APX Voice Messaging
The NBX 100 features APX Voice Messaging, an integrated voice
mail system. APX Voice Messaging requires minimal setup. You can change the global
capacity settings for mailboxes, enable and configure Offsite Notification, and change
the extension numbers for the voice mail ports, but these are optional tasks.
When you add a new user to the 3Com NBX 100 Communications
System, you automatically create the user's mailbox. No other configuration
is necessary. Each user must record a personal greeting and create a password before they
can retrieve messages, but as the administrator, you do not need to perform
any further setup.
In addition, you can create Phantom Mailboxes. You cannot dial
directly into a Phantom Mailbox because it has no telephone, but you can send a message
from within the voice mail system, and the Automated Attendant can specify the mailbox
as a destination for voice messages. For example, you can create a Phantom Mailbox
as a "general mailbox" as an option in your Automated Attendant main menu so callers
can leave a message without addressing it to a specific person.
APX Voice Messaging Extensions
The number of voice messaging sessions that can take place
at one time is dependent on the number of APX Voice Messaging ports you have on your system.
The basic NBX 100 includes four APX ports. You can purchase additional capacity
if needed.
Each APX port has an extension number. The system uses extensions
651-662, but you can change these numbers. See Managing Extension Lists for more
information.
APX Voice Messaging Passwords
To retrieve voice messages, a user must provide a username
(their extension) and a password. The password is a four- to ten-digit number. The password
provides access to both Personal Settings in NetSet and to voice mail.
Notes on Passwords
- If a user forgets their password, the administrator can reset
it to 0000 (four zeroes).
- For more information about the APX menus and features available
to users, see the appropriate telephone guide.
Configuring APX Voice Messaging Settings
You use the APX Voice Messaging Settings tab to configure system-wide
settings for users' voice mailboxes, including:
- the maximum length of greetings,
- the number of greetings that may be stored,
- time limits for storing messages.
Notes on Mailbox Settings
- If you exhaust the system's message storage space before
individual users reach their capacity limits, you should either lower the Mailbox Settings
or upgrade your message storage option.
- Each voice messaging extension (port) enables one voice message
session. If all voice mail extensions are in use, call behavior differs depending
on the operation. If the Attendant Console is forwarding calls to the Automated Attendant,
and all voice messaging extensions are in use, a caller from outside the system
hears ringing but no answer until an extension is free. If you transfer a caller
to voice mail, but no voice mail extensions are available, the call rings back to your extension.
- Decreasing Mailbox Settings does not affect data already
in storage. If you exhaust the storage space, you must have users delete messages.
- A typical voice message lasts about 20 to 30 seconds.
To Modify APX Voice Messaging Settings
1. Click the APX Voice Messaging icon.
2. Click the Settings tab. The tab displays any existing
settings.
3. Make changes as necessary. Refer to the table below.
4. Click the Apply button. The changes take effect.
Field |
Purpose |
Max Number of Messages |
Specifies the number of messages, regardless of length, that
any
use can have in their mailbox. |
New Msg Retention (day) |
The maximum number of days that a new message may remain in a
mailbox before being automatically deleted. |
Msg Retention (days) |
After a message has been accessed by the user, the maximum
number of days that it may remain in the user's mailbox before
being automatically deleted. |
Max Incoming Msg Length (mins) |
The maximum message length, in minutes. |
Voice Mail Compression Format |
Specifies the type of compression used by APX for voice prompts
and messages. MuLaw provides slightly better sound quality, but
requires more bandwidth (about 80 Kbit/s). ADPCM decreases the
amount of bandwidth required to about 40 Kbit/s. This setting
affects APX messages only--the system uses MuLaw for normal audio packets.
CAUTION: Do not change the Voice Mail Compression Format
unless you are preparing to boot an older version of NetSet (prior
to 1.1.0) and plan to migrate your current APX prompts and messages
into the older database. NBX 100 releases prior to R1.1.0 do
not support ADPCM, and R1.1.0 does not include APX system prompts
in MuLaw format. |
On Disk Voice Mail Format |
The type of compression currently used for APX messages and prompts |
Disable AA Transfer Prompt |
Disable prompts when a call is transferred to the Automated Attendant. |
APX Voice Messaging Phantom Mailboxes
A Phantom Mailbox is a User profile with no phone association,
a phone number but no phone. You cannot dial directly into a Phantom Mailbox because
it has no telephone, but you can send a message to it from within the voice mail system,
and the Automated Attendant can specify the mailbox as a destination for voice messages.
To Create a Phantom Mailbox
1. Log in to NetSet using the administrator username and password.
2. On the main menu, click the User Configuration icon.
3. On the Users tab, click the Add button.
4. On the Add User dialog box, specify profile information.
In the Extension Number box, specify an unused extension.
Class of Service specifies the calling permissions for this
user. a Phantom Mailbox cannot initiate a call, so this setting has no effect.
The First Name and Last Name appear in lists that show User
Profiles. Title, Location, and Department can help you identify the mailbox owner.
Make sure that the Fwd to Auto Attendant check box is cleared.
The Telephone Group specifies telephone button mappings. A
phantom mailbox has no phone, so this setting has no effect.
In the Associated Telephone list, click none.
Before you can use the Phantom Mailbox, you must initialize it.
To Initialize a Phantom Mailbox
1. From any NBX phone, lift the handset, and then press
the MSG button.
2. At the password prompt, press the * key.
3. At the extension prompt, enter the extension for
the Phantom Mailbox.
To Retrieve Messages from a Phantom
Mailbox
1. From any NBX phone, lift the handset and then press
the MSG button.
2. At the password prompt, press the * key.
3. At the extension prompt, enter the extension for
the Phantom Mailbox.
Notes on Phantom Mailboxes
- A Phantom Mailbox is not associated with a physical device
so the system cannot provide a visual indication of a new message. You should have
someone periodically check Phantom Mailboxes for new messages, or you
could use an email client to retrieve the messages. (For more information,
see IMAP (Integrated Voice Messaging).
IMAP (Integrated Voice Messaging)
Advanced PowerMail eXchange employs an IMAP (Internet Message
Access Protocol) server; users can access and manage their voice messages through
an IMAP-compliant email client. Although there is no configuration required on the
NBX 100 for this feature, as the administrator, you might be asked by your users to help
configure email clients.
APX messages appear in a user's inbox as mail messages with
.WAV file attachments. Double-clicking an attachment activates the computer's media player
and the voice message plays through the speakers or earphones. After you listen
to a message, it loses its "new" status, but it remains on the server until
you delete it, either through the email client or by accessing voice mail using the telephone.
Each email client has a unique configuration interface, so
the following procedure is presented in general terms only. See your email client's documentation
to determine how to accomplish a specific task.
To Set Up an Email Client to Access
APX Messages
1. Determine if the email client can communicate with
an IMAP 4 server.
Microsoft Outlook 97 and Outlook Express, Netscape Communicator
4, and Eudora 4 all support IMAP. Check the documentation that came with your
email package to determine if it supports IMAP.
2. Set the Incoming Mail Server to the IP address or
host name of your NBX 100.
You can set the Outgoing Mail Server to the mail server you
use for regular email or the NBX 100 IMAP mail server.
The NBX 100 IMAP server cannot perform address translation,
so you cannot use the NBX 100 as your company email server.
3. If necessary, identify the server type as IMAP.
4. For the user name, specify the user's telephone
extension number; for the password, specify the user's NetSet/voicemail password.
Some email clients do not require the password in the configuration
settings. The user is prompted for a password when checking mail.
Notes on IMAP
- The computer you use to receive APX messages must support
multimedia, that is, it must have a sound card and either speakers or headphones.
- You cannot use the NBX 100 to send new messages. However,
you can respond to and forward APX messages.
- To process both email and voice mail on one computer, you
need an email client which can connect to two servers or two instances of the email client.
Configuring Off Site Notification
You can configure the NBX 100 APX Voice Messaging system to
notify users when they have received voice mail using Off Site Notification. APX Offsite
Notification allows a user to receive notification of new voice mail through any of the following
notification options:
- A call to a paging service
- A call to a specified phone number
- An email
Off Site Notification can let you know that you have a message.
It cannot provide the contents of the message.
The administrator can enable or disable Offsite Notification
system-wide, specify the number of APX ports available to the notification process, and
specify an outdialing prefix. You can also control access to this feature through a Class of
Service setting. Individual users set up their own notification options through NetSet Personal
Settings.
The Off Site Notification button in the APX Voice Messaging
Settings window allows you to:
- enable or disable Offsite Notification system-wide,
- set the maximum number of out-calling ports system-wide,
- assign a system-wide out-dialing prefix for Offsite Notification.
To Configure System-wide Offsite Notification
Settings
1. Click the APX Voice Messaging icon.
2. Click the Settings tab.
3. Click the Off Site Notification button. The System-wide
Settings screen appears.
4. Make changes as desired. Refer to the table below.
5. Click the OK button.
Table 34 - Off Site Notification
Field |
Purpose |
Enabled |
When selected, this enables Offsite Notification throughout
the system.
Note: A Class of Service setting can also be used to
enable or disable Offsite Notification; however, this system-wide
setting takes precedence. |
Max Out-calling Ports |
The number of APX ports available for use in Offsite Notification.
The basic NBX 100 system is shipped with 4 ports; upgrades may enable 6 or 12 ports. |
Out-dialing Prefix |
A prefix for every call made by Offsite Notification; may
be a line card port extension, an APX port extension, or a line
pool prefix.
If this setting is blank, the call uses only the information
specified by the user. |