How do you handle unused mailboxes?

[elturko]

I'm curious how all of you handle unused mailboxes. We have a fixed number of offices/cubicles and phones here. When someone leaves, we usually just change the name of the mailbox to "Vacant nnn" where nnn is the room number and update the CPND name to match in LD 95. I recently created a mailbox class called "Unoccupied" which limits the mailbox size and (I think) prevents messages from being left; I reassign the vacated mailbox to that class. Then when someone replaces the person who has left, I essentially reverse the process: put them back in the regular mailbox class, change the name in both places, and reset the password.

The problem I'm finding is that I have no way to delete the greetings and empty the mailbox from CP Manager, so I have to log in to the mailbox and do all that. That got me thinking it might be better to just delete the mailbox altogether when someone leaves, and recreate it when it is needed again.

I see pros and cons for each method, but I'm interested how you guys -- especially those who've been doing this for a while -- handle the situation.

We have about 150 users, and probably process someone leaving or a new person once or twice a month. My main reasons for even bothering are to (a) prevent mailboxes of people long gone from filling up with callers thinking they've left a message for someone and (b) to manage our limited Desktop Messaging seats. (We have about 20 less DM seats that voice mailboxes.)

Thanks, as always,
Matt

 

[lretrievers]

The recommended practice to delete the mailbox when it isn't being used and then rebuild the mailbox.

 

[johnpoole]

don't know who made the recogmendation, but at the site i work at we have a user leave almost everyday, with 8000 plus users on site, per shift.. i run a search for mb's that have not been logged into for 30 days.. remove the forwarding on the set and delete the mb// when i get a request for owner change, due to patient data being major problems, i delete the mb and add it back.. i never give a new user and old users messages, not even the new ceo.. the check for "stale" mb's is more of a service to customers, when i leave a msg, i perfer a call back a little quicker then a month. if a person is on extended leave, they can record an out of office msg and i will not delete the mb... if i have any doubt about the need of a mb, i check do not accept msgs, then wait a week. if the user does not report a problem, the box is gone

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[lretrievers]

Actually that recommendation comes from Nortel, back in the days of Meridian Mail when name changes could cause corruption. Earlier releases of Call Pilot also caused problems with name changes on mailboxes so the "preferred way to administer" was by deleting the mailbox and creating a new one when it was time.

 

[lretrievers]

Per the Call Pilot NTP (page 292 of the Administrator book):

Whenever a mailbox owner leaves the organization, remove the mailbox to prevent misuse by hackers.

Before you can remove mailbox owners, you must search for them, to list them in the Search Results section of the User Administration page.

You can use a Quick Search to find a specific user by name, or you can create an Advanced Search that locates a particular group of users.

 

[johnpoole]

thanks, like i said, i delete them anyway.. when mermail 1st came out, i didn't have problems with name changes.. on a lot of installs we used New User for the did block and added names post cut.. that was back in my sprint days.. i never had corruption but i still agree, deleting is way better.. hadn't thought of the hacker but i did read somewhere that 80 percent of hackers came in through mail.. i wish the site i work at now would allow tighter security on mb passwords, but because they are all avaya techs (now management) they think the dn backwards is a big secret.. i would like to push them to 5 or 6 digits and force changes.. i do have my cp acd sets ncos'ed off of ld.. that creates some problems but stops a dial thru to 1 plus.. i have a few menus that do call 9 1 800, i use maxp 1 acd ncfw to the set with opt cfo so that the inbound trunk needs permission to make the call, not the acd agent

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc

 

[johnpoole]

we do about 90 percent of normal admin the same, one diff is that the last time i went to cp school was rls 1 and the only time i went to nortel school was rls 6.. and since i've installed or maintained, a dozen makes. toshiba rolm simmons etc.. i can't quote the books, due to not wanting to quote the wronge manual..

john poole
bellsouth business
columbia,sc