The Purpose Of A Structured Cabling System

Standardized cabling systems are meant to support a multi-product and multi-vendor environment.  However, it will cost you less to install and maintain this type of a system over its lifespan than it would cost you to install and maintain any other type of system.  This system includes communication cabling, cable pathways, communication ground and bonding system, supporting structures and building spaces.

Structured Cabling Standards

There are three main cabling standards:

• EIA/TIA 568C is the American standard
• ISO/IEC 11801 is the International standard
• CENELEC EN 50173 is the European standard

Structured Cabling Subsystems

The structured cabling system is based upon modular subsystems.  These subsystems are independent but they do work together in order to create a complete building cabling system.  Each subsystem is independently designed and installed from the other subsystems.  However, all of the structured cabling systems are interconnected and thus they do work together as one single cabling system.  Thanks to this concept both growth and flexibility are possible within one subsystem and this will not affect the other systems.  In order to better understand how each of these subsystems work, you must take a look at them individually.

The Work Area Subsystem

The work area subsystem is where the horizontal cable terminates at the wall outlet.  Herein the users and the telecommunications equipment connect to the structured cabling infrastructure.  The following components are included within the work area subsystem:

• Cabling (Cat5e, Cat 6 copper patch cables, jumpers, modular cords and adapters)
• Adapters (i.e. baluns) that modify the cable’s signal or impedance
• Station equipment (i.e. computers, telephones, fax machines, data terminals)

The Horizontal Subsystem

Horizontal cabling extends from telecommunication closets to the work area.  It terminates within telecommunication outlets.  The following components are included within the horizontal subsystem:

• Cables from the patch panel to the work area
• Telecommunication outlets
• Cable terminations
• Cross connections

The Backbone Subsystem

The backbone system is used to connect entrance facilities, equipment rooms and telecommunication closets.  It consists of cables that connect the telecommunication closets, equipment rooms and building entrance with the cross-connect cables, mechanical terminations and patch cables that are used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connection.  The following components are utilized within this subsystem:

• Cabling between equipment rooms and building-entrance facilities
• Cabling between the buildings’ entrance facilities
• Vertical connections between floors

The Telecommunication Room (a.k.a. TR)

This is the space within a building that is used to terminate horizontal and backbone cables.  Its primary function is to have a dedicated space where you can install cable termination hardware and communications equipment.  Herein you will also find networking equipment (i.e. LAN hubs, switches, routers, repeaters).  These rooms are where the backbone cabling equipment rooms terminate.

The Equipment Room (a.k.a. ER)

This is a special kind of telecommunications equipment room that is found within a centralized space.  Herein the more sophisticated communications or data equipment is housed within a controlled environment.  Oftentimes, telephone equipment or data-networking equipment (i.e. routers, switches, hubs) is located here too.  Backbone cabling is set up so that it will terminate within the equipment room too.

The Entrance Facility (a.k.a. EF)

The entrance facility is usually where the service providers (i.e. the telephone company) bring their cables into a building.  It is these cables that will then provide the services (i.e. dial tone) that the building needs in the way of phone services.

A Number Of Services

Unified messaging is as its name implies, a way in which to take numerous messaging services from various sources and combine them into a single messaging service.  The purpose for this is to provide you with better communication options.  You will find that these services vary from provider to provider but usually they will include voice messaging, faxing and text messaging.  There are some other types of messages (i.e. video messages) that may also be received via a unified messaging system.

A Single Access Point

In the same way that unified messaging allows for numerous types of messages to be received by the same messaging service, you will also find that this makes it more convenient for you to check your messages’ status from a single access point.  Usually this means that you will receive all of your messages on either your mobile phone, computer or even in your email.  Sometimes you can even check your voice messages from a standard telephone.  In doing so you may encounter some messages that cannot be conveyed to you in this fashion but you will be informed of this too.  There are also some systems that feature text-to-voice technology.  These systems will allow you to check your text messages (i.e. emails, faxes) via telephone.

Smart Messaging

Another feature that a lot of users like is called “smart messaging.”  Herein the unified messaging service attempts to contact you at various points (i.e. email, mobile phone, home phone, business phone) so that you know that you have an incoming message.  Of course, the point of doing all of this is to make your communications seamless.  This is made even better since communication processes can be integrated into existing information technology infrastructures (i.e. CRM, ERP, mail systems).

Advantages To Using Unified Messaging

There are numerous advantages to using unified messaging.  This is especially true if you are a businessman or you find yourself constantly on the go.  These advantages include being able to:

• Receive numerous types of messages in one account
• Access your account in various ways
• Respond instantly to the messages that you receive
• Receive your messages in the way that works best for you
• Know where your colleagues are and what their status is (i.e. available, busy, in a meeting, offline)
• Other great advantages include:
• Reliability
• Security – rest assured that your critical business information is protected and that it is also compliant with all regulations
• Easy scalability whenever it comes to both size and capability making it more adept in handling sophisticated applications (i.e. VoIP, call centers, work groups)
• Collaboration at any time and in any place
• Accessibility making it easy to quickly respond to time sensitive information
• Flexibility
• It can easily be integrated with other business systems

Summary

Clearly there are a lot of great reasons to opt for unified messaging.  With all of these advantages, there really aren’t a lot of disadvantages to worry about.  For this reason, you really should take some time to look into unified messaging today.

How Virtual PBX Works

Whenever a caller attempts to reach you via your toll free business telephone number the call is actually sent to, and received by, the service provider that you have selected.  The auto-attendant will answer with a greeting that you have set up before routing your call.  How this call is routed is based upon how you have decided to configure the system.  Usually these systems also have integrated fax capabilities too.  This means that the system is able to automatically detect whether the call is coming from a human or a fax machine before routing it in the appropriate fashion.  Some of the other great features within this system include:

• Custom routing
• Call preview
• Real-Time system monitoring
• Built-In conferencing
• Supervised call transferring
• Advanced call queuing
• Business class features
• Customized greetings that can be created from your own sound files
• 120+ music files to choose from
• The ability to ring to location

How Virtual PBX Is Different Than A Land Based phone System

With a land based phone system each extension has to be assigned to a desk phone that is located somewhere within the office.  On the other hand, whenever you use a virtual phone system you will be able to assign that extension to any phone number anywhere in the world.  This means that you will be able to associate phone numbers with individual employees or with branch offices.  You will even be able to assign an extension to a set of numbers so that any phone calls will cascade through these phone numbers until it gets answered.  If the phone goes unanswered, it will eventually make it to a voice mailbox.  Plus you can also easily transfer calls between extensions regardless of where they are located.  Whenever a  voice mail is left, it can be converted to email so that you will be able to easily manage all of your communications from that one location.  This is great for a small business or for a business that has offices that are not all in one location because your clients will be able to reach you easily.  Of course, it is also great for you since it easy to set up and very affordably priced.

Benefits Of Virtual PBX

The benefits of using virtual PBX cannot be underestimated.  To begin with you should know that the cost of both the hardware and the software is extremely expensive.  Most of the time this makes it prohibitive for small businesses.  Plus these systems usually require you to have a staff member that knows what they are doing so that you can make changes (i.e. add or change something in the system) or fix things whenever they go wrong.  However, whenever you have a virtual phone system, you do not have to pay for the hardware, software or staff member.

Hosted VoIP

Usually, the VoIP provider provides your ATA hardware.  You simply need to decide who the best VoIP provider for you will be and subscribe to one of their plans.  Today this can be a bit more difficult to do than it was in the past since there are now various types of VoIP providers.  These include the “pure play” VoIP service providers (i.e. peer-to-peer VoIP providers, cable companies) and traditional telephony companies.  All of this is great for you though because it means that this technology is easily affordable.  This is because the tremendous competition in the market ensures that prices are not exorbitant.

How VoIP Works

Regardless of the hosted VoIP you choose to work with, broadband networks will be used to deliver voice, data and multimedia services to you.  This is done through a computer that leverages the solution.  In doing so, you will no longer need an ATA.  Instead you will only need some free, easy to download software.  Once you have it installed you will be able to enjoy this service to make free calls anywhere in the world without compromising call quality.  (Sometimes there is a nominal fee for calling PSTN numbers.)

Choosing The Best VoIP Provider

There are a lot of different options available to choose from today.  Everyone from large telephone companies to cellular phone companies are now serving as VoIP providers.  There are even some large cable companies who have gotten into this business, which is great since they are in a position to offer you a service bundle.  With so many companies to choose from, it is important to assess your specific needs before you decide upon who will work best for you.  This is especially true since there are some times when a peer-to-peer VoIP service provider will work best.  However, as a business you may decide that the “pure play” VoIP provider with the best call quality and the lowest rates is what you need.  Ultimately, it is a matter of looking at VoIP reviews and deciding what you need and who has the best offer.

Vonage

Vonage’s VoIP service doesn’t route calls through your computer.  Instead, you will be assigned a telephone number within your area code and sent a small ATA that plugs into your network router.  You then simply attach your phone to it in order to make and receive calls.  It is even possible to plug the adapter into a wall jack so that you can connect more phones throughout your home.  While this will work well for home use, it isn’t the best choice for corporations that want extensions and services that are closely identified with PBXs.  This is because you will only get a single line without multiple extensions, call transfers and other administrative functions.

TalkSwitch 48-CVA

Your business’ existing phone lines and phone numbers, along with your Internet connection will be utilized by TalkSwitch, making it easier to set up and install this service since you will be able to keep your existing phone numbers and phone lines.  However, you will still keep your existing phone bills because your long-distance calls will travel over your phone company’s lines.

One of the biggest benefits to companies is that TalkSwitch works as a PBX and thus it can connect remote offices in a way that acts like a single phone system.  In doing so you will be able to make calls to your other offices simply by dialing without ever incurring long-distance charges.  Other benefits include;

• 4 VoIP trunks
• 8 local extensions
• 8 remote extensions
• It is expandable to a 16-line, 32-extension phone system
• 26 voice mailboxes
• You can install and configure the system yourself by using the PC interface
• Works with standard analog cordless or corded phones

Packet8 Virtual Office

Packet8 utilizes a hosted PBX that can be attached to any broadband connection to bring you a “virtual office.”  Therefore, you will need to establish at least 3 extensions.  In order for this to work you will need 1 DTA and 1 phone for every extension.  Each DTA and phone combination costs $100 plus an additional $40 activation fee for each line.  Since each of these extensions attaches to what is the equivalent of a PBX, meaning that calls to extensions are processed just as they usually would be processed within a corporate office.  You will also receive the following features:

• Soft-buttons for voicemail and don’t disturb
• An incredibly flexible system
• Extension assignments
• Routing
• An auto-attendant
• System-related functions that are managed through the PBX’s Web interface
• Great sound quality and no noticeable delay
• Voicemail with message forwarding and e-mail notification
• Call transfer
• Automatic call forwarding
• 3-way conferencing
• Music/messaging on hold
• Distinctive ringing for internal/external calls
• Caller ID
• Call-waiting caller ID
• Stutter tone notifications
• Call park/call pick-up

This service works particularly well for virtual offices.

ICallGlobe

This is one of the largest VoIP service providers that is available throughout the world today.  They specialize in offering a lot of different types of Internet Telephony Solutions for businesses including high quality VoIP Call Termination at cost-effective prices.  You can rest assured that with this company you will receive consistent service that is both secure and stable.

Skype

Skype has been one of the foremost free VoIP service providers in the world since 2003.  Today it is announced in 28 languages and utilized by almost every country.  The software can be downloaded online so that you can make phone calls over the Internet for free.  You can also call other phones, including cell phones, throughout the world for a very low price.

Phone Power

Phone Power is the latest production telephone company that transforms your broadband Internet connection into a telephone line.  They offer a flat-rate calling plan that will save you between 60% and 70% on your phone bill.  You will also enjoy a lot of great, free features with this service, including caller ID, call waiting and voicemail.

ViaTalk

ViaTalk offers a very price effective and absolute VoIP service for those who reside within the United States.  Whether you are a residential or company user you will be able to enjoy their state of the art fiber optic network.  You will also receive high quality service and 24/7 technical service.

Summary

Garnering an understanding of VoIP phone service is the first thing you will need to do in order to decide whether or not this service is right for you.  Hopefully these VoIP reviews have made it easier for you to see which company will work best for you if you have decided to go with VoIP.  Regardless of whether you are a business or a residential home, choosing these things is of great importance and this is something that we definitely understand.

This software will provide all of your employees with an opportunity to improve upon their customer service skills.  It will also allow you to be able to easily train new staff members.  The dynamic recording software lets you locate calls by searching for their extension numbers, as well as by phone number, day and time.  Furthermore, the files can be emailed directly to you for easy access.

Notification Of Telephone Recording Within The U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that telephone companies provide notification to their customers before being allowed to record phone conversations.  This notification must be made prior to the telephone conversation in the form of either a verbal or written consent.  The most commonly used form of notification is verbal.  Then during the course of the call, an observable beep tone may be repeated at regular intervals.

There are both two-party and one-party notification states within the U.S.  The two-party notification states are those in which two parties must be made aware that the recording is taking place.  On the other hand, in one-party notification states only one party needs to be informed that a recording is taking place.  Two-party notification states include:

• California
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Montana
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• Pennsylvania
• Washington

All of the other states (including the District of Columbia) only require consent from one party.

Notification Of Telephone Recording Within Other Countries

In other countries (i.e. Canada) the law requires that at least one of the parties that is involved in the phone call needs to know that the call is being recorded before it can be recorded.

Why Businesses Record Telephone Calls

While it was already mentioned that businesses record phone calls in order to better train their employees, there are also other reasons why they do this.  Some of these other reasons are as follows:

• This provides a business with proof of what transpired during the call
• It enables a business to monitor its employees performance or to train their staff
• Call recording provides a business with training material that can be used to teach and train new call agents
• Recorded calls can be used for simulation so that trainees can get a feel of what it is like to deal with real customers, which is very important since call centers need to be able to train their staff how to respond to the various concerns that they will encounter
• Recording helps identify what problems are encountered whenever agents are dealing with customers so that conflicts and disputes, in particular, can be settled
• Recorded calls can be reviewed to check whether problems were due to poor agent performance, poor sales scripts or another reason
• Recording helps to maintain the quality of calls and improve the customer experience while also improving the business’ reputation at the same time
• Call recording ensures that the company adheres to certain standards (i.e. any contact center that deals with finance transactions must record all calls because of FSA regulations)

Maximizing The Benefits Of Call Recording

A business is able to maximize the benefits of a call recording solution.  The best way in which to do this is by looking a call recording system that is already integrated into a dialer system that is specifically designed for a contact center.  Whenever you install such a well-designed dialer system that is equipped with call recording, your business’ efficiency and quality will definitely be improved, which is what your main goal should be here.

What SIP Is

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is a technology that allows the convergence of your company’s phone and data lines through Internet connectivity.  You will also be able to set up connections between devices such as computers, PBXs, phones, servers and video conferencing units.  Whenever you have a trunk deployed within your company you simply are not going to be using traditional TDMs, PRIs or PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) in order to make your phone calls.  Instead, everything is routed through the Internet.

Today SIP Trunking is no longer limited only to voice.  Instead, it is able to support a lot of different types of services, including instant messaging, telephone or video conferencing, video broadcasting and multi-player gaming.  All of these telecommunication lines are coursed through the Internet, so there is no need for expensive ISDN and PSTN circuits.

SIP’s Relevance

SIP is important to any business that values voice communication and makes or accepts phone calls on a regular basis.  There are numerous ways in which your business can benefit from this technology, including:

• You will be able to save money on all of your local and international phone calls since they are made through the Internet.  This means that you will no longer have to pay monthly phone bills since Internet connectivity is much more affordable today, even at high bandwidths, and SIP ensures that you will be able to take advantage of that.  Of course, there are numerous factors (i.e. number of calls made, when the calls are made, what numbers are being called, how long the calls last) that will affect just how much you can save.  For this reason you will need to show your recent phone bill to a SIP trunk provider in order to get an accurate estimate of your savings.
• SIP Trunks can be used regardless of the company’s size or how many phone calls need to be made.
• Voice and data can be integrated so that the can be controlled or managed depending upon your company’s needs at specific times.  For instance, you can pool phone and Internet connectivity so that you will be able to handle more calls during peak hours.
• You won’t need any hardware to connect to your PBX system like you would with traditional ISDN lines.  This alone can save you a lot of money.

These are just some of the many benefits that you will receive from SIP Trunking.  Now you should be able to clearly see what you are missing out on.

Call Quality

Once you have your SIP trunking properly set up the call’s quality will be as, if not better than, your regular phone service.  However, if an expert does not set it up for you, then you will probably have packet loss and latency in your connection.  This will negatively affect your call quality.

How Consumers Can Benefit

Consumers with a standard Internet connection will not get a high quality call signal.  Therefore, the cost reduction will not be advantageous to you.  If you don’t mind having some fluctuations in your call quality, then you use this method.  Just make sure that you have a back up just in case it fails miserably.

In Conclusion

SIP trunking is definitely not a fad.  There are a lot of big businesses (i.e. Cisco, Verizon, Microsoft, Mitel, Siemens, Avaya, Panasonic, Nortel, Samsung) that depend upon it today.  If you want to be one of these businesses, you will need to get an Internet connection of 2mbps for less than 30 channels and for in excess of 30 channels.  It really will only take this long for you to be set up and ready to use SIP trunking in your office too.

Software Programs That Utilize SIP Providers

A lot of the software programs that offer voice, video and text (i.e. iChat, Skype) actually utilize SIP providers to make their programs work.  As such, you can have voice chat in real time, just like you would have if you were talking over the telephone.  It also allows for video conferencing in real time too.

How To Choose An SIP Provider

Whenever you are choosing an SIP Provider it is a good idea to take a look at all of the different services that they have to offer, how much they charge for their service and then compare these things to what you feel as though you want and need.  For instance, most people do not need to send large amounts of medical data through the Internet or to call somewhere overseas on a regular basis.  This is why it is so important for you to choose a package that includes only those options that you are going to use so that you do not end up paying for options that you will never even use.  Whenever you begin looking around at the various SIP providers that are in business today you will find that there are lots of services available and hundreds of different options to choose from.  This will make it easy for you to do some research so that you are sure to choose the one that will work best for you.

How To Start Using An SIP Provider

In order to get started using an SIP Provider, you simply need to choose a program and have an IP, SIP or email address.  Once you have these things any person who wants to call you will simply enter your address into their SIP enabled software program.  The provider will then connect this person’s software to your software so that you will be able to have either a voice or a video chat in real time.  Oftentimes you will also get such great features as voice mail.  So, whenever you are trying to reach someone who is not currently available, you can simply listen to their recording then be able to leave them a message.  Of course, anyone who calls your SIP address will also have the same ability.  If you do receive a message, it will be delivered directly to your email as an attachment.  This means that you will be able to pick up the message at your convenience and listen to it whenever or wherever you would like to do so.

The World’s Reaction To SIP

Both the Internet and the telephone world are being taken by storm thanks to this SIP service.  The thing that makes this service so great is that it is actually quite affordably priced – either free or extremely cheap.  Regardless of how much you pay, you will find that SIP service is a lot easier on your checkbook than your traditional telephone service because an SIP service will not charge you more money for every feature that you have or want.  You also don’t have to worry about all of the different fees, taxes and other costs that are associated with a traditional telephone service and thus makes it very expensive to use on a monthly basis.

In Conclusion

SIP services have a lot of great advantages to them.  For this reason they are quite popular amongst businesses today.  While this is still seen as a very trendy and highly equipped interface, it does have a lot of really attractive aspects to it (i.e. multiparty calls, video conferencing, audio chatting).  All of these things can be very beneficial to any business that is trying to not only survive but to also thrive in today’s world.

Risky Business

Placing a customer on hold is risky business but it happens all the time.  It is a risk because lost calls cost your business money.  Nevertheless, studies have shown that 50% of callers will hang up after they are on hold for just 21 seconds, which is not a lot of time.  These studies also show that more than 70% of all business calls are placed on hold for an average of 45.8 seconds.  Of the 50% of calls that hang up, only 16% will ever call back.  That means that you will lose 34% of all business that is placed on hold and of course this is not good news for any business.

Implementing A Music On Hold System

It is really easy to implement a professional on hold music system.  You can have a custom script created to present your marketing message.  Then you can submit this script to have a professional voice talent read and record it.  There are a lot of different voices available for you to choose from so that you can meet your audience’s demographics.

Benefits To Using An On Hold Message

There are a lot of benefits to using an on hold messaging system, including:

• Reducing caller abandonment
• Making an impression
• Creating initial interest
• Reminding your callers about the higher-margin products you have available
• Making a direct response offer
• Answering frequent caller questions
• Strengthening your brand’s image
• Effectively creating more leads and thus creating more revenue

All of these great things are at your fingertips since you already have the customer’s attention since they are on hold waiting for you to answer their question.  While they are there, you have the best opportunity to market to them.

Finding Companies To Create Your Music

Now that you know all of the great benefits to creating on hold music, you may be wondering where you can find a company that specializes in creating this type of music.  In fact, you may be surprised to find just how well developed this industry is.  This is because there is a great demand from corporate entities that want to use the opportunity of phone calls to engage in building their brand.  This is why you will hear the company’s signature tune or jingle whenever you are placed on hold.  Companies understand that this is a serious brand building opportunity that other companies are capitalizing upon.  At the same time, it also signals the coming together of creative and advertising minds in software service provider companies.

To find a company that will be able to help you create suitable telephone music for you to use whenever your customers are placed on hold, you simply need to go online in search of such companies.  Once you look this information up in any given search engine you will more than likely find yourself amazed at the array of services and also by the type of expertise that is available.  You will actually be able to find everything from basic services to high-end services.  There are also a lot of different options that you can easily evaluate to see just how much your company will be able to benefit from them.  This is great news to any business that is ready to further capitalize upon their marketing efforts.

NEC

NEC is a pioneer company in the telecommunications industry.  They have a lot of different types of telephony products to offer.  However, PBX is their premier telephony product.  Their PBX offers great telephone performance capabilities with networking capabilities, the ability to manage call distribution and messaging.  They are also working on upgrading to integrate an IP telephony/NEC PBX system with the prevailing network infrastructure so that companies will be able to increase both their productivity and their profitability.

NEAX IP PBX

NEC offers NEAX IP PBX, which is a type of next generation PBX.  This system complies with various IP interfaces and standards and it really does have a lot to offer, including:

• Distributed call processing
• Associate-to-associate VOIP connectivity
• Greater system capacity
• Wireless communications
• ISDN capacity
• Maximum traffic capacity
• A faster processor
• Greater memory
• Advanced network integration
• Least cost routing
• Integrated voicemail
• Tenant service
• Call forwarding
• Operator console
• Flexible line size
• Flexible numbering plan

With all of these great features this system will bring tremendous change in business communications.

VoIP (a.k.a. Voice over Internet Protocol or IP telephony)

Today VoIP has become a widespread means of communication.  In the past only a few people were using it but today a lot more people are now using it.  While the number of players within this field has already grown substantially, it is expected to continue to grow.  With such heavy competition it is no wonder that service providers are slashing their prices and offering a lot more features.

How These Companies Do It

IP telephony uses packet-switching protocol in order to transmit voice signals over broadband lines instead of the conventional circuit-switching network.  Analysts predict that whenever unified messaging services include voice mail, email, faxes and pages are coupled with IP telephones, the market will be propelled to incredible heights.

How IP Telephony Works In Other Countries

Even in countries that do not have a large-scale demand for IP phone systems, there are still great figures.  This is because the users in these countries recognize the benefits of VoIP based on Open Source.  While this system requires more manpower and energy to operate, there are some current trends (i.e. the use of 3G phones) that will make it possible for this type of technology to succeed.

What The Future Holds For IP Telephony

The growth of VoIP shows that it has a great potential for influencing the telecommunications market and bringing about a radical change therein.  In fact, the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted a survey whose results show that there has been an exponential increase in the use of PCs to make phone calls via applications like Skype or Yahoo Messenger.  This means that in the future there is going to be a steady increase in residential subscription of VoIP systems and thus businesses are no longer the main users.  Part of this is due to the fact that there is an increased need for cheaper and faster forms of communication.

Quite a number of years ago industry developers foresaw the trend of mobile VoIP use as tablets and smart phones were created.  Where this will go in the future is anyone’s guess though. One thing is for sure, there are still some difficulties that need to be overcame.  For instance, it is difficult for small users to keep up with the latest upgrades because of their cost.  However, even this should be something that can be overcome within the next few years.

To Get Connected To Multiple Departments

In order to make communication possible throughout all of the company’s different sections, the providers will give them connections to all of the extension phone lines.  This will be done in the form of one to four digit multiple extensions.  Once in place the incoming calls will be linked to the company’s appropriate personal extensions.  This is done through a hosted server.

Find-Me/Follow-Me – An All-Time Tracking Service

Once you have this sophisticated system in place within your office, your employees will never be out of reach of the people who are trying to call them.  This is because the calls are attended to by the auto attendant system.  It will welcome the callers with a professional greeting that you have installed within the system.  Afterwards, callers simply need to follow the directions that they are give in order to be able to reach the right employee.  In this fashion, any incoming calls will be automatically rolled into the users’ phone line extension.

A Perfect Option For People Who Are On The Move

Whenever you are traveling or in another branch of the office you more than likely are not going to be able to attend to the incoming calls.  However, auto attendants will be able to ensure that your incoming calls are placed in the correct voicemail boxes.  Afterwards, a message notification regarding the voice message will be sent to the users’ cell phone number or to another alternative number that you have provided.  This allows the user to be able to listen to the message later through their computer’s audio system.  In this way you are made very accessible to any incoming calls and thus you never have to worry about missing out on an important business deal again.

Choosing The Right Provider

Today there are a lot of providers who offer hosted PBX systems that feature auto attendant services.  It is important for you to identify the right provider who will be able to give you the high quality service that you deserve.  Once you have found this type of a provider you will be able to activate the auto attendant service in your workplace.  Usually you can use your existing phone number for this but sometimes you will need to get a new phone number.

A Range Of Great Features

Whenever your business has a lot of internal departments with their own telephone extensions, an auto attendant will be able to reduce the burden of manually attending and rerouting each individual call.  This is because your callers will be able to use the system that you have configured in order to reach the right person and department.  You will be able to obtain an auto attendant system as part of your virtual PBX system.  It will then be hosted either at the PBX provider’ facility.

The message recording functionality within these systems will also help your firm provide customized messages to callers.  This system also features voicemail, the ability to transfer calls to outside telephone lines, automated directory services and music for whenever someone is placed on hold.  These features will enable your employees to never miss their valued customers’ phone calls again.

Affordably Project Your Image As A Flourishing Company

With all of the great features that these auto attendant systems can provide your company with, there are definitely a lot of great benefits too.  Since these systems are now becoming a whole lot more affordable than they ever were in the past and they are also now less complex, you will find that they are widely used in business firms and corporate offices throughout the world.  This is why you should also have this system within your office as it will significantly enhance your professional image.