cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
3583
Views
27
Helpful
11
Replies

Unified Communications Manager 7 & Exchange 2007

Kryptonix
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

We are using Unified Communications Manager  and currently have a hosted Microsoft Exchange 2007 Server.  We would like to use the two together but not sure where to begin and what is required (if anything ) between our Office and that of our host provider.

In terms of the hardware we are running here we have:

1 x Cisco 2801 voice gateway router

1 x Cisco 3560 with 48 PoE Ports

Unity Express for voicemail

Cisco 5500 Series ASA Firewall

Cisco Presence Server integration with Call Manager

Cisco Voice Gateway services

Communications Manager 7

30 x IP Phone 7945 handsets

5 x IP 7965 Phones

I have looked but I am unable to find any installation guide on how to set communication between Communication Manager and Exchange 2007 so I am not sure if this is possible when the Exchange Server is offsite?

Any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks

Kevin

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Yes, this is definitely possible.  From the CUCM perspective you must setup a SIP trunk that points to your Exchange environment.  In the Exchange environment you will need to designate the UM server role on one or more Exchange servers.  You will also need to ensure you have (or upgrade to) the Microsoft Enterprise CAL.  You need this level of licensing to use the Exchange UM application/feature.  While I do have a CUCM cluster deployed that is using MS UM on Exchange 2007, I did not setup the Exchange side myself.  So, either someone else on this forum can weigh in on the specifics or you should research this integration from the Microsoft perspective.  There are plenty of integration notes and forums on the topic (one of which is a link I provided in the previous post).

With Exchange 2007 there is a small, but important, consideration (probably one of many).  The Exchange 2007 UM solution is unable to send Message Waiting notification on new/deleted/saved messages.  This means that MWI on your phones will not work.  To get MWI you will need a 3rd party product.  I believe on the deployment I supported they used GeoTel.

In my experience, the Enterprise CAL and the MWI thing have been items that are not really discovered until late in the process of planning a deployment.  So, I wanted to make sure you knew about them upfront.

So, that is CUCM->MS Exchange info.  The other part of the equation is to have CUPS integrate with exchange so that calendaring information can be incorporated into a user's presence status.  I have done this and it works.  The CUPS server will require an AD account and a mailbox in the Exchange environment.  It will also need access to an Exchange 2007 server with the client access role.  It is recommended to use secure sessions when integrating CUPS and Exchange.  This means you will need to export a security certificate from the server which is providing internal OWA access.  This cert is then imported into CUPS.  You also have to configure a few things in the CUPS server (which is adequately covered in the CUPS integration document link I posted already).

HTH.

Regards,
Bill

Please remember to rate helpful posts.

HTH -Bill (b) http://ucguerrilla.com (t) @ucguerrilla

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify

View solution in original post

11 Replies 11

William Bell
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

Kevin,

What solution are you looking to provide with an integration between CUCM and Exchange?  The CUCM application itself would only ever need to integrate to Exchange if you are planning to use Exchange as a Unified Messaging solution.  I also think there is a way to use T.38 fax relay to send faxes to Exchange.  So, having an idea of what it is you are hoping to accomplish would be a good starting point.

CUPS (presence server) can also integrate with Exchange to get calendar free/busy information and aggregate the information into presence subscriptions/notifications.

Some things you may want to look at:

- General overview of Cisco interoperability with Microsoft: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/vcallcon/ps556/prod_white_paper0900aecd805e9000.html

- For using Exchange 2007 as a UM solution you will need to troll the Microsoft forums/sites, here is one place you could start: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996831%28EXCHG.80%29.aspx

- For CUPS integration with Exchange 2007: http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Cisco_Unified_Presence,_Release_7.x_--_Configuring_Cisco_Unified_Presence_Release_7.x_with_Microsoft_Exchange_Server

Again, without more info on what you are trying to accomplish this is the best I can offer.

HTH.

Regards,
Bill

Please remember to rate helpful posts.

HTH -Bill (b) http://ucguerrilla.com (t) @ucguerrilla

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify

Hi Bill,

Many Thanks for the links, looking at them now.

With regards to the integration between CUCM & Exchange we really want Exchange to be able to receive voicemail & faxes in our mailboxes, have calendar connect to voicemail & take advantage of the features that CUCM offers.  So we really want to be able to carry on using CUCM etc and have it connect to our hosted Exchange Server.

So I guess we are looking to use Exchange as a unified messaging system alongside our Cisco equipment if this is possible?

Many Thanks

Kevin

Yes, this is definitely possible.  From the CUCM perspective you must setup a SIP trunk that points to your Exchange environment.  In the Exchange environment you will need to designate the UM server role on one or more Exchange servers.  You will also need to ensure you have (or upgrade to) the Microsoft Enterprise CAL.  You need this level of licensing to use the Exchange UM application/feature.  While I do have a CUCM cluster deployed that is using MS UM on Exchange 2007, I did not setup the Exchange side myself.  So, either someone else on this forum can weigh in on the specifics or you should research this integration from the Microsoft perspective.  There are plenty of integration notes and forums on the topic (one of which is a link I provided in the previous post).

With Exchange 2007 there is a small, but important, consideration (probably one of many).  The Exchange 2007 UM solution is unable to send Message Waiting notification on new/deleted/saved messages.  This means that MWI on your phones will not work.  To get MWI you will need a 3rd party product.  I believe on the deployment I supported they used GeoTel.

In my experience, the Enterprise CAL and the MWI thing have been items that are not really discovered until late in the process of planning a deployment.  So, I wanted to make sure you knew about them upfront.

So, that is CUCM->MS Exchange info.  The other part of the equation is to have CUPS integrate with exchange so that calendaring information can be incorporated into a user's presence status.  I have done this and it works.  The CUPS server will require an AD account and a mailbox in the Exchange environment.  It will also need access to an Exchange 2007 server with the client access role.  It is recommended to use secure sessions when integrating CUPS and Exchange.  This means you will need to export a security certificate from the server which is providing internal OWA access.  This cert is then imported into CUPS.  You also have to configure a few things in the CUPS server (which is adequately covered in the CUPS integration document link I posted already).

HTH.

Regards,
Bill

Please remember to rate helpful posts.

HTH -Bill (b) http://ucguerrilla.com (t) @ucguerrilla

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify

Thanks for that, all very helpful.

The main issue I had was how to connect CUCM with a hosted Exchange so as a SIP trunk is required I will look into this.   Yes with a link you provided and other sources online I believe I have found the right information on how to setup things from at the Exchange side.

Re MWI (cheers for the heads up) I will look into Geotel & other 3rd party suppliers.. or alternatively look into possibly upgrading Exchange 2007 to 2010 as apparently the latter combats this.

I presume that once I have the SIP trunk in place and CUCM & Exchange are communicating that when the Presence Server is properly configured it will communicate calendar information using the same SIP trunk?

Thanks again,

Kevin

No, SIP is not how CUPS will get calendar information from Exchange.  What CUPS does is logs onto OWA using the service account and mailbox you setup for the CUPS server.  Specifically, the CUPS server uses the AD service account you create to logon and open the calendar of the CUPS user. For example, if CUPS is trying to get your calendar information from your OWA server the CUPS server will open a session to the following URL:

https://yourowaserver.yourcompany.com/exchange/kwilsher/calendar/

Once CUPS reaches this URL, the Exchange server will force a login sequence.  CUPS will its assigned/configured service account.  Assuming all is golden, CUPS will pull the calendar information and incorporate it into its presence status for your account.

It is important to note that CUPS does not support Forms Based Authentication (FBA) on Exchange 2007 OWA.

The CUPS service account should be created in AD and have a mailbox in your Exchange storage group(s).  The CUPS service account should be a member of the "Exchange View-Only Administrators Group" and have "Receive-As" permissions on end user mailboxes.

CUPS will also require a certificate if you wish to use SSL when the CUPS server connects to the client access server hosting OWA.  CUPS will need the root certificate (not an intermediary).  The root can be an internal CA self-signed cert.

HTH.

Regards,
Bill

HTH -Bill (b) http://ucguerrilla.com (t) @ucguerrilla

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify

ahhh I see, thanks for clearing that up and providing a clear explanation.. greatly appreciated

We do use FBA so that is something to take into account.

Many Thanks for your help Bill.

Kevin

Sorry just another question re the above,

You mentioned that from a CUCM perspective a SIP trunk needs to be created that points to the hosted Exchange Server.  Is this created from within CUCM?..  I only ask as I've been looking through the admin guides and have yet to find how so wondered if I'm looking in the right place?

Thanks

Kevin

You have to go to your callmanager web administration and then go to Device>Trunk, you click add new and then you enter to configure that SIP trunk

Great, thanks very much for pointing me the right direction will give it a go.

Cheers

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I found this document on MS TECHNET it gives the CUCM config steps for intergration into Exchange 2007 with CUCM 5.1, it's a bit old but general config will be the same in 7.x.

I believe that MWI is supported in Exchange 2010.

Kind Regards,

Stafford

sorry site doesn't want to let me upload a .docx if you google Cisco-CCM_5.1-Direct_SIP_Connection it is top result

William,

thanks for the great posts.

we currently have cups 8.0 (eft), trying to get the exchange calendaring to work.

With no success....

we first ran into, our infamous ISA server through which our hubcas servers are contacted.

now our vendor is installing a standalone cas server, cn=servername, through another firewall, not ISA.

Still can't confirm if we are using FBA, getting diff answers from our vendor and local server exchange guys.

Could FBA be turned off on a standalone cas server, or will this be a brick wall, because this is checked in Exhange/AD?

Will keep you posted on this, we are testing this after they get the signed cert installed.

Saw the great "ask an expert" from Michael about cups 8.0, and couldn't reply already locked.

our cio wants to move exchange to the cloud as soon as possible.

how will cisco address this if we can't use webdav?

thanks,

Brad

Getting Started

Find answers to your questions by entering keywords or phrases in the Search bar above. New here? Use these resources to familiarize yourself with the community: