Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2007-07-12

Outdialing is a process by which a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 that has the Unified Messaging server role installed places a telephone call for a user instead of the user dialing the telephone number manually. Unified Messaging is mainly used to perform call answering for users. However, outdialing enables the Unified Messaging server to dial telephone numbers that are not internal to an organization or to transfer calls to extension numbers that are inside an organization. This topic discusses how to manage outdialing for Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging.

Managing Outdialing

To enable users to use the Unified Messaging server to call a telephone number, you must configure UM dial plans and UM mailbox policies, and ensure that the UM IP gateways allow outbound calls. There are several tasks that must be performed when you are configuring outdialing. You must follow these steps:

  1. Create and configure the in-country/region and international dialing rule groups and the appropriate dialing rule entries for the in-country/region and international dialing rule groups on a UM dial plan. For more information about how to configure in-country/region and international dialing rule groups, see How to Configure Dialing Rule Groups for a Unified Messaging Dial Plan. For more information about how to create a dialing rule entry, see How to Create a Dialing Rule Entry on a Unified Messaging Dial Plan.

  2. Configure the allowed in-country/region or international dialing rule groups on the UM dial plan. For more information about how configure the allowed in-country/region and international dialing rule groups on a UM dial plan, see How to Modify a Unified Messaging Dial Plan.

    Important:
    You cannot use the Exchange Management Console to configure the allowed in-country/region or international dialing rule groups for the original release version of Exchange 2007. You must use the Set-UMDialPlan cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell.
  3. Configure the dialing restrictions by adding the in-country/region or international dialing rule groups on the Dialing Restrictions tab on the appropriate UM mailbox policy or policies for UM-enabled users. For more information about how to configure dialing restrictions, see How to Enable Dialing Restrictions on a Unified Messaging Mailbox Policy.

  4. Configure the allowed in-country/region or international dialing rule groups on your UM auto attendants. For more information about how to configure the allowed in-country/region and international dialing rule groups on a UM auto attendant, see How to Modify a Unified Messaging Auto Attendant.

When a user initiates an outbound call, the request is first validated by a Unified Messaging server. If the user has been authenticated, the Unified Messaging server checks the user’s UM mailbox policy and applies the outdialing configuration settings on the UM mailbox policy and the UM dial plan that is associated with the UM mailbox policy. If the user has not been authenticated, the Unified Messaging server applies the outdialing configuration settings from the dial plan. However, if the user has called in to an auto attendant, the outdialing rules from the auto attendant and the dial plan that is associated with the auto attendant are applied. After the outdialing configuration settings are applied, the Unified Messaging server passes the request to the IP PBX or to an IP gateway and then to the Private Branch eXchange (PBX) to initiate the outgoing call. However, there is still the possibility that the IP gateway, IP PBX, or PBX has its own dialing restrictions that will prevent the outbound call from completing. If there are dialing restrictions that prevent the outbound call from completing, the Unified Messaging server will generate an error that indicates that the call could not be completed.

You can use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to correctly configure outdialing for users. For more information about how to use the Exchange Management Console to managing outdialing, see the following topics:

For more information about how to use the Exchange Management Shell to manage outdialing, see the following topics:

Administrative permissions are required to manage the Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging server. For more information about the permissions that are required to perform administrative tasks for Unified Messaging, see Required Permissions to Manage Unified Messaging.

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