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Advanced Phone System Features
For companies who make more extensive use of the phone, modern corporate phone systems offer some significant benefits.
Automatic call forwarding, helps both your employees and your callers. By routing incoming calls to wherever your employees are, whether on the road, working at home, or at a remote location, automatic forwarding increases the likelihood that callers reach the person they need. Callers do not need to make a second or third call. In addition, your employees avoid having to return to an overflowing Voicemail box.
Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) offers any working environment the capability to both optimise service incoming callers receive while at the same time maximising staff productivity. ACD distribute calls within a group so that the first available agent takes the call. If no agents are available the call can be held in a queue with a comfort message that their call will be attended to shortly. A group supervisor can also access real time information on how the group is operating including number of calls in queue, average queuing time and total incoming calls received.
ACD functionality is ideal for departments that operate as an incoming call centre such as accounts, telephone sales or technical help desk. Many telephone systems provide this functionality as standard. There are also more sophisticated call centre applications that integrate with the telephone system and are designed for specific needs of larger call centres. These applications include functionality like more sophisticated reporting, remote agent working and call routing to agents based on their skill levels.
Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) refers to any industry standard that allows non proprietary computer software applications to interface with the telephone system. The Microsoft TAPI standard is a commonly used CTI standard. The applications range from windows based system administration tools that enable intuitive management of your telephone system features without the need to call a service technician to sophisticated call centre applications. The key thing for the user is the value the CTI application brings to your business.
Networking refers to the capability of telephone systems at multiple sites to be linked so they operate as one virtual system with common features. For instance a call in your Melbourne office could be transferred as easily to an extension in your networked Sydney system as to another Melbourne extension. Other benefits of networking are sharing of resources like voice mail or receptionists between sites a significant plus where there are a number of small branch offices. Today networking is IP based usually over a WAN. Some manufacturers claim their products can network with other vendors products using standards like QSIG but the features supported are less than for networking between products from the same manufacturer.
Operator Console is the terminal designed for the receptionist or operator in your company. Key features of Operator Consoles is the capability for easy answering and transferring of calls. This can be done by providing add ons to handsets that provide multiple dedicated line and extension position keys, an effective solution for officers with up to 50 employees. In larger environments or where the switchboard is very busy, dedicated operator consoles are the best to deliver the professional and efficient service to create the right image for your company. Today most dedicated Operator Consoles are PC based with headset and use the standard point and click operation to deliver incoming and internal calls to the correct person. They include features that:
A Voice Mail system acts as a corporate answering machine, recording messages from people both inside and outside a company.
Voice mail systems use centralized recording equipment to record, store, and play back messages. Each user has access to an individual mailbox, which they can customize greetings for and keep private any messages left. Some voice mail products allow you to save fax messages as well. These systems are sized according to the number of ports, or connections, that are established between the phone system and the voice mail system. Having more ports on a voice mail system means more people can simultaneously leave or pick up messages. Compared to written notes, voice recording allows longer and more complex messages to be accurately relayed. The ability to leave detailed, private messages frequently means that callers can relay information without the need for a return call. This is especially useful when you consider that half of all calls are for one-way transfers of information. Messages can also be accessed from outside the office and you can even have voice mail SMS your mobile of a voice mail message on your extension if you are out of the office. Voice mail systems also guarantee a common messaging platform within a company. Features such as broadcasting allow employees to send messages to multiple people at once, allowing a voice mail system to serve as a central messaging center for a workgroup or the entire company. Automated Attendant is also provided as part of most voice mail solutions. Voice mail can also be integrated with your computer network so that your voice messages and fax messages appear on and can be accessed from your Outlook Inbox sometimes referred to as Unified Messaging. Most voice mail solutions are now telephone system integral as the cost of proprietary voice mail has plummeted in the last few yearsÂ
Wireless Mobility is similar to providing your own mobile phone network within your office environment. The more mobile users (eg your IT support technicians or warehouse staff) within the company or those who have to be accessible at all times are provided with a wireless handset that is paired to their handset at their desk. Calls can be answered at either phone. Signals are provided by wireless base stations which allow automatic handover to another base station when a user moves out of range. Popular applications are in large retail outlets, large industrial, hospitality and hospitals.
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