Message Manager is a Windows-based
graphical user interface (GUI) that allows Communication Manager Messaging messages
to be viewed on a PC screen through a local area network (LAN) or dial-up
connection. Subscribers with Message Manager can create, send, and receive
messages that contain multiple media types—voice, text, or file
attachments (attached software files).
The visual aspects of Message Manager
distinguishes it from other voice messaging products. Message Manager
allows you to view the name of the person who sent the message, a brief
subject that describes the message, the time and date that the message
was received, and the type of message that was received. This information
helps subscribers prioritize how they access messages and develop mailing
lists more easily.
Message Manager is available in
seven languages—English, French, Spanish,
Brazilian Portuguese, German, Dutch, and Italian. Additional languages
are being considered for future releases.
Topics include:
Capabilities
and Benefits
Message Manager offers product capabilities
that facilitate the way subscribers organize their messages.
Capabilities
Message Manager includes the following
basic capabilities:
- Visual display of the messaging mailbox, with the ability to play or view any component, including
voice through a simple GUI
- A Personal Phonebook for
storing addresses and important information on a PC, independent of
the messaging software
- Support for playing and recording
messages, greetings, and names on a PC sound card
- Remote access to your messages
through a high-speed modem
- The ability to receive,
create, and send voice messages, text messages, and attached files
- The ability to send and receive email messages
through Message Manager with Internet Messaging
- Ability to receive, forward, delete, print,
or create fax messages
- Message annotation
- Nonsequential message retrieval
- Advanced playback controls
- Archival of Communication Manager Messaging messages to the PC hard drive
- Outcalling notification
- Support for multiple greetings
Requirements
to Run Message Manager
Message Manager requires client software
and minimum hardware standards and a LAN connection to the messaging
server.
Software and Hardware Requirements
For Message Manager 4.5 and later, the following minimum requirements
are necessary to support Message Manager:
- Minimum of a 486, 66 MHz
PC with 16 MB of RAM and 19 MB of available hard disk storage (assuming
a Personal Address Book with 400 entries).
Exceptions include:
- The tutorial requires an additional 10
MB of disk storage.
- Possible additional RAM is needed by your
operating system for better performance (for example, 32 MB of RAM
for Windows NT).
- VGA or higher monitor (color
recommended)
- LAN interface card
- Windows Sockets (WINSOCK.DLL)
access to TCP/IP (either through a NetWare Loadable Module or a TCP/IP
protocol stack)
- Recommended: Mouse supported
by Microsoft Windows
- Optional Equipment:
- Speaker Phone
- Telephone headset
- A Microsoft Windows-compatible soundcard with speakers
- A microphone, or a computer headset for hands-free operation
One of the following compatible
operating systems:
- Windows XP
- Windows 2000
- Windows Millennium Edition
- Windows NT Version 3.51,
with Service Pack 5
- Windows NT Version 4.0
- Windows 95
- Windows 98
LAN and the Messaging Server
Requirements
Requirements for the local area network
(LAN) include:
- LAN configuration that provides
TCP/IP transport between the messaging server and client PC
- Ethernet network with valid
physical connection: either Gigabit Ethernet, 100BaseT, 10BaseT, 10Base2 (thin coax), or 10 Base5 (thick coax) for
a messaging server
- A customer-provided router
or other device to convert token-ring protocol to the required Ethernet
protocol if Message Manager is to communicate with a token-ring network
Internet Messaging Requirements
Message Manager uses Internet Messaging
to send email over the Internet. Internet Messaging requires:
- Communication Manager Messaging R5.0 or later
- Internet Messaging for the messaging software and site license
- Two dedicated trusted servers
(automatically installed on a new messaging system)
- Professional Services (highly
recommended) for consultation and implementation assistance.
System Capacity
The following system capacities apply:
- Up to 300 clients can be
registered at one time. A client is registered when a subscriber starts
the client application from a PC, which invokes a TCP/IP session. (Subscribers
must exit the client application to "unregister" the client.)
- Up to 64 messaging login
sessions can be in progress at any one time, depending on the messaging platform used. A messaging login session starts when a subscriber
logs into a messaging mailbox from a PC. The messaging software
terminates a login session if a session has been inactive for the amount
of time set in the
LAN Session Timeout field on the System-Parameters
MCAPI-Options screen. However, the client registration is still active,
and a messaging login session is established automatically again
when the client starts using Message Manager.
- As many audio sessions as
voice ports purchased can be in progress at any one time. This means
that a subscriber is logged in to the messaging software (one of the up to
64 login sessions) and an audio session is active (for example, a subscriber
is listening to a voice mail message). When the audio session is completed,
the messaging software disconnects the voice port. The client application remains
one of the messaging login sessions until the inactivity timeout
takes effect or Message Manager is minimized or closed.
Messaging
Enhancements
Every Message Manager release offers
features that add to the efficiency of any work environment. These features
are summarized in the section that follows.
New Message Notification
Subscribers of Message Manager receive
a notification when a new message is received. This notification is either
a small icon that appears in the toolbar or a pop-up window that appears
on the PC screen.
From the main Message Manager screen,
subscribers can view the:
- Media type component or components
included in the message
- Sender of the message
- Subject of the message
- Time and date received
- Status of the message: priority,
private, or partial delivery
Play or View a Message
After you select a folder, the messages
stored within the folder are displayed. You can select one of the messages
either to play it or to view its contents. The following explains the
options available for playing or viewing a message:
- Voice
The system plays the message
through an audio connection or the sound card, depending on the selected
option.
- Text
The Text Viewer displays
the message on the screen. You can read the text on the screen or print
its contents to a printer.
- Attached Files
You can view several types
of files. Once you select a file from the list, you can start the corresponding
program and view the file or you can export the file to your own computer.
Reply to or Forward a Message
After you play or view a message,
you might want to add your comments and respond to the sender or mail
it to another messaging subscriber:
- Reply to Sender
You can create a message
to send back to the sender by using automatic addressing. Include any
or all of the original message components, plus any new components.
- Forward
You can add your comments
to the message you received and then send them and the original message
to another messaging subscriber
Send Messages to Multiple Recipients
You can create and send a message
to one or several people, with one or more message components. You can
decide to deliver the message as soon as possible or schedule the message
for a later delivery time.
Addressing
You can send the message to just
one person or a list of people.
Use the Outgoing Folder
After a message is sent, you can
check its delivery status by opening the Outgoing Folder. The Outgoing
Folder lists all the messages you have sent, indicates the time when they
were sent, and confirms whether the recipient has received or accessed
the message. In this folder, you can access more delivery information
by double-clicking a message or by highlighting a message and selecting
the View Delivery Report option under the Activity pull-down menu.
Build Personal Phonebook
You can use the Personal Phonebook
in Message Manager to store "cards" with the addresses of the messaging subscribers, as well as other numbers and notes. Once subscribers
are added to the Phonebook, you can quickly add them to an address list.
The Personal Phonebook is stored on your PC and can be used while you
are working offline.
Build Messaging Lists
With messaging lists, you can
store the addresses of sets of people to whom you want to send messages
all at once, such as a project team or a corporate department. You can
quickly address a message to an entire address list. messaging lists
are stored on the messaging server and are not available offline.
Work Offline
If you work away from the office,
you might want to edit messages that you have received or compose new
messages and then log in later and send the messages during a single telephone
call. This procedure saves toll charges because a messaging server
connection is not required.
Minimize or Lock Message Manager
You can minimize Message Manager
and still be notified of new messages throughout the day. Later, you can
restore the program to retrieve messages or to create and send new messages.
For enhanced security, Message Manager
has a Lock feature. When you select the Lock icon, the application is
minimized and requires your messaging password to be restored. Locking
Message Manager prevents others from accessing your messaging mailbox.
This capability is inactive while you work offline.
Record Your Name or Greetings
When you install Message Manager,
you can use your name and personal greeting that were recorded through
the messaging telephone interface. You can select a menu option to
record your name or to display a screen for recording and managing greetings.
The messaging software uses the choices you make in Message Manager
for playing names or greetings to your callers.
Outcalling
If you are away from the office,
Message Manager can still notify you of new messages. Use
the Outcalling feature to enter a telephone or pager number that the messaging software dials to notify you of new messages.
Sound Card
Message Manager uses an audio connection
to your telephone to play or record voice messages or greetings. However,
you can use your computer's sound card with speakers and a microphone
instead, which is also the only way to play or record your voice messages
while you work offline.
Planning
Considerations
An account representative works with
the customer to determine the optimal configuration of software and hardware
to meet present needs and future plans.
Planning the integration of Message
Manager with the messaging software can involve the customer's PC/LAN
system administrator. Another important planning consideration is understanding
that customers are responsible for installing Message Manager. Customers
are responsible whether the installation is on a PC or on a server for
access by subscribers over a LAN. The application can be installed from
diskettes, from a CD, or from a LAN file server.
The following sections highlight
some of the major considerations customers must be aware of to take full
advantage of a multimedia messaging system, such as Message Manager.
Electronic Mail Integration
There is a difference between
Message Manager and an email system, however Message Manager can be
used to send messages to subscribers on the same messaging system
or to networked and administered remote messaging systems. A supported
email system, however, can be used to send messages to systems external
to the messaging server, for example, the Internet or other email systems.
Message Manager also supports this if Internet Messaging
is enabled. See Overview of Message
Manager Administration for a complete overview of the Message
Manager.
In many situations, a customer site
may have a voice mail system and a separate email messaging system.
To retrieve all messages, subscribers must access each system individually.
Messaging alleviates this problem with an optional feature known
as Internet Messaging. This optional feature provides a gateway through
which the messaging software can send and receive messages across
an email network.
As with Message Manager,
subscribers can choose messages in any order and, by selecting icons
using a mouse, perform all messaging tasks — everything that can
be done with the telephone keypad. See Internet
Messaging Concepts and Planning for a complete overview of the
Internet Messaging feature.
Message Size
A multimedia message that is created
through Message Manager can have a significant impact on the space allocated
for subscriber mailboxes. A mailbox can have up to 32767 seconds of recorded
voice messages, which is approximately 262.1 MB. Files that are attached
through Message Manager could fill up a mailbox very quickly.
LAN Impact
The messaging system is viewed
as a server on a LAN. The PC/LAN system administrator at a customer's
site should handle LAN installation, administration, and troubleshooting.
Use the information in the table
for Impact of Message Manager on LAN Traffic
to calculate how much of the LAN traffic on a system is expected to be
comprised of Message Manager messages (including messages with attached
components) based on the number of messages that a typical subscriber
generates during a busy hour.
Table: Impact of Message Manager on LAN Traffic
|
Component Type |
Packet Size Distribution |
Message Manager (Packets per Hour) |
Message Manager (Packets per Second) |
|
Voice (without sound card) |
- 96% small packet messages (100 bytes)
- 4% large packet messages (1 KB)
|
102
(without sound card) |
102 (packets/hour/subscriber) times
number of subscribers divided by 3600 (seconds/hour) |
|
Voice (with sound card) |
- 50% small packet
messages (100 bytes)
- 50% large packet
messages (1 KB)
|
111
(with sound card) |
111 (packets/hour/subscriber) times
number of subscribers divided by 3600 (seconds/hour) |
|
Message Manager text message |
- 33% small packet
messages (100 bytes)
- 67% large packet
messages (1 KB)
|
25 |
25 (packets/hour/subscriber) times
number of subscribers divided by 3600 (seconds/hour) |
