Messaging Servers

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Messaging Servers

When you install the Unified Messaging role on a computer running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, a computer object is created in the Active Directory directory service. This topic discusses Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server objects and Unified Messaging server operation found in Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging.

Computer Objects

Unified Messaging Active Directory computer objects are those objects which are created during the installation of the Unified Messaging server role.

The Unified Messaging Active Directory computer objects are the connection between your organization's telephony infrastructure and the Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging Active Directory networking environment.

The Unified Messaging computer object that is created in Active Directory is an essential part of the Unified Messaging system. During an installation of the Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server role, a Unified Messaging computer object is created in the Computers container in Active Directory. This computer object is a logical representation of a physical server on which the Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server role is installed.

Note

The Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server must be a member of a domain before the Unified Messaging server role is installed for a new Unified Messaging computer object to be created during the installation. After the computer object has been created, you can then perform the necessary procedures to successfully deploy Unified Messaging on your network.

After the computer running Exchange Server 2007 has been added to the domain you can also apply Group Policy settings to the computer.

Server Operation

A Unified Messaging server will not process incoming calls unless the operational state is set to enabled. However, by default, the operational status of the Unified Messaging server is set to enabled after installation This allows the Unified Messaging server to process incoming and outgoing voice calls, and incoming fax calls, and route the messages to the intended recipients in your Exchange organization.

Although the operational status of the Unified Messaging server is set to enabled after installation, the Unified Messaging server also maintains a logical status parameter that is used to control the operational status of the Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server. The intention of the logical status variable is to let you stop call processing so that the Unified Messaging server can be taken offline in a controlled way.

The Unified Messaging server's operational status can be controlled by the enable and disable commands in the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell. There are three status modes for Unified Messaging servers:

  • Enabled - Process all incoming calls.
  • Disabled - Do not accept any new calls and drop all existing calls.
  • Disabled - Do not accept any new calls but process all existing calls.

Even though the Unified Messaging server operational status is set to enabled after installation of the Unified Messaging server role, the Unified Messaging server will still not be able to correctly process and route incoming calls to Unified Messaging-enabled users without being associated with at least one Unified Messaging dial plan and the Unified Messaging dial plan associated with at least one Unified Messaging IP gateway.

For more information about how to add a Unified Messaging server to a Unified Messaging dial plan, see How to Add a Unified Messaging Server to a Dial Plan.

When the Unified Messaging server is started, it will locate all IP/Voice over IP (VoIP) gateways that are associated with the Unified Messaging dial plans and are associated with the Unified Messaging server. To detect and identify any configuration changes on either Unified Messaging dial plans or Unified Messaging IP gateways, the Unified Messaging server will either register a change notification or re-check the configuration every 10 minutes. If the Unified Messaging IP gateway list changes, the Unified Messaging server will react accordingly and either start to use or stop using the appropriate IP/VoIP gateways.

After a Unified Messaging server is working as an associated member of a Unified Messaging dial plan and is communicating with an IP/VoIP gateway or IP-Private Branch Exchange (PBX), you can run a set of diagnostic operations to verify the correct operation and connectivity.