Unify Phone

 Atos  Unify Phone Functionality Description

Effective February 28, 2023

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1.1 Overview

Atos Unify Phone Functionality Description - OverviewUnify Phone is a cloud based WebRTC telephony connectivity solution between OpenScape voice platforms (OpenScape Voice, 4000 and Business) and other cloud-based applications.

Unify Phone is provided to the end user as a client which can be used with other applications as an embedded telephony client connected to their existing OpenScape platform.

In this first release Unify Phone is provided as a telephony client within the Unify Video application. Unify Video is an offering within the Unify Office by RingCentral portfolio providing messaging, conferencing, and collaboration. Unify Video can be used stand-alone collaboration solution or in conjunction with Unify Phone for a complete messaging, video and phone solution.

Unify Phone with Unify Video allows Customers using OpenScape Voice, 4000 and Business platforms to combine cloud collaboration with their existing platform to provide a common enterprise-wide communications and collaboration solution, using their existing platform, configuration and connected devices.

This is part of our strategy to offer Customers different migration pathways to cloud, meeting their needs for reliable, robust, and cost-effective communications solutions.

1.2 Subscription
Unify Phone is offered to Customers as a subscription-based service, it is offered to Customers to add to their Unify Video subscription and to integrate with their existing OpenScape platform.

The subscription is a price per month charge for access to the Unify Phone service which is hosted in a cloud managed by ATOS Unify. The Customer (or Partner/Unify on behalf of the Customers) sets up their platform to provide telephony extensions to Unify Phone. The Customer (or Partner/Unify) then creates and manages Unify Phone users from the Unify Phone Administration tool.

The subscription for Unify Cloud is based on a price per user per month charge, the charging and licenses for the Unify Cloud subscription depends on the platform it is being used on, this is due to the different technical and licensing capabilities of each of the platforms.

The Customer to access Unify Phone needs the following elements:

  • Suitable Platform
    An OpenScape Business, Voice or 4000 platform at the required level of software which supports Unify Phone, this is OpenScape Business v3, OpenScape Voice v10 and OpenScape 4000 v10 (a specific release of these platforms will be required to be installed which includes the functionality to support Unify phone)
  • Subscription to Unify Video
    A subscription to Unify Video (this is provided via Ring Central via a Unify Partner or ATOS Sales. In some cases directly from ATOS UCC for specific cases, the definition and provision of Unify Video is defined with the Unify Office portfolio documentation and information (see here for more information

Unify Phone is embedded in the Unify Video client, Unify Video is required to enable and use Unify Phone.

The subscriptions offered for the various platforms are described in the Annex 2 Licensing to the Service Specification Unify Phone (as add-on to Unify Video).

1.3 Features and Functions

1.3.1 Supported Platforms
Unify Phone as a cloud based WebRTC telephony connectivity solution supports the following OpenScape platforms

  • Atos Unify OpenScape Business V3R2 or newer
  • Atos Unify OpenScape Voice v10
  • Atos Unify OpenScape 4000 v10

1.3.2 Integration with Unify Video
Unify Phone is tightly integrated into Unify Video. For User Management and Presence, the solution relies on Unify Video and additionally, both platforms can cross launch from one another.

1.3.2.1 User Management
To use Unify Phone, End-Customers must all be subscribed Unify Video users. When signing into any Unify Phone client, users go through Unify Video sign in process to validate their login credentials.

Unify Phone does not have its own presence handling, but is usually integrated with Unify Video. Details on presence functionality can be found in section 1.3.3 Presence.

1.3.2.2 Cross Launch
Unify Phone clients in desktop and mobile platforms can be launched from within the corresponding Unify Video app of the platform.

Unify Video users can view the dial pad icon at the top right of their Unify Video app and the phone icon in the left-hand navigation bar. They can click any of these icons to open Unify Phone and, after signing in (if not done already), start making and receiving phone calls.

Cross-launch functionality on Unify Video is not by enabled by default. To enable cross-launch for Unify Video clients, company administrator should sign into Unify Video admin portal and enable it for the users who will use that feature. Cross launch can be activated only for users with Unify Video Pro+ license.

Additionally, Unify Phone apps in all platforms have Unify Video menu item which can cross launch Unify Video app within them.

1.3.3 Presence
Unify Phone is the orchestrator of user’s presence integrating with both Unify Video and OpenScape PBX. When presence change happens in any of these two (e.g. user calls a person from desk phone or joins to a video session in Unify Video), then Unify Phone notices that and sets the presence in the other one. Additionally, it is possible to change presence in the Unify Phone clients as well manually. Presence concept is based on Unify Video with the following states

  • Available: Automatically set when user logs in
  • Do not Disturb: User can set this status
  • Invisible: User can set this status
  • Busy: Automatically set when user is on a call

1.3.3.1 Unify Phone and Unify Video presence synchronization
Presence between Unify Phone and Unify Video is synchronized except the Busy case on Unify Phone. When user gets into Busy state on Unify Phone side, based on the corresponding user setting, user will appear either in Do not Disturb in Unify Video side or presence on Unify Video side will not be touched at all.

1.3.3.2 Unify Phone and OpenScape Business synchronization
Presence between Unify Phone and OpenScape Business is synchronized in the following way:

  • DND in OpenScape Business and Unify Phone: Synced in both direction
  • Busy on a phone call established via Unify Phone or a Desk phone: Presence is updated on both sides

1.3.4 Telephony Features
The following telephony functionality is supported on Unify Phone when connected to an OpenScape Business.

Unify Phone is a telephony connector for Unify Video. It allows you to make and receive calls using your business phone number in Unify Video.

With Unify Phone you can simply:

– Making calls
– Accept, reject or end calls
– Send DTMF commands during a call
– Hold and retrieve
– Mute/unmute a call
– Forwarding a call
– Pick up call from other Unify Phone Clients or desk phone
– Forward call to desk phone or alternative number
– Make or answer a second call
– Swap calls (alternately)
– Merge two calls into a conference
– Call forwarding
– Alternative number (One Number Service)
– Call forwarding
– Answering machine
– Remote control of desk phones (Computer Telephony Integration – CTI): Hold and retrieve, end call, swap calls, transfer, merge to conference

Specific features for each OpenScape platform are included in the user guides for each platform. There are differences between platforms as the telephony features of Unify Phone are fully based on the underlying platform.

1.3.5 User Settings
It is possible to configure the following settings in all Unify Phone apps:

  • General Settings
    • Language: Change the language of the app. Available options are English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Catalan.
  • Telephony Settings
    • Call forwarding: Ability to forward incoming calls to given number or voicemail (when available)
    • Alternative number: It’s possible to set the phone number of an alternative device, e.g. mobile, that can be used for making and receiving phone calls through the work number. The alternative number can also be used to control the routing of your calls between your devices.
    • Call routing: By default, incoming phone calls will ring on all of the Unify Phone clients and desk phone. On no answer they will be routed to the alternative device if it’s specified. Users can change this default setting and have all incoming phone calls be routed directly to the desk phone or alternative device.
    • Call history: It’s possible to download the complete call history as CSV file
  • Audio Settings
    • Audio output
    • Ringing output
    • Microphone
    • Headset Integration: Jabra and Poly/Plantronics

1.3.6 Tenant Administration
The administration of Unify Phone is performed with the Unify Phone administration app. This is a web-based application allowing administrators to easily:

  • Connect Unify Phone to Unify Video (registration, Unify Video integration)
  • Generate/regenerate/copy the API key needed to connect an OpenScape PBX to Unify Phone
  • Check the status of the telephony connector.
    Signing in to Unify Phone administration app is only possible with Unify Video administration credentials.

1.3.7 Contacts
Currently, the Unify Phone clients fetches the tenant users from Unify Video and offer as contacts to call. In every step when user want to call a number (from dial pad, while transferring a call, while starting a new call while in an active call), searching such contacts is possible.

Additionally, through Exchange Online integration, it will be possible to search both global and private contacts available in Exchange and call.

Additionally, when a call is received, the callee number will be resolved to a name, when there is matching Unify Video or Exchange Online private contact matching.
Additionally click to call is provided via Unify Video to allow calls to be established via contacts within Unify Video.

1.3.8 Applications

1.3.8.1 Desktop
For Desktop operating systems, Unify Phone is offered as a web application. It can be used in Chrome, Edge or Firefox browsers and additionally when opened in Chrome or Edge can be installed as Progressive Web Application (PWA).

When it’s installed as PWA, then it will have additionally the following functionality

  • Can be auto-started with device sign in
  • Can be pinned to task bar
  • Desktop shortcut can be created
  • When “tel” links clicked, it’s initialized automatically.

For cross-launch not to initiate a new browser every time, Unify Phone browser extension can be installed from Chrome and Edge Extension Stores.

1.3.8.2 Mobile Clients
Unify Phone native applications are available in both Google Play Store for Android and Apple AppStore for iOS/iPadOS.

1.3.9 Voicemail
Unify Phone integrates with the OpenScape voicemail connected to the platform being used.. When user has voicemail license, they can click the voicemail icon in all Unify Phone apps and calls the voicemail number automatically. Then through standard DTMF functionality can perform voicemail operations (listen, delete etc.). Additionally, voicemail icon has a red indication on Unify Phone apps when user has a not listened/new voicemail.

1.3.10 VDI
As a web application on desktop systems, Unify Phone has a passive support for VMWare and Citrix VDI environments via the VMware Horizon HTML5 Redirection Extension and Citrix HTML5 multimedia redirection.

1.3.11 Headset-Integration
Unify Phone apps support any headset, speaker or microphone provided the operating system (Windows, MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android) can detect and work with such a device.
Additionally, Unify Phone web application (on Chrome and Edge) has headset integration with the Jabra and Poly/Plantronics devices. When the integration is activated for such a device, additionally, calls can be taken or hung up using the buttons on the device and mute/unmute through the buttons on the device is synchronized with the Unify Phone web app.
While Jabra integration can be enabled without any additional software installation, Poly/Plantronics integration requires installation of Plantronics Hub application.

2 Connecting to Unify Phone

2.1 Supported Devices & Software

2.1.1 Computer and Operation system

Vendor Product Minimum Version Technology
Windows 10 and newer Google Chrome –
version 88 or newer
Microsoft Edge –
version 88 or newer
Mozilla Firefox –
version 78 or newer		 Intel Core i3 CPU or equivalent
macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or newer Google Chrome – version 88 or newer
Microsoft Edge – version 88 or newer
Mozilla Firefox – version 78 or newer		 MacBook Air 2012

 

2.1.2 Streaming / VDI Support

Vendor Product Technology
VMware VMware Horizon Unify Phone-Webanwendung mit VMware Horizon HTML5 Redirection Extension
Citrix Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Unify Phone web app with Citrix HTML5 multimedia redirection

 

2.1.3 Mobile Devices

Product SW Version
iPhone 6s or newer iOS 13 or newer
iPad Air 2, iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad (5th generation or newer), iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini (5th Generation), All iPad Pro models iPadOS 13 or newer
Android Phones Android 8 or newer
Android Tablets Android 8 or newer

 

2.2 Networking Requirements
Unify Phone is a Software-as-a-Service application deployed on public cloud. Your organization’s network must satisfy some connectivity requirements to allow Unify Phone to work properly.

It is expected that your organization uses stateful firewall/NAT devices to protect its private networks. Unify Phone connections can traverse these devices using standard methods similar to Web Browser traffic. In particular, Unify Phone signaling, and media connections are always established in the outbound direction from the corporate network to the cloud. The firewall must allow connectivity as specified in the Unify Phone Administration, Administrator Documentation.

3 Account Management

There is no specific user management within Unify Phone, the user management is provided via Unify Video, and the phone numbers to the Unify Video users are assigned via the web-based management applications of OpenScape Business. There is administration on Unify Phone, but not for specific users only for the overall Unify Phone tenant as explained in Section 1.3.6 Tenant Administration.

4 Help and Support

4.1 Overview
Unify Phone is supported via Unify Partners or ATOS Unify depending on the specific Customer contract in place.

The overall solution consists of the following elements:

  1. Unify Phone Clients, Web Browser, Mobile Client
  2. Unify Phone Cloud Connectivity Unify Clients and OpenScape Platform
  3. Plattform: OpenScape Business, OpenScape 4000, OpenScape Voice
  4. Unify Video Cloud based Messaging, Video from RingCentral

Items 1 and 2 are part of Unify Phone support process and covered within the Unify Phone subscription charges.

4.2 Help and Documentation
Administration and User Guides for Unify Phone are provided to support Unify Phone in addition to information within the OpenScape Business administration and product information. These will be provided by the Unify Partner or Unify during the deployment of Unify Phone or can be requested from your Unify Partner or Unify Contact.

In addition online guides as a HTML or PDF version are available in the help section of the web and mobile clients.

Unify Phone is provided with documentation for the following languages:

  • English
  • German
  • Italian
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Dutch

4.3 Shared support responsibilities

4.3.1 User support by the Customer or a Partner
The Customer or where delegated the Partner on behalf of the Customer can configure their OpenScape Platform for Unify Phone (this is documented in the administration guide for the related platform).

The Customer or delegated Partner can administer the Unify Phone Tenant on the cloud platform for Unify Phone.

Diagnostic logs can be obtained from the Unify Phone Client itself to support Customers and Partners and then provide to ATOS Unify Support when requested.

4.3.2 Technical support (Level 1) by Unify or Partner
Depending on the service contract, the Customer contacts their Partner or Unify directly to receive Level 1 Technical Support.

5 Software Updates

5.1 Overview
Unify Phone Services receives regular Software Updates introducing new features, fixing bugs to improve overall end user experience.

Software Updates will be implemented by Scheduled Maintenance activities and are usually done at times with typically low usage of the service. These Scheduled Maintenance activities will be announced on the Support Portal (see Link below) and will be communicated to Customer Tenant Administrators. These Updates are mandatory for all customers.

Unify Phone Support Portal

Before Unify releases an Update to the Unify Phone Service, it is thoroughly tested and evaluated for performance and scalability.

5.2 Notification sent for major Software Updates
For major Updates, all Unify Phone users will be informed about the upcoming service upgrade and the main enhancements for user’s experience by an announcement on the Support Portal and a Product Change Release Note will be issued. This Change Release Note also contains the compatibility between Unify Phone and the Customers’ OpenScape Platform.
When testing is complete, the Update and the anticipated public rollout date are announced on the Support Portal for the Scheduled Maintenance time frame, within which the availability of Unify Phone Service may be affected by that maintenance activity.

6 Service Continuity

Unify Phone Service is delivered by highly resilient systems that help to ensure high levels of service. Technical and organizational measures to provide for service continuity are an integral part of the system design for Unify Phone. These measures enable Unify Phone Service to recover quickly from unexpected events such as hardware or application failure, or other incidents that affect users.

Multiple levels of data redundancy are implemented, ranging from redundant disks to guards against local disk failure to continuous, full data replication to a multi zonal data center.