Cisco Unity Fundamentals

240 Chapter 9: Cisco Unified Communications Integrations

Figure 9-3 Cisco PA and CCM Integration

Understanding the Types of Cisco Unified

Communications Integrations

A Cisco Unity system uses the services of a telephone system, either circuit-switched or packet-

switched, to perform its essential functions. Functions such as automated attendant, voicemail,

and audiotext work because of an established relationship with a telephone system.

Understanding the relationship between a telephone system and a Cisco Unity voice-processing

system and its integrations contributes to the proper installation and troubleshooting of Cisco

Unity.

To fully benefit from this section, it is recommended that you have the following prerequisite

skills and knowledge (see Chapter 1 for more information on any of these topics):

• Knowledge of the basic telephone features used with voice mail

• The ability to list the telephone switch integrations supported by Cisco Unity 4.0

• Knowledge of the standard features of Cisco Unity

• Knowledge of the standard features of Cisco PA

Cisco

Unity

Server

IP Phones

Branch

U

U

PSTN

IP Network

2

1

V

V

4

3

Cisco

SoftPhone

Central

Site

Cisco Call Manager

Directory

Customer

PA

PA

Switch

Understanding the Types of Cisco Unified Communications Integrations 241

Integrating with IP

Cisco Unity messaging systems integrate with CCM by using the Cisco Unity-CM TAPI

service provider (TSP) in a pure IP environment. Because Cisco Unity and CCM communicate

without the use of traditional voice boards, all call information, including session, signaling,

and audio, travels as packets across the network. Figure 9-4 illustrates a Cisco Unity and CCM

integration.

Figure 9-4 Cisco Unity and CCM Integration

Most Cisco IP telephone models connect to virtual station ports on CCM using the Skinny

Client Control Protocol (SCCP). Cisco developed a TSP that connects to the SCCP layer of

CCM. The SCCP layer is similar to the CTI layer and provides a communication channel to

CCM. All integration functionality remains the same when using this protocol and all TAPI

session and call control is served through the Cisco Unity-CM TSP and SCCP.

NOTE The Cisco TSP referred to is one that comes with the Cisco Unity product. This is different from

the Cisco-TSP that comes with Cisco CallManager.

Cisco Unity 4.0 uses SCCP to provide the call session and signaling information between CCM

and itself. This bidirectional communication between Cisco Unity and CCM takes place via the

Cisco Unity-CM TSP, a piece of software that opens and maintains that communication

channel. The TSP is installed on the Cisco Unity system. You can configure it by using the Cisco

Unity Telephony Integration Manager (UTIM) application.

IP Phones

Workstation

with Microsoft Outlook

MS Exchange

Message Store

U

U

Cisco Unity

Server

SCCP

(Skinny)

PSTN

Gateway

Cisco

CallManager

LAN

Switch