OCS Deployment Series: Preparing for Exchange Unified Messaging

I have continued playing with the deployment and have begun plugging in the AudioCodes MP114 VoIP Gateway and I realized I had not deployed Unified Messaging yet which has been typically deployed first for our customers participating in the Technology Adoption Program, TAP. I have access to training from an OCS Ignite session delivered for our partners that walks through this and I will be attending the OCS Voice Ignite training held in Orlando Florida December 10-14 but not everyone has access to the resources so I am going through some online training that is currently available on Microsoft Technet - Technet Virtual Lab: Configuring the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging Server.

I will also let you know that another reason for deploying Unified Messaging first is because it was released while OCS was beta and for a supported OCS 2007 Voice topology with UM we require SP1 which just so happens to have released this week and still the front page news for the Exchange site- https://www.microsoft.com/exchange/default.mspx

So the next post on the subject will include my feedback on configuring my actual topology (based on training materials I have access to).

<Edit after taking online lab>

The lab was a good run through of the setup for dial plans, gateway, auto attendant but as it is an online lab it did not allow for actual voice testing. So you will eventually need hardware to work with in order to really do this.

TomL OCSKid