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Networking Guide for Cisco Unity Release 5.x (With Microsoft Exchange)
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Chapter 7 VPIM Networking
VPIM Concepts and Definitions
• You must enable ISM for external subscribers for each Cisco Unity server on which the functionality
is desired.
• If a single Cisco Unity server is in use, the Cisco Unity server must be a member of a dialing domain
for this functionality to be used.
Note the difference between leaving a messaging and sending a message. When a person on the remote
voice messaging system with a corresponding external subscriber account records and sends a message
to a Cisco Unity subscriber (as opposed to calling and leaving a message), all versions of Cisco Unity
identify the message as being from the corresponding external subscriber.
The phone system provides the calling number to Cisco Unity. The number of digits included in the
calling number is configurable in most phone systems. For Cisco Unity to find a matching subscriber
extension, the phone system must be configured to provide the applicable number of digits in the calling
number. You may also need to add alternate extensions to the subscriber accounts to match the calling
number. Additionally, there may be other phone system-specific issues that prevent Cisco Unity from
matching the calling number to a subscriber extension. Refer to your phone system documentation and
the applicable Cisco Unity integration guide for details about the call information provided by the phone
system.
Live Reply to VPIM Subscribers
Live reply allows subscribers who listen to their messages by phone to respond to messages from other
subscribers by calling them. When live reply is enabled, subscribers listening to messages by phone can
reply to a subscriber message choosing the “call the subscriber” option to have Cisco Unity call the
subscriber directly. Note that whether subscribers have access to the live reply feature depends on their
class of service settings. (Live reply is enabled on the Subscribers > Class of Service > Messages page
in the Cisco Unity Administrator.)
Subscribers can live reply to messages from subscribers on other voice messaging systems who have
corresponding VPIM subscriber accounts in Cisco Unity. In order for the live reply call to be
successfully transferred, a call transfer number must be configured for the VPIM subscribers.
Note that a live reply to a VPIM subscriber is always done via a release to phone system transfer, even
when both the Cisco Unity subscriber who is replying to a message and the VPIM subscriber have
accounts on the same Cisco Unity server. On a release to switch transfer, Cisco Unity dials the call
transfer number configured for the VPIM subscriber and hangs up, leaving the phone system to handle
the call. Note the following limitations with release to switch transfers:
• The VPIM subscriber call screening, call holding, and announce features are ignored.
• The call transfer setting “No (Send Directly to Subscriber's Greeting)” is ignored. Cisco Unity dials
the VPIM subscriber extension and hangs up. If the subscriber extension is a valid extension on the
phone system that Cisco Unity is integrated with, then the subscriber phone rings. If the subscriber
extension is not a valid phone extension, what happens to the call after that depends on the phone
system and how it is configured. If you do not configure the phone system to handle calls to the
subscriber extensions, the caller may be disconnected.
Note the following:
• Live reply to VPIM subscribers is enabled automatically, and cannot be disabled.
• Live replies to VPIM subscribers with accounts on other Cisco Unity servers do not use the
cross-server live reply functionality that can be used to live reply to Cisco Unity subscribers with
accounts on other Cisco Unity servers. However, for live reply to be offered when a Cisco Unity
subscriber replies to a message from a VPIM subscriber with a subscriber account on another
Cisco Unity server, the servers must be in the same dialing domain.