Answering Application

The Answering application lets callers record voice mail for users. The SIP Soft Switch connects a call to the Answering application if one of the following occurs:

•The caller dials a number which meets the start criteria specified in Applications Selector for the Answering application (the call starts with 5012). In such cases, the Answering application prompts the caller for input to determine the destination of the voice mail.

•The Attendant application forwards the call to the Answering application if the intended recipient does not answer, is busy, or is unavailable. In such cases, the Answering application uses the DNIS of the forwarded call to determine automatically the destination of the voice mail.

In addition, a caller can dial the Answering application number followed by the extension of the user for whom they want to leave a message. For example, if the Answering application number is 5012 and the target user extension is 601, the caller can dial 5012601 to directly reach the target user’s voice mail.

The Answering application begins recording after the voice prompt, using an audible tone to signal the start of the recording. To stop the recording and save the message, the caller must hang up or press any key except the star key (*).

If the caller presses the star key (*), the Answering application stops the recording without saving the message, and transfers the caller to the Access application.

When a caller finishes recording a voice message, the Answering application saves the voice message as an audio file, and sends it as an attachment to an email address associated with the extension.

The Answering application uses Voice Activity Detection (VAD) to discard empty messages or stop recording if voice is stopped for a specified time. VAD does not detect the audio source type (such as answering machine, fax, etc.), but only detects the activity.

Two options control the VAD feature: Initial silence cut-off and Silence cut-off, located on the General tab of system-wide Unified Messaging settings in the Management Portal. Refer to General UM Settings for more information.