I’ve been looking around for a feature comparison between Cisco Unity Unified Messaging and Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging. There doesn’t seem to be one out there, so I put together an incomplete matrix comparing the two UM platforms. There are a lot of features to add to the list, but I figured I should at least start putting some of them down on the blog. Any comments with additional comparisons are welcome.
If I had to boil the comparison down to 1 tagline it would be this: "Microsoft’s UM is easier to deploy, maintain and use and is a good choice for Exchange shops and ‘information worker’ companies; Cisco Unity is more customizable, flexible and has a larger install base and is probably more suited for large enterprises who are very VM-dependent".
My general take on Microsoft’s first foray into UM is that it is a good product that will get better with time. It’s relatively cheap and gives a lot of features for the price.
Feature | Exchange Unified Messaging | Unity Unified Messaging |
play VM in inbox | Yes | Yes |
embed notes in VM for indexing | yes | no |
play on PC speakers | yes | yes |
play on pc outlook control | yes, only outlook 2007, form automatically installed | yes, form must be manually installed |
play on phone | yes, any extension or phone number | yes, specific extension |
play from OWA | yes, on PC or any extension or phone number | yes, on PC only |
listen to e-mail from telephone | yes | licensed |
autoattendant | yes | yes |
Autoattendant with SpeechRec | yes | no |
failover? | yes | licensed |
call trees | limited | yes |
access to calendar | yes | no |
access to contacts | yes | no |
access to AD user directory | yes | no |
UM on separate server | recommended for most deployments | required |
Administration interface | native Exchange Management Console | IIS |
backups | via native exchange backup | exchange + Unity Server |
retention policy | granular by message type (voicemail or e-mail) | uses general mailbox quota |
UM lights MWI | supports most TDM PBXs (via 3rd party gateway), need 3rd party app for Cisco IP phones | supports most PBXs |
hardware required for PBX integration | none for Cisco CallManager 5.1+ and Avaya IPT, hardware gateway for all else | None for CallManager, dialogic card for other models |
licensing | requires Windows & Exchange server license and ECAL | includes Windows server license, requires Exchange license, Unity server license (per port), Unity client license, Outlook CAL |
scalability | depends on hardware | depends on hardware |
server hardware | must meet minimum requirements | requires Cisco MCS server platform |
maximum VM sessions per server | 60-75 | 72 (depending on platform) |
maximum users | 2000 to 10000 depending on platform (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb430784.aspx) | 1000 for smallest platform, 7500 for largest |
maximum text to speech sessions | 24 | |
integration to PBXs | http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/telephony-advisor.mspx | several |
schema extensions | No (already party of Exchange 2007) | yes |
multi-language support | yes, only for tts, not for asr | yes |
end user reset VM PIN | Yes, via outlook or OWA | no |
multiple greetings | 2 (standard, out of office) | 5 different greetings |
mobile phone support | yes | yes |
remap tui keys? | no | yes |
Versions of Exchange supported | 2007 only | 2000, 2003, 2007 |
Other mail systems supported? | no | lotus notes, some functionality via IMAP for GroupWise and other IMAP systems |
integration to other VM systems | no | yes, using AMIS/VPIM |