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New voicemail system to interface with Outlook by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations The 20-year-old Audix voicemail system is being replaced with the next generation in messaging technologies that will interface with e-mail and personal digital assistants (PDAs).   While the old Avaya Audix Intuity voicemail system has worked fine, it is being replaced with the Avaya Modular Messaging system due to expiring manufacturer’s support for maintaining the system, said Vince Dibble, manager for MUSC’s Telecommunications and Network Services.   The change-over will cost about $230,000 and will include access for 5,000 voicemail users. More licenses can be obtained for system expansion as needed, Dibble said.   The modular messaging system will interface with Exchange e-mail and Outlook, which means that phone messages will be sent to a recipients’ e-mail inbox. The voice message e-mail will have a voice mail header and a different icon in Outlook.  These messages can be opened and played from the computer or in any other e-mail accessing tools such as PDAs that can open a .wav file, Dibble said.   “The actual messages themselves will be physically stored in the e-mail exchange server inbox,” Dibble said.   Opening the e-mail activates the audio player, which means that recipients should be aware that their e-mails could be heard by others. For users without a private office or PC speakers, users could administer their preferences to playback messages only over the telephone.   Since messages are stored in the inbox of the Exchange e-mail server, they will have an impact on the user’s overall quota, Dibble said. Once the messages are moved from the inbox, they will no longer be accessible via the telephone.   MUSC plans to transition to the new Avaya Modular Messaging system in early 2008. The new messaging system will be effective when the conversion is made. Because voicemail messages and mailing lists created in Audix will be lost and cannot be retrieved after the conversion, all employees will be notified in advance of the change. New voicemail greetings will be required, and the new system will prompt users to make various changes the first time they access the system, i.e., change user's password and record user’s name, and various greetings.   For more information, contact Dibble at 792-9980 or e-mail dibble@musc.edu.     Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.