How to Enable Non-Business Hours Key Mappings on a Unified Messaging Auto Attendant
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
This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell to enable non-business hours key mappings for a UM auto attendant in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging (UM).
After you create a UM auto attendant, a default system prompt will be used for the non-business hours main menu prompt greeting that is heard by callers after the non-business hours welcome greeting is played. The default non-business hours main menu prompt says, "Welcome to the Microsoft Exchange After Hours Auto Attendant." Because no key mappings are defined by default, no menu options are available to callers and they hear only the default non-business hours main menu prompt.
If you use the default non-business hours main menu prompt greeting and define a key mapping or multiple key mappings, the Unified Messaging Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine will synthesize a non-business hours main menu prompt. For example, "For directions and fax numbers, press 1. To reach an after hours operator, press 2." To create this non-business hours main menu prompt, you would have to create two key mappings: one named "Directions and Fax Numbers" and another named "After Hours Operator", and then configure the key mapping entry to play an audio file, transfer to an extension number, or send the caller to another auto attendant.
You can also use a custom non-business hours main menu prompt greeting. A custom non-business hours main menu prompt greeting is a list of options callers hear during the non-business hours that are defined on the Times tab on the Properties of the auto attendant. For example, "You have reached Trey Research after normal business hours. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please hang up and dial 911. To leave a message for one of our doctors, press 1. To leave a message for one of our physical therapists, press 2. To leave a general message for one of our front office coordinators, press 3. To be connected with an after hours operator, press 0."
For callers to be able to navigate the auto attendant menu system during non-business hours, after you create the custom non-business hours main menu prompt greeting, you must configure the key mappings.
Note
The TTS engine will only synthesize the non-business hours main menu prompt if the default greeting is configured and at least one key mapping has been defined. The TTS engine will not synthesize a non-business hours main menu prompt if you are using a custom non-business hours main menu prompt.
By default, when you create a UM auto attendant, the non-business hours are not configured and no key mappings are defined for non-business hours main menu prompts. To correctly configure customized non-business hours main menu greetings and prompts, you must:
Configure the non-business hours for your organization on the Times tab.
Create the greeting file that will be used for the non-business hours welcome greeting.
Configure the non-business hours welcome greeting on the Greetings tab.
Create the greeting file that will be used for the non-business hours main menu prompt greeting.
Configure the non-business hours main menu prompt greeting on the Greetings tab.
Enable and configure the non-business hours key mappings on the Key Mapping tab.
When you configure key mappings, you define the options and the operations that will be performed if a caller speaks a phrase while they are using a speech-enabled auto attendant or the caller presses the key on the keypad of the telephone while they are using an auto attendant that is not speech-enabled. To configure key mappings, you must add key mapping entries. When you configure the key mapping entries for an auto attendant, you should perform the following actions:
Enable the non-business hours key mapping.
Add a key mapping entry.
Type the name of the key mapping entry.
Select Presses this key or Presses no key (Time-out) or type the phrase that the caller will say in the Or the user says this phrase field.
Configure what action you want to be performed.
Play an audio file.
Transfer to an extension number.
Run an auto attendant.
Before You Begin
To perform the following procedures, the account you use must be delegated the Exchange Organization Administrator role.
For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.
Also, before you perform these procedures, confirm the following:
A UM dial plan has been created.
A UM mailbox policy has been created.
A UM auto attendant has been created.
Procedure
To use the Exchange Management Console to enable non-business hours key mappings on a UM auto attendant
In the console tree of the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization Configuration node.
Click Unified Messaging.
In the work pane, click the UM Auto Attendants tab.
Select the auto attendant that you want to modify, and then, in the action pane, click Properties.
On the Key Mapping tab, select Enable non-business hours key mapping, and then click Add.
On the Key Mapping Entry page, in the Name field, type a name for the key mapping entry.
In If the user does one of the following, select one of the following options:
Presses this key
Presses no key (Time-out)
Or the user says this phrase
In This Action will occur, select one of the following options:
Play the following audio file
Transfer to extension
Run auto attendant
For more information about the key mapping entry options, see Organization Configuration > Unified Messaging > UM Auto Attendants > Key Mapping Tab > Key Mapping Entry.
Click OK to create the key mapping entry.
Click OK to save your changes.
To use the Exchange Management Shell to enable non-business hours key mappings on a UM auto attendant
Run the following command:
Set-UMAutoAttendant -Identity MyUMAutoAttendant -AfterHoursKeyMappingEnabled $true -AfterHoursKeyMapping "AfterhoursOperator,12345","Directions,23456"
For more information about syntax and parameters, see Set-UMAutoAttendant.
For More Information
For more information about UM auto attendants, see the following topics: