In addition to the
primary extension for each user, you can set up alternate extensions. Alternate
extensions can be used for various reasons, such as handling multiple line
appearances on user phones. Alternate extensions can also make calling Unity
Connection from an alternate device, such as a mobile phone or a phone at
another work site more convenient.
When you specify the
phone number or URI for an alternative extension, Unity Connection handles all
calls from that number in the same way that it handles calls from a primary
extension (assuming that ANI or caller ID is passed along to Unity Connection
from the phone system). This means that Unity Connection associates the
alternate phone number with the user account and when a call comes from that
number, Unity Connection prompts the user to enter a PIN and sign in.
If users set an
alternate device to forward to Unity Connection, callers can hear the user
greeting and leave messages for the user, just as they would when dialing the
primary extension of the user. (Callers can also be transferred to the
alternate extension for a user from the automated attendant.) Users need to set
forwarding from the device itself, not in Unity Connection. Note that the phone
number must be passed to Unity Connection for the system to recognize the
device.
Users can also
address messages to an alternate extension that is associated with another
user.
Alternate extensions
are grouped into two categories:
- Administrator-defined
alternate extensions-Administrators can add up to 9 alternate extensions.
Administrators can view and edit both administrator-defined and user-defined
alternate extensions.
- User-defined alternate
extensions-Users can add up to 10 alternate extensions if they belong to a
class of service that allows them to manage user-defined alternate extensions.
Users can view administrator-defined alternate extensions if they belong to a
class of service that allows them to do so.
Class of service
settings allow you to determine whether users can view or manage alternate
extensions and whether they can use the Unity Connection Messaging Assistant to
manage a set of own alternate extensions.
Users who belong to
a class of service with the Allow Users to Manage Their User-Defined Alternate
Extensions option enabled can automatically add alternate extensions.To learn
more about this feature, see the
System Settings
chapter.
Using the Custom
Keypad Mapping tool in Cisco Unity Connection Administration, you can provide
users with the option to edit the alternate extensions from the Preferences
menu in the phone interface. When a user selects the option to edit the
alternate devices, Unity Connection allows you to list or delete the existing
alternate extensions. If the user signs in from a phone number that is not the
primary extension or an existing alternate extension or in the Excluded
Extensions for Automatically Added Alternate Extensions restriction table, when
they select the option to edit the alternate devices, Unity Connection offers
to add the phone number as a new alternate extension. For more information on
custom keypad mapping, see the
Using the Custom Keypad Mapping Tool
section.