Table Of Contents

Planning How the Voice Messaging Ports Will Be Used by Cisco Unity

Introduction: Issues to Consider When Planning Port Setup

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports to Install

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Answer Calls

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Only Dial Out, and Not Answer Calls

Planning How the Voice Messaging Ports Will Be Used by Cisco Unity

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See the following sections in this chapter:

•Introduction: Issues to Consider When Planning Port Setup

•Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports to Install

•Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Answer Calls

•Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Only Dial Out, and Not Answer Calls

Introduction: Issues to Consider When Planning Port Setup

Before programming the phone system, you need to plan how the voice messaging ports will be used by Cisco Unity. The following considerations will affect the programming for the phone system (for example, setting up the hunt group or call forwarding for the voice messaging ports):

•The number of voice messaging ports installed.

•The number of voice messaging ports that will answer calls.

•The number of voice messaging ports that will only dial out, for example, to send message notification and to make telephone record and playback (TRAP) connections.

The following table describes the voice messaging port settings in Cisco Unity that can be set in UTIM, and that are displayed as read-only text on the System > Ports page of Cisco Unity Administrator.

Table 2-1 Settings for the Voice Messaging Ports 

Field	Considerations
Enabled	Check this check box.
Answer Calls	Check this check box. Caution All voice messaging ports connecting to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express server must have the Answer Calls box checked. Otherwise, calls to Cisco Unity may not be answered.
Message Notification	Check this check box to designate the port for notifying subscribers of messages.
TRAP Connection	Check this check box so that subscribers can use the phone as a recording and playback device in Cisco Unity web applications and e-mail clients.

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports to Install

The number of voice messaging ports to install depends on numerous factors, including:

•The number of calls Cisco Unity will answer when call traffic is at its peak.

•The expected length of each message that callers will record and that subscribers will listen to.

•The number of subscribers.

•The number of ports that will be set to dial out only.

•The number of calls made for message notification.

•The number of TRAP connections needed when call traffic is at its peak. (TRAP connections are used by Cisco Unity web applications to play back and record over the phone.)

•The number of calls that will use the automated attendant and call handlers when call traffic is at its peak.

It is best to install only the number of voice messaging ports that are needed so that system resources are not allocated to unused ports.

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Answer Calls

The calls that the voice messaging ports answer can be incoming calls from unidentified callers or from subscribers. Typically, the voice messaging ports that answer calls are the busiest.

You can set voice messaging ports to both answer calls and to dial out (for example, to send message notifications). However, when the voice messaging ports perform more than one function and are very active (for example, answering many calls), the other functions may be delayed until the voice messaging port is free (for example, message notifications cannot be sent until there are fewer calls to answer). For best performance, dedicate certain voice messaging ports for only answering incoming calls, and dedicate other ports for only dialing out. Separating these port functions eliminates the possibility of a collision, in which an incoming call arrives on a port at the same time that Cisco Unity takes the port off-hook to dial out.

Determining How Many Voice Messaging Ports Will Only Dial Out, and Not Answer Calls

Ports that will only dial out and will not answer calls can do one or more of the following:

•Notify subscribers by phone, pager, or e-mail of messages that have arrived.

•Make a TRAP connection so that subscribers can use the phone as a recording and playback device in Cisco Unity web applications.

Typically, these voice messaging ports are the least busy ports.

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Caution In programming the phone system, do not send calls to voice messaging ports in Cisco Unity that cannot answer calls (voice messaging ports that are not set to Answer Calls). For example, if a voice messaging port is set only to Dialout MWI, do not send calls to it.

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