Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
■
Networking with traditional/non-Unity systems:
This can be implemented using bridge networking, Audio Messaging
Interchange Specification (AMIS) networking, or VPIM networking.
The specific methods of networking Unity can be described as follows:
■
Digital networking:
This type of networking can be used to integrate Unity systems that share the same directory.
■
SMTP networking:
This can be used to integrate Unity systems that do not share a directory, but that are connected via IP.
■
VPIM networking:
This allows integrations of Unity with either other Unity systems or non-Unity systems over an IP
network, such as the Internet. In this case of Unity-Unity system integration, VPIM networking can be used when the systems
do not share a directory (AD forest).
■
Bridge networking:
This can be used to integrate Unity with an Octel voicemail system, and requires the use of a bridge
server.
■
AMIS networking:
This allows Unity to integrate with non-Unity systems over analog lines.
VPIM is a standard that is used by messaging systems to communicate messages over the Internet or other IP networks. As already
mentioned, Unity can be configured to use VPIM to integrate with other VPIM messaging systems, including other Unity systems or
non-Unity systems.
VPIM is based on the SMTP and Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) protocols. Because SMTP transport is used with
VPIM, it is essential that the Exchange server used by a local Unity server be able to exchange e-mail with the e-mail system that the
remote voicemail system is using.
A VPIM message sent between messaging systems consists of one or more MIME encoded parts, and it can contain MIME-encoded
voice messages, text messages, fax messages, and so on. A message can also include the sender's spoken name.
When voice messages are sent using VPIM, they are typically converted into G.726 (for non-Unity systems), and when fax messages
are sent, they are encoded using a TIFF-F format.
Before messages can be sent between VPIM systems, they must be encoded as MIME messages, and with Unity, this task is handled
by a component called the Cisco Unity Voice Connector for Exchange (formerly referred to as the Internet Voice Connector [IVC]).
