Requirements for Exchange Unified Messaging integration

This article discusses the features that the Exchange Unified Messaging (UM) service contains and that are required for integration with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

If you want to deploy Communications Server 2007 in order to use the Exchange UM voice capabilities and in order to integrate with the Exchange UM service, you have to install the Exchange UM role to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta 2. Based on the SP1 release notes, Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 2 introduces the following features that are required to integrate Communications Server 2007 with the Exchange UM service:

• Support for additional types of UM dial plans To interoperate with Communications Server 2007, the Exchange UM service in Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 1 supports the following additional types of UM dial plans:
  • Sip_Name
  • E164
  You can configure these UM dial plans by using the Exchange Management Shell and by using the Exchange Management Console. The Exchange Management Console also enables you to create Sip_Name and E164 UM dial plans by using the New Dial Plan Wizard. The Exchange Management Console also enables you to supply Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) when you enable users for SIP URI UM dial plans.
• Additional logic for resolving internal calling numbers The scope of internal calling number resolution is significantly increased. The release version of Exchange 2007 resolves internal extension numbers against only two sources. These sources are the extension numbers for other UM-enabled users who are in the same UM dial plan as the user who is being called and who are in the contact list of the user who is being called. In addition to these two sources, UM in Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 1 resolves internal extension numbers against all users in the Active Directory forest.
• Notification of forwarding when voice messages are left and the destination uses call forwarding For example, User 1 uses Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 to call User 2. User 2 has set up call forwarding to forward calls to User 3. If User 3 does not answer the call, the call is diverted to the Exchange UM server. The UM server answers the call and records a message. The UM server sends information to User 1. The information indicates to whom the voice mail was routed. Specifically, this information is rendered by the Communicator client. User 1 can see that he or she is leaving a message for User 3, not for User 2.
• Support for recording high-fidelity voice messages In Exchange UM, support for high-fidelity sound is added when Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 1 is used with Communications Server 2007. This feature is available when a voice call is initiated by using Communicator 2007 and the recipient of the voice call plays the message in Outlook 2007 or in Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access. In particular, the following two scenarios support the high-fidelity recording and playback feature:
  
  Scenario 1 A UM server answers a call on behalf of a subscriber, and either of the following is true:
  • The subscriber's audio codec setting (UMMailbox.CallAnsweringCodec property) is set to Windows Media Audio (WMA).
  • The subscriber's audio codec setting is not set. This is the default setting. Also, the subscriber's associated UM dial plan audio codec setting (UMDialPlan.AudioCodec property) is set to WMA.
  Scenario 2 An Exchange UM service subscriber, whose UMDialPlan.AudioCodec property is set to WMA, logs on to the Exchange UM service, locates someone in the directory, and then leaves someone a message.
• "Play on Phone" calls cannot be automatically forwarded when they are played on Communicator 2007 In the release version of Exchange 2007, the UM "Play on Phone" feature enables users to view a voice mail message in Outlook or in Outlook Web Access. Users can also forward the message to a telephone number of their choice. When Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 1 is used with Communications Server 2007, "Play on Phone" calls cannot be forwarded beyond the Communicator 2007 client. This change in functionality is helpful because it guarantees that a voice message is not forwarded to anyone other than its intended recipient.
• Outlook Voice Access can be accessed from Communicator 2007 without requiring the user to enter a PIN If a user is logged on to Communicator 2007, the user can access Outlook Voice Access directly by clicking the Call voicemail button in Communicator 2007. Because the user is already authenticated to the server that is running Communications Server 2007, the user is not prompted to enter his or her Outlook Voice Access PIN.
• Communicator 2007 clients can associate subjects and priorities with voice messages When Communicator 2007 clients make calls, they can associate a subject and a priority with the call. When a call has been associated with a priority or with a subject, the UM server relays the subject and the priority of the call in the e-mail messages that it generates for a missed call and for voice mail notifications. Additionally, if a call is initiated from an e-mail message that the user is reading, UM uses the original e-mail subject and the priority when UM generates e-mail messages for the missed call and for the voice mail notifications.
• Support for media streams to traverse firewalls This feature enables UM servers to communicate with endpoints outside an enterprise firewall. The Audio Visual Authentication Service authenticates media traffic as it flows through the Communications Server 2007 Access Edge Server. In this scenario, the UM server is associated with a Communications Server pool. The UM server obtains the appropriate authentication tokens from the Communications Server 2007 Access Edge Server computer that is serving that particular Communications Server pool.
  
  For more information about this feature, see the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Public Beta Enterprise Voice Planning and Deployment Guide.
• Integration of "missed call" notification e-mail messages with Communicator 2007 In deployments that include the release version of Exchange 2007 UM and Communicator 2005 clients, call notifications are generated independently. For example, if a UM-enabled user who is using Communicator 2005 misses a call, two "missed call" notification messages are generated in the user's Inbox. One of the messages is from UM, and one is from Communicator 2005. When Exchange 2007 SP1 Beta 1 is integrated with Communications Server 2007, subscribers who are using Communicator 2007 receive only one unique "missed call" notification in their Inbox.
  
  

The following features are available in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Beta 1 without integrating your UM environment with Communications Server 2007 (Beta 3 Refresh):

• Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) support This feature enables SRTP media traffic to flow to and from Exchange UM. You can configure this feature by using the Exchange Management Shell or by using the Exchange Management Console. The secure SRTP configuration settings are located on the UM dial plan object.
• Exchange Management Console support for configuring Transport Layer Security (TLS) In Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Beta 1, the Exchange Management Console has been extended to enable you to manage TLS. The TLS configuration settings are located on the UM dial plan object.

Support

Exchange 2007 SP1 is currently considered a beta product. There are risks when Exchange 2007 SP1 is deployed into a production environment. You are encouraged to wait for the final release of Exchange 2007 SP1 before you install Exchange 2007 SP1 into a production environment. Traditionally, beta support has been limited to public forums. Beta products have never been supported in a production environment. However, for this beta version, limited support is available through Microsoft Customer Service and Support for customers who want to integrate Communications Server 2007 and Exchange UM features until the release of Exchange 2007 SP1. To receive support through the Microsoft Customer Service and Support organization, you must strictly meet the following criteria:

• Exchange 2007 UM SP1 Beta 2 role deployed to a dedicated server.
• No additional roles deployed with SP1 Beta 2 within the environment.
  
  Warning Additional Exchange roles will start an Active Directory Schema update to the production environment when SP1 Beta 2 is installed.
• Only 64-bit code will be supported.
• You must be trying to integrate with Communications Server 2007.