Unified Messaging Auto Attendant Call Processing

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

Incoming calls that are received by a Unified Messaging (UM) auto attendant are first passed through your organization's telephony network and then to a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging server that handles and routes the incoming call. This topic discusses the message flow for incoming messages that are received by an Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging auto attendant.

UM Auto Attendants

When external or anonymous callers place a call by using an external business telephone number, or an internal anonymous caller places a call to an internal extension number, they are presented with voice prompts to help them navigate the Unified Messaging menu system. The UM auto attendant is a set of voice prompts or .wav files that are played to callers in place of a human operator or receptionist when they call into an organization that has Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging. Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging enables you to create one or more auto attendants depending on the needs of your organization. For more information about UM auto attendants, see Understanding Unified Messaging Auto Attendants.

Auto Attendant Message Flow

When a call is received by an Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging server, the Unified Messaging server performs a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) query to an Active Directory directory service domain controller to determine how to handle the incoming call.

Figure 1 illustrates the message flow process when Unified Messaging auto attendants are used in an Exchange 2007 organization.

Figure 1   UM auto attendant message flow

Auto Attendant Message Flow

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