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Voicemail: Messaging Assistant

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5.0 - Updated on 2023-12-05 by Alice Thurman

4.0 - Updated on 2023-11-28 by Alice Thurman

3.0 - Updated on 2022-08-23 by Alice Thurman

2.0 - Updated on 2021-08-23 by Alice Thurman

1.0 - Authored on 2021-08-19 by Alice Thurman

The Messaging Assistant web tool lets you customize how you and your callers interact with the voicemail system by phone. You can also use it to personalize your message settings, including your recorded greetings and message delivery options, or to set up message notification devices and create Private Lists.

Note: Hovering your cursor over an icon will display information about it.

Log in to the Personal Communications Assistant with your Unity ID and password, then select Messaging Assistant -OR- or you can log into Web Inbox and then click the Settings tab.

User Preferences

User preferences control information about you as a user in the voicemail system and some of your choices for interacting with the system.

Adding Alternate Spellings of Your Name

Entering an alternate spelling can help callers reach you successfully when they use voice recognition. For example, you can use the characters A-Z, a-z, and 0-9.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. Under Name, on the Preferences page, enter an alternative spelling of your name in the Alternate Spelling of First Name and/or Alternate Spelling of Last Name fields.
  3. Click Save.

Changing Your Recorded Name

Your recorded name plays with messages that you leave for other users and identifies you in the directory. It also plays with any of your greetings that use system recordings instead of your own recordings. Callers do not hear your alternate greeting when they send messages to you by phone. Whenever you enable your alternate greeting, consider changing your recorded name to include information that you are out of the office.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. On the Preferences page, select Play/Record.
  3. In the Media Master window, select Record and record your name.
  4. Click Stop and Save.

Adding Alternate Names for Yourself

You can set the Voicemail system to recognize you by one or more alternate names that you specify. Alternate names are different from the version of your name listed in the directory, and Voicemail can recognize common nicknames. However, consider adding alternate names for yourself when they use voice recognition:

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. On the Preferences page, under Alternate Names, enter your alternate name.
  3. To add more alternate names, select Add Row and repeat Step 2.
  4. Click Save.

Adding Alternate Devices

You can add information about other devices that you use—such as a pager, a mobile phone, a home phone, or a phone at another worksite—to your Voicemail system preferences. This makes calling the Voicemail system from an alternate device more convenient because the system recognizes the number and behaves the same way as when you call from your primary extension.

When you sign in from a phone number not listed on your alternate devices, the system may ask whether you want the number added. If you choose to add the number, the system will recognize it and behave the same way as when you call from your primary extension. If you choose not to add the number, the system will not ask again about adding it.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. In the Alternate Devices section, on the Preferences page, under the User Defined Devices table, select Add Row.
  3. In the Name field, enter a description for the device.
  4. In the Number or URI field, enter an extension or phone number up to 30 characters in length for the device.  You can also add a URI to this field.

Note: When entering numbers in the User Defined Devices table, consider the following:

  1. To add another device, select Add Row and repeat Steps 3 and 4.
  2. Select Save.

Changing Advanced Settings for Alternate Devices

There are several advanced settings that you can customize for alternate devices. By default, each alternate device uses the same settings that have been configured for your primary extension.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. On the Preferences page, in the Alternate Devices section, in the Advanced Settings column of the User Defined Devices table, select Edit for the alternate device you want to change.
  3. In the Alternate Device Advanced Settings window, check the boxes for each Setting you want to change.
  4. In the Primary Device Value / Alternate Device Value columns, change the values of the settings to the desired behavior for each device.
  5. Click Save and Close

PINS

You have a PIN to sign in to your voicemail by phone. Note: This PIN is not the same as your Unity password. You can change your PIN in the Messaging Assistant, but because you are not required to enter an existing PIN to change it there, take appropriate measures to keep your passwords secure for the Cisco PCA and your external service accounts.

PIN Requirements:

 Changing Your PIN

  1. From the menu, click Passwords > Change PIN.
  2.  Enter the New PIN and Confirm New PIN.
  3.  Click Save.

Conversation Preferences

Conversation preferences control what you hear and how you interact with the Voicemail system by phone. Using these preferences in conjunction with your message playback preferences, you can customize many aspects of the voicemail conversation.

Changing Your Menu Style

When you use the phone keypad as your phone input style, you can hear full or brief menus. Full menus provide comprehensive instructions, and brief menus provide abbreviated versions of full menus.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Phone Menu.
  2. On the Phone Menu page, in the Touch-tone Menu Style list, choose the menu style you want to hear:
  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

Changing the Volume of the Connection Conversation

You can set the volume level at which you hear prompts, recorded names, and user greetings in the Voicemail conversation. The volume you set here does not affect the volume of the message playback.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Phone Menu.
  2. In the Conversation Volume list, on the Phone Menu page, select the level at which you want to hear the Voicemail conversation.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

Changing the Speed of the Connection Conversation

You can set the speed at which you hear prompts, recorded names, and user greetings in the Voicemail conversation. The speed you set here does not affect the speed of the message playback.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Phone Menu.
  2. In the Conversation Volume list, on the Phone Menu page, select the level at which you want to hear the Voicemail conversation.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

Changing the Time Format Used for Message Time Stamps

You can select the time format used for the message timestamps you hear when listening to your messages by phone.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Phone Menu.
  2. On the Phone Menu page, in the Time Format list, select the time format you want to use:
  1. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save.

Changing What Connection Plays When You Sign In

You can control what the Voicemail system plays when you sign in by phone:

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Phone Menu.
  2. On the Phone Menu page, in the After Signing In-Play section, check the Play My Recorded Name checkbox to hear your recorded name when you call the Voicemail system and sign in.
  3. In the For New Messages Play section, check any of the following checkboxes, depending on the message counts you want to hear:
  1. In the For Saved Messages Play section, check the Message Count Totals checkbox to announce the total number of all saved messages (voice, email, and receipt messages).
  2. Click Save.

Changing Your Message Playback Preferences

Message playback preferences control what you hear when you check messages by phone. You can use message playback preferences in conjunction with phone menu preferences to customize many aspects of the Voicemail conversation.

Changing Playback Volume and Speed for All Messages You Hear by Phone

The procedure in this section changes the playback volume you hear when checking messages by phone. The volume you set here does not affect the volume of the Voicemail conversation, recorded names, or user greetings.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Message Playback.
  2. On the Message Playback Preferences page, select the level at which you want to hear messages played in the Message Volume list.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Save.

Changing Playback Volume and Speed for All Messages You Hear Through Computer Speakers

The procedure in this section changes the playback volume you hear when listening to messages through the speakers on your computer. The volume you set here does not affect the volume of the Voicemail conversation, recorded names, or user greetings.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Personal.
  2. Click the Play/Record button in the Recorded Name section.
  3. In the Media Master window, select and drag the Volume slider to decrease or increase playback volume, as applicable.

Changing Message Playback Order

You can customize the order in which your new, saved, and deleted messages are played. For new and saved messages, you use playback settings to sort by message type (for example, voice or email) and urgency. For example, you can specify that the Voicemail system plays urgent voice messages first, then urgent faxes, followed by normal voice messages.

By type, the default playback order for new and saved messages is as follows:

In the default playback order for new messages, Connection also plays the newest message first; for saved and deleted messages, Connection plays the oldest message first.

Because deleted messages are not sorted by type, you can indicate only whether the newest or oldest messages play first.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Message Playback.
  2. On the Message Playback page, in the New Message Play Order section, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to put the list of message types in the order in which you want them played.
  3. Then, select Newest First or Oldest First to specify the message order for all new messages.
  4. In the Saved Message Play Order section, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to put the list of message types in the order in which you want them played.
  5. Then, select Newest First or Oldest First to specify the message order for all new messages.
  6. Select Newest First or Oldest First to specify the message order for all deleted messages in the Deleted Message Play Order section.
  7. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and select Save.

Changing What Cisco Unity Connection Plays Before and After Messages

Message properties are pieces of information about a message. You can specify whether you want to play all, none, or a combination of the message properties.

The default settings are that the sender information, message number, and time the sender sent the message are played. For receipts, the information differs slightly. The timestamp and reason for a receipt are played before the recipient list when there is more than one recipient. When there is only one recipient, the time stamp and reason are played after the recipient’s name.

  1. From the menu, click Preferences > Message Playback.
  2. On the Message Playback page, scroll down to the Before Playing Each Message Play section, and check or uncheck the applicable checkboxes to specify what information is played before each message:
  1. In the Messaging Assistant, from the Preferences menu, select Message Playback.
  2.  On the Message Playback page, scroll down to the Before Playing Each Message Play section, and check or uncheck the applicable checkboxes to specify what information Connection plays before each message:
  3. In the After Playing Each Message Play section, check or uncheck the Time the Message Was Sent check box to specify whether Connection plays the message timestamp after playing each message.
  4. Select Save.

Changing Whether Connection Confirms Message Deletions

You can choose whether Cisco Unity Connection asks for confirmation when you delete new and saved messages by phone.

  1. In the Messaging Assistant, from the Preferences menu, select Message Playback.
  2.  On the Message Playback page, in the When Deleting a Message section, check the Confirm Deletions of New and Saved Messages checkbox to have Connection ask for confirmation.
  3.  Uncheck the checkbox if you do not want Connection to ask for confirmation.
  4.  Select Save.

Changing Your Call Transfer Preferences

Call transfer preferences allow you to choose to have indirect calls ring your extension or ring another extension or phone number that you specify, or to be transferred directly to voicemail, so your phone does not ring at all. When you send calls to voicemail, callers do not have to wait while your phone rings unanswered; your greeting plays immediately.

  1. In the Messaging Assistant, from the Preferences menu, select Transfer and Screening.
  2. In the Transfer Rule table, choose the basic transfer rule whose settings you want to change.
  3. If the When This Basic Rule Is Active field is displayed at the top of the page, choose the applicable option:
  4.  Then, in the Status field, choose whether the rule is disabled, enabled, or enabled with an end date and time. Note that the standard transfer rule cannot be disabled.

Transfer Calls To field, choose the applicable destination for calls, then select Save.

Note: You can edit the transfer number in the text box as a convenience even when you have specified that Connection transfer calls to your extension or voicemail. Connection transfers call to the number in the text box only when the radio button next to it is selected.