Before starting the setup, verify that the following prerequisites have been met:

• Cisco Unity Connection is already installed and connected to the network.

• The remote voice messaging system that Unity Connection is networked with is listed in the “Requirements for VPIM Networking” section of the applicable system requirements document: System Requirements for Cisco Unity Connection Release 12.x, available at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/12x/requirements/b_12xcucsysreqs.html.

Use the task list that follows to set up VPIM Networking in Cisco Unity Connection. The links take you to detailed procedures for the setup.

1. Make decisions about your numbering plan and gather information needed to configure VPIM Networking. See the “Making Design Decisions and Gathering Needed Information” section on page 4-2.

2. Determine the domain name that is used for messaging between the remote voice messaging system and Unity Connection. See the “Determining the Domain Name” section on page 4-3.

3. As applicable, configure DNS files. See the “Resolving Names with IP Addresses” section on page 4-4.

4. Verify network and SMTP connectivity with the remote voice messaging system. See the “Verifying Connectivity with the Remote Voice Messaging System” section on page 4-4.

5. Create the VPIM locations for each remote voice messaging system. See the “Creating VPIM Locations” section on page 4-5.

6. Create VPIM contacts for each VPIM location. See the “Creating VPIM Contacts” section on page 4-6.

7. Optionally, customize the contact creation settings for each VPIM location. See the “Customizing VPIM Contact Directory Update Settings” section on page 4-10.

8. Optionally, add an alternate name for each VPIM location. See the “Adding Alternate Names for Each VPIM Location” section on page 4-13.

9. Set up the remote voice messaging system for VPIM. Precisely how this is done depends on the voice messaging system. However, you need to provide the remote system with information about Unity Connection. See the “Gathering Information to Configure Another Voice Messaging System for VPIM” section on page 4-13.

10. Test the setup to verify that Unity Connection can exchange messages with the remote voice messaging system.

Before you begin setting up Unity Connection for VPIM Networking, be sure to plan for the following, and gather the applicable information:

• Review your numbering plan strategy to determine whether you need to enter prefixes on the VPIM location and to determine which numbers to assign as Dial IDs for the VPIM locations. Following are requirements that must be considered:

  • Assign unique Dial IDs. Dial IDs should not be the same as other Dial IDs or extensions.

  • If you use variable-length Dial IDs, the first digits of each ID should be unique with respect to other Dial IDs.

    Follow the given policies:

  • Establish a fixed length for Dial IDs and, if possible, a fixed length for extensions.

  • Assign Dial IDs that have at least three digits.

  • Use a different number range for Dial IDs than for extensions. Do not use Dial IDs that conflict with extensions, such as 001 or 002.

• Review your partition and search space configuration to determine the partition and search scope you use for each VPIM location. For more information, see the “Dial Plan” section of the “Call Management” chapter of the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 12.x, available at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/12x/administration/guide/b_12xcucsag.html.

• Decide for each remote voice messaging system whether to allow Unity Connection to automatically create, modify, and delete VPIM contact records for users on that system, based on information received from incoming VPIM messages. Also decide how to map the source information to VPIM contact display names and extensions.

• Decide for each remote voice messaging system whether to allow Unity Connection users to blind address messages to recipients at the location.

• Make note of the following information about the remote voice messaging system: the mailbox range, the server name, the domain name, and the IP address.

VPIM messages are addressed in the format <Mailbox Number>@<Domain Name>. In order for messages to be exchanged between the remote voice messaging system and Unity Connection, you need to decide on the domain name that the remote voice messaging system uses when addressing messages to Unity Connection users. The domain name is configured as follows:

• On the remote voice messaging system, the domain name is configured on the location or node profile that corresponds to Unity Connection. (For additional information, see the documentation for the remote voice messaging system.)

• In the SMTP Domain field, on the System Settings > SMTP Configuration > SMTP Server Configuration page in Cisco Unity Connection Administration.

If the remote voice messaging system location or node profile that corresponds to Unity Connection has already been configured with a domain name, use that domain name in the procedures in this section.

VPIM messages are sent over the Internet or any TCP/IP network via SMTP. Therefore, a mechanism for name resolution is required for the remote voice messaging server. The supported method for name resolution is through a Domain Name System (DNS).

You need to know the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and IP address of the remote voice messaging server. The FQDN is displayed on the System Settings > SMTP Configuration > Server page.

Add a host address resource (A) record and a mail exchange (MX) record in DNS for the remote voice messaging server, if they do not already exist.

For more information about adding A and MX records in DNS, see the documentation for the DNS server.

Initially, you should create only a few VPIM contacts to verify that Unity Connection and the remote voice messaging system can successfully exchange messages. After you have confirmed that messaging between Unity Connection and the remote voice messaging system is working correctly, you can finish creating the VPIM contacts.

Note	You must first create VPIM locations before creating VPIM contacts, and the VPIM contacts must be created on the same Unity Connection server on which you created the VPIM locations.

You can create VPIM contacts using the Bulk Administration Tool or using Cisco Unity Connection Administration. Using the Bulk Administration Tool to Create Multiple VPIM Contacts

The Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) allows you to create multiple VPIM contacts at the same time by importing contact data from a comma-separated value (CSV) file. CSV is a common text file format for moving data from one data store to another.

Use the following procedure to prepare your CSV file.

In addition to manually creating, modifying, and deleting VPIM contacts, you can configure Unity Connection to automatically update records in the VPIM contact directory based on information that is contained in incoming VPIM messages. The settings that control whether the creation, modification, and deletion actions occur automatically, and how the incoming information is used to create or modify a record, can be individually configured for each VPIM location. By default, no automatic directory updates occur for any VPIM locations.

Depending on the Contact Creation settings that you select for each VPIM location, Unity Connection uses information from the header of an incoming VPIM message. If a VPIM message is received from a sender on a VPIM location that is configured to allow automatic VPIM contact creation, and no existing VPIM contact matches the information of the sender, a new VPIM contact record is created, provided that the VPIM message contains:

• A phone number

• A text name

• A domain name

• A recorded name (when required, based on the VPIM location configuration)

Additional Contact Creation settings allow you to specify how to map the parsed text name of the VPIM contact to a first name, last name, and display name, and how to map the phone number to an extension.

Note

Changes to the Map VPIM Contact Extensions setting on the Contact Creation page for a VPIM location affect only VPIM contacts that are created after the setting is saved. VPIM contacts that already existed before the Map VPIM Contact Extensions setting is changed are not automatically updated. You must manually change the extension for each previously existing VPIM contact for that VPIM location.

If a VPIM message is received from a sender on a VPIM location that is configured to allow automatic VPIM contact modification, and an existing VPIM contact matches the sender information, the VPIM contact can be updated. You can select whether VPIM contact information is updated each time a message is received from a VPIM contact, or only when a message is received from a VPIM contact whose text name has changed since the directory entry was created. You can also decide whether or not to allow an update to the display name when a modification is made.

If a message from a Unity Connection user to a VPIM contact results in a non-delivery receipt (NDR), indicating that the message was undeliverable because the intended recipient does not exist (SMTP 5.1.1), and if the VPIM location is configured to allow automatic VPIM contact deletion, the VPIM contact is deleted.

You can update the VPIM location contact creation settings using Cisco Unity Connection Administration.

Configuring another voice messaging system to exchange VPIM messages with Unity Connection may require the following information:

• The server name and domain name of the SMTP server that handles incoming SMTP messages.

• The Unity Connection phone prefix (if any) and Remote phone prefix (if any) entered on the corresponding VPIM location page.

• The mailbox number range for Unity Connection users.

Incoming VPIM messages must be routed to the SMTP server. When defining a location for Unity Connection on the remote voice messaging system, use the domain name that you entered for the SMTP server.

Unity Connection expects incoming VPIM messages to be formatted as follows:

<ConnectionPhonePrefix+ConnectionUserExtension@PrimaryLocationSMTPDomainName>

These specific properties are configured in Unity Connection, but similar information needs to be configured in the other voice messaging system.

A VPIM address is in the same format as a typical SMTP email address: localpart@hostpart. The right-hand side of the address is the domain name of the system on the TCP/IP network that handles messages. The left-hand side of the address is a unique identifier for the user. Typically, the left-hand side is the user mailbox number or the mailbox number with a prefix.

For example, an outgoing VPIM message to Terry Campbell with the remote mailbox ID 2233 could be addressed:

To: 2233@remotevoicemailsystem.com

If it is necessary to accommodate the numbering plan for your organization, the address can also contain a prefix:

To: 8882233@remotevoicemailsystem.com

VPIM addresses are created by Unity Connection when sending VPIM messages; they are not entered by users when addressing messages.

Unity Connection provides the following ways to address messages to individuals on a remote voice messaging system:

• Unity Connection directory—When the List in Directory check box is checked for VPIM contacts, the Unity Connection directory has the names and extensions for the VPIM contacts. Users can address messages to VPIM contacts the same way that they address messages to regular Unity Connection users—by extension or by spelling the name of the recipient. Note that spoken name confirmation is available when a recorded name exists for the VPIM contact; if the contact does not have a recorded name, Unity Connection uses Text to Speech to play the display name of the contact.

• Blind addressing—Blind addressing allows users to send messages to recipients at the VPIM location even if the recipients are not defined as contacts in the Unity Connection directory. If the Allow Blind Addressing check box is checked on the VPIM Location page, users can address messages to recipients at this location by entering a number that is made up of the VPIM location Dial ID and the mailbox number of the recipient, or by saying the digits of the mailbox number and the display name of the VPIM location (for example, “five five at Seattle office”).

• Distribution lists—Users can address messages to a private or system distribution list that includes VPIM contacts so that the VPIM contact receives the message.

For the most part, messaging between Unity Connection users and individuals on a remote voice messaging system is the same as messaging among Unity Connection users. For example:

• Messages marked urgent when they are sent are marked urgent when they are retrieved by the recipient.

• Messages marked private when they are sent are marked private when they are retrieved by the recipient.

• Users can send messages to Unity Connection distribution lists that include VPIM contacts.

Note the following exceptions:

• Requests for read receipts and delivery receipts are both returned as delivery receipts.

• In order for users on the remote voice messaging system to send messages to Unity Connection distribution lists, the Accept Messages From Foreign System check box must be checked on the Edit Distribution List Basics page in Unity Connection Administration. This check box is not checked by default.

The Audio Format Conversion settings for the VPIM location (on the Networking > Edit VPIM Location page in Cisco Unity Connection Administration) allow you to control the audio format of outgoing and incoming VPIM messages, as follows:

• Incoming Messages—You can set whether incoming VPIM messages are stored in the format in which they were sent, or converted to the audio format that Unity Connection uses for recording messages.

• Outbound Messages—You can set whether outbound VPIM messages are sent in the format in which they were recorded, or converted to the G.726 codec.

To make decisions about these settings, consider the following:

• The audio format that the local Unity Connection server uses for recording and playing voice messages.

• The audio format in which the remote voice messaging system can send and receive VPIM messages. Some voice messaging systems support only the G.726 format for VPIM messages, but you must consult the documentation of the remote voice messaging server to be sure.

• The network bandwidth.

The incoming VPIM messages be stored in the same audio format that the local Unity Connection server uses for recording and playing messages.