Cisco Unity Connection 1.2 [Cisco Unity Connection]

Data Sheet

The Cisco® Unified Communications family of voice, video, and IP communications products and applications helps enable organizations to communicate more effectively-helping them streamline business processes, reach the right resource the first time, and reduce costs and maximize revenue. The Cisco Unified Communications system is an integral part of a complete, integrated business communications solution for organizations of all sizes that also includes network infrastructure, security, and network management products; wireless connectivity; a lifecycle services approach; and flexible deployment and outsourced management options, end-user and partner financing packages, and third-party communications applications.

The Cisco Unified Communications messaging portfolio provides three options:

• Cisco Unity-Delivers unified messaging and intelligent voicemail to enterprise and midmarket customers with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino environments

• Cisco Unity Connection-Combines integrated messaging, voice recognition, and call transfer rules into an easy-to-manage system for midmarket customers with up to 3000 users

• Cisco Unity Express-Provides cost-effective, integrated voice messaging and auto attendant for small and medium branch-office environments with up to 120 users

Cisco Unity® Connection transparently integrates messaging and voice-recognition components with your data network to provide continuous global access to calls and messages. These advanced, convergence-based communication services help you use voice commands to place calls or listen to messages in "hands-free" mode and check voice messages from your desktop, either integrated into an e-mail inbox or from a Web browser. Cisco Unity Connection also features robust automated-attendant functions that include intelligent routing and easily customizable call-screening and message-notification options.

Built on a platform that is easy to install and maintain, Cisco Unity Connection provides an intuitive Web browser-based system administration interface that dramatically simplifies the installation, support, and ongoing management of your system, ultimately lowering your organization's total cost of ownership.

POWERFUL VOICE MESSAGING

At its core, Cisco Unity Connection is a powerful voice-messaging system with many advanced capabilities that can be customized to maximize individual and team productivity. Employees can personalize communications options and interact with the system to manage calls and messages in the way that is most comfortable and convenient for them. The flexible user interface makes messaging more efficient for "power users" and occasional voicemail users alike. For example, the telephone user interface and touchtone mappings for each user can be customized to make migration from traditional voicemail systems much easier.

VOICE-ENABLED MESSAGING (OPTIONAL)

To maximize the productivity of mobile workers, Cisco Unity Connection offers a natural and robust voice-activated user interface. This interface allows you to browse and manage your voice messages and to call other Cisco Unity Connection users or personal contacts-all with simple, natural voice commands.

PERSONAL WEB ADMINISTRATION

Cisco Unity Connection gives users the ability to customize their personal settings from a Web browser using the Cisco Unity Connection Assistant, a dynamic interface in the browser-based Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA). Users can quickly and easily establish or change personal settings such as their voicemail options, security codes, personal distribution lists, and message-delivery options. Users can also use the Web administration interface to define and manage personal call transfer rules to customize the delivery of incoming calls based on caller, time of day, or their calendar status.

POWERFUL INTEGRATED MESSAGING (OPTIONAL)

Cisco Unity Connection offers an Integrated Messaging option, bringing voice messages to your Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) desktop e-mail inbox. Taking advantage of your existing messaging infrastructure and IMAP e-mail clients, Cisco Unity Connection desktop messaging access provides simple, native access to voicemail from virtually any e-mail client.

WEB ACCESS TO VOICEMAIL (OPTIONAL)

The optional Cisco Unity Connection Inbox-a message access console-provides a dedicated voicemail inbox on the desktop. With the Cisco Unity Connection Inbox, you can immediately visually prioritize your voice messages by username or caller identification, date, subject, or other field and, with a single click, play the message that is most important to you directly on your PC. In addition, Cisco Unity Connection Inbox provides a very natural, easy-to-use visual interface for creating, replying to, and forwarding voice messages and for managing and using voicemail distribution lists.

SIMPLIFIED INSTALLATION, CONFIGURATION, AND MAINTENANCE

Using a preinstalled, customized Windows 2003 operating system image, the entire Cisco Unity Connection installation can be completed in less than two hours.

NEW FEATURES FOR CISCO UNITY CONNECTION VERSION 1.2

• Voice-enabled directory handlers allow outside callers to use voice commands to reach Cisco Unity Connection users.

• Voice-enabled greetings allow users to easily use voice commands to enable, disable, and edit a standard, alternate, or any other greeting.

• Confidence-based voice commands allow the system administrator to configure a confidence threshold for voice recognition. For commands that are recognized at above this threshold, the system does not need to confirm the command before taking action, providing a more streamlined voice-recognition experience while still ensuring accurate responses.

• Notification enhancements provide the subscriber name and extension or caller ID (CLID) with text-based notifications.

• IMAP support for Novell GroupWise e-mail clients allows GroupWise users to access their voice messages directly in their e-mail client.

• Cisco Unity Personal Call Transfer Rules are now supported for messaging integrations with older (time-division multiplexing [TDM]) private branch exchanges (PBXs).

• Scalability improvements include up to 3000 mailboxes and 1500 IMAP users on a Cisco MCS 7845 Media Convergence Server.

• Localizations (telephone user interface [TUI] and GUI) are for the following languages: French, Canadian French, German, Japanese, UK English and Australian English (available now), Italian, Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified and Traditional), Latin American Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, and Swedish (available August 2006).

CISCO UNITY CONNECTION FEATURES

Product Overview

• Intelligent voice messaging allows users to interact with the system in the way that is most comfortable and convenient for them.

• Simple and intuitive TUI provides traditional access to voice messages.

• A desktop interface offers visual access to voice messages using either IMAP or a dedicated Web-browser application.

• A voice-enabled interface provides natural language access to voice messages and directories.

• Message Access from the Telephone (TUI)

• Play and process messages (repeat, reply, forward, delete, save, mark as new, hear day or time stamp, or skip to the next message)

• Reverse, pause, or fast forward messages during playback

• Control volume and speed during message playback

• Pause or resume during message recording

• Address messages to multiple recipients

• With the message locator, search for messages by caller ID, name, or extension in saved messages

• Record messages and specify as regular, urgent, private, or secure

• Record messages and request a return receipt

• Record a live conversation with a caller and have the recording sent to your mailbox

• Switch between spelling name and extension when addressing a message

• With live reply, immediately reply to messages from other users

• Access e-mail messages over the phone using text-to-speech (TTS) (for Microsoft Exchange 2000 or 2003 only)-optional

Voice-Enabled Messaging (Optional)*

• Use voice commands to call others in the Cisco Unity Connection directory or personal contact list (imported from Outlook).

• Use voice commands to play and process messages (play, record, reply, forward, delete, save, etc.).

* Voice-enabled messaging is available for U.S. English only.

Cisco Unity Call Transfer Rules*

• Define rules to route incoming calls by caller.

• Define rules to route incoming calls by time of day.

• Define rules to route incoming calls by your calendar free or busy status (Microsoft Exchange only)

* Call transfer rules are not available with the European regional feature packages.

End-User Features

• Customize message-notification options, manage personal greetings, or change passwords with Cisco Unity Assistant (the Cisco Web browser-based personal administrator).

• Select conversation type; full or brief prompts are available.

• Record and then address a message, or address and then record a message.

• Record up to five personal greetings (alternate, busy, internal, off-hours, or standard).

• Manage an alternate greeting; set the expiration date or time, notify users when an alternate greeting is set, or require callers to listen to the full alternate greeting.

• Forward calls directly to an alternate greeting (or other personal greeting) without ringing the phone.

• Specify an after-greeting action; after a user greeting, callers can leave a message, sign in, or hang up; or they can be sent to call handlers, directory handlers, interview handlers, or other users.

• Use flex stack to specify the order in which messages are presented over the phone by urgency and then by LIFO or FIFO.

• Create private distribution lists and address messages to them through the TUI or GUI (optional feature).

• Provide message notification for new messages through devices such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Short Message Service (SMS), text pagers, and phone destinations.

• With a cascade message-notification feature, send additional notification types if a message is not retrieved.

• Select whether message counts are announced; totals, saved, and new counts statistics are available.

• Specify whether Cisco Unity Connection announces a transferred call.

Message Access from the Desktop (Optional)

• IMAP-based e-mail client to access voice messages

– Access e-mail and voicemail, and play and delete voice messages from the same desktop e-mail client.

– Voice messages in the e-mail inbox are synchronized with the message waiting indicator (MWI) on the telephone.

• Cisco Unity Inbox Web browser interface to voice messages

– Compose, forward, or reply to voice messages.

– Use VCR-style interface to play, rewind, pause, or fast forward messages.

– Easily address messages to multiple recipients and distribution lists.

– Voice messages in Cisco Unity Inbox are synchronized with the MWI on the telephone.

– Web browser-based tools are supported on Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1, Firefox 1.0.4, and Safari 1.2 or higher.

Cisco Unity Inbox or IMAP message access can be mixed in a single deployment. Refer to the Cisco Unity Connection Supported Platforms list (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_data_sheet0900aecd80372879.html) for scaling limitations.

System Administration Overview

• Integrates with Cisco Unified CallManager and leading traditional telephone systems-even simultaneously (using the Cisco Unity PBX IP Media Gateway)

• Natively supports Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) proxy servers, designated SIP phones and clients, and SIP-enabled access gateways

• Offers browser-based system administration console and tools for easy installation and maintenance

• Cisco Unity Assistant helps enable IT staff to help end users manage more of their own accounts

• Scalable to 48 ports and 3000 users per server (refer to Cisco Unity Connection Supported Platforms List)

System Administration Features

• Alternate extensions configured by system administrator or by user

• Provides alternate key mappings for message retrieval to aid users in transitioning from traditional voicemail systems

• Automatic gain control provides consistent message volume playback levels

• Offers handlers that provide building blocks for auto-attendant and intelligent call routing functions:

– Call handlers accept calls, play recorded prompts, route calls, and accept messages.

– Directory handlers manage how callers search the directory.

– Interview handlers collect and record input from callers.

– Offers caller ID

• Offers configurable call screening

• Offers class of service to control user access to features

• Provides ability to create users individually or in bulk

• Offers day and time stamp for messages

• Offers directory search by spelling a username, allowing entry of up to 24 letters

• Provides for easy mailbox access from personal greetings; offers ability to log in to TUI without entering ID

• Offers encrypted Skinny Client Control Protocol (SCCP) and Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) for Cisco Unified CallManager integrations

• Provides event logging

• Offers full mailbox warning

• Offers simple and rapid installation; go from opening the box to taking calls in under 2 hours

• Provides configurable list of observed holidays

• Offers ability to configure how Cisco Unity Connection handles messages that are interrupted by disconnected calls

• Provides MWI

• Offers multiple administrative levels to control access to pages in system administration GUI by class of service (read, modify, or delete rights)

• Offers music on hold

• Presents nondelivery or delivery receipt reason details in GUI inbox

• Supports OS and third-party software

– Microsoft Windows Server 2003

– Virus protection software

– Remote-access software

– Monitoring software

• Provides public distribution lists; users can specify those to which new users will be added

• Offers configurable restriction tables

• Offers ability to exclude return receipts

• Provides configurable system schedule

• Offers self-enrollment for users to set password, record voice name, and specify directory listing

• Provides status monitor for real-time administrator status of telephone ports, reports in progress, and system configuration

• Provides system broadcast messages for officewide announcements

• Provides configurable system greetings

• Supports 12- and 24-hour clock for time stamps

• Provides automatic system time clock adjustment for daylight savings time

• Offers TUI greetings administrator (Cisco Unity Connection Greetings Administrator)

• Provides service-provisioning application programming interfaces (APIs) to support administration and maintenance from multiple interfaces

Security

• Host intrusion prevention system-Cisco Security Agent standalone agent to protect Cisco Unity Connection servers from worm and virus attacks; optional Cisco Security Agent management console

• Password and PIN security policy options to enforce expiration, complexity, reuse, and lockout

• Call-restriction tables to prevent toll fraud

• Security event logging and reports of failed login and account lockouts to help prevent unauthorized PIN usage

• Secure, private messaging to prevent the playing of private messages accidentally forwarded outside the enterprise

• SRTP and signaling encryption for secure communication between Cisco Unity Connection and Cisco Unified CallManager

• User telephone PIN reset feature in Cisco Unity Assistant to reduce help desk calls and operating expenses

• Message archiving utilities to enforce corporate electronic records-retention policies

• Support for HTTPS for secure Web access to Cisco Unity Connection

Reports

• Administrative Audit Report

• Call Handler Traffic Report

• Distribution Lists Report

• Events Report

• Outcall Billing Report

• Port Usage Report

• Users Report

• User Message Activity Report

• System Configuration Report

• Transfer Call Billing Report

• User Access Activity Report

• User Lockout Report

For a full list and description of reports, refer to the "Cisco Unity Connection System Administration Guide." (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_maintenance_guides_list.html)

ORDERING NOTES AND OPTIONS

You should order Cisco Unity Connection starting with a system bundle; system bundles contain 25, 50, 100, 200, or 300 mailboxes, either 8 or 16 voice ports, and 1 TTS port. You can then add individual mailboxes, ports, end-user options, and system options to reach your desired configuration.

Each basic voicemail seat includes:

• Telephone access to voice messages (TUI)

• Web access to manage mailbox features using Cisco PCA

• Cisco Unity Call Transfer Rules

The Advanced user option adds the following features:

• Voice-enabled dialing for other Cisco Unity Connection users, corporate contacts, or personal contacts

• Voice-enabled voicemail browsing

• TTS access to Microsoft Exchange e-mail messages

Client access options can also be added to enable desktop messaging for some or all of your user mailboxes. You can mix and match these options in any combination up to the capacity of your server hardware:

• Cisco Unity Inbox for Web access to voice messages

• IMAP client access for basic access to voice messages within your existing e-mail client

If you plan to use voice-recognition or TTS features on your system, ensure that you order sufficient voice-recognition and TTS ports for your advanced users to access these features. Refer to the Cisco Unity Connections Supported Platforms List for server hardware performance specifications.

CISCO UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES AND SUPPORT

Using the Cisco Lifecycle Services approach, Cisco Systems and its partners offer a broad portfolio of end-to-end services. These services are based on proven methodologies for deploying, operating, and optimizing IP Communications solutions. Upfront planning and design services, for example, can help you meet aggressive deployment schedules and minimize network disruption during implementation. Operate services reduce the risk of communications downtime with expert technical support. Optimize services enhance solution performance for operational excellence. Cisco and its partners offer a system-level service and support approach that can help you create and maintain a resilient, converged network that meets your business needs.

Hierarchical Navigation

Cisco Unity Connection

Cisco Unity Connection 1.2

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