Subscriber System Transfer Using UserID From Another Unity Server

palves · ‎09-21-2006

Hi All,

I have 3 Unity 4.0(5) Servers.

All 3 Unity Servers are in the same domain and are around the world.

Is it possible to use the "Subscriber System Transfer" option where a user attempts to authenticate to a Unity Server that is NOT his home Unity server??

For example, a users home server is in Japan. He is working in the New York area and wants to use the New York Unity server to save on toll charges. If he dials the local New York Unity Server (auto-attendant), can he be authenticated by the New York Unity Server even though his account is part of the Japan Unity Server?

I have the "Subscriber System Transfer" feature working for users as long as they authenticate to their local unity servers (by calling their own local unity auto-attendants - eg. New York Users can use this feature only if they call their own New York Unity Servers). However, I want to be able to allow them to authenticate to any of the unity servers!!

They can not authenticate to other unity servers (using their accounts).

Is this possible??

thanks,

Paul

lindborg · ‎09-21-2006

No, to authenitcate as a subscriber you have to be on the Unity server you're account is homed on - this is why later versions of Unityh 4.x have automatic "cross box login" features that actually hand the call off to the correct Unity server when you sign in on another server. Among other things the PIN is stored encrypted on the home server and this information is not replicated around to other servers via AD. Further, the sign in process is usually used for access to the mailbox which is only going to work if you're on your home server.

palves · ‎09-22-2006

Hi Jeff,

I assume 4.2.1 would support this feature? That if we upgrade to 4.2.1, that we can do this?

If so, quick question about the upgrade process. All 3 unit servers are in the same domain. Do you forsee any issues if I upgrade one at a time (per day?). I'm mostly concerned about permissions wizard and the AD Schema changes and the impact they would have on the other servers that remain at 4.0.5 (until we get to them). This is a concern because all servers share the same unity accounts.

thanks,

Paul

lindborg · ‎09-22-2006

I'm not sure what you're asking about 4.2.1 being about to do "this" here. 4.2(1) is not going to allow subscriber sign in on other servers than their home server if that's what you're asking - there's no changes here. It does support cross server login if that's what you're asking - this means the caller is "handed off" to their home server when they sign in if you have it configured to do so.

As for upgrading, the schema changes are all backwards compatible - we've only ever added to the schema (mostly for Bridge, VPIM and AMIS networking features), never changed or removed anything from it. Updating the schema for 4.2(1) will not cause harm to existing 4.0(5) servers on your network.

palves · ‎09-24-2006

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.

I've tried to find information on the cross-box login feature and have been unable to find it.

I'm uncertain on how this feature works and how it's implemented. The main goal is to allow users that are visiting other cities to save on toll charges when they call back to their home cities/countries, by getting them to authenticate their accounts by dialing the local unity server (where their accounts are NOT located).

From a practical perspective, how does this work and how is it implemented? (I want to make certain I understand any limitations this feature may have).

At present all users can dial their main auto-attendants at any site and press 1 to access the subcriber system transfer feature (with 4.0.5, as you mentioned, it will only check the local user database and does not have the capability of passing on the authentication request).

I assume you mean that Unity 4.2.1 can be configured to check not only it's local database, but the database of other servers (by passing the authentication to another Unity server).

If you could, please explain how this feature is implemented. I'm concerned that I may have to create a specific call handler for each remote site for cross-box authentication.

This may be a problem, as I want to relay to the user community that the process to do the above would be to call the main auto-attendant at any site and press 1 from the main menu. Regardless of where they are, they can be authenticated. (hopefully unity can be configured to query more than one server (pool of servers? Or is it a one-to-one mapping? That one would need to map the subscriber system transfer feature to only one server at a time?).

I want to make certain that I don't have to make up a different call handler for each remote unity server. If I have to do this, it will really complicate things (for the user community).

Ideally, when I configure the Subscriber System Transfer feature in the Caller Input page, I'd have an option to select which servers to use for authentication in a drop down box or similar.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

Paul