Courtesy of Cisco Systems

To effectively plan and design a business video network, you must first understand the requirements for the particular type of business video you’ll be using. This brief overview of the five primary categories comes from Cisco’s white paper: Business Video Planning: Consider the User Experience and Operational Efficiency

Many-to-Many, Real-Time Interactive, High-Definition (telepresence and high-definition videoconferencing)
The major challenge here is achieving very stringent network performance targets. Telepresence, for example, is 100 times more sensitive to packet loss than VoIP since it is compressed by nearly 99 percent. Even one dropped packet out of 10,000 is clearly visible on a large screen, detracting from the immersive experience. General requirements include:

• Sufficient bandwidth: The typical requirement is 4–12 Mbps per endpoint.
• Quality of service: Network switches and routers look at each packet’s QoS markings to determine its priority relative to other traffic on the network. Telepresence traffic needs the highest priority, above application traffic, FTP, email, and so on.
• Scheduling: If telepresence traffic for a scheduled session from 1 to 2 p.m. will pass through three routers, the scheduling application needs to instruct all three routers to reserve the appropriate amount of bandwidth for the duration of the session.
• Storage and playback: If you plan to capture and store high-definition video for later playback, the medianet design must consider the bandwidth needed for playback. Playing back the video in another telepresence room requires the same bandwidth as an interactive telepresence session, while playing it back on a desktop requires less bandwidth. Centrally recording and storing video significantly affects storage requirements, depending on the number of videos, stored video resolution, and retention periods.

Many-to-Many, Real-Time Interactive, Low-Definition Video (Cisco WebEx and standard-definition videoconferencing)
While a medianet designed for telepresence has most of the capabilities needed for Cisco WebEx and videoconferencing, there are however, a few additional capabilities:

• Packet inspection: Switches and routers ordinarily regard Cisco WebEx traffic as data traffic. But the packets actually need priority treatment because they include latency-sensitive video.
• Support for unpredictable usage: Since videoconferencing calls are often spontaneous, as opposed to a scheduled telepresence call, the design must account for unpredictable traffic peaks.

Many-to-Few, Noninteractive, Low-Definition Video (IP video surveillance)
If you need to capture video from multiple devices and displays them all on a single console, you must consider:

• Scalability: Typically, each standard-definition IP video surveillance camera requires 3 to 4 Mbps of WAN bandwidth, or 40 Mbps for 10 cameras.
• Reach: Your organization might want to enable personnel in any facility to view video surveillance feeds from any other facility, even in another country. Other organizations might prefer to restrict access to camera feeds to local personnel, for security reasons.
• Manageability: A well-designed plan specifies where to store video, retention policies, and how to search. The plan should also address integration with notification systems, such as who to alert when a camera detects a human in a certain area.

Few-to-Many, Non-Real-Time Video (digital signage)
Many signage deployments are noninteractive, but those with touchscreen displays are interactive and have somewhat different requirements. Design considerations include:

• Workflow: Organizations need processes and technology to capture, store, and distribute streaming video and store-and-forward video. A content strategy is vital to help ensure that signs are not blank for part of the day, and that content conforms to corporate branding guidelines for look and feel.
• Integration with other business video: When your digital signage is not displaying news, announcements, or promotions, you might want to broadcast TV news, third-party advertising, streaming events with limited seating, etc.
• Third-party content: If your organization sells advertising, a digital signage solution that provides a secure interface for advertisers avoids the need for the IT team to spend time on content submission and scheduling. Schools and other public organizations that use digital signage for emergency notification and instructions might want to give public safety agencies a direct interface to broadcast updates.

At Home

When Lou woke up, he wasn’t looking forward to the day. His project was behind, and the team had to figure out a way to get back on track. First, though, he had to get himself out of the house.

Stumbling into the bathroom, he said “Check the overnights” to the medicine cabinet. His personalized information display showed up on the mirror with a summary of the past 12 hours’ news stories, a list of his e-mail, and a weather forecast. No fires — good. He could shower and shave in peace.

Lou made it downstairs and grabbed some coffee. His wife and daughter had left early for a school event, and he found a note on the counter reminding him to feed the cats. “Find cats,” he said. The screen on the refrigerator showed that Hazel was in the living room, but Bika was outside.

Ready to start the day, he said “I’m available” while he grabbed his phone, touched the screen with his thumb, and headed for the garage. As he moved toward the car, his phone automatically joined his car’s vehicle-area network, authenticated itself, and unlocked the car. Lou got in, started the car, backed out of his garage, and headed for the office. As he drove away, the garage door closed automatically in response to his car’s departure.

En Route to Work

“Route to office,” Lou said to the car, which showed him the best way factoring in traffic conditions. The Parkway was optimal today, and had the added bonus of decent scenery. Lou turned up the radio and hit the accelerator. About five minutes into the drive, he heard Call from Cecil which was great — Cecil was in the UK office and probably getting ready to leave, and Lou wanted to touch base.

“Answer…Hey Cecil, what’s up?”

“Glad I got you, Lou. I know you’re driving so I’ll make this quick. The CEO of our partner is getting twitchy about the deal, and could really use some personal attention. Can you call him at his home tonight?”

“Send me his contact info and I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Lou, I’m off to the pub for a bite.”

Great, Lou wondered. What was the problem with the partner? Carolyn would know. “Find Carolyn.”

Carolyn is mobile but unavailable.

“Multipoint urgent to Carolyn: Please call me ASAP.” That should get her attention, he thought.

The car said Rerouting due to accident. So much for the Parkway. Lou turned left and began following the alternate route.

Five minutes later: Call from Carolyn. “Answer…Carolyn, thanks for getting back.”

“No problem, Lou, I saw your tweet. What do you need?”

“Cecil just told me that Giles Bartlett is anxious about our project — what do you know?”

“Just guessing, but the lawsuit in Texas was decided today. Maybe he’s reacting to the verdict.”

“Hmm…can you put the judgment in our group space so we all can see it?”

“Done.”

“Thanks.”

Lou figured it would make sense to get the group’s take on the Texas situation. “Call to Falcon team: Please read the Texas case judgment and let’s put that first when we meet at 11 a.m.” There was nothing more to do until he arrived, so he turned up the music.
At the Office
As Lou pulled into the garage, its parking space system knew that Level 1 was already full and sent Lou’s car display a map of Level 2 showing the nearest empty space to the building. Lou parked the car and walked away hearing the thump of the electronic door locks as he left.

Walking up to the front door, Lou remembered to put his employee badge on. This was for visual indication only, as all access was controlled by his phone. Approaching the entry gate, his authenticated ID was sent from the phone to the entry station to log him in and let him pass.

As Lou got off the elevator on the fifth floor, he passed Mary, the administrator assigned to the floor. Mary served as the “arms and legs” for employees when physical documents had to be transmitted or received, and helped offload scheduling tasks when needed. She also served as the floor receptionist and office space manager.

“Good morning, Mary,” said Lou.

“Hi Lou, you’re in 502 today.”

“OK, I’m expecting a package. Let me know when you get it. And please give me a heads up when Cindy arrives at 10.”

After grabbing a cup of coffee, Lou entered Room 502, where his cell phone detected the entry and began searching for devices in Room 502’s office-area network to authenticate his arrival and enable Room 502 for “Lou in this office” use. It found the handset and thin-client workstation on the desk, the large format display on his wall, the HVAC connection, and the active partitions that comprised two walls of the office. All of these devices were awakened and put into “in office” mode using Lou’s ID. Automatically, Lou’s default screen configurations appeared on his displays, and the thermostat, phone, and wall glass were set to his presets. The name display outside the office changed from “Vacant” to his name. The embedded holographic projectors in the office credenza desktop displayed Lou’s “virtual” personal effects, including a family photo, an old circuit board from a Cray 1, and a model of his old BMW 2002tii.

Lou checked the unified inbox on his workstation screen, happily noting that nothing urgent had developed since his conversation with Carolyn. That gave him time to prep for his 10 a.m. meeting with Cindy. The primary topic was her 6-month review. He opened Cindy’s personnel file on the workstation screen, but then decided to read it in a more comfortable position. Dragging the document to an edge of the screen, several destination markers appeared, and he dropped the document onto the one marked “Pad.” Lou opened the desk drawer and pulled out the workpad that now displayed the file, grabbed the pad and his coffee, and leaned back in his chair to read it.

A few minutes later, Lou heard Mary’s soft chime from the office soundfield. “Answer…Yes, Mary?”

“That package is here.”

“Great — I’ll come pick it up in a few minutes.” Lou turned back to reading Cindy’s 360 review results. He barely noticed the time passing until the office soundfield chimed again, this time with a schedule reminder. “Details” he asked.

Cindy review meeting in 10 minutes

“Dismiss.” Lou put the workpad down, and went to retrieve his package before Cindy arrived. As Lou was returning to Room 502, his mobile phone rang with Mary’s chime. Lou pushed the answer button. “Mary — is that Cindy?”

“Yes.”

“Have her grab coffee and come to 502.”

“Right.”

Back in the office, Lou was moving his guest chair for the meeting as Cindy appeared at the door. “Hey, Cindy, thanks for coming. Have a seat.” Lou said, “Office: Full privacy,” and the window panes became translucent and all communications devices went into auto-answer
mode. The dim recessed light ringing the ceiling changed from green to red, and “privacy” indicators appeared on all office screens.

Cindy’s review was uneventful, except for a few questions she had about her 360 feedback. To help the discussion, Lou dragged the review data file from his workpad to the large-format display so the two of them could view it together. The meeting ended, Cindy left, and Lou touched the privacy indicator on his workstation screen, selecting “Full access.” The ceiling indicator changed back to green, windows became transparent, and Lou began prepping for his 11 a.m. conference call with the Falcon team.

Lou put the workpad back in the drawer and scanned his inbox on the workstation display. Still nothing urgent. He opened the Falcon team shared space, found the Texas lawsuit decision, and saw Carolyn’s annotation right where he expected it. He wanted to make sure that the entire team would be comfortable proceeding, so he was glad the topic was first on the agenda. Knowing he was working on the call, Lou dismissed the meeting reminder on the workstation.

At about 9:50 a.m., the office soundfield chimed for an incoming call. Glancing at the workstation screen, Lou saw it was Eric, one of the Falcon team members. Lou picked up the phone handset to answer the call. “Hey Eric, aren’t you supposed to be on our call at 11?”

“I’m in the building and I thought we could do it together. I see Mary put you in 502. Prime space — great view plus coffee and elevator proximity. Should I come up?”

“That would be great.”

When Eric entered Room 502, his phone joined the office-area network but, since Lou was the primary tenant, no office device settings were changed.

The Falcon team included Lou, Eric, Carolyn, Uttam, Yvonne, and Barry. Carolyn was in a nearby facility. Uttam, Yvonne, and Barry were based in San Jose, but Barry was at a client site. As the system began to set up the conference call, it had to find all the participants and configure the display space to present to each one.

Barry was out of his office in a hotel with limited broadband access, so he’d be joining from his mobile device on 4G. Uttam and Yvonne were together in an office in San Jose, Lou and Eric were together in the home office, and Carolyn was in an office close by. The system enabled the large-format displays for Lou/Eric, Uttam/Yvonne, and Carolyn, and added Barry from his mobile device. Lou could see video of Uttam, Yvonne, and Carolyn on the screen, along with Barry’s avatar, all composited around a virtual “table”. The office soundfield was designed to make each speaker’s voice seem to come from their “location” in the virtual space. As the participants joined the conference, their other displays and portable devices went into “unavailable” mode, interruptible only by urgent
messages.

“Good morning, all,” said Lou. “We’ll try to get through this call as fast as possible. First off, have you all read the judge’s decision from the Texas case?” Nods all around and an audible “yes” from Barry’s avatar. “Carolyn, anything to add beyond your annotation?”

“Well, let me just repeat that the decision cites extensive prior art, declares the patent invalid, and therefore makes infringement moot.”

Barry piped up, “What about an appeal?”

“This was the last shot,” said Carolyn. “We should be good to go.”

“Everyone agreed?” asked Lou. “Then we can move on to the production problems with our Chinese supplier. Uttam, what’s the story?”

Uttam dragged a schematic from his workstation to the shared virtual table space and began, “As you can all see, the primary clock signal is routed throughout the device…”

The team worked through the agenda items for the next half-hour, then ended the meeting. Everyone dropped off the call, leaving Lou and Eric in Room 502. “Any other questions, Eric?” asked Lou.

“No. But you’re going to call Bartlett and get him on board?”

“Yup. As soon as you leave.” As Eric departed, Lou scanned the workstation display for any updates that required his attention before calling Bartlett. Seeing none, he picked up the office phone and said “Call Giles Bartlett.”

Giles had left permission with the network to find him at home, so the call was routed and rang simultaneously on his mobile and VoIP handsets. Giles grabbed the nearest one.

“Hello, Giles? Lou here. Sorry to call you at home. Cecil tells me you were worried about moving ahead on the Falcon project.” Giles expressed his concern about the Texas lawsuit. “We’ve just reviewed the decision, and it looks like we’ve got no infringement problems. And it looks like our manufacturing problems are behind us. Can I count on you to have your troops ready for the launch? Great. You owe me drinks at your club next time I’m in town. Bye.”

Not a bad morning, Lou thought. Turning to his workstation, Lou checked out the day’s lunch menu in the cafeteria. His face fell. Meatloaf, again…

~ Excerpted from Cisco Systems’ white paper, How Presence Can Enhance Connectivity and Collaboration

So, what do you think of this possible future? Terrifying shades of Big Brother watching, or the next logical step and you can’t wait for it? Leave us a comment with your take.

For instance, let’s say that a customer in moving from a Unity Domino environment to Unity Connection in which has integration into Active Directory and the alias’s for all subscribers are completely different. However, you still want to move all the related information over from the Unity Domino environment and over writes the subscribers just imported and sync from Active Directory. The question is: how this can be accomplished?

Another aspect to COBRAS is something called the COBRAS Data Viewer. With this utility one can open the MDB related to the Unity database or DoH (Directory Object Hierarchy) and make necessary changes to ensure a smooth import. In the case above where one alias is first initial and last name in the domino directory and the other way around in Active Directory, the COBRAS Data Viewer tool can easily provide this transition.

As a precaution, make sure you make a backup copy of the MDB file before executing any Data Viewer routines since all changes are FINAL. If you make a mistake and need to back out; simply delete the MDB file you made a mistake on and copy the backup copy to the working directory and start over. This is the most preferred method and highly recommended by Cisco.

To begin, run the utility after installing and go to File>Open and browse for the related MDB file from your working directory. The file name should be UnityDBData_Backup_Date_Time.MDB. Note the Date will be in the format of YYMMDD and the time will be in the format of HH_MM_MS. So if I ran the backup process on April 4, 2010 at 9:30:12am the file name would look like UnityDBData_Backup_20100704_09_30_12.mdb.

Once the file is open it should appear very close to the illustration above which displays the current subscribers. Now you need to choose Edit>Export users in backup to CSV option. This will dump all the subscribers in the MDB file into a CSV which contains four columns:

• OLD_ALIAS
• OLD_EXTENSION
• NEW_ALIAS
• NEW _EXTENSION

You will have to add either the new alias and or extension for each subscriber listed using your favorite CSV file editor (my preference is Microsoft Excel). Once the file has been successfully edited, you are ready to apply the changes.

The changes will be applied to the MDB backup files. Make sure you back up the original file by simply copying it to another location. Once the changes are applied to the UnityDBData_Backup MDB file, it cannot be undone.

Next go to Edit>Remap subscriber alias or extension, browse for the CSV file you just finished making the changes to and then hit the apply button. COBRAS will try to find each subscriber referenced in the CSV file under three search condition rules:

1. If an old alias value is provided in the CSV, this is used to search for a user. If a user is found then it will use the new alias and/or the new extension value for that subscriber’s alias and primary extension.
2. If an old alias is not provided or does not match a user in the backup, then the old extension value is used to search for a subscriber’s primary extension. If a user is found then it will use the new alias and/or the new extension value for that subscriber’s alias and primary extension.
3. If an old alias is not provided or does not match a user in the backup and the old extension value does not match an existing user’s primary extension, then the old extension is searched for among all the alternate extensions in the backup. If a match is found for a user’s extension then that alternate extension is replaced with the new extension value.  Nothing is done in this case with the new alias string if it’s provided.

Reference:

• Jeff Lindborg Data Viewer Help file

Author: Joe Parlas

At a high level, the restore process has three wizards in place to guide you through the process, which can get very complicated.  Most of the complication is handled by the tool but every tool needs a little help.

The three wizards are:
1) Select the objects you want to restore. You are in complete control at this point. If you want to restore everything on the fly, then you would choose to restore all objects which includes not only the  subscriber’s backup from the Unity system, but all the call handlers as well.  The number of subscribers and handlers, and if you are planning on restoring voice mail or not, will all add to the timeframe required for the restore to complete. Another option would be to use the COBRAS utility to restore the same audio attendant applications on multiple Unity or Unity connection systems then manually re-creating them.

2) Resolve conflicts with the objects selected on wizard 1. There will be conflicts if objects already exist in Unity Connection with the same alias or extension number as in Unity.  If the aliases are identical with the same extensions, the tool will automatically pick this up and recommend an over write.  If the object does not exist on the target Unity connection box, as long as the extension is unique it will recommend a new subscriber creation.  This will also happen with the Call Handlers you are trying to copy over as well.

3) Resolve link references for any objects you choose to restore from Wizard 1. A link object is links that are assigned to objects being created in Unity Connection.  For instance, a subscriber may have a link after playing a personal greeting to exit to a destination yet to be created in Unity Connection. Unity Connection, unlike Unity, is not so forgiving on having all links accounted for.  This is done to ensure database integrity.

Some of the usage scenarios that have been used so far are:

1. Straight backup and restore operation
2. Restore a single subscriber or restoring selected voice mail messages which may have been accidentally erased
3. Restore a COBRAS backup to a different Unity/Unity Connection version or product which would be migrating from Unity to Unity Connection
4. Merge multiple Unity backups to a single Unity Connection Server
5. Copy identical audio text applications from a source server setup to multiple servers in your environment

As you can tell this is a very powerful utility. If you integrate Unity and Unity Connection systems or are thinking of backing up your system in a more robust way; seriously consider the COBRAS tool.Author: Joe Parlas

The answer in this case would be COBRAS (Consolidated Object Backup and Restore Application Suite) which is a set of tools which makes the migration from Unity to Unity Connection as painless as possible. What is unique about the COBRAS tool is that it is very object-oriented and quite a bit different from normal back up and restore methods. With the COBRAS tool, all objects will be backed up when running the COBRAS Export for Unity tool. The tool will completely export all objects — including messages — except for:

• Restriction tables
• Class of Service
• Contacts (includes all networking contacts such as SMTP/AMIS/Bridge/VPIM subscribers)
• Holidays
• System configuration data such as switch configuration, LDAP integration details, IMAP login data, RSA configuration, advanced settings etc.
• Locations
• Subscriber templates
• Password policy information
• Name Lookup Handlers (a.k.a. Directory Handlers)
• Exporting from Unity 7.0 and importing into Connection 7.0 only, PINS will not be restored since Connection 7.0 does not support the same storage hashing algorithm. This was changed with Unity Connection release 7.1(3) and above.

Now with the conventional Backup and Restore process using DIRT, you can only restore to the same version of Unity or Unity Connection. Not so with COBRAS, I can back up all objects on one system and choose what I want to restore on a completely different system version. This makes this utility extremely powerful.

Now with the advent of Unity Connection 8.x, COBRAS has two backup modes. Briefcase mode, which is used most of the time, allows you to back up everything on Unity to a series of MDB files and then import desired objects into Unity Connection. This was the original method designed for migration of users from Unity to Unity Connection.

With Unity Connection 8, this version can do digital networking like Unity into the Active Directory tree structure which allows you to maximize the next backup mode called Hot Mode. In a Hot Mode design, COBRAS is being used to move subscriber accounts including voice mail from the Unity store to the Unity Connection store. So if both versions of Unity and Unity connection are at the 8.x level and above you can take advantage of this unique feature.

If you want to get a chance and take Cobras for a test drive, take the Global Knowledge course IUC – implementing Unity Connection 7.0

Author: Joe Parlas

First we are going to have to go into a utility shown below called UTIM (Unity Telephony Integration Manager) which allows us to configure Unity for connection into VOIP or TDM PBX’s. You will need to log into the Unity Server and navigate to Start –>All Programs –> Unity —> Manage Integrations this will bring you to the screen shown below

Now you want to create a new integration method, so select the “Create Integration” icon on the left side of the screen and be patient. It may take a while before the next screen shows up. In fact, most people have the tendency to click multiple times and then multiple windows will appear. If that happens, close all of the excess windows out. You only need one.

Now notice above we are choosing to use the SCCP method to connect to our CME Router, then hit next.

The next screen is for your documentation only. If you are doing multiple integrations to the same Unity server, make sure your integration names and cluster name are descriptive.

After choosing next on the above illustration, we now put in the address of the CME router defined under the Telephony Service configuration. In this example, the CME Telephony Service address is 192.168.0.1. Optionally, you can ping the server just to make sure it’s available.

From the below illustration, our CME router responds to our ping request so just choose OK to proceed to the next screen.

You will be asked for your MWI on and off codes. As you recall from the last post, we programmed 7070 as the DTMF on code and 7071 DTMF off code. There have been some cases, where technicians would reverse the code order, which can be upsetting to the end users.

Now this is another important step. We have to include the name prefix we created on CME. The CME named ports or vm-device-id were programmed as TPAUM1-VI where we leave off the last number. This is exactly what we need to put into Unity as the device prefix, then when you add number of ports it will add the port number to the prefix when attempting to register with the CME device.

Now we are almost done. Once you choose ‘Next’ from the screen shown above, you will receive the completion setup screen letting you know what options you are about to use for your integration. At this point finished in which the Unity services will be restarted.

We need now to stay into UTIM in order to designate that the server we are attempting to connect to is a CME router and not a Call Manager or Unified Communications Manager. This is accomplished by navigating on the left hand side of the configuration navigation panel and click on the cluster name as depicted below. Now choose the modify button.

One the modify button is chosen, you will have to again fill out the IP address or host name of the CME router as shown below.

The last step will be to select the check box that says “This Server is CUCME/CCME”. After choosing OK you will need to choose the “Save” button which will cause the Unity Services to be restarted automatically.

This completes the procedure on how to add Unity into a local CME router. For additional information concerning other integrations to Unity check out the Cisco installation and configuration guides.

Author: Joe Parlas

As a review on how ports are created in CUCM, one would navigate to Voice Mail –> Voice Mail Ports in order to use this with Cisco Unity.  In CUCM, you create voice mail port numbers and voice port name prefixes.  This is accomplished using two distinct methods in CME.

Let’s illustrate a CME configuration which will add four voice mail ports for inbound and outbound, and one dedicated outbound port using the SCCP protocol to which will allow Unity to register it’s ports with CME.

First we create ephone-dn’s to represent each individual port.  To prevent confusion with other directory number configurations in CME, you should place a description or name for documentation purposes.  Let’s see what the running configuration will look like for the ephone-dn’s created to represent each SCCP port into Unity.  As a reminder, when you create the directory numbers ensure you set them up as dual-lines which will be needed for Unity to execute call consult transfers using its auto attendant feature.

TampaCME# show running-config
ephone-dn 14 dual-line
number 80030
name VoiceMail_1
preference 1
no hunt stop
ephone-dn 15 dual-line
number 80030
name VoiceMail_2
preference 2
no hunt stop
ephone-dn 16 dual-line
number 80030
name VoiceMail_3
preference 3
no hunt stop
ephone-dn 17 dual-line
number 80030
name VoiceMail_4
preference  4
hunt stop

Note: Secondary 9 may appear in your configuration under preference which indicates preference 9 for a secondary number configuration which is not configured in this running configuration

Below is a dedicated Cisco Unity Port configuration in CME.  We purposely use a DN beginning with a number range which is not reachable by any IP Phone key pad.

Ephone-dn 18
number D4
preference 0 secondary 9
huntstop

Notice dual-line not required since it is used only for outdialing with Unity for MWI,  TRAP, AMIS etc..

Next is to create the ephone’s which will represent each of the prefix names that will be configured in Cisco Unity to pass to CME for port registration.  That part of the running configuration would appear as follows:

Ephone 10
vm-device-id TPAUM1-VI1
button 1:14
Ephone 11
vm-device-id TPAUM1-VI2
button 1:15
Ephone 12
vm-device-id TPAUM1-VI3
button 1:16
Ephone 13
vm-device-id  TPAUM1-VI4
button 1:17
Ephone 14
vm-device-id  TPAUM1-VI5
button 1:18

As an important point, keep the device prefix name less than 13 bytes. This issue is with Unity which will not allow you to add a prefix name greater than 13 bytes in the Unity Integration Telephony Manager or UTIM.  So try to keep the prefix name as short as possible with a meaningful naming structure. In this example this is used for a CME configuration with a local Unity in Tampa Florida i.e. TPA which represents the Airport code value for the area.

The last piece for the CME configuration would be for MWI support.  First we need to configure the IP Phone message button so when it is depressed on the Cisco IP Phone, it will route to one of the assigned voice mail ports configured in the hunt.  This is done in the telephone service configuration as depicted below:

TampaCME#show running-config
Telephony-Service
Voice-mail  80030

The last component would be to add the actual MWI using the ephone-dn command as follows:

ephone-dn 20
number 7070
mwi on
!
ephone-dn 21
number 7071
mwi off
!

Notice we must carefully keep our MWI phone numbers from overlapping other numbers in CME to prevent interdigit  timeout issues.

Next time we will look at the Unity setup to support this configuration and address some important CME troubleshooting commands in case Unity fails to register with the local CME.

Author: Joe Parlas

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6LRmWvUCtY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQRCaM2KowY]

When you launch Cisco Unity Tool Depot from the Unity program group on the Cisco Unity server, the Tools depot defaults to Tool News.  If the Cisco Unity server has Internet access, the depot cross references the various tools against a database at www.ciscounitytools.com.  A revision history is displayed and updated versions of the tools can be downloaded.  Jeff Lindborg maintains the Cisco Unity Tools website where you can sign up to an E-Mail distribution list where you are notified of updated tool availability automatically via E-Mail.

The Unity Tools Depot is a tabbed page.  On the left hand side of the page, you will see the various tool categories.  This information is displayed in the screen capture below:

In the screen capture below, I accessed the Administration Tools folder and single clicked the Advanced Settings Tool.  A tutorial will be displayed on the right hand side of the page that will explain the functions of the tool.  At the bottom of the page (on the right hand side) there is normally a revision history of the tool.  Additional information and videos regarding the tool usage are available at www.ciscounitytools.com (click the search icon and perform a search on the tool name). The tool can be launched by double clicking the icon on the left hand side of the page.

There are a lot of great utilities in the Cisco Unity Tools Depot. My personal favorite tool is the Port Status Monitor.  You can learn a lot regarding Cisco Unity’s operation by running this tool and analyzing the output when calls are placed into the Unity system.

Have fun playing with the tools.

Author: Dennis Hartmann