Installation guide

Consolidated Long Distance Legacy Integration
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ShoreTel 14.2 Planning and Installation Guide 335
In the single site configuration, ShoreTel recommends that services for outbound calls be connected to
the legacy PBX. In this configuration the trunk interfaces on the system are configured to support
outbound local and long distance dialing while the interface on the PBX is configured to route the
received outbound calls.
Consolidated Long Distance
Long distance calls can be consolidated into a single PSTN interface across both the ShoreTel system
and the integrated legacy PBX. In this configuration, you gain the benefits of reduced long distance
rates by consolidating all your enterprise's long distance calls into a single carrier. When it is required,
the outbound long distance trunks are connected to the legacy PBX and the ShoreTel system is
configured to route long distance calls outbound across the digital trunk connecting the systems.
Voice Mail Integration
The primary issue with voice mail integration is they are often proprietary and the interfaces defined to
connect the same and disparate systems are very old, complex and difficult to implement. In fact,
many voice systems from the same vendor are not connected. The interface with which most
customers are familiar is AMIS. This is an analog interface that has been around for a long time, but is
a real challenge to implement and can be very expensive from legacy voice mail providers. It is not
uncommon to pay $10,000 per site for this capability. Another widely-used interface, Simplified
Message Desk Interface (SMDI), was developed in the days when the PBX and voice mail systems
were separate systems. It operates on a serial link between a PBX and voice mail system and allows
them to work together. ShoreTel supports both AMIS and SMDI protocols for voice mail integration.
AMIS Protocol Support
The ShoreTel system sends and receives voice mail messages to and from legacy voice mail systems
using AMIS protocol Version 1 - Specification February 1992. To send voice mail messages to remote
AMIS sites, ShoreTel dials the access phone number for the remote system. Likewise, to receive voice
messages from a remote system, the remote system must know the number to dial into the ShoreTel
system. To reach the ShoreTel system, the remote system must be configured to dial any number that
reaches an auto-attendant menu.
AMIS call support is enabled by default. Incoming AMIS voice mail is delivered in the same manner as
other voice mail; however, users cannot send replies. To send outbound AMIS voice mail, you must
define AMIS System profiles in ShoreTel Director.
ShoreTel negotiates the setup, handshaking, and teardown of AMIS system calls. Each voice mail
requires a call over the trunk group defined for the AMIS delivery and call-back numbers.
Simplifying AMIS Systems and Increasing Usability
 Use the same extension length across your enterprise.
 Use off-system extensions to match remote users’ mail boxes with their extension numbers.