Voicemail and Unified Messaging
Cisco Systems has created three distinct messaging solutions aimed at different organizational needs. These platforms provide different feature sets and integration capabilities to solve real business issues and increase employee productivity and efficiency.
- Cisco Unity: The solution scales to meet the needs of large enterprise organizations and delivers powerful voice, integrated, and unified messaging options that transparently integrate with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino.
- Cisco Unity Connection: This solution combines Integrated Messaging, Voice Recognition, and Call Transfer rules into an easy-to-manage system for medium-sized businesses with up to 3000 users. For organizations with up to 500 users, Cisco Unity Connection is available as a single-server solution with Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition.
- Cisco Unity Express: Available in select integrated services routers, Cisco Unity Express provides cost-effective voice and Integrated Messaging, Automated-Attendant, and interactive voice response (IVR) capabilities for small and medium-sized businesses and enterprise branch offices with up to 250 users.
Cisco Unity
Cisco Unity provides anytime, anywhere collaboration through a broad range of productivity-enhancing features, a flexible platform including powerful migration tools for investment protection, and industry-leading capabilities for security and reliability such as Secure Messaging. With release 7.0 or higher, virtualization can be supported on a VMware platform as well as interoperate with traditional Avaya or Octel voicemail systems.
Desktop Message Access: Cisco Unity Unified Messaging integrates transparently with Microsoft Exchange, allowing you to handle all your messages – e-mail, voice and fax – through a single inbox using the Outlook e-mail client. Icons provide simple visual descriptions f each message type and because every message is delivered to one inbox, you can see the number, type and status of all your communications at a single glance. With the Text-to-Speech (TTS) capabilities of Unity, you get information about all your messages – and even hear the text portion of e-mail messages – over the phone. Integrated messaging allows you to access your voice messages through your Outlook e-mail or any IMAP client, and does not require Active Directory or Exchange expertise. Mobile workers using a Palm Treo or RIM BlackBerry device can simply double-click to play voice messages within their smartphone email applications.
Flexible Platform: Deploying Cisco Unity on VMware can help your organization reduce expenses and lower your environmental impact. Migration and interoperability features allow new customers to migrate from an existing voicemail system at their own pace.
Secure and Reliable: Cisco Unity unified messaging can encrypt messages as they are taken. You can then listen to the messages either through the telephone user interface (TUI) or from Outlook, and the messages will be properly decrypted. With Secure Messaging, if a message is then forwarded outside the organization, the recipient of the forward will be unable to decrypt that message. Cisco Unity is also designed to handle Microsoft Exchange service outages. The application uses the Cisco Unity Message Repository, which allows the system to continue taking new voice messages when the email system or network is offline.
Cisco Unity Connection
Cisco Unity Connection is a feature-rich voice messaging platform based on the same Linux Unified Communications Operating System as Cisco Unified Communications Manager. With Cisco Unity Connection, you can access voice messages using Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, or use the display on your Cisco Unified IP Phone to view, search, sort and play messages. Cisco Unity Connection also provides robust Automated-Attendant functions that include intelligent call routing and easily customizable call screen and message notification options.
Speech-Enabled Messaging: To maximize the productivity of mobile workers, Cisco Unity Connection offers a natural and robust speech-activated user interface. This interface allows you to browse and manage your voice messages and to call other Cisco Unity Connection users or personal contact using simple, natural speech commands.
Desktop Message Access: Access voicemail directly from the Cisco Unified Personal Communicator client. Cisco Unity Connection Inbox web browser interface allows users to view, sort, play, compose, forward and reply to voice messages. Use the DVR-style interface to play, rewind, pause or fast forward messages. Unity Connection also uses IMPAC-based email client access to voice messages via your email compliant client.
Personal Web Administration: Cisco Unity Connection allows you to customize your personal settings from a web browser using the Cisco Unity Connection Assistant, a dynamic interface in the browser-based Cisco Personal Communications Assistant (PCA). Users can change voicemail options, security codes, distribution lists and message delivery options.
Cisco Unity Express
Cisco Unity Express offers industry-leading integrated messaging, voicemail, fax, Automated Attendant, interactive voice response (IVR), time-card management, and a rich set of other messaging features on the Cisco Integrated Services Router platform. It provides these integrated services specifically designed for the small and medium-sized office environment or enterprise branch office. With Cisco Unity Express, you can easily and conveniently manage your voice messages and greetings with intuitive telephone prompts, an easy-to-use visual voicemail interface (the VoiceView Express feature), and a straightforward GUI that allows simple administration and management.
Hardware Features: The solution is delivered on a Cisco Unity Express Network Module or Cisco Unity Express Advanced Integration Module. These products directly integrate with Cisco Integrated Service Routers (2800/2900/3800/3900 series). The network module product includes a dedicated onboard microprocessor and integrated storage.
Key Features and Benefits: Unity Express is capable of operating in CUCM or CUCME telephone environments and is able to work with Multiple CUCME sites. The solution supports six to 24 simultaneous calls to voicemail or Automated Attendant (dependent upon license level and hardware). Other features include:
• Up to 300 hours of voicemail storage configurable on per-mailbox basis
• General-delivery mailboxes
• Announcement only mailboxes
• Intuitive web-based GUI
• Support for a full range of common voicemail features
• Fax integration
• Live reply and live record
• Distribution lists
• Broadcast messages
• Spoken name confirmation
• Undelete messages
• Multiple greets
• Alternative number options
• Automated attendant with dial-by-name, dial-by-extension, and return-to-operator function
• Holiday schedules, business hours
• Optional IVR