Designing and Configuring Unified Messaging in Exchange Server 2010 : Unified Messaging Installation (part 1)

The installation of Exchange Server 2010 is surprisingly easy, although the configuration can be tricky. This section covers the installation and configuration of a basic system to illustrate the concepts.

The installation of the Unified Messaging server role assumes that Exchange Server 2010 is already installed on the target server.

Installation of the Unified Messaging server role modifies the base installation of Exchange Server 2010 and is done in what is termed Maintenance mode. The procedures in this section step through the build of a basic Exchange Server 2010 unified messaging system, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Sample Exchange Server 2010 UM system.

Installation Prerequisites

Before starting the installation, it is important that the user’s mailboxes that will be serviced by the Unified Messaging server are on Exchange Server 2010 servers. In other words, Exchange Server 2010 UM cannot service users with mailboxes on an Exchange 2007 mailbox server. Of course, the requirements (such as PowerShell) for any Exchange Server 2010 server role apply to the Unified Messaging server.

Telephony Prerequisites

As the Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging server is essentially a voice mail system, all the other components must be in place and operational before introducing it. This includes the following:

• PBX— The existing PBX must be configured with the appropriate hunt groups to route calls correctly.

• Hunt groups— The hunt groups and pilot numbers should be provisioned in the PBX. The Auto Attendant pilot numbers and the subscriber access pilot numbers should be part of a rollover group, so that if one number is busy, the call will roll over to the next line.

  Note

  Set up separate hunt groups and pilot access numbers on the PBX for the Auto Attendant and the subscriber access lines.

  
  

• IP/VoIP gateway— The IP gateway must be configured to route calls from the pilot extensions to the Exchange Server 2010 UM server IP address. The gateway must also be configured to use SIP over TCP, rather than SIP over UDP. Some gateways will attempt UDP first and then try TCP, resulting in strange connection behavior such as delays in initiating calls.

• Phones— The phones must be provisioned and assigned to users. At the very least, at least two test phones should be available.

• External lines— External lines must be provisioned within the PBX.

• The Early Media setting is not supported in Exchange Server 2010 unified messaging.

See the manufacturer’s documentation for specific details of the configuration for each of the telephony components.

Installing the Unified Messaging Role

The first step is to install the Unified Messaging role. This procedure assumes that the Exchange Server 2010 server has already been installed. To add the Unified Messaging server role, complete the following steps:

1.	In Control Panel, select Programs and Features.
2.	Select Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.
3.	Click the Change button to enter Exchange Maintenance mode.
4.	Click Next.
5.	Select the Unified Messaging Role check box, as shown in Figure 2, and click Next. Figure 2. Choosing the Unified Messaging Role from the setup screen.
6.	The installer conducts readiness checks.
7.	Click the Install button to install the Unified Messaging server role.
8.	After the installation has successfully completed, click Finish.

The basic software has been installed, but the UM server needs to be configured post-installation to function properly.

Postinstall Configuration

After the server has the Unified Messaging server role installed, you need to complete several postinstall configuration tasks for a basic installation:

• Create a UM dial plan.

• Associate subscriber access numbers.

• Create a UM IP gateway.

• Associate the UM server with the dial plan.

• Create a UM Auto Attendant.

• Create the hunt groups.

• Enable mailboxes for UM.

• Test functionality.

Following these tasks results in a functioning Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging system. The remainder of this section details the installation steps for each task.

Creating a UM Dial Plan

The first task is to create the central organizing element of the Exchange Server 2010 UM infrastructure—the dial plan shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Creating the dial plan.

To create a dial plan, execute the following steps:

1.	Launch the Exchange Management Console.
2.	Under the Organization Configuration folder, select the Unified Messaging container.
3.	Select the UM Dial Plan tab.
4.	In the Action menu, select New UM Dial Plan.
5.	Enter the dial plan name, such as SFO Dial Plan.
6.	Enter the number of digits in the PBX extensions, such as 3.
7.	Enter the Country/Region code, such as 1 for the United States.
8.	Click New to create the UM dial plan.
9.	Click Finish to close the wizard.

The newly created dial plan should be shown in the results pane. Notice that the default mailbox policy (SFO Dial Plan Default Policy) was automatically created at the same time.