Cisco Unity Express VoiceMail and Auto Attendant CLI Administrator Guide

Default Prompts

The administrator can download, copy, and upload only the following prompts: AAWelcome.wav, AAHolidayPrompt.wav, AABusinessOpen.wav, and AABusinessClosed.wav.

To customize the default welcome prompt, see Customizing the Default Auto-Attendant Welcome Prompt.

Triggers

After you configure the auto-attendant application, you must configure the system must to start the auto-attendant application when a specific signal, or trigger, is invoked. The trigger is a telephone number and can be configure for either the SIP or JTAPI subsystems. When a caller dials a specified telephone number, the SIP or JTAPI subsystem starts the auto-attendant application. To configure SIP and JTAPI triggers for the auto-attendant application, see Managing Triggers.

Cisco Unity Express supports a maximum of 8 or 12 SIP or JTAPI triggers for all applications combined, depending on the hardware platform. See Advanced Configuration for procedures to configure multiple triggers for an application.

This configuration is required for Cisco Unified CME and Cisco Unified Communications Manager (SRST mode).

Default Auto-Attendant Script aa.aef

The default auto-attendant script provided with Cisco Unity Express is named aa.aef. This file resides in the system directory, and cannot be downloaded, copied, or uploaded. This default auto-attendant application is also known as the “system script” or “system AA.” This default script supports basic functions such as dial-by-extension, dial-by-spelling username, and call operator functions. If additional functionality is required, then you must create a customized auto-attendant script.

The aa.aef script supports holiday lists and business-hours schedules. When a call reaches the auto attendant, the system checks if the current day is a holiday. If it is, the system plays a holiday prompt called AAHolidayPrompt.wav, which states “We are closed today. Please call back later.” The script then executes the next operation in the script.

If the current day is not a holiday, the system checks if the business is open or not. If the business is open, the system plays the AABusinessOpen.wav prompt, which is an empty file. If the business is closed, the system plays the AABusinessClosed.wav prompt, which states “We are currently closed. Please call back later.”

Following are the parameters that may be configured for the aa.aef script:

• welcomePrompt—default: AAWelcome.wav
• operExtn—default: none
• holidayPrompt—default: AAHolidayPrompt.wav
• businessOpenPrompt—default: AABusinessOpen.wav
• businessClosedPrompt—default: AABusinessClosed.wav
• businessSchedule—default: systemschedule
• disconnectAfterMenu—default: false
• allowExternalTransfers—default: false

To modify any of these prompts, see Configuring Auto-Attendant Prompts.

To create customized script files, see Configuring Auto-Attendant Scripts.

To create a business-hours schedule, see Configuring Business Hours.

To create a holiday list, see Configuring Holiday Lists.

Simple Auto-Attendant Script aasimple.aef

Another simple system script aasimple.aef is available for the auto-attendant application. This script can be associated with an auto-attendant application and cannot be deleted or downloaded.

This script makes the same checks for an alternate greeting, holiday hours, and business schedule as does the aa.aef script.

The initial greeting prompt is a configurable parameter. Use the GUI options or CLI commands to configure the prompt with the names and extensions of the people who can be reached with the auto-attendant application. For example, the prompt may play "For Al, press 10. For Bob, press 20. For the operator, press 0."

The caller can enter an extension without pressing the pound key (#). After the caller enters the extension, the script attempts to transfer to that extension. The script does not attempt to validate the extension before the transfer.

The script has another parameter (extensionLength) that specifies the length of the extension used by the Cisco Unity Express system. This parameter must be configured correctly for the script to be able to do a successful transfer.

Following are the parameters that may be configured for the aasimple.aef script:

• welcomePrompt—default: AAWelcome.wav
• operExtn—default: 0
• MaxRetry—default: 3
• holidayPrompt—default: AAHolidayPrompt.wav
• businessOpenPrompt—default: AABusinessOpen.wav
• businessClosedPrompt—default: AABusinessClosed.wav
• playExtensionsPrompt—default: AASPlayExtensions.wav
• extensionLength—default: 1
• businessSchedule—default: systemschedule
• disconnectAfterMenu—default: false
• allowExternalTransfers—default: false

To modify any of these prompts, see Configuring Auto-Attendant Prompts.

To create customized script files, see Configuring Auto-Attendant Scripts.

To create a business-hours schedule, see Configuring Business Hours.

To create a holiday list, see Configuring Holiday Lists.

Configuring Other Auto-Attendant Parameters

To configure the auto-attendant access telephone number, see Configuring SIP Triggers for the Applications or Configuring JTAPI Triggers for the Applications (Cisco Unified Communications Manager Only).

The commands are used in both EXEC and configuration modes.

See Managing Applications for procedures to configure user-defined parameters.

Required Data for This Procedure

The following information is required to configure auto-attendant:

• To use your own welcome greeting, create a.wav file containing the prerecorded welcome greeting. This file must be uploaded to the Cisco Unity Express module so that it can be located and saved in the auto-attendant script. Alternatively, you can use the Administration via Telephone (AvT) application to record the welcome greeting. See Recording an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File for guidelines on recording a greeting. See Uploading the Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File for the procedure to upload the prompt to Cisco Unity Express.
• Application name.
• Number of times the auto-attendant will replay instructions to a caller before the call is disconnected. This count begins when the caller moves past the main menu and starts to hear instructions for a submenu. The main menu will play five times and then, if the caller makes no choice or incorrect choices, will transfer to the operator.
• Extension number of the operator. Auto attendant dials this extension when the caller presses the zero (“0”) button.
• The customized.wav filename if you change the default Auto Attendant welcome prompt.
• Telephone number that the caller must dial to reach the auto-attendant. In many cases, this number is your company telephone number.
• Maximum number of callers that auto-attendant can handle simultaneously. See Sharing Ports Among Applications and Triggers for guidelines on assigning this value.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. config t

2. ccn application autoattendant

3. (Optional) description “ text ”

4. maxsessions number

5. parameter “ name” “value”

6. end

7. exit

8. show ccn application

9. copy running-config startup-config

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following example illustrates the auto-attendant information from the show ccn application output:

Configuring Auto-Attendant Prompts

Cisco Unity Express supports customized greeting and prompt files. The number of greetings and prompts per language installed supported depends on the Cisco Unity Express hardware module and the version. To determine how many prompts your hardware supports, see the release notes for the Cisco Unity Express release version you are using.

Customizing prompts requires the following procedures:

• Recording an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File (Required)
• Customizing the Default Auto-Attendant Welcome Prompt (Required)
• Uploading the Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File (Required)
• Downloading an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File (Optional)
• Renaming an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File (Optional)
• Deleting an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File (Optional)

Recording an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File

Two methods are available to create auto-attendant greeting and prompt files:

• Create a.wav file with the following format: G.711 u-law, 8 kHz, 8 bit, Mono. The file cannot be larger than 1 MB (about 2 minutes). After recording the greeting, use the GUI or Cisco Unity Express CLI ccn copy url command to copy the file in to the Cisco Unity Express system. See the next section, “Uploading the Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File,” for the upload procedure.
• Use the AvT on the TUI to record the greeting or prompt. Dial the AvT telephone number and select the option to record a greeting. When finished recording, save the file. AvT automatically saves the file in Cisco Unity Express.

The AvT prompt filename has the format UserPrompt_DateTime.wav, for example: UserPrompt_11152003144055.wav. You may want to use CLI commands or GUI options to rename the file with a meaningful name.

Cisco recommends using the AvT on the TUI to record greetings and prompts because the AvT provides higher sound quality compared to.wav files recorded using other methods.

Uploading the Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File

After recording the.wav greeting or prompt file, upload the file using the ccn copy url command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn copy url source-ip-addres s prompt prompt-filename

This command is equivalent to using the GUI option Voice Mail > Prompts and selecting Upload.

An error message appears if you try to upload more than the maximum number of prompts allowed on your Cisco Unity Express module.

Customizing the Default Auto-Attendant Welcome Prompt

The default AA greeting included with the system lasts two seconds and plays the prompt “Welcome to the AutoAttendant.” You can record a custom welcome prompt specifically for your system to welcome callers.The default.wav filename is AAWelcome.wav. While the default welcome prompt in the.wav file lasts two seconds long, you can record a new welcome prompt up to 120 seconds long. The welcome prompt.wav file can be up to 1 MB in G.711 u-law format.

If you create a customized welcome prompt, use a different.wav filename and upload the new.wav file to the Cisco Unity Express module. Do not overwrite the default AAWelcome.wav filename. For information about uploading the welcome prompt.wav file, see the “Uploading the Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File” section.

Note The.wav file for the welcome prompt is not interruptible, meaning that the longer the recorded welcome prompt is, the longer callers must wait before being able to enter digits to reach other extensions. We recommend you record a short welcome prompt so that callers can access the voicemail system quickly.

Following this welcome prompt, the default script plays the menu announcement listing the menu options for callers. These are not customizable prompts within the default auto-attendant provided with the system. Note that if a caller uses the dial-by-extension option, the system will attempt to transfer to any extension, including extensions not defined using Cisco Unity Express. To prevent callers from transferring to extensions not defined using Cisco Unity Express, configure class of restrictions (COR) on the dial-peer, or develop a custom script to prevent the option.

Downloading an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File

Greetings and prompts can be copied from the auto-attendant and stored to another server or PC.

To copy a greeting or prompt file, use the ccn copy prompt command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn copy prompt prompt-filename url ftp: // destination-ip-addres s / prompt-filename [ language xx_YY ] [ username name password password ]

where prompt-filename is the file to be copied, destination-ip-address is the IP address of the FTP server, xx_YY is the language of the prompt file, name is the FTP server login ID, and password is the FTP server password.

Renaming an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File

To rename an auto-attendant greeting or prompt file, use the ccn rename prompt command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn rename prompt old-name new-name

where old-name is the existing filename and new-name is the revised name.

se-10-0-0-0# ccn rename prompt AAmyprompt.wav AAmyprompt2.wav

Deleting an Auto-Attendant Greeting or Prompt File

To delete an auto-attendant greeting or prompt file from Cisco Unity Express, use the ccn delete command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn delete prompt prompt-filename

where prompt-filename is the file to be deleted.

Creating an Auto-Attendant Script File

You can create an autoattendant script file using either the:

• Full-featured Cisco Unity Express GUI script editor, which is based on Microsoft Windows
• Editor Express

For guidelines and procedures for using the full-featured Cisco Unity Express GUI script editor to create a script file, see Cisco Unity Express Guide to Writing and Editing Scripts.

For instructions on how to use Editor Express, see the Cisco Unity Express GUI Administration Guide.

The script file cannot be larger than 256 KB.

After creating the script, use the GUI or Cisco Unity Express ccn copy command to copy the file to the Cisco Unity Express system. See the next section, “Uploading the Auto-Attendant Script File,” for the upload procedure.

Uploading the Auto-Attendant Script File

After recording the.wav greeting or prompt file, upload the file using the ccn copy url command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn copy url ftp:// source-ip-addres s/script-filename.aef script script-filename.aef [username username password password]

This command is equivalent to using the GUI option Voice Mail > Scripts and selecting Upload.

An error message appears if you try to upload more than the maximum number of scripts allowed on your Cisco Unity Express module.

Downloading an Auto-Attendant Script File

Scripts can be copied from the auto-attendant and stored on another server or PC.

To copy a script file, use the ccn copy script command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn copy script script-filename url ftp:// destination-ip-addres s / script-filename

Deleting an Auto-Attendant Script File

To delete an auto-attendant script file from Cisco Unity Express, use the ccn delete command in Cisco Unity Express EXEC mode:

ccn delete script script-filename