Amanda Work Group Administration Guide

							Chapter 6:
Notifying Users
Overview
Amanda uses notification records to notify users that they have messages. The records tell 
Amanda to:
 Turn message lights on and off 
 Page users using their pager numbers
 Call users at their homes, off-site locations, or other extensions
 Use an office paging system to locate users
Amanda can also perform a relay page, allowing the caller to reach the user without 
leaving a message. 
Selecting Ports for Notification
You specify the ports that are used for notification using the per port settings parameter 
named notify_restriction. For an explanation of this parameter and how to set Installing 
[email protected]/Windows.
Planning Your Notification Records
If users’ telephones have message lights, you need notification records that turn those 
lights on and off. You program a normal notification record to turn the light on and a 
pickup notification record to turn the light off.
Users with pagers can be notified using normal or urgent notification records. However, if 
you want Amanda to ask callers for their telephone numbers and send those numbers to 
the pagers, you need to use relay page notification records.
A normal notification record works for both urgent and non-urgent messages—until you 
add an urgent notification record. Then only non-urgent messages activate normal 
notification records. That means that, if urgent messages are to turn on message lights, you 
must add an urgent notification record that turns on message lights. This record is identical 
to the normal notification record for message lights, but its type is urgent instead of 
normal.
As the system administrator, you should use the disk notification record (available only 
for mailbox 999). Amanda lets you know when disk space becomes less than a specified 
percentage. By default, that is 20%, but you can change the diskwarn configuration option 
that controls this percentage using the Setup utility (selection 4). 
						

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Managing Notification Records and Templates
Notification records are created:
 When the mailbox is created (by copying the notification records that already exist 
in the mailbox on which the new mailbox is based)
 At the same time you create a new template
 By starting with an existing template
Each user can have up to ten notification records.
Many users use exactly the same notification records with the exception that their 
extensions, home telephone numbers, or pager numbers differ. Because of this, every 
notification record is based on a template. The templates make it easy to add notification 
for new users or additional types of notification for existing users.
Changing a notification template changes all the records that are based on that template—
unless the change only enables or disables the record or changes the contents of the 
Variable field. These two fields are part of a notification record but not part of a 
notification template because they vary from user to user.
N
OTE:When you create new mailboxes, all the fields in the notification 
records—including the Enabled and Variable fields—are copied to the 
new mailbox from the mailbox on which it is based. When an enabled 
record’s Method field uses %V, the Variable field must include a num-
ber.
Managing notification records includes:
 Creating and modifying notification templates and records. 
The next few sections cover the creation and modification of templates and records.
 Making the notification records needed by most or all users part of the mailbox 
template (by default mailbox 997). 
For example, if the records that turn message lights on and off are in the template, you 
don’t have to create those records for each mailbox that requires them.
 Testing notification templates and records by making calls to users and verifying 
that the expected notification takes place.
Creating a Notification Record and a Notification 
Template
Your first notification record is created at the same time as your first notification template. 
Any time that you need a new template, you create it and a record simultaneously.
To create a new notification record (and a notification template):
1. From the Mailbox window, select a user who will need a copy of this notification 
template as a record. 
2. Do one of the following:
 Click Notify   on the toolbar.
 On the Mailbox menu, click Notify. 
						

							Chapter 6: Notifying Users55
The Notify window appears. The User Information section indicates what user you 
are creating the notification record for.
3. Select a disabled record from the Notification Records list box.
4. Click Modify/New…. 
						

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The Notify Template dialog box appears.
5. Type a title for the template in the Title text box.
Use a name that makes it easy to identify this template when you use it to create other 
notification records. Titles must be unique.
If your Amanda system is connected to more than one telephone switching system, 
notifications can be restricted to a particular telephone switching system. For exam-
ple, to use PBX 2 for notification, start the title of the notification template with “2:”. 
If “2:”  does not start the name of the template, the notifications are performed on 
PBX 1.
6. Select a type of notification from the Type drop-down list box.
Pickup NotifyIndicates that the user has picked up (listened to) all the new mes-
sages. It usually turns off a message light.
Normal NotifyIndicates that the user has new messages. Normal notification tem-
plates turn on message lights, page users, call them at home, and so 
forth. (Normal notification records handle both urgent and non-
urgent messages—unless you define an urgent notification record.)
Relay PagePages the user and relays a telephone number that has been input by 
the caller. 
If a caller presses the # sign while listening to the mailbox’s greet-
ing, Amanda asks for a telephone number and saves it in the %R 
token. To relay the number, the %R or P(R) token must appear in 
the Method field of the notification record. 
						

							Chapter 6: Notifying Users57
Disk LowIndicates that Amanda is low on disk space. This type of notifica-
tion templates is available only for mailbox 999, the administrator 
mailbox. If you select Disk Low as the notification type from any 
other mailbox, Amanda displays an error message.
Urgent MessageIndicates that the user has a new and urgent message. Urgent notifi-
cation templates usually page users or call them at their current 
location. Once you create an urgent notification record for a mail-
box, Amanda executes normal notification records only for non-
urgent messages. That means you need an urgent notification record 
to turn on the message light for that mailbox.
7. Type the tokens in the Method text box needed to perform the type of notification. 
For example, type the DTMF that turns on a message light. Use %U for the extension 
if it is the same number as the mailbox.
See “Examples of Notification Methods” on page 62. For more information about the 
Token Programming Language, see Installing [email protected]/Windows.
8. Indicate what days the notification record can be executed. Do one of the following:
a. Check each day in the Days group box.
b. From the Execute Every group box, select Day (every day), Weekday, Week-
end, or Mon-Sat.
9. Indicate the time of day the notification record can be executed. Do one of the follow-
ing:
a. Fill the From and To text boxes in the Time group boxes and indicate 
A.M. or 
P.M. by clearing or selecting the PM check box.
b. Use the time scale at the right edge of the dialog box to show the starting and 
ending times graphically using the 24-hour format.
 Drag either part of the pointer up or down the scale to select the starting and 
ending times.
 Click the   and   buttons at the top of the scale to modify the start-
ing time.
 Click the   and   buttons at the bottom of the scale to modify the 
ending time.
10. Use the boxes in the Execute Notify group box to indicate when and how often the 
notification record should be executed after the reason for notification (for example, 
the arrival of a message) occurs.
(Amanda retries Normal Notify records until the user picks up the messages or until 
the maximum number of retries has occurred. Amanda stops executing Urgent, Relay 
Page, Disk Low, and Urgent Message records only when the maximum number of 
retries has occurred.)
a. In the After Waiting text box, type the interval between when the reason for 
notification occurs and when the notification record is executed.
b. In the Retry Every text box, type the interval between executions of the noti-
fication record.
c. In the For text box, type the total number of times the notification record 
should be executed. 
						

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11. Cli ck New.
The Notify window reappears.
12. If you used %V in the Method field, type a pager number, telephone number, or other 
variable (whichever is appropriate) in the Variable text box.
13. Select the Enable check box to start using the new record.
14. On the Mailbox menu, click Save… to save this new record for the current mailbox.
Creating a Notification Record from an 
Existing Template
Creating a record from an existing template means that most of the work is done for you. 
You supply only the Variable field (if %V is used in the Method field) and enable the 
record. Otherwise, you are really creating both a new template and a new record 
simultaneously. See “Creating a Notification Record and a Notification Template” on 
page 54.
N
OTE:If an enabled record’s Method field contains %V, the Variable field must 
contain a number.
To create a notification record from an existing template:
1. From the Mailbox window, select a user who will need a copy of this notification 
template as a record. 
2. Do one of the following:
 Click Notify   on the toolbar.
 On the Mailbox menu, click Notify.
The Notify window appears. The User Information group box indicates what user you 
are creating the notification record for.
3. Select a disabled record from the Notification Records list box.
4. Select a template on which to base the record by selecting the title for that template 
from the Template Title drop-down list box.
5. Type the new contents for the Variable field (if the Method field contains the %V 
token).
To see the Method field:
a. Click View Template….
b. Click Cancel to return to the Notify window.
6. Select the Enable check box to make the record active.
7. On the Mailbox menu, click Save…
The Save Changes dialog box appears.
8. Click Yes. 
						

							Chapter 6: Notifying Users59
Modifying Templates
Modifying a notification template changes every record based on that template. To modify 
a template, you must select a record that is based on that template. 
To modify a notification template:
1. From the Mailbox window, select a mailbox that has a notification record based on 
the notification template to be changed. 
2. Do one of the following:
 Click Notify   on the toolbar.
 On the Mailbox menu, click Notify.
The Notify window appears. 
3. Select a record based on the template from the Notification Records list box.
(The template’s title follows the notification record’s number (1–10) in the Notifica-
tion Records list box—unless the record is disabled. If the record is disabled, the tem-
plate’s title follows the word “disabled.” As you select the record, the template’s title 
appears in the Template Title list box as well.)
4. Click Modify/New….
5. Change the appropriate fields (see the explanation below).
From the Notification template you can edit the following:
TitleType a title for the template in the Title text box.
Use a name that makes it easy to identify this template when you use 
it to create other notification records. 
Titles must be unique.
TypeSelect one of the five types of notification from the Type drop-down 
list box.
MethodType in the appropriate tokens to execute this notification. This field 
defines the actual notification action.
See “Examples of Notification Methods” on page 62. See Installing 
[email protected]/Windows for more information about the To-
ken Programming Language.
DaysDefine the days on which this notification can occur by doing one of 
the following:
 Selecting Day, Weekday, Weekend, or Mon–Sat from the Execute 
Every… group box. Amanda Administrator automatically marks 
the correct days for you. 
 Selecting the days within a seven-day week on which this notifi-
cation can occur.  
						

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6. Select Modify to save your changes to the template you are editing.
C
AUTION:Selecting Modify replaces the existing template and automatically 
changes the notification record for all the mailboxes currently using 
that template.
Disabling a Notification Record
You can disable a notification record temporarily or permanently. For example, if a user 
takes a leave of absence or a vacation, you can disable all his notification records. Amanda 
keeps the original information so you can reactivate the record later.
To disable a notification record:
1. From the Mailbox window, select the mailbox whose record is to be disabled. 
2. Do one of the following:
 Click Notify   on the toolbar.
 On the Mailbox menu, click Notify.
The Notify window appears.
3. Select a notification record from the Notification Records list box.
4. Clear the Enable check box.
TimeDefine the time range for notification to occur by doing one of the fol-
lowing:
 Type the starting and ending times in the Time text boxes.
 Drag either part of the pointer up or down the scale to select the 
starting and ending times.
 Click the   and   buttons at the top of the scale to mod-
ify the starting time.
 Click the   and   buttons at the bottom of the scale to 
modify the ending time.
Execute 
NotifyDefine the initial delay before, the interval between, and the total num-
ber of times the record is to be executed by doing all of the following:
 Type the number of minutes Amanda waits after the reason for no-
tification occurs before the system executes the record in the After 
Waiting text box.
 Type the number of minutes between executions in the Retry Ev-
ery text box. 
 Type the number of times to notify the user in the For text box.
NOTE:A value of 0 in the For text indicates that Amanda should try 
an infinite number of times. The Amanda Company does not 
recommend this setting. Also, the setting for Retry Every 
must be greater than 0. 
						

							Chapter 6: Notifying Users61
5. On the Mailbox menu, click Save… then Yes. 
T
IP:You can double-click the notification record to toggle the Enable check 
box from on to off (and vice versa).
Changing Notification Telephone Numbers
If a user changes his pager number or another telephone number used in a notification 
record, you need to change the contents of the Variable field for that record. This number 
replaces the %V token in the record’s Method field.
You can change the number for the user, or he can change the number himself by calling 
Amanda over the telephone.
To change a notification record’s Variable field:
1. From the Mailbox window, select the mailbox whose record is to be disabled. 
2. Do one of the following:
 Click Notify   on the toolbar.
 On the Mailbox menu, click Notify.
The Notify window appears.
3. Select a notification record from the Notification Records list box.
4. Type the new number in the Variable text box.
To see the Method field:
a. Click View Template….
b. Click Cancel to return to the Notify window.
5. On the Mailbox menu, click Save… then Yes. 
Changing the Notification Variable by Telephone
Users can change their notification variables (which are usually pager numbers) over the 
telephone using the following procedure.
To change the contents of the Variable field:
1. Dial Amanda’s extension and identify yourself.
2. Press   to change Options.
3. Press   to change the notification variable. (This is a silent option.)
4. Amanda says, “Enter the number of the notification record to change.”
5. Press  –  for notification records 1 through 9 or    for notification record num-
ber 10.
6. Amanda says, “Enter your phone number. Finish by pressing  .”
7. Enter the new Variable (usually a pager number), followed by a  . 
						

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8. Amanda says, “Changed” and returns to the Options Menu.
To exit without changing a notification record, press   at steps 4 or 6.
N
OTE:To be changed, the notification record must be active and currently con-
tain a value in its Variable field. 
Examples of Notification Methods
This section includes examples of notification records. Use them as references, but don’t 
copy them unless they work correctly with your system. For example, the commands for 
turning the message light on and off are probably different on your telephone switching 
system.
Controlling a Message Light
Some telephone switching systems support message lights that are controlled by a special 
sequence of keys. Suppose that the sequence #63, followed by the extension number, turns 
on the extension’s message light. 
Then the notification record contains:
Type: NORMAL
Method: #63%E
Amanda automatically replaces %E with the contents of the Extension field for this 
mailbox. This works if and only if the Extension field contains only an extension number, 
for example, 127. 
If #91, followed by the extension number, turns off the extension’s message light, you 
create a second notification record containing:
Type: PICKUP
Method: #91%E
Using %U and %V instead of %E
When the Extension field contains more than the extension number, for example, 127H or 
a set of tokens starting with @, you cannot use %E in notification records to turn the 
message light on and off. 
If the mailbox is the same number as the extension, you can substitute %U.
If neither %E nor %U can be used, you can substitute %V and put the extension number, 
such as 127, in the Variable field for the notification record.
Using Voice Notification
Voice notification is commonly used instead of message waiting lights. The following is 
an example of a notification record that calls the user’s extension to inform him about his 
messages:
Type: NORMAL
Method: %EW(5,V)P(U)P(M)P(N)