routing > Direct Calls page in the Cisco Unity Administrator, create a routing rule that sends any call that arrives for the new number to the Broadcast Message Administrator conversation. Distribute the new number to callers who are enabled to send and/or update system broadcast messages.
For additional information on setting up call routing rules, see the "Creating and Modifying Call Routing Rules" section on page 3-5.
Enabling Subscribers to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages
Because system broadcast messages are designed to convey important and often time-sensitive information to a large number of subscribers at once, Cisco Unity subscribers can use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator only if they are enabled to do so in the Cisco Unity Administrator. By default, Cisco Unity subscribers are not enabled to use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator to send or update system broadcast messages.
In the Cisco Unity Administrator, you can specify whether subscriber(s) can send and update system broadcast messages to all subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server. If you want to enable an existing group of subscribers to send system broadcast messages, you can use the Bulk Edit tool available in Tools Depot.
Consider how subscribers in your organization might use system broadcast messaging when determining which Cisco Unity subscribers can send them, and whether they will need to update messages stored on the local Cisco Unity server. For example, as a Cisco Unity administrator, you may want to send a welcome message to subscribers on a new system or remind all Cisco Unity subscribers to change their phone passwords. You may also want to use system broadcast messages as a way to train subscribers on how to use Cisco Unity features or to summarize changes to Cisco Unity after an upgrade. Other Cisco Unity subscribers—such as network administrators, members of management, Human Resources personnel, and facilities managers—may also need to send system broadcast messages to announce planned network outages for particular locations, organization-wide goals and personnel changes, branch office closures for holidays, security alerts, and the like.
You can use the following procedures to enable subscribers to send and update system broadcast messages:
•Do the "To Enable Sending and Updating System Broadcast Messages in a Subscriber Template" procedure to allow a group of subscribers to send and update system broadcast messages. (Keep in mind that changes to settings in a template do not affect any of the existing subscriber accounts that were based on that template; your updates to the template settings will affect only those subscribers whose accounts are created after you make the updates.)
•Do the "To Enable an Existing Subscriber to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages" procedure to allow an existing subscriber to send and update system broadcast messages. Alternatively, you can use the Bulk Edit utility in Tools Depot to modify multiple subscriber accounts at once. See Bulk Edit utility Help for details.
To Enable Sending and Updating System Broadcast Messages in a Subscriber Template
Step 1 In the Cisco Unity Administrator, go to any Subscribers > Subscriber Template page, and find the template that you want to modify.
Step 2 Browse to the Features page.
Step 3 Under Broadcast Messages, check the applicable check boxes:
•Subscriber Can Send Broadcast Messages to Subscribers on This Server—Check this check box to allow subscribers to send system broadcast messages to all subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server.
•Subscriber Can Update Broadcast Messages Stored on This Server—Check this check box to allow subscribers to edit system broadcast messages stored on the local Cisco Unity server. Note that by checking this check box, you also enable subscribers to send system broadcast messages to all subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server.
Step 4 Click the Save icon.
To Enable an Existing Subscriber to Send and Update System Broadcast Messages
Step 1 In the Cisco Unity Administrator, go to any Subscribers > Subscribers page and find the applicable subscriber.
Step 2 Browse to the Features page.
Step 3 Under Broadcast Messages, check the applicable check boxes:
•Subscriber Can Send Broadcast Messages to Subscribers on This Server—Check this check box to allow subscribers to send broadcast messages to all subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server.
•Subscriber Can Update Broadcast Messages Stored on This Server—Check this check box to allow subscribers to edit system broadcast messages stored on the local Cisco Unity server. Note that by checking this check box, you also enable subscribers to send system broadcast messages to all subscribers on the local Cisco Unity server.
Step 4 Click the Save icon.
Using the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator and the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool to Send and Manage System Broadcast Messages
This section details how to use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator—a special conversation that allows you to send and manage broadcast messages by phone, and the Broadcast Message Administrator Tool—a tool with a graphical interface that allows you to send and manage system broadcast messages for the local Cisco Unity server.
See the following sections:
•About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
•About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool
About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator
Subscribers who are able to send system broadcast messages can use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator to do the following tasks:
•Record and send one or more system broadcast messages. If the subscriber hangs up or is disconnected before sending the system broadcast message(s), Cisco Unity deletes the recording(s).
•Define when a system broadcast message becomes active and for how long. Unless otherwise specified by the subscriber, each message is set to broadcast immediately and to remain active for 30 days. Subscribers can set a future date and time for the message to be broadcast up to one year in advance, and can specify that a system broadcast message is "active" for a day, a week, a month—even indefinitely. (Date and times reflect the time zone for the subscriber who sends the message, not those who receive it.)
Note If the delivery of a system broadcast message fails, the subscriber who sent it will receive a nondelivery receipt (NDR), indicating that the delivery failed and if known, the reason why it failed. However, unlike the process of sending other voice messages, the subscriber cannot resend the system broadcast message after playing the NDR. Instead, the subscriber must log on to the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator to re-record the message and send it again.
Subscribers who are able to update system broadcast messages can use the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator to do the following tasks on the local Cisco Unity server:
•Review active messages. (If there is more than one active message, the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator presents them in order based on the start date and time, starting with the newest messages.)
•Change the end date and time for active messages.
•Change or add to a recording for future messages. (Note that Cisco Unity enforces the total message length limit even when material is added to a message.)
•Change the start date and time and/or the end date and time for future messages. (Note that the end date and time does not adjust automatically if subscribers change the start date and time but do not change the end date and time.)
•Delete active and future messages. (Note that Cisco Unity does not report which subscribers have already played an active message.)
About the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator Tool
The graphical interface for the Broadcast Message Administrator Tool offers an easy way to specify the recording and schedule for a new system broadcast message, to play active system broadcast messages and review who has played them, and to delete system broadcast messages. Although no class of service rights are required to use the tool, administrators must be able to log on to the Cisco Unity server to use it.
The tool is available in Tools Depot. To learn how to use it, see Broadcast Message Administrator Tool Help.
