Technical information

Voice Messaging Systems
6-50 Issue 7 June 2001
When Quick Assist is run in Recover Mode from the Quick Assist icon in
the Lucent folder, use the “Mailbox to Receive Unattached Messages” field
on the Recover Files dialog box to specify a mailbox in which to place
messages with invalid header information. When Quick Assist is run from
the \CVR prompt or in batch mode as part of regular system maintenance,
specify this mailbox by including the -Mn parameter, where n indicates the
number of the mailbox to be used, in the Quick Assist command line.
 Assigning Randomly Generated Passwords to M2000 System Mailboxes
During System Setup, M2000 allows selection of the type of password
assigned to new system mailboxes. You may assign the same default
password to all new mailboxes, or not require a password, or have the
M2000 system automatically assign a random password to each new
mailbox. For security purposes, it is recommended that random password
assignment be used. This makes it much more difficult for a caller to guess
a mailbox’s password. When random password assignment is used, the
M2000 system displays the passwords assigned to the new mailboxes
when they are created.
 Requiring Passwords at Least 1 Digit Longer than Mailbox Numbers
The longer the passwords assigned to system mailboxes, the harder it is
for a caller to guess them. The Minimum Length of Password parameter on
the Subscriber parameters tab in the System Setup utility allows you to set
the least number of digits required in a mailbox password. It is
recommended that this parameter be set to at least 1 digit higher than the
length of the system’s mailbox numbers. For example, if the system uses
4-digit mailboxes, it is recommended that the Minimum Length of Password
parameter be set to at least 5. Note that the length of this parameter must
be set to balance system security against ease of use for the subscribers.
Setting this parameter too high may make it difficult for system subscribers
to remember their passwords.
 Requiring Subscribers to Regularly Change Their Passwords
The requirement that subscribers regularly change their passwords helps
prevent outside callers from determining subscriber passwords and gaining
unauthorized access to system mailboxes. The Days Before Forced
Password Change parameter on the Subscriber tab in System Setup
should be used to specify the required internal before subscribers are
required to change their mailbox passwords. When this parameter is
enabled, subscribers must change their password the first time they log
into their mailboxes and after the number of specified days expires before
they can proceed to the main menu.
 Monitoring Uninitialized Mailboxes
If the Days Before Forced Password Change parameter in System Setup is
disabled, subscribers are not required to change their passwords. This can
make it easier for a caller to guess a subscriber’s password, especially if a
default password is used for all mailboxes instead of randomly assigned
passwords for each mailbox.