Lync/SfB Server: Create a custom announcement for Unanswered Calls

We were asked if we could customize the sound/tone for unanswered calls when the called user isn’t voice mail enabled.

Usually the mobile networks will play a announcement like “Sorry, the person you tried to call isn’t available please try again later”.

In Lync/SfB Server we cannot change the default tone, however, we can use an announcement and the unassigned numbers to configure a workaround.

The first step is to get a WAV file with the custom announcement and import it to the Lync/SfB Server with the following cmdlet:

$a = Get-Content “C:\UCLobby\Unanswered.wav” -ReadCount 0 -Encoding Byte
Import-CsAnnouncementFile -Parent ApplicationServer:pool.gears.lab -FileName “UnansweredCall.wav” -Content $a
New-CsAnnouncement -Parent ApplicationServer:pool.gears.lab -Name “Unanswered Call Announcement” -AudioFilePrompt “UnansweredCall.wav”

Then we need to associate a number, this doesn’t need to be a valid number, if can be a dummy number as long that it’s a number that can be assigned to a Unassigned Numbers.
In the lab we use +449920145999 and assign a announcement to it:

New-CsUnassignedNumber -Identity “UnansweredCallAnnouncement” -NumberRangeStart “+449920135999” -NumberRangeEnd “+449920145999” -AnnouncementName “Unanswered Call Announcement” -AnnouncementService ApplicationServer:pool.gears.lab

Finally, we can forward the unanswered calls to +449920145999.  We can do it in the Lync/SfB client Options > Call Forwarding:

Select New Number or Contact:

Then we add the number we specify in the New-CsUnassignedNumber:

Now all unanswered calls will be forwarded to the configured announcement:

Please note that it’s also possible to configure the unanswered calls forward setting on the server side using the SEFAUtil:

Configure simultaneous ring, delegate-ringing and call-forwarding settings on behalf of a Lync Server 2010 user