Cisco Unity Express VoiceMail and Auto Attendant CLI Administrator Guide

Notification Profile

Cisco Unity Express provides a default notification profile for each subscriber and group that has a voice mailbox. The notification profile contains configuration information for message notification, such as a device type, phone number or e-mail address, notification preference, and notification schedule. Each subscriber or group can have one or more of the supported devices configured in the notification profile. After the profile information is configured, the subscriber or group will receive message notifications.

The default profile name is vm-notif-profile. This name cannot be changed or deleted.

System-Wide Message Notification Settings

Message notifications for the whole system use the following settings:

• Enabling the feature—Message notification is disabled by default for all subscribers and groups. Enable the feature on a system-wide basis or for specific subscribers or groups. The feature is available for all subscribers and groups who have a mailbox.

The first time the administrator enables the feature system-wide, the feature remains disabled for all subscribers and groups. If specific subscribers or groups are to have access to message notification, the administrator can enable the feature for those subscribers or groups on an individual basis.

If the feature is disabled on a system-wide basis, the feature becomes disabled for all subscribers and groups. However, the system does not delete the device settings for the subscribers and groups. When the feature is enabled again, the system restores the settings for the subscribers and groups as they were before the system-wide disabling.

If the feature is enabled system-wide and the administrator adds a new subscriber or group, the feature is disabled for that subscriber or group.

If no SMTP server is configured when the feature is enabled system-wide, the system generates a warning message indicating that e-mail and text pager notifications will not work.

• Notification preference—The administrator can set the type of messages for which notifications will be sent: all messages or urgent messages. Urgent is the default. The administrator can change the preference for specific subscribers or groups to a value other than the system-wide setting.

If the system-wide preference is set to “all,” the administrator can set the preference for a specific subscriber or group to either “all” or “urgent.” If the system-wide preference is set to “urgent,” the preference for a specific subscriber or group is only “urgent.”

If the administrator changes the system-wide preference from “all” to “urgent,” the system changes the preference to “urgent” for all subscribers and groups.

If the administrator changes the system-wide preference from “urgent” to “all,” the system does not change the preference for those subscribers or groups who were configured on an individual basis.

• Voice message attachments—This setting permits a voice message to be attached to a notification sent to an e-mail inbox. Notification attachments are disabled by default so that voice messages are not attached to the notification e-mail. The administrator can change this setting for specific subscribers or groups to a value other than the system-wide setting.

If attachments are enabled system-wide, you can change the setting for a specific subscriber or group to enabled or disabled. If attachments are disabled system-wide, the attachments setting for a specific subscriber or group also is disabled.

The system never attaches a private message to notification e-mails, regardless of this setting.

If the administrator changes this system-wide setting from enabled to disabled, the system changes the setting to disabled for all subscribers and groups.

If the administrator changes this system-wide setting from disabled to enabled, the system does not change the preference for those subscribers or groups who were configured on an individual basis.

• Connection timeout—This variable specifies the number of seconds a notification call will attempt to connect before the system disconnects the call and treats the call as failed. This option is available only to phone devices and numeric pagers. The range of values is 12 seconds to 96 seconds. The default value is 48 seconds.
• Logging into voice mail during an outcall—This variable permits the subscriber to log in to voice mail when answering a notification call. This option is available only for phone devices.

If the option is enabled, the system provides the subscriber with an option to log in to voice mail to retrieve the message. If the option is disabled, the system plays a notification prompt three times before disconnecting the notification call. The system default is disabled.

• Notification message prefix text—This setting enables the administrator to append a system-wide message before a notification. This option is available in Cisco Unity Express 8.0 and later versions.
• Notification message suffix text—This setting enables the administrator to append a signature message after a notification. This option is available in Cisco Unity Express 8.0 and later versions.
• Restriction table—The restriction table controls the phone numbers that subscribers can use to send message notifications. These restrictions are available only for phone devices and numeric pagers.

The system provides a predefined table that can be modified by the administrator. The table applies to all subscribers and groups on the system. A typical use of this table is to prevent the use of long-distance or international numbers for message notifications.

The system checks the restriction table when the subscriber is assigning phone numbers to phone devices (such as a cell phone, home phone, or work phone), to a numeric pager, and before making an outcall. If a phone number is listed in the table as restricted, the system sends a message to the subscriber.

If a subscriber has a number configured for a device and the administrator later restricts that number system-wide, notification calls will not be made to that number. The administrator must remove the number for the individual subscriber.

Cisco Unity Express provides a default restriction table that defines two requirements:

– Minimum and maximum number of digits, including access codes, allowed in a phone number. The minimum is 1 digit and the maximum is 30 digits. The default is 1 digit.

– A maximum of 10 dial strings that represent the restricted numbers. Each string consists of a call pattern and a setting that specifies if a phone number matching the pattern is restricted or not.

Valid patterns can include digits 0 to 9, asterisk (*), and dot (.). The * indicates a match of zero or more digits. Each dot serves as a placeholder for 1 digit.

Valid setting values are allowed or disallowed.

When a subscriber tries to set up or change a phone number assigned to a device, the system verifies that the number has the allowed number of digits. If it does not, the subscriber receives a system message.

If the number of digits is acceptable, the system checks the number against the dial patterns in the restriction table, starting with the first pattern (preference 1). If the number does not match the first pattern, the system checks the next pattern in the table (preference 2), and so forth until a match is found. The system either permits or restricts the call as specified in the dial string.

The default restriction table permits all phone numbers to be used, as shown in Table 12-1 .

You can change only the preference and permission of this pattern.

The restriction table can contain identical dial strings, which have the same call pattern and permission setting. This includes the default pattern. You can delete any of these dial strings if the table contains at least one default pattern.

Table 12-2 illustrates a restriction table with international numbers and restricted numbers.

Table 12-3 illustrates a restriction table that permits one number in an area code but restricts all other numbers in that area code.

• SMTP server setup—Sending notifications to a subscriber’s e-mail or text messages to text pagers requires an SMTP server. The administrator must configure an external SMTP server address for Cisco Unity Express to use to send the text notifications. The SMTP server address can be the hostname or IP address. To use the hostname, verify that the DNS server is configured.

If the SMTP server requires a user ID and password for authentication, the administrator must configure the user ID and password on Cisco Unity Express software.

• From address for outgoing e-mails—E-mail messages and notifications sent out by Cisco Unity Express display the address hostname@domain in the From field, where hostname is the hostname configured for Cisco Unity Express and domain is the domain name configured for Cisco Unity Express. The administrator can configure a more descriptive e-mail address to use in this field. Maximum length is 128 characters.

Subscriber and Device-Specific Settings

Subscribers are able to use the telephone user interface (TUI), graphical user interface (GUI), or VoiceView Express to specify the phone devices and numeric pagers to which message notifications will be sent. Subscribers can use only the GUI or VoiceView Express to configure e-mail inboxes or text pagers to receive notifications.

The administrator can use the GUI, VoiceView Express, or the CLI procedures in this section to configure any supported device to receive notifications.

The following settings are available for configuring message notification:

• Phone number—The system dials this number when a mailbox receives a new message. The number consists only of digits 0 to 9; no other characters or pauses are permitted. Include any access codes as part of the phone number.

This setting is not available for e-mail inboxes and text pagers.

If the phone number is removed, the system disables the device.

The administrator configures a restriction table that controls what phone numbers are allowed for message notification. See System-Wide Message Notification Settings for information on restriction tables.

• Extra digits—The system dials these digits after the phone number when the outgoing call is answered. The system treats these digits as DTMF digits from Cisco Unity Express to the called device.

The result of these digits depends on the called device. For example, the digits appear on the display of a numeric pager.

Extra digits can consist of digits 0 to 9, pound or hash (#), asterisk (*), and plus (+). The plus sign is used to insert a 1-second pause. The maximum number of extra digits is 64.

This setting is not available for e-mail inboxes or text pagers.

• To—This setting is the e-mail address that receives the message notification. The maximum number of characters in the e-mail address is 129.

This setting is available only to e-mail inboxes and text pagers.

If the e-mail address is removed, the system disables the device.

• Text—This is the content of the text message, which appears in the body of the e-mail or as a text page on the text pager. The maximum number of characters in the message is 128.
• Attach to e-mail—If this setting is enabled, the system attaches a new voice message as a.wav file to the message notification e-mail. The.wav file format is G711 mu-law 8KHz 8-bit mono.

This setting is available only to e-mail inboxes.

The setting is disabled by default so that no voice messages are attached to message notifications.

The system never attaches a private message to notification e-mails, regardless of this setting.

The system-wide attachment setting takes precedence over the individual subscriber or group setting. If the administrator disables the e-mail attachment setting system-wide, then subscribers cannot enable the setting on their devices.

If the administrator changes this system-wide setting from disabled to enabled, the system does not change the preference for those subscribers or groups who were configured on an individual basis.

• Enabling the device—The subscriber or administrator must enable the devices to receive message notifications. Phone devices and numeric pagers require a valid phone number to be enabled. E-mail inboxes and text pagers require a valid e-mail address to be enabled.

If the administrator changes the system-wide setting to disabled, the subscriber cannot enable any device. The subscriber can enable a device only if the system-wide setting is enabled.

• Notification preference—The subscriber or administrator can set the type of messages for which notifications will be sent: all messages or urgent messages. Urgent is the default.

The system-wide attachment setting takes precedence over the individual subscriber or group setting. If the administrator changes the system-wide preference from “all” to “urgent,” subscribers cannot enable the setting on their devices.

• Notification schedule—The subscriber or administrator can set a schedule that activates the notification feature for a specific device. Time slots are available 24 hours a day for any day of the week in half-hour increments.

The default schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 p.m.

If new messages arrive when the device is inactive, the system does not send a notification for them even if the messages are in a “new” state when the next active time slot occurs.

Options and Settings

Table 12-4 lists the settings and options available for configuring the message notification feature and whether the setting or option defines a condition for the entire system or for individual subscribers or groups. Additionally, the table indicates the interface where the settings or options can be configured.

Notifications to Phone Devices

To notify a phone device, the Cisco Unity Express system calls the configured phone number.

After the subscriber answers the call, the system sends any configured extra digits. The subscriber is presented with the option to log in to the mailbox using the mailbox ID and PIN (if this option is enabled) or disable notification to the device being called.

If the subscriber does not answer the call after the configured number of seconds, or if the device is busy, the system disconnects the call and does not retry calling the subscriber.

The recipient can turn off message notification for a phone device during the notification. If the recipient does that, the system leaves a message in the recipient’s mailbox stating that notification is turned off for that device.

The administrator should be aware of notification loops. For example, subscriber A configures notifications to subscriber B, subscriber B configures notifications to subscriber C, and subscriber C configures notifications to subscriber A. The notifications could fill up the subscribers’ mailboxes. In such a case, the administrator should disable notification for one of the subscribers. This will stop the loop. The administrator can reenable notification for that subscriber.

Notifications to Numeric Pagers

To notify a numeric pager, the Cisco Unity Express system calls the configured phone number.

If the pager answers the call, the system sends any configured extra digits and disconnects the call. The extra digits appear on the pager display.

If the device does not answer the call after the configured number of seconds (connection timeout) or is busy, the system disconnects the call and does not retry calling the device.

Notifications to E-mail Inboxes

The system sends an e-mail message to the configured e-mail address for each new message received.

Note If no STMP server is configured, the system does not send e-mail notifications.

The subject of the e-mail message is “Message Notification.” The body of the e-mail message contains the message type, extension or user ID, message sender, and the message text configured by the sender. Following is a sample e-mail message:

If the option to attach a voice message is enabled, the system attaches the message as a.wav file. The.wav file format is G711 mu-law 8KHz 8-bit mono. The filename has the format VM_ yyyy . mm. dd _ hh . mm . ss .wav, where yyyy is the year, dd is the day, hh is the hour in 24-hour format, mm is the minutes, and ss is the seconds.

If the system cannot deliver the e-mail, the system does not generate a message delivery failure notification.

Notifications to Text Pagers

The system sends an e-mail message to the configured e-mail address and creates one text page for each new message received.

Note If no STMP server is configured, the system does not send text pager notifications.

The subject of the e-mail message is “Message Notification.” The body of the e-mail message contains the message type, extension or user ID, message sender, and the message text configured by the message recipient during notification setup. This text will be the same for all messages received by this subscriber.

Following is a sample e-mail message:

If the system cannot deliver the e-mail, the system does not generate a message delivery failure notification.

Prerequisites

Before configuring the message notification feature, you must first configure:

• SMTP server hostname
• SMTP authentication values (user ID and password or credential string)
• Restriction table

Cisco Unity Express 8.0 or a later version is required to append a text message preceding a notification or to append a signature message following a notification.

To configure the SMTP parameters, see Configuring SMTP Parameters.To configure the restriction table parameters, see Configuring Restriction Tables.

Required Data for This Procedure

• User IDs or group names if a subset of subscribers or groups will have access to message notification
• Notification preference
• Number of seconds for the connection timeout
• If you want to add phone numbers to the restriction table:

– Minimum and maximum number of digits in a dial-string

– At least one dial-string pattern

• From-address for outgoing e-mails

SUMMARY STEPS

1. config t

2. voicemail notification enable

If an SMTP server is not available, a message appears warning the administrator that e-mail and text pager notifications will not work.

3. (Optional) voicemail notification preference { all | urgent }

4. (Optional) voicemail notification email attach

5. (Optional) v oicemail notification connect-timeout seconds

6. (Optional) voicemail notification allow-login

7. (Optional) voicemail notification text prefix { append “ text message ” | delimiting character }

8. (Optional) voicemail notification text suffix { append “ text message ” | delimiting character }

9. voicemail configuration outgoing-email from-address email-address

10. end

11. show voicemail notification

12. show voicemail notification restriction-table

13. show smtp server

14. show voicemail configuration

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification restriction-table command.

The following is sample output for the show smtp server command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail configuration command:

Configuring Message Notification for Phone Devices

Use this procedure to configure message notification for a subscriber or group phone device.

Prerequisites

Enable the message notification capability for the subscriber or group. See Enabling Message Notification for a Subscriber or Group.

Required Data for This Procedure

• Phone number
• Extra digits, if any
• Notification preference
• Days and times when notification is active

SUMMARY STEPS

1. username username profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } phonenumber phonenumber

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } phonenumber phonenumber

2. (Optional) username username profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } extra-digits digits

or

(Optional) groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } extra-digits digits

3. username username profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } enable

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } enable

4. username username profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } preference { all | urgent }

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } preference { all | urgent }

5. username username profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone } schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

6. show voicemail notification owner owner-id profile

7. show voicemail notification owner owner-id { cell-phone | home-phone | work-phone }

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner cell-phone command.

Configuring Message Notification for a Numeric Pager

Use this procedure to configure message notification for a subscriber or group numeric pager.

Prerequisites

Enable the message notification capability for the subscriber or group. See Enabling Message Notification for a Subscriber or Group.

Required Data for This Procedure

• Phone number
• Extra digits, if any
• Notification preference
• Days and times when notification is active

SUMMARY STEPS

1. username username profile vm-notif-profile num-pager phonenumber phonenumber

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile num-pager phonenumber phonenumber

2. (Optional) username username profile vm-notif-profile num-pager extra-digits digits

or

(Optional) groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile num-pager extra-digits digits

3. username username profile vm-notif-profile num-pager enable

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile num-pager enable

4. username username profile vm-notif-profile num-pager preference { all | urgent }

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile num-pager preference { all | urgent }

5. username username profile vm-notif-profile num-pager schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile num-pager schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

6. show voicemail notification owner owner-id profile

7. show voicemail notification owner owner-id num-pager

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner num-pager command.

Configuring Message Notification for E-mail

Use this procedure to configure message notification for a subscriber or group e-mail inbox.

Prerequisites

Enable the message notification capability for the subscriber or group. See Enabling Message Notification for a Subscriber or Group.

Required Data for This Procedure

• E-mail address
• Status of attaching voice messages to e-mail notifications
• Message text
• Notification preference
• Days and times when notification is active

SUMMARY STEPS

1. username username profile vm-notif-profile email address email-address

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile email address email-address

2. username username profile vm-notif-profile email enable

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile email enable

3. (Optional) username username profile vm-notif-profile email attach

or

(Optional) groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile email attach

4. username username profile vm-notif-profile email preference { all | urgent }

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile email preference { all | urgent }

5. username username profile vm-notif-profile email schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile email schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

6. username username profile vm-notif-profile email text email-text

or

groupname grouprname profile vm-notif-profile email text email-text

7. show voicemail notification owner owner-id profile

8. show voicemail notification owner owner-id email

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner email command.

Configuring Message Notification for a Text Pager

Use this procedure to configure message notification for a subscriber or group text pager.

Prerequisites

Enable the message notification capability for the subscriber or group. See Enabling Message Notification for a Subscriber or Group.

Required Data for This Procedure

• E-mail address
• Message text
• Notification preference
• Days and times when notification is active

SUMMARY STEPS

1. username username profile vm-notif-profile text-pager address email-address

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile text-pager address email-address

2. username username profile vm-notif-profile text-pager enable

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile text-pager enable

3. username username profile vm-notif-profile text-pager preference { all | urgent }

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile text-pager preference { all | urgent }

4. username username profile vm-notif-profile text-pager schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile text-pager schedule day day-of-week active from hh : mm to hh : mm

5. username username profile vm-notif-profile text-pager text email-text

or

groupname groupname profile vm-notif-profile text-pager text email-text

6. show voicemail notification owner owner-id profile

7. show voicemail notification owner owner-id text-pager

DETAILED STEPS

Examples

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner command.

The following is sample output for the show voicemail notification owner text-pager command.

Overview

Starting in release 3.0, the existing message notification feature that was introduced in 2.3(1) was extended to enable you to:

• Set up a series of cascading notifications to a widening circle of recipients
• Enable subscribers to define time-based rules that determine how the notification is cascaded to other local subscribers in the system

For example, User-A can set up the following cascading rules:

• If a new message in the mailbox is not listened to for 15 minutes after the arrival, a notification is sent to User-B.
• If a new message is not listened to for 30 minutes after arrival, a notification is sent to User-C.

In this scenario, if a message is sent to the User-A, on Monday at 1:00 pm and User-A has not listened to this message by 1:15 pm, a notification is sent to User B. Cisco Unity Express determines which of User B’s devices are active to receive notification at 1:15 pm on Monday and a notification call is made to all of User-B’s active devices. The subscriber hears a voice prompt when the notification is cascaded from User-A to User-B. If User-A has still not listened to this message by 1:30 pm, a notification is sent to all of User-C’s active devices.

When a notification is cascaded to a target, the user listening to the cascaded notification is given the option to disable the cascading from that mailbox, or the option to disable the notification feature in its own profile. If in the above example, User B chooses to disable cascading from User-A’s mailbox, all messages are left in User-A’s mailbox for which cascading to User-B has been disabled remotely.

If User-B chooses to disable notification to User-B’s own device, User-B’s notification profile is changed and notification to that particular device is disabled. A message is left in User-B's mailbox that notification to the device was disabled remotely.

Configurable Options

System Configuration

You can enable or disable this feature at the system level only. By default, this feature is disabled. To enable it, you must enable the message notification feature at the system level. When you enable after it was been disabled, cascading is automatically enabled for all users who have their individual cascade settings configured. Disabling the cascade feature does not remove the rules defined by the subscriber for cascading.

User Configuration

Subscribers can setup the cascading rules regardless of whether the cascade feature enabled or disabled. To setup cascading, subscribers must configure a rule with the following items:

• Target Subscriber (UserId or gdmId) — This is a user ID or a GDM ID that is used for cascading notification.
• Time (in minutes) — The time after which the user or GDM is notified if the message is still not heard. This time is calculated from the time that the original message was received. The minimum time allowed is 5 minutes and the maximum time allowed is 10080 minutes (168 hours).

A subscriber can setup a maximum of two such rules. If a subscriber setups more than one rule, the target ID and the time for the two rules must be unique.

Limitations and Conditions

The limitations and conditions of this feature include:

• Notification cascading stops when either:

– The message is saved or deleted.

– The last cascade rule has been performed.

• You can use this feature for both personal and general delivery mailboxes.
• Notification can be sent only to local users. Remote users or external users cannot be selected for cascading.
• The schedule of the target subscriber is used for cascading the notifications.
• This feature can be enabled or disabled by either:

– The system administrator at the system level.

By default, this feature is disabled. Before you can enable this feature, you must first enable the message notification feature at the system level. The rules defined by the user for cascading are not removed when this feature is disabled at the system level.

– A user listening to the cascaded notification.

This can be done by either disabling cascaded notifications that they receive from a specified mailbox, or by disabling the notification feature in their profile.

• You can configure a maximum of two notification cascade rules for each subscriber.
• If two notification cascade rules are configured for the same subscriber, the target ID and the time for the two rules must be unique.
• Notification cascading does not occur for private messages and broadcast messages.
• When a notification is cascaded to a target subscriber, all active devices in the target subscriber’s profile receive the notification.
• For numeric pagers, the notification is the same as a regular notification.

You cannot differentiate between a cascaded notification and a regular notification.

• For e-mail and text pager, the cascaded notification format is the same as a regular notification, but you can use the Message For: field to identify a cascaded notification e-mail.

In a regular notification, this field contains the user’s own extension or ID, but in a cascaded notification it contains a different extension or user ID.

• The behavior of cascading notification is based on the target subscriber’s message notification profile.

For example, if:

– User-A has notification configured to cascade all the urgent messages to User-B.

– User-B has notification configured for all the messages.

The message notification cascading is generated for all the messages and not just the urgent messages received in User-A’s mailbox.

• This feature is not available in Cisco VoiceView Express.

Configuring Cascading Message Notification

Prerequisites

• Cisco Unity Express 3.0 or a later version
• You must enable this feature at the system level.
• If you want to restrict specified extensions from using this feature, you must configure a restriction table as described in the “Configuring Restriction Tables” section.

Required Data for This Procedure

This procedure requires the IDs of the users and groups to which you want to cascade the notifications.

SUMMARY STEPS

1. config t

2. voicemail notification cascading enable

3. voicemail msg-notification restriction-table table-name

4. end

5. [username | groupname] [ user-id | group-id ] notification cascade-to user-id after minutes

6. (Optional) show voicemail notification

7. (Optional) show voicemail notification owner owner-id profile

8. (Optional) show voicemail msg-notification restriction-table

DETAILED STEPS