As for your first question, using AvCiscoTSP with Uone ports is the best move. This does not also require SMDI integration to be setup… we get all we need through the skinny protocol with CM that AvCiscoTSP is using.
I’m not personally familiar with the FXS module (something that I’m sure will be remedied in the new year)… if it’s just providing analog lines for fax ports and the like, there’s no reason it can’t be used in conjunction with Unity. If, for instance, you have analog fax lines coming into an analog fax port on the Unity server, that should be fine. I’m just guessing, however, at what you have in mind…
The 2.4.5 integration guide discusses the dual integration a bit, this may be what you already have, however. If not, you’ll want to get newer versions of those docs. The concept is very simple, however. You setup your Uone ports as normal and you also install analog voice cards (i.e. D41Es or D160s) in the Unity server. You plug analog lines into these boards that connect to another PBX. Both switches have their own switch configuration page in the Unity SA and you configure them as normal. Each user/handler can be associated with one or the other switch. Notification devices can be configured to be one or the other switch independently since in some cases you’ll want dialouts going out the analog PBX even if the subscriber is using an IP phone.
As for the 3rd party utilities… you can take Norton out back and bury it in the back yard for all I care. One of those things we’ve been shipping for a while that made sense early on but with Win2K it’s pretty pointless.
PcANYWHERE, on the other hand, is for our support folks (including myself) to call into your system via the modem or via a direct IP connection if available. If you have a problem with your box this is by far the fastest and easiest way for us to figure it out and get it taken care of. We do require this be on your box and if it’s not, you may have to wait longer for support. In general you don’t want to ditch this… just leave the modem unplugged if you’re worried about security… plug it in when you need it. If the modem is an issue, make sure we can get through your firewall when necessary. We’ve even had sites have us call into a modem on another box and IP over to the Unity server. We’re flexible, but getting remote control access to your server is essential to support a complex product with many 3rd party dependencies such as Unity.
Jeff Lindborg
Unity Product Architect
Active Voice
jlindborg@activevoice.com
http://members.home.net/jlindborg
