Cisco Unity Connection, Voice Messaging
Cisco Unity Connection (CUC) is a full featured voice messaging, auto-attendant and voice recognition system. CUC can support 20,000 mailboxes on a single cluster. Built in IMAP server allows email access to voice messages. Data and message store database are local to the server using Informix Database Service application.
CUC is installed as a VM guest on supported hardware. CUC 10.x is linux based OS.
CUC supports integrations with traditional PBX systems that support native IP or digital TDM circuit that can be connected via PBX IP Media Gateway (PIMG) or T1 IP Media Gateway (TIMG).
Users can be added manually, with BAT (CSV, imported from CUCM using Administrative XML Web Service (AXL) or synced directly from LDAP.
CUC integrates with MSoft Exchange using Web-Based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) providing calendar and journal information for integrations with MeetingPlace.
CUC provides traditional Telephone User Interface (TUI) for interaction with DTMF and Voice User Interface (VUI) for handsfree interaction and IP Phone View (Visual Voicemail).
CUC can be setup as redundant active/active pairs
Integrations
CUCM and CME are supported using SCCP or SIP
Voicemail Port Wizard in CUCM simplifies integration with CUC. The system generates voicemail ports in CUCM and adds them to a Line Group. Admins must manually configure the Hunt List and Hunt Pilot to support the Line Group.
The Hunt Pilot is referenced by the voicemail pilot
SCCP Integration with CUCM
- Voicemail Profile
- Voicemail Pilot
- Hunt Pilot
- Hunt List
- Line Group
- Voicemail Port 1 – X
In SCCP integrations the MWI (Message Waiting Indicator) is a unique DN for on and off. The DN’s must match in CUCM and CUC.
SIP Integration with CUCM
Instead of a Hunt Pilot and Voicemail Pilot, SIP points to a route pattern which points to a SIP trunk.
- Voicemail Profile
- Voicemail Pilot
- Route Pattern
- SIP Trunk
SIP is able to handle MWI within it’s signaling
CUC Features
General Configuration – System timezone, language, max greeting length
Roles
- Audio Text Admin – Manage call handlers, directory handlers and interview handlers
- Audit Admin – Enable/disable application and database auditing, config audit settings, view or delete audit logs
- Greeting Admin
- Help Desk admin – Reset user pins, unlock accounts and view user settings
- Mailbox Access Delegate – Access to all messages, access on behalf of users
- Remote Admin – Allowed to use remote tools
- System Admin – Top level admin role
- Technician – Access to all functions that enable management of CUC and phone system integrations
- User Admin – Manage user accounts
Enterprise Parameters and Service Parameters
- LDAP
- Call Handlers
- System Call Handlers – Greetings that can be customized to offer user input options and automation for playing different greeting depending on time of day
- Directory Handler – Search CUC directory for a user they want to contact
- Interview Handler – Record answers to questions
- Call Routing
- Direct Routing Rules
- Forwarded Routing Rules
- Distribution Lists
- Send voice message to a group of users
- Authentication Rules
- Dial Plan
- Concept of partitions and CSS
Users and Mailboxes
User Templates provide a way to create new user accounts. Template settings are applied as users are created. Changing the template does not go back and change existing users.
2 default templates exist: administrators and users
Template Basics:
- Name – Name of the template
- Phone – Dial plan, Class of Service and schedule
- Location – Geographic location, language and timezone
Class of Service (CoS), different than L2 QOS CoS, method of assigning and restricting user privileges. Unlimited CoS’s can be defined
- Class of Service
- Timers
- Recorded Name Length
- Greeting Length
- Message Length
- Features
- IMAP
- Unified Personal Communicator
- Personal Call Transfer Rules
- Restrictions
- Distribution Lists
- Restriction Tables
- Timers
End Users
New end users require little configuration because of templates. Unique settings: alias, name, mailbox store, extension and alternate extensions
Extension is required – should be primary users DN, it’s the caller ID CUC uses to determine the owner of the mailbox.
WAN Failures – If the users access CUC over the WAN and its down, SRST using AAR can allow calls to CUC to be routed over the PSTN, the users 10 digit PSTN caller ID will not be recognized unless the alternate extension is entered.
Voicemail Box- admin can choose to list a user in the directory, record the voice name and record a greeting
Private Distribution Lists – Each user can create 99 private DLs with a max of 999 members. The DL is only visible to the user that created it and the administrator of CUC.
Notification Devices – Users can be notified of a new message of up to 3 PSTN numbers and email
User Creation
- Manual
- BAT
- Migration from Unity
- Import from CUCM over AXL
- LDAP
Voicemail Boxes
Associated with each user. Held in the database and synced between the 2 CUC servers in the active/active redundant pair. Admins can set message aging policies and move read messages to deleted items after a specified number of days (disabled by default). Messages in the deleted folder are deleted after 15 days by default.
Mailbox Size – Default 12MB, prevented from sending new messages at 13MB and cannot send or receive at 14MB.
12MB is approx 200 minutes of G.729 or 25 minute of G.711
Configuration
CUCM and CUC Integration
Start on CUCM

Don’t forget to add an External Number Mask, as I did
I ended up going back into the config and deleted 249 voicemail ports to make the config simpler
Create a new Hunt List

Add Line Group that was created in the Voicemail Integration Wizard to the Hunt List
Create DN’s for MWI for SCCP integration – Advanced Features > Voice Mail > Message Waiting

Desc was changed to MWI On
Create Voicemail Pilot
CUCM Config is complete for integration. Moving to CUC, services have already been enabled

Clicked on default inside of Phone System, need to add a port group, choose in upper right corner
Add CUCM for AXL service for user data integration – Telephony Integration > Phone System

0 is highest preference
Edit Port Group servers

Do this if you have subscribers in the environment. My lab does not have any additional servers, so I will skip this step.
Config User Template

Change authentication rules as needed. Web is for Jabber
Add a user manually