MAS - Understanding Offline Access

You can configure Offline Access to call-answered messages at voice main domain level, via the Messaging dialog box, Offline Access tab. See VMSC - VMD - Messaging - Offline Access Tab.

With Offline Access, subscribers can use the Telephone User Interface (TUI) to access recently recorded call-answered messages, even when the message store server (IBM Lotus Domino server) is not accessible. Subscribers cannot use the TUI to send or receive voice mail messages, however.

The Modular Messaging system evaluates whether it needs to use Offline Access on a call-by-call basis.

Offline Message Storage

If the voice mail domain only contains one Messaging Application Server (MAS), there is only one local offline message store. If the voice mail domain contains more than one MAS, offline messages are saved both locally and remotely:

Local Offline Message Store A folder on each MAS in the voice mail domain.

Remote Offline Message Store A folder on the file server. This server is networked to the voice mail domain but is not a message store server and not usually an MAS.

Note: You must set each offline message store folder as a shared folder and configure the permissions. For these procedures, see MAS - Configuring the Offline Message Store Folder

When a call-answered message is recorded, the TUI saves it and sends the message file to the message store server (IBM Lotus Domino server).

If Offline Access is enabled, the message is also delivered to the local offline message store folder on the MAS and the remote offline message store on the file server. The remote store holds all recently recorded call-answered messages for the voice mail domain; the local store only holds those messages received on a particular MAS.

By default, call-answered messages are retained for offline access for 24 hours, then deleted. This period is configurable for a voice mail domain. If the remote offline message store disk space is full, no further call-answered messages are taken and a major alarm is generated, MT PERF 26.

Offline Access

If a subscriber calls into the TUI, logs on, the message store server is offline, and Offline Access is enabled, they can access recently recorded call-answered messages.

The subscriber logs onto an MAS. If that server is part of a multi-MAS voice mail domain, the subscribers message’s are retrieved from the remote offline message store and copied into the local offline message store on that MAS.

The subscriber can only review the messages. There is no other functionality for dealing with those messages until the message store server is back online.

Other Modular Messaging Features Affected by Offline Mode

When the message store server is offline, and Offline Access to call-answered messages is configured:

The Call Me feature does not operate unless the MM Mailbox Monitor service is still online and the MM Call Me Server service is able to contact another MAS in the voice mail domain.

The Message Waiting Indicator (MWI) feature does not operate unless the MWI server is still online and the MM Message Waiting Indicator Server service is able to contact another MAS in the voice mail domain. MWI is never triggered by the arrival of call-answered messages at an offline MAS.

If a subscriber modifies the Find Me rule for their mailbox but the subscriber’s mailbox does not subsequently receive any messages prior to the message store server going offline, the Find Me feature in offline mode will operate using the Find Me rule that existed prior to the subscriber’s modifications.