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Cisco Unity Connection voicemail to text for help desk lines

Cisco Unity voicemail to text gets an urgent after-hours message on the help desk line to the tech on call tonight. The text names the caller and carries a link to play the recording. Cisco Unity Connection already emails voicemail through a notification device or message relay. You point that at your Welco address.

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  • Nothing installed on the Cisco server
  • Text only urgent messages
  • About 15 minutes for the admin

Works by email with

  • Cisco Unity

Published:

A call from Internal rings Help Desk; Cisco Unity records a 0:44 voicemail and emails it with voicemail.wav attached. The email reaches Welco and the phone shows: “Welco: Urgent Help Desk voicemail from Station 4 at 9:47 PM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Animation: a long Cisco Unity Connection alert email is trimmed into one short text: "Welco: Urgent Help Desk voicemail from Station 4 at 9:47 PM. Reply STOP to opt out."

What changes for the help desk tech on call

  • No Web Inbox at midnight

    With message relay, the text carries a link that plays the message in the phone's browser. No VPN, no PIN, no Cisco login.

  • Urgent messages only

    Tick only Urgent Voice Messages on the device, and routine voicemail never becomes a text.

  • A backup hears it too

    Put a second tech on the rule. Each phone gets the same text with its own link.

What you need before you start

This is the Cisco version of our on-call voicemail texts. You need admin access to Cisco Unity Connection and about 15 minutes. Check these first.

  • Cisco Unity Connection Administration access, and an SMTP smart host so the server can send mail out.
  • The mailbox that callers reach for urgent help. It can be a user or the mailbox behind a call handler.
  • A Welco account with your business verified. Start free if you don't have one yet.
  • Help desk staff who joined from your Welco invite. Each one confirms with a YES text first.

Set up Cisco voicemail texts in 5 steps

Cisco gives you two ways to send a voicemail by email. A notification device sends a short notice. Message relay sends the message itself, with the audio, which Welco turns into a link.

  1. Check that Cisco Unity Connection can send email

    Open System Settings, then SMTP Configuration, then Smart Host. Enter the mail server your network uses to send email. Without a smart host, neither notices nor relayed messages leave the server.

  2. Approve the Cisco sender in Welco

    Add the address Cisco sends from to your sender allow list. Mail from anywhere else is refused. If you're not sure of the address, send one test first and read it in the Welco feed.

  3. Pick a notice or the full message

    Open Users, choose the urgent-line mailbox and pick one of these.

    • For a notice: go to Notification Devices, choose Add New, pick SMTP and enter your Welco address. Under the events, tick Urgent Voice Messages only.
    • For the audio: go to Message Actions. Set Voicemail to Accept and Relay the Message and enter your Welco address as the relay address.

  4. Choose who gets the text and when

    In Welco, send this sender's messages to the help desk staff who joined. Use on-call time rules if daytime messages should stay in email and only nights should text.

  5. Leave a test voicemail

    Call the urgent line from another phone and leave a short message. Mark it urgent if your setup asks. Prefer a dry run? Switch on Welco's test mode with no texts and the message shows in the feed, but no phone buzzes.

Put your Cisco urgent line on the on-call phone

Verify your business, then add one relay address in Cisco Unity Connection.

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

Text me Cisco urgent voicemailsBook a demo

What a relayed Cisco voicemail looks like as a text

Message relay sends the caller's number and the audio file. Welco keeps the mailbox, the caller and the length, and swaps the file for a link.

Alert email from unityconnection@uc.example.edu, subject “Voice Message from (555) 013-4471”. Welco trims it to one text of 107 characters: “Welco: Voicemail for IT Support from (555) 013-4471, 0:52. Listen: welco.ai/v/Qm3x8T Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: Voicemail for IT Support from (555) 013-4471, 0:52. Listen: welco.ai/v/Qm3x8T Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters1671071 credit

Animation: the alert email "Voice Message from (555) 013-4471" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: Voicemail for IT Support from (555) 013-4471, 0:52. Listen: welco.ai/v/Qm3x8T Reply STOP to opt out."

The link plays the message in the phone's browser with no app or login. It lasts 7 days by default, and up to 30 if you set it. See tap-to-listen voicemail links.

Make Cisco voicemail texts work for the help desk

A few choices keep the right tech informed without waking the whole team.

  • Relay only the urgent-line mailbox

    Set message relay on the one mailbox callers reach for outages. Staff mailboxes keep their usual Cisco settings, so a routine message never turns into a text.

  • Keep a copy in Cisco

    Choose Accept and Relay the Message, not plain relay. The desk can still find the message in Cisco Unity Connection in the morning.

  • Text a backup tech

    Send it to a second tech in case the first is driving. See sending one alert to several phones.

  • Call back, don't reply

    A reply to the text is emailed to the Cisco sending address, which is usually a system mailbox nobody reads. The caller's number is in the text, so call them back instead.

Why didn't the Cisco voicemail text arrive?

Work through these in order. Most fixes take a minute.

No email left Cisco

What to check
The smart host, and whether your mail server accepts relay from the Cisco server.

The Welco feed shows a refused sender

What to check
The feed names the address it saw. Approve that one.

The text arrived with no link

What to check
Notification devices never attach audio. Switch that mailbox to message relay.

One phone never got it

What to check
Its owner may not have replied YES yet, or the number is a landline.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cisco Unity Connection need an add-on to send voicemail texts?

No. Cisco Unity Connection already sends email through its notification devices and message relay. You point one of them at your Welco address, and Welco turns each email into a text. Nothing is installed on the Cisco server.

Will the text let me play the Cisco voicemail?

It will if you use message relay, because relay sends the audio file. Welco turns that file into a private link that plays in the browser. An SMTP notification device only sends a notice, so its text has no link.

Can I text only urgent Cisco voicemails?

Yes. On an SMTP notification device, tick only Urgent Voice Messages. With message relay, set it on the urgent-line mailbox only. A Welco rule can also text urgent messages and leave the rest in email.

Does message relay delete the voicemail from Cisco?

Plain relay passes the message on without keeping it. Accept and Relay the Message keeps a copy in Cisco Unity Connection and also sends it to your Welco address. Most help desks choose the second option.

Can two help desk techs get the same Cisco voicemail text?

Yes. Once both techs have joined, put them on the Cisco sender in Welco. Each phone gets the text once with its own link. You can also send nights to one tech and weekends to another with after-hours voicemail rules.

Will our security team need to review a Cisco integration?

There is little to review on the Cisco side. Nothing connects into Cisco Unity Connection, and it only sends email out through your smart host. On the Welco side, only the Cisco sender you approve can trigger a text.

How is a Cisco voicemail text billed?

By message credits, with no per-user fees and no seat for each tech. A short voicemail text uses one credit for each phone it reaches. A 7-day trial with 15 credits lets you test the relay first. See pricing for the plans, which have no overage charges.

Hear your next Cisco urgent voicemail from the on-call phone

Set one relay address in Cisco Unity Connection and test it tonight.

Text me Cisco urgent voicemailsBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing