Unity Voice-Mail/Unified Messaging Solutions
Unified messaging refers to several products in the Cisco product line that allow
end users and administrators to manage all communication from a single point of
administration.This product line has undergone several changes within its lifetime,
the latest of which came with the Cisco acquisition of the Active Voice
Corporation in 2000.With this acquisition, Cisco is offering the Unity product
suite as its unified messaging solution.The previous unified messaging solution
was a product line known as uOne, which has been discontinued.
The Unity product line is a powerful collection of tools that allows a user
to retrieve e-mail, voice-mail, and faxes all from one location—a truly converged
solution. Like the rest of Cisco’s IP telephony product offering, the Unity
product suite is continually being revised.We will discuss some of the features
available as of this writing, but bear in mind that new features are most likely to
appear in the near future.
Unity integrates with Microsoft Exchange server and the Outlook Mail client
to provide a centralized application where a user can retrieve e-mail, voice mail,
and faxes.This solution allows users to send, receive, and manage voice messages
directly from the Outlook client. Unity also gives users the ability to send and
receive faxes directly from the user’s Outlook mail client. A user can either fax
directly or send e-mail that will be received in the form of a fax. Prior to the
acquisition by Cisco, the Unity product line offered an integrated fax solution
known as Active Fax.This product is no longer in production. In order to utilize
a fax solution with the Unity product suite, a third-party fax server such as that
from RightFax or Omtool must also be purchased. Consult the Cisco Web site
for the most current listing of approved fax server software.
A personal Web assistant is also included with the Unity suite, allowing users
to manage their voice-messaging options directly from a Web page. Users have
the ability to change passwords, greetings, mailbox options, and so on, taking the
burden off the system administrators and providing users the ability to make
changes to their systems as they see fit.
This type of solution provides users with a great deal of flexibility and
mobility.A company executive called away on urgent business at the last minute
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could use her laptop to check her voice-mail and fax, and she could use the personal
Web assistant to update her greeting, letting everyone know she is not in
the office.
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