Exchange 2007 provides distinct server roles that align with how a messaging system is typically deployed and distributed in an organization. A server role is a unit that logically groups the features and components that are required to perform a specific function in the messaging environment. The Unified Messaging server role is one of the Exchange 2007 server roles that can be installed on a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or that is running Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2007.

Unified Messaging (UM) combines voice messaging, fax, and e-mail messaging into a single messaging infrastructure. Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging puts all e-mail, voice, and fax messages into one Exchange 2007 mailbox that can be accessed from a variety of devices. After Exchange 2007 UM servers have been deployed on the network, users can access their messages from a telephone using Outlook Voice Access, from a mobile device, or from a computer.

Today, employees of companies frequently manage their voice and fax messages separately from their e-mail messages. Additionally, IT administrators frequently manage the voice mail or telephony networks and the e-mail systems or data networks as separate systems. In these situations, voice mail and e-mail are located in separate inboxes hosted on separate servers that are accessed through the desktop for e-mail and through the telephone for voice mail. Fax messages come to, and are sent from, physical stand-alone fax machines. Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging offers a single store for all messages including e-mail, voice, and fax messages.

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