Chapter 3: Getting Started

Familiarize Yourself with the System

Once you have installed the voicemail software you are ready to begin using your system. If your are starting a new session, turn on your computer and wait for the computer to initialize itself.

On the Windows NT™ desktop, click on Start, Programs, and look for the program group which contains your voicemail software - Voice Service Bureau.. Double-click   to open this window, and you should now see your voicemail software application up on the screen.

Now that you have the program running you may want to click around with the mouse to familiarize yourself with the different menus and icons available. At the top of your program window you will see the voice software title and version number. Just below this is what is called the "Menu Bar". Click on any menu item to drop down a list of Commands. You can now click on any command in the drop-down list that you would like to explore.

To close any window you may have opened, simply locate the small box in the upper left-hand corner of the window and click on what looks like a minus (-) sign. As you click on the minus sign you will see another drop-down list of commands.  Click on the word Close to close the window. As a shortcut, you can double-click on the minus sign to close any window. If you double-click on the minus sign in your main program window you will close your voicemail software.

If you have more than one window open you may see windows peeking out from behind your current window. To bring one of these background windows to the front, simply point your arrow to any part of the window that is visible and click. The window you have selected will automatically be brought to the top of the stack.

Windows NT™ has many key commands (shortcuts) that you can use to perform functions faster. For example, the shortcut to exit the currently running program is to press ALT+F4 (the ALT key and the F4 key simultaneously). If you are unfamiliar with basic Windows NT™ shortcuts you should review the Windows NT™ online tutorial. To enter the Windows NT™ tutorial, exit your voice program, and from the Program Manager window select the Windows NT™ Tutorial command from the HELP menu.

Deciding Upon Your Setup

Once you have familiarized yourself with some of the screens in your voicemail software it's time to consider what you would like your system to do for you. As mentioned earlier, the software has been written to serve many different purposes. There is an extremely large number of features and, depending on your particular application, you will most likely not need to concern yourself with all of them. For now, write down what you would like the system to do, and make a list of features that you think you might need.

Voicemail Terms and Definitions

Before we begin our discussion of how to construct a simple call routing system we need to define a few terms that will be used throughout the remainder of this manual.

Routing

You will want to begin to think about the paths that you would like callers to take through your system. Callers will select different destinations by pressing touch-tone keys in response to your prompts. The process of defining paths that callers will follow to arrive at their ultimate destination is called "routing". Callers may desire to reach a voice Mail Box, hear recorded information, receive a fax, or possibly be transferred to an operator. As you set up your call routing you will want to be sure to allow callers to circle back to a previous list of options. In a later chapter we will set up a simple voicemail system and discuss call routing in more detail.

Recording

As you set up your voicemail system you will need to make several different types of recordings, which are described below.

Greetings - You will record greetings at different points within your call routing which may provide information to callers, present touch-tone key options, or ask the caller for touch-tone or voice input.

Box Names - These are recordings used to identify a particular box within your system. A Mail Box holder would record his/her name when prompted, and this name will be used by the system when appropriate. For example, when a caller reaches the voice Mail Box of Mary Jones, the system could be set up to say, "Please hold while I transfer to Mary Jones".

If a box name has not been recorded for a particular Mail Box you will hear the default system prompt "That Box" instead of a Mail Box name. If a box name has not been recorded for any other type of box you will hear the default system prompt "No Message Recorded" instead of the box name.

Box names are also used during remote access functions to help you identify the box you are modifying when you retrieve messages, change greetings, or get other information such as box counts.

Messages - These are recordings left by callers in voice Mail Boxes.

Prompts - These are messages that come prerecorded with your system. They are often used in conjunction with recordings that you will make while setting up your system.

You may rerecord some or all of the system prompts by selecting the Prompts command from the MAINTAIN menu. If you ever hear "No Message Recorded" it means that the system is trying to play a file that has not yet been recorded. You can then run a "trace" to find out the name of the prompt or message that needs to be recorded. (See Display Activity in Chapter 20k for information on saving and viewing a Trace file.)

Recording Greetings, Box Names, Messages and Prompts

The procedure for recording greetings, names, messages and prompts is basically the same. So, for the purpose of describing the recording procedure, we will refer to all of these recordings as "greetings".

When you select any button which allows recordings to be made, you will be presented with three commands: Play, Record, and Delete. If you have not yet recorded a greeting, only the Record command will be available to you. To make a recording, click on the Record command to activate the record mode of your voice card. Using either the telephone or microphone attached to your SoundSet, speak the greeting that you would like to record. The switches on the SoundSet would be set for LOCAL and SPEAKER when recording with a phone, MIKE, when recording with a mike. It is recommended that you learn to record and set up your system using a telephone. It is easier than switching back and forth between MIKE and SPEAKER(MIKE to record, SPEAKER to play) With a telephone, you can leave the one switch set to SPEAKER. As you enter the record mode a button entitled Done will appear. Begin speaking into the phone (or mike). Without  a SoundSet, you will need to change the default setting under Maintain, Voice Port from SoundSet to 'call in'. Then, when you click on record,the system will show a screen that says 'waiting for call'. You need to have a telephone line plugged into the voice card on the line you selected, and call that phone number.  so, to do this, you need 2 telephone lines. One for you to use to make the call, and the one that is plugged into the voice board. Click on the Done button when you have completed your greeting. You now have the options available to either Play your greeting back or Delete it. If you click on Play, a play control screen will appear which allows you to Rewind (left button), Stop (middle button), or Fast-Forward (right button) through your greeting. If you are satisfied with your greeting you can exit the recording options menu. If you are not satisfied with your greeting you can click on the Delete command to erase it, then start over again with the Record command. Remeber to set the switch back to line when you are finished, or you won't be able to get any calls on that line.

Boxes

Boxes are the basic building blocks of your voicemail system. To route callers you will set up a string, or strings, of boxes that callers will pass through while visiting your system. There are ten types of boxes within your system, and each box type performs a unique function. It is extremely important that you understand how each type of box functions so that you can get the most out of your system. Here is a list of box types, which we will describe in detail in the chapters to follow.

1. Access Box

2. Client Box

3. Conference Box

4. Fax Box

5. Group Mail Box

6. Mail Box

7. OutBound Box

8. Question Box

9. Screening/Capture Box (also referred to as a Capture Box)

10. Screening/Search Box (also referred to as a Search Box)

11. Phantom Boxes

This list might appear overwhelming to you now, but as you become familiar with the concept of boxes you'll see that each box type is simply a variation on the same basic concept. As you work with the system you'll quickly learn the workings of each box type. If you would like to see a diagram of how boxes work together, take a look at the Application Guide section. Once you learn the function of each box type you will be able to perform all kinds of neat voicemail tricks!

A Description of Each Box Type

Below is a description of each box type. Refer back to these descriptions often until you have a good understanding of the function of each box type, and how they will fit into your system.

Access Box - These play a greeting to callers and also tell them which touch-tone key options are available to reach a particular department, individual, Mail Box, informative recording, etc. Callers cannot leave a message in an Access Box. Access Boxes are simply steps along the way for the caller.

Note: If an Access Box has been set in Tweaks to deliver the time, date, temperature, or any combination thereof, the recorded greeting for this Access Box will NOT be played. Also, if you have set an Access Box to play contest counts, the contest count will be played immediately following the recorded greeting. It will play the date/time as you have set, then will continue to the box you have listed under DEFAULT.

Client Box - These boxes are used to define an "owner" that will control some or all boxes in your system. All boxes, regardless of type, will have a "Client" owner. For most applications, there is only one Client which is you, the system supervisor. By default all boxes created belong to you, and you are Client 0. One situation in which you would create a second Client Box is if you were renting a section of your system to someone else who would, in effect, become a second system supervisor. You would establish a Client Box for this individual, and all boxes belonging to this second supervisor would then be given the number of this new Client Box you create. You, as the primary system supervisor, could then bill this second system supervisor for all activity which pertains to this second Client Box number.

Important: The password for a Client Box allows remote access to all boxes, regardless of type, that belong to the particular Client. It is advised that you use a long password for the Client Box and change it often. see Remote Access.

Conference Box - Within a Conference Box 2 callers can speak to one another for a predetermined amount of time. After the allotted time you specify has expired you can route callers to any box in the system (main menu Access Box, your supervisor's Mail Box, Phantom Key hang-up, etc.)

Note: To use the Conference Box feature of your software you must have a voice board that supports conferencing. Please contact technical support if you are unsure of the capabilities of your voice board(s).

Fax Box - In this box type you will define which documents you would like to make available to callers as fax documents. Fax Boxes can also can be set up to receive faxes submitted by callers. You will only use Fax Boxes if you plan to use the fax features of your voicemail software and you have at lease one optional fax card installed. If this is not the case, you will not need to use a Fax Box.(requires FaxTalker Add-on purchase)

Group Mail Box - This box type allows you to group different Mail Boxes together to receive broadcast messages. For example, you could group together all males, or all management level employees, or all individuals interested in hiking. The purpose of grouping individuals is so that you, or any caller with access to the Group Mail Box, can easily send a broadcast message to each member of the group. The real benefit of a Group Mail message is that Group Mail messages will only be saved on your hard drive once rather than one copy for each recipient.

If a caller wishes to leave a message for all members of a specific group, this can be done simply by recording a message in a Group Mail Box which has a predefined message distribution list. You may set up Group Mail Boxes for your own use, or you might rent them out to individuals with specialized interests who want to set up their own forum on your system to address a specific topic.

Mail Box - These are often the ultimate destination for callers. Each of your subscribers could have a Mail Box, and so could each individual in your company. The Mail Box serves as a place for callers to leave messages. Messages left in a Mail Box can be retrieved remotely from any touch-tone phone by the Mail Box holder. Each Mail Box can also be set up independently with a variety of powerful options such as call transfer, multiple greetings, paging, and message notification.

OutBound Box - This type of box will allow you to use your voice system's outbound dialing capabilities. In this box type you define the phone numbers that will be dialed, the message that will be delivered when the phone is answered, and the actions the system will take if a number is busy or unanswered. As an example, an OutBound Box can be used for automated sales calls, automated survey taking, or automated political polling.

Question Box - This box type is used to record answers to questions that you define. Answers can be in the form of a voice response or touch-tone key input. For example, you might use a Question Box to ask callers how often they use a particular product, or the number of miles they live from your store location. The caller would then provide the appropriate touch-tone key or voice input, which would be stored in a database which can be reviewed using the Question Box command in the MESSAGES menu.

Screening/Capture Box - The Screening/Capture Box, which we will refer to simply as a "Capture Box" from here on, works in conjunction with the Screening/Search Box, and is used to ask new box owners questions, record their input, and create new Mail Boxes on-the-fly. For example, if you are running a matchmaking service you could set up a Capture Box to ask each new Mail Box holder the following two questions:

1. The box holder's age range (Press 1 if you are between 18 and 24, press 2 if you are between 25 and 34, press 3 if you are 35 or older).

2. Smoker or nonsmoker (Press 1 if you are a smoker, press 2 if you are a nonsmoker).

Responses to these two questions will form a "profile" for each Mail Box holder on your system. This profile will be attached to the newly-created Mail Box, and will be used by the Screening/Search box (see Screening/Search box below).

The Capture Box can create Mail Boxes on-the-fly for callers, and it also can prompt callers to create a recorded profile description that will be played to callers when a match is made using the accompanying Screening/Search Box.

Screening/Search Box - The Screening/Search Box, which we will refer to simply as a "Search Box" from here on, works in conjunction with the Capture Box. This box is used to ask callers questions that will be used to locate Mail Box holders whose profile matches the caller's selection criteria. When designing your system, the questions asked of callers in a Search Box should closely mirror the questions asked in the Capture Box used to record Mail Box holder profiles. In continuing the example presented in the Capture Box description, you might ask callers the following two questions:

1) What is the age range of individuals you are interested in meeting? Press 1 for individuals 18 to 24, press 2 for individuals 25 to 34, press 3 for individuals 35 and older.

2) Would the caller prefer a smoker or nonsmoker? Press 1 if you prefer a smoker, press 2 if you prefer a nonsmoker.

After a caller enters the desired search criteria, the Search Box looks for Mail Box holder profiles which match these selections. After appropriate matches have been identified, you decide what options will be presented to the caller by how you set up your system. A typical matchmaking service might play for the caller all matching Mail Box holder recorded profile descriptions.

Phantom Boxes - The following Phantom Boxes can be accessed from the Phantom Boxes submenu (found within the four finder screens) to help you route callers through your system. The following is a list containing each Phantom Box type and an explanation of the function it performs:

H - Hang Up - says good-bye and disconnects the caller

R - Return - returns the caller to the previous box (any type of box)

S - Supervisor - allows remote access to multiple boxes per call (any type of box)

U - User - allows remote access to only one box per call (any type of box)

Send fax - not yet implemented

Fonebar - separately purchased add-on module - see Part III b: Fonebar

Hebrew Date - automatically converts any date to the Hebrew calendar date

Change greetings - use with caution - this phantom will automatically change all selected greetings for mailboxes in a given directory. for example, let's say all your Sales people have mailboxes in Directory A (see Directories below). All those mailboxes have multiple greetings - greeting 1 transfers to their respective desk phones, greeting 2 transfers to their respective home phones, etc. Now let's say there is a terrible snowstorm and no one can get to your office. With a couple of key presses you can blanketly change ALL those mailboxes to greeting number 2. So, all your sales calls will transparently go your sales people at their homes.

DA through DH - Directories A through H.

Directories are used to route callers to one of eight directories available for grouping Mail Boxes. Each Mail Box belongs to at least one of the eight available directories, and all Mail Boxes belong to Directory A by default. You can select the directories you want each Mail Box to belong to inside each Mail Box.

Multiple directories are useful if you have a large organization, and one list of Mail Box holders would be too large to be useful. You could, for example, use a different directory for each department within a company. After you enter the Mail Box holder's name in each mail box Name field (i.e. Smith, Mike), a search can be performed in the selected directory by callers using up to the first four letters of a Mail Box holder's last name. If you entered the Mail Box holder's name as "Mike Smith" the directory search would produce a match on the name "Mike".

Note: The Mail Box name does not necessarily have to be an individual's name. You could enter anything you wish to be used in Directory searches- such as "Customer Service" in the Mail Box name field.

IMPORTANT: You MUST have the mailbox name RECORDED in order for it to be available through a directory.

FF Key -  allows the caller to fast forward through an Access Box greeting message

Rew Key - allows the caller to rewind through an Access Box greeting message

Pause Key - allows the caller to pause during an Access Box greeting message

*The above 3 keys use the same time configurations as listed under Maintain, Voice Messages.

Repeat Key - allows caller to have Access Box greeting repeated

The above keys are useful if you have any particularly long greeting messages, such as homework assignments or lengthy instructions. The 4 above keys are only available in an Access Box.

To select a Phantom Box you can either double-click on the box you wish to use from the Phantom Box submenu, or click on the box type you wish to use and click the Select button.

How Boxes Are Numbered

Your system keeps track of boxes by giving each box a unique number within the range of 0 and 999,999,999 (with a maximum of 100,000 boxes allowable on the system). The reason for allowing such large box numbers is so that boxes can be numbered with seven-digit phone numbers, or even nine-digit Social Security numbers. Each number can be used only once. This means that if you set up your system with your initial greeting contained in an Access Box, and this box happens to be box number 10, you could not have a Mail Box number 10. Keeping this in mind, you will want to establish a block of box numbers to contain your system routing boxes which will not interfere with any Mail Box numbers you may want to use in the future. You might decide that your system routing boxes will all be numbered below 1000, and your Mail Boxes will be numbered from 1000 to 9999.

Making a Setup Chart

You have now been exposed to all of the basic components which go into creating a voicemail system. You should now begin to think about exactly what you would like your system to do. It is a good idea to sit down and make a chart of the paths you would like callers to follow through your system. Some voicemail systems are quite simple, having only an initial greeting which leads directly to a few Mail Boxes. Other setups can be quite elaborate, using a large number of boxes to route callers.

Note: You can refer to the Part IV Sample Application Guide section  to see several examples of how you could set up your system.

Creating A Script

After you have formulated a routing layout for your system you should write out a "script" of what you would like callers to hear when they call into your system. Also think about what you would like callers to hear along the way as they reach various points within your system.

As callers call into your system you could send them to an initial greeting (contained in an Access Box) which might sound something like this:

"Welcome to Joe's Dating Service, the matchmaking service with more options! Press 1 if this is your first time using our service, 2 if you already have an account with us, 3 if would like to go directly to a particular Mail Box, or 4 to reach our business office."

In your chart this initial greeting would be the first step, and it will be recorded in the first Access Box in your call routing.

To continue your chart you will route callers based on the options you have established in the initial Access Box. Your initial greeting will need to explain to callers the touch-tone options that are available. In our example above, if the caller presses 1 you could route the caller to an Access Box which contains recorded information about how to join your service. If the caller presses 2 you might route the caller to the User Access Phantom which prompts the caller for a Mail Box number and password, then routes them to their Mail Box to check mail, etc. You can use as many Access Boxes as you need until you finally guide the caller to the next step, which might be a Capture Box, Search Box, Mail Box, Fax Box, Conference Box, etc.

At each Access Box you will need to make decisions about where a caller will be sent if a selection is not made within the time allowed (default routing), or if a key is pressed that you have not defined (error routing). Later, when we describe the Access Box options in more detail, you will see how routing information is entered in an Access Box. For now just keep in mind that you will need to provide default routing and error routing information for every Access Box.

Important: The initial box that callers are routed to does not have to be the lowest-numbered box on your system, and it does not have to be an Access Box. The initial box is determined by the settings in the Switch Information window, which is accessed through the Switch command in the MAINTAIN menu. All phone lines can be routed to the same initial box, or each line can be independently set to answer with the box of your choice.

A Round Robin

A "Round Robin" is when you give callers the option to go back to a previous menu or return to a previous point in your system. In your planning, you might designate a digit that will allow callers to return to a familiar menu or group of options. This will help make your system much more user friendly. If you have the capability of making transfers and would like to give callers the option of speaking with a live operator you can designate a key, such as 0, that would send callers to a Mail Box which is set up to perform the transfer function.

 

NEXT> Chapter 4:  Quick Start Guide