Guest Room Mailboxes

In hospitality applications, there are typically two classes of people who need mailboxes: staff and guests. For staff mailboxes, you would typically use the standard mailbox type which, by default, provides nearly the full range of subscriber features: new, saved and deleted message queues; the ability to send messages; personal distribution lists; personal greetings; and the ability to change the password. Depending on the class of service (COS) settings, they may also be able to: toggle call blocking (DND), toggle call screening (if it is not a SIP system), and configure personal notifications.

Guest mailboxes, on the other hand, are designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible. They typically offer new and saved message queues and the ability to schedule wakeup calls; all other features are disabled. Using the COS template, it is possible to create a guest mailbox that allows a personal greeting and password; this type is often used for extended stay guests.

The guest mailbox type, which uses the Guest COS template by default, provides the following features:

• Plays a default greeting (shared by all guest mailboxes) that the guest cannot change.
• Uses a default password that the guest cannot change (but may be overridden by the PMS).
• Does not ask for a password when the guest logs in via the room phone.
• Does not allow the guest to send messages, recover deleted messages, record greetings, use distribution lists or archive folders, or have personal notifications.
• Allows the guest to schedule multiple wakeup calls (including recurring calls).
• Archives all guest messages (including deleted ones) at check-out, for a limited time.
• Allows the housekeeping staff to dial a special DTMF code to change the room clean status.

If you change the COS template to Extended Stay, the mailbox acts the same as above, but with the following exceptions:

• Allows the guest to record a personal greeting that will play in place of the default.
• Allows the guest to record his or her name.
• Allows the guest to change the password.
• Deletes all custom recordings and resets the password on check out.

Mailbox creation is typically managed using the Mailbox Administration application. It provides four ways to add the mailboxes:

• Create a single mailbox
• Create a range of mailboxes
• Import mailboxes via a CSV file
• Import mailboxes via LDAP

An alternate method that may work in some cases is to let the system auto-create the mailboxes based on input from the PMS. This method has the following requirements:

• All mailboxes will be created as guest mailboxes using the Guest class of service.
• All mailboxes will have only the default notification templates for a guest mailbox: MWI Off, MWI On, Wakeup Call and Failed Wakeup.
• All mailboxes will be created with an extension number that matches the mailbox number.
• All mailboxes will be assigned to the same tenant and profile, as specified in the hospitality configuration for the server instance assigned to this PMS.
• The PMS must be able to perform a database swap (resynchronization) that will send check in and check out messages for all rooms.

To use this method, open System Configuration and follow these steps:

1. Select Features | Hospitality.
2. If prompted, select the PMS instance and click Edit. This dialog is only displayed if the system is licensed for multiple PMS configurations.
3. Select the PMS page.
4. In the section Auto-create room mailbox if it does not exist:
   1. Check the Enabled box.
   2. Select the tenant to assign to the mailboxes.
5. Click OK to save your changes.
6. If the Hospitality Selection dialog is displayed, click Close.
7. Perform a data swap with the PMS. Either:
   1. Manually initiate a swap on the PMS; or
   2. Use PMS Monitor to manually send a swap request from the 7.00 to the PMS (select Tools | Send message from the menu); this only works if the PMS protocol supports it.
8. Wait for the database swap to complete; this can take anywhere from several minutes to more than an hour, depending on the number of rooms you have. Creating the mailbox and performing the check in or check out functions can take several seconds per mailbox.
9. When the swap has completed on the 7.00, open Mailbox Administration to verify all the rooms are present.
10. Once all mailboxes are created and verified, use System Configuration to disable the Auto-create room mailbox if it does not exist setting.