January 1998

Unified Messenger

Unified Messenger
Lucent Technologies
Octel Messaging Division
1001 Murphy Ranch Road
Milpitas, CA 95035-7912
Ph: 408-324-2000; Fx: 408-324-2702
Web site: www.octel.com

Pricing: approx. $200 per seat. The pilot & evaluation programs are approximately 2/3 less

When it comes to messaging, there’s no beating the e-mail way. While paper faxes litter our offices, our e-mail messages tidily arrange themselves on our virtual desktops. While voice mail messages oblige us to actually listen to them to determine sender and subject, e-mail boxes display this information up front, which lets us open (or delete) our e-mail messages in any order we choose. Luckily, the e-mail way is taking over all kinds of messaging. This movement, called unified messaging, gives us a single e-mail-style interface for messages of every type: e-mail (of course), fax, and voice.

Although unified messaging products all accomplish much the same thing — presenting the user a single interface for multiple message types — they differ with respect to how they do it. Some products display disparate message types together, but maintain separate voice and e-mail systems, which may be linked together via the network, or through a messaging interface with a PBX. The disadvantage here is that administration becomes more complicated. Also, in the case of a network link, the separate systems forward messages to each other, generating background traffic that quietly arrogates some of your LAN’s bandwidth.

While some unified messaging products are based on network links or PBX interfaces, others offer “tight” integration: the mailbox itself, not just the display, is integrated. That is, you have a common data store, a single directory, and unified administration. A potential drawback, however, is that your messaging is only as reliable as your network. If you have confidence in your LAN, this isn’t a problem. If not, you may prefer to integrate your e-mail with your existing voice mail system or PBX.

One product that exemplifies the tightly integrated approach to unified messaging is Unified Messenger. This offering, from Lucent’s Octel Messaging Division, combines the features of an auto attendant, an interactive voice response (IVR) unit, and a voice mail system. It’s designed to run on top of emerging client/server email architectures. (The first implementation of Unified Messenger is based on Microsoft Exchange’s client/server architecture. Future releases will support Lotus Notes Mail.) Unified Messenger doesn’t support fax in the current version; however, we are told that the product will have this feature in the next release.

Although what is most distinct about Unified Messenger is its tight integration, the product does offer interoperability options. For example, it connects to most major proprietary PBXs through an Octelcertified interface that integrates the voice server with the telephone system. Unified Messenger can also exchange voice messages with other Octel systems using OctelNet, or to non-Octel voice mail systems using OcteLink.

INSTALLATION
We got a jump on installation thanks to the Octel representative who visited our office. He arrived with a Dell Pentium-200 computer on which the hardware and software for Octel Unified Messenger were already configured. So, we were able to start by hooking up a speaker, a microphone, and a single analog phone line to the Rhetorex board inside the server.

Incidentally, the Octel representative’s machine also ran Microsoft Exchange Server and Windows NT 4.0. To be sure, we didn’t need to pack so much onto one machine. Putting Exchange Server, voice boards, and the Octel client software on the same machine was just for demonstration purposes. Generally speaking, most companies running Octel Unified Messenger would have an Octel voice mail server with voice boards and analog lines coming in, and then, on a separate computer, they would run Microsoft Exchange Server.

While some of the installation was already done for us, and even though the setup wasn’t exactly typical, we did, however, get to use the software to set up, change, and add clients. We discovered that the interface was very intuitive, and that setting up a new voice mailbox was simply a matter of accessing a “tab” option, which we found in one of the configuration screens within the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program. Setting up the voice mail system itself, including the auto attendant, text-to-speech options, security, and other features, was easily accomplished from one centralized screen. Overall, we were impressed that such a complex, featurerich product was so easy to install. Consequently, we gave Octel’s Unified Messenger a 5 rating for installation.

DOCUMENTATION
Documentation for Unified Messenger was complete and well organized. And, just as important, it was very attractive. Seldom do we see software documentation so elegant. Seriously, good typography and layout can make the difference between information that is overlooked and information that actually gets read. Many of the manuals we see try to cram too much information into too little space, which repels the eye. Octel’s documentation, however, was consistently inviting. For example, Octel didn’t jam five feature descriptions on a single page. (We see all too much of that.) Instead, each feature was given a page or two, plus a couple of screenshots.

The documentation included the following manuals: Installation Guide, Subscriber’s Reference Guide, Concepts & Planning Guide, and Administrator’s Guide. The Concepts & Planning Guide was particularly useful. Overall, the documentation earned a 5 rating.

FEATURES
Unified Messenger is a messaging system that lets you send and collect all your voice and e-mail messages from a single mailbox. In addition, it lets you access your messages via a phone or a personal computer.

Unified Messenger is designed to work on top of emerging client/server email architectures. In its current version, Unified Messenger is a Windows NT Server-based application that stores voice messages in Microsoft Exchange. Since the server is the link between the telephone system and the computer network, Unified Messenger obviates the need for separate messaging systems, and thereby simplifies system administration.

Appearance/General Use

• Since each voice mail is denoted by a phone icon, you can easily differentiates your voice mail from your email.
• You can drag-and-drop voice messages to any Explorer directory (folder), including the Desktop, or drag to a new message.
• The voice mail system lets you mark voice mail messages as Normal or High Priority. Then, when an important voice mail message appears in Outlook, Exchange, etc., it is accompanied by an exclamation point.
• You can opt to have the system play a voice message as soon as you open it, or you can set the option so that you have to click the Play button when a message is opened. (We loved this feature!) Integrating With The PBX
• Voice server integrates with most PBXs.
• Can receive e-mail and voice mail when dialing into your PBX.
• Greet callers and assist in routing calls automatically to the appropriate destination through the auto attendant feature.
• Transfer calls to an operator or another extension.
• Capture information about the dialed party.
• Caller ID and automatic number identification (ANI) integration available. If your system provides no caller ID or ANI, the mailbox will refer to an “External Caller.”

Message Management

• Access all messages from either a telephone or PC.
• Reply to e-mail with voice — both internal (LAN) and external (Internet).
• Reply to voice mail with email.
• Forward e-mail with voice mail (voice-annotated email).
• Store both voice and e-mail messages in a single mailbox.
• Single adminstrative interface for both voice and email.
• Single enterprise-wide directory for all messaging. Features Available Over The Phone
• Count of all message types.
• Full playback control (listen, save, delete, forward, reply).
• Hear e-mail messages over the phone with text-tospeech.

Product Range

• 4–24 ports per server for telephone access and playback, 25–500 users per server.
• Multiple servers per Exchange site. Other Features
• Can speed up, slow down, change volume.
• Embed voice messages into OLE 2.0-compliant documents.
• Voice played through PC speakers or the telephone.
• 4 Kb per second voice storage codec.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
We began by inspecting what is the most important screen for most users: the inbox. One central inbox contains both e-mail and voice mail messages within Microsoft Exchange or Outlook (Figure 3). E-mail and voice mail messages are differentiated by a phone icon or letter icon next to each message.

Personal Settings
We experimented with some of the personal settings for our mailbox. Each client has access to a GUI which allows you to change your “spoken name,” “personal greeting,” “please hold prompt,” and others.

Playback/Recording
We liked the fact that Unified Messenger didn’t need a separate application installed, � la Windows Sound Recorder, to play the voice-mail messages. Instead, Unified Messenger is integrated with Microsoft Exchange as a “form” with all the playback and recording features you need, such as rewind, stop, pause, and fast forward, all within the Exchange form.

Accessing Messages From The Phone We dialed from a cellular phone into the Unified Messenger server and were able to retrieve both voice mail and e-mail. When we dialed in, the voice prompt said “You have 2 new voice messages, 3 new e-mail messages, and 15 saved messages.”

Thanks to its text-to-speech capabilities, Unified Messenger lets you listen to your e-mail messages over the telephone. First you hear the sender’s name and subject and whether or not the message has attachments.

Accessing Messages From The Laptop
Not only were we able to listen to our e-mail from the cellular phone, we were able to retrieve our e-mail and voice mails from a laptop computer. We dialed into our corporate network from a remote site and accessed our Exchange Inbox through our remote access connection. Then, we were able to respond to messages by sending voice-annotated e-mails, as well as ordinary text-based email.

We could also record a voice message using the laptop’s integrated microphone and then send the voice message to anyone, whether that person had a corporate e-mail address or an Internet address. Of course, the person receiving the e-mail would need Octel’s 4 Kb per second codec; however, this codec can be downloaded for free off the Internet. If the recipient doesn’t have the player for the codec, a message indicates where you can download the player.

Of course, if you are on a 28.8 RAS connection to your corporate network, or if you are using a VPN (virtual private network) connection, then your throughput may be so limited that responding to a message with a lengthy voice mail could be inconvenient. Although at 4Kb per second, which is an excellent compression codec, you can probably send fairly lengthy messages across the remote connection to your Exchange account.

Accesssing Messages Via Touch-tone Phone
While listening to our messages from the touch-tone phone, we were able to delete both our voice mail and email! Deleting voice-mail from the phone is the same as deleting it from your desktop using Microsoft Exchange (or Outlook). We left Microsoft Outlook open on the desktop client machine, dialed in, and deleted a few messages. We saw that each message was removed from the Inbox almost immediately.

Options For Replying To Voice Mail
Whenever you receive a voice mail, you can reply to the voice mail with a voice message that is appended to the front of the original message. Each time you reply to a voice mail, Octel’s message recording/playback form puts a “tick” on the form to indicate where the separate message parts are. This is useful, since now you can drag-and-drop any part of the message to a new message, or even drop it into any Windows folder. The default is to play the newest recording first and the oldest recording last. This is fine if you are responding to the same person(s) who sent the message, since he or she will know what the response was in reference to. However, if this voice mail is forwarded to another person who wasn’t part of the original voice mail volley, then you may want to have the messages played in the opposite order (oldest first). That is, you can arrange to have the messages played back oldest to newest, reflecting the order in which the messages were recorded. The capability to switch the playback order was not available, and thus is a Room for Improvement item.

When you reply to a voice mail with an e-mail, you can include the original voice mail message. You also have the option to omit the voice message in the reply to save disk space (or for any other reason).

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Unified Messenger left us little to complain about. However, even outstanding products can stand some improvement, so here are a few suggestions:

• We would like the product to extend its caller ID capability. Specifically, we’d like to be able to redial someone who left a voice mail message by utilizing the caller ID information associated with the message.
• We noticed that the auto attendant allows for only a one-level tree, which means only 10 options (digits 0–9) are available. Of course, Unified Messenger wasn’t meant to be a fully functional auto attendant. In any case, it can integrate with your existing auto attendant.
• The capability to switch the playback order of a “chain” voice-mail, i.e., oldest to newest or viceversa.
• The most important feature we would like to see added to Unified Messenger is fax. Octel omitted fax from the current release so they could bring the product to market more quickly. According to Octel, future versions will have fax capabilities.

PROS AND CONS
Pros

• Just $200 per seat.
• Can retrieve both e-mail (using text-to-speech) and voice mail on the road from a standard phone.
• Can reply to e-mail on the road with a voice message.
• Responding to your messages on the road no longer requires lugging a laptop to remotely access the corporate network.
• Can listen to messages over multimedia PC or telephone, which can be switched on-thefly.

Cons

• At present, available only on the Microsoft Exchange platform.
• Faxing capability currently unavailable. (However, it may be available by the time this issue goes to print.)
• User can’t reply to voice mail by initiating a phone call from the inbox.

CONCLUSION
Although we see unified messaging products all the time at TMC Labs, we were still extremely impressed with Octel’s Unified Messenger. The product offers an extensive feature set and is easy to configure, set up, and administer. The product’s ease of setup may surprise anyone who’s heard that configuring a voice mail system is difficult. For example, a VAR or an interconnect may have told you that adding and customizing mailboxes is frustrating and time consuming. Indeed, it often is.

However, with Unified Messenger, you should be prepared for an exception to the rule. When it comes to setup, Unified Messenger is simplicity itself. While setting up Unified Messenger is often left to personnel from Octel’s distribution channel (which includes VARs and interconnects), it is safe to say that an MIS person could set up the product in less than an hour, perhaps within minutes, depending on the number of mailboxes figured. In closing, we would like to direct a comment or two toward the skeptic who doubts unified messaging can actually deliver productivity benefits. The skeptic should be aware that Octel offers evaluation programs, namely, the Pilot program and the Evaluation Unit program. These programs allow you to use Unified Messenger for 60 days at a minimal cost within a workgroup or department before full deployment.

If you try one of these evaluation programs, and then decide to return Unified Messenger, we have one recommendation: Duck for cover! Your users will chuck their phones at you when they learn they have to go back to using the phone to access their voice mail. (In our experience, nothing spoils users faster than unified messaging. Thus, we expect users given a crack at Unified Messenger will simply refuse to give up their unified messaging privileges.)

The bottom line is that Octel’s Unified Messenger is a fine product. It has a wide assortment of useful features, it will enhance your business operations, and it will boost employee morale and productivity. We highly recommend it.