Configure a UM Dial Plan

  • Article

Applies to: Office 365 for enterprises

Unified Messaging dial plans let you to manage UM access for specific groups of extensions. For each group of extensions, you need to do the following:

  • Set up the dial codes required to connect to your telephone system, for example, your PBX or IP PBX.
  • Apply common greetings and access for Outlook Voice Access.
  • Set up dialing rules and other settings that control how users access UM.

UM dial plans work with UM mailbox policies to give you control over how the UM users in your organization access UM features and the type of calls they can make.

How do I configure a UM dial plan?

  1. Select Manage My Organization > Phone & Voice > UM Dial Plans.
  2. Select the UM dial plan you want to configure, and then click Details.
  3. On the page for the UM dial plan, click Configure UM Dial Plan.
  4. Configure the settings you want to apply to users of this UM dial plan.
    • **General   **The basic settings you chose for the dial plan are summarized in this section. After you create a dial plan, the only general setting you can change on this page is the audio language, which is under Settings. If you need to change any of the other settings shown here, you have to create a new dial plan.
      • Name   This is the name you gave this dial plan when you created it.
      • Extension length   the number of digits in the telephone extensions assigned to your users on your telephone system (PBX).
      • URI type   The URI type defines the syntax, format, and the protocols for calls. It can be a telephone extension, such as 58493, an E.164 number, such as +14255550123, or a SIP address, such as user@example.com. For more information, see Types and Use of UM Dial Plans.
      • **Audio language   **This is the language to use for automated greetings, phone navigation prompts, Voice Mail Preview, and Outlook Voice Access.
    • **Dial Codes   **Specify the dial codes and number formats for your telephone system. This information is used to dial the correct numbers for outgoing calls and calls across dial plans, and to provide caller ID for incoming calls.
      • Outside line access code   Enter the code used to access an outside line and place a call to an external telephone number. This code is often 9.
      • International access code   Enter the access code required by your telephone system to place international calls. For example, for the United States, it is 011. For Europe, it is 00.
      • National number prefix   Enter the prefix required to place outgoing calls in the same country or region as this UM dial plan. For example, the national number prefix for North America is 1.
      • Country/region code   Enter the numeric code for the country or region of this dial plan so that UM can dial domestic and international numbers correctly. For example, if your UM dial plan is in the United States, the code is 1. This field accepts 1 to 4 numbers.
      • **Country/region number format   **Enter the number format to use to resolve caller ID for users dialing outside this dial plan to other dial plans in your organization. For example, to add the 142570 prefix to 5-digit extensions for caller ID, enter 142570xxxxx.
      • International number format   Enter the format used to resolve caller ID for users dialing outside this dial plan to other dial plans in your organization. For example, to add the prefix 01142570 to 5-digit extensions for caller ID when dialing internationally, enter 01142570xxxxx.
      • Number formats for incoming calls   Enter the number format to use to provide caller ID on calls placed to users of this UM dial plan. For example, enter 142570xxxxx to add this prefix to 5-digit extensions for incoming calls to this UM dial plan.
    • Outlook Voice Access   Select the greetings and numbers for Outlook Voice Access.
      Note   The supported file formats for recorded greetings and announcements are .wma files and .wav files encoded with the Linear PCM (16 bit/sample), 8 kilohertz (kHz) audio codec.
      • Welcome greeting   Click Change File to upload an audio file that contains a custom recording of the greeting that you want played to Outlook Voice Access callers.
      • Informational announcement   Click Change File to upload an audio file that contains a custom recording of the announcement you want played after the greeting during business and non-business hours.
      • Allow announcement to be interrupted   Select this check box if you want to allow callers to skip the announcement and more quickly access the menu navigation.
      • Numbers for users to access voice mail   To specify the numbers that users call to sign in to their mailboxes, enter a phone number and click Add. You can use both letters and numbers, for example, 1-800-555-CALL. These numbers are automatically sent to users when they are UM-enabled.
    • Settings   Specify how users can search the address book, the operator extension, the maximum recording length, and other settings for this dial plan.
      • Primary way of searching for names   Specify how callers can search for people in the address book and personal contacts. Callers can search by last name and first name, first name and last name, or alias.
      • Secondary way of searching for names   Specify an optional way for callers to find people in the address book and personal contacts. To restrict users to the primary way of searching for names, select None.
      • Audio codec   Select the codec to use to record voice messages. The codec affects audio quality and file size. The codecs that are available are: MP3 (default), GSM, G711, and WMA. For more information, see Investigate the Audio Quality of UM Calls in Your Organization.
      • Operator extension   Enter the extension you want callers to be connected to when they press zero (0). This extension can go to a UM auto attendant, a human operator, or an external telephone number.
      • Number of sign-in failures before disconnecting   Enter the number of sequential unsuccessful sign-in attempts allowed before disconnecting a caller. The number can be from 1 to 20. The default is 3.
      • Timeouts and retries   Change these settings to control how long recordings and calls can last, and when to timeout or disconnect after no or failed options.
      • Maximum call duration   Enter the number of minutes (10-120) an incoming call can be connected before the call is ended. This limit applies to all calls to this UM dial plan, including Outlook Voice Access, voice, and fax calls. The default is 30 minutes.
      • Maximum recording duration   Enter the maximum number of minutes that a voice mail recording can last. This setting can be from 1 to 100 minutes and must be less than the maximum call duration. The default is 20 minutes.
      • Recording idle time out   Enter the number of seconds of silence to allow when a caller is recording a voice message before disconnecting the call. Enter from 2 to 10 seconds. The default is 5 seconds.
      • Number of input failures before disconnecting   Specify the number of times that callers searching the shared address book can enter incorrect values, such as incorrect extensions or menu options, before they are disconnected. The number can be from 1 to 99. The default is 3.
      • Audio language   Select the language to use for automated greetings, phone navigation prompts, Voice Mail Preview, and Outlook Voice Access.
    • Dialing Rules   Dialing rules can define the types of calls users can make, and change the number that users dial to the number that UM dials for outgoing calls. For example, you can add a 9 to a dialed number to access an outside line, or include rules that allow users to dial a specific area code. You group rules by using the same dialing rule group name, which allows you to authorize all the rules together. You authorize rules under Dialing Authorization in the UM dial plan, UM mailbox policies, and/or UM auto attendants.
      • In-country/region rules   Create in-country/region dialing rules to defines the types of in-country or region calls that your UM users can make.
      • International rules   Create international dialing rules to defines the types of international calls that your UM users can make.
    • **Dialing Authorization   **Dialing rule groups are sets of dialing rules that you can authorize to control the types of calls users can make. This provides you with control over how outgoing calls are dialed and telephone charges. To authorize dialing rule groups here, you must first create rules in the Dialing Rules section of the UM dial plan.
      • Allow calls in the same UM dial plan   Select this check box to allow unauthenticated callers calling into the access number for this dial plan to call or transfer to other users of the UM dial plan.
      • Allow calls to any extension   Select this check box to allow unauthenticated callers calling into the subscriber access number for this dial plan to call or transfer to extensions for non-UM-enabled users in your organization.
      • Allowed in-country/region dialing rule groups   Users of this dial plan can dial the numbers authorized by the dialing rule groups in this list.
      • Allowed international dialing rule groups   Users of this dial plan can dial the numbers authorized by the international dialing rule groups in this list.
  5. Click Save to save your changes and close the page.