ACME’s Vice President of Voice Services submitted the following list of requirements for ACME’s main automated attendant application:
Anyone calling our main telephone number should be greeted with a short, professional recording telling the caller to dial an extension or to press a single key for the Sales, Shipping or Accounting departments. If the call is from a rotary phone, send them to the operator as quickly as possible.
If they do not know the extension number, allow the caller to spell out the person’s name to find the extension number. The President and I do not want, under any circumstances, a caller to be able to find out what our extension numbers or voice mailbox numbers are. Incidentally, anyone dialing either extension should be routed to our respective secretaries.
Anyone calling a Department’s main number directly should reach that department’s automated attendant. (I don’t want to have to dedicate lines in the system for this.) You should know that the Shipping department is working two shifts, including a full night shift on Sundays. Their auto-attendant should reflect this fact. Also, Accounting doesn’t take outside calls on Wednesday afternoons.
I want a year’s worth of holidays pre-programmed in the system at all times. Each holiday should have its own special cheery recordings.
If something happens, such as a major snowstorm, I want you to be able to change our main automated attendant from your home, so we can tell callers that no one will be in the office and the company is closed.
I want to be able to find out if a particular person is answering calls when they are supposed to be available... or if they are skipping out early every day. Give me statistics on this.
The NuPoint Unified Messaging Administrator designed the following solution:
"Thank you for calling ACME Manufacturing.
If you know your party's 4 digit extension number, you may enter it now or at any time during this message. To use Dial-by-Name, press [8].
For Sales and Marketing, press [1];
For Shipping, press [2];
For Accounting, press [3];
If you wish to speak with the operator, press [0], or stay on the line."
A caller pressing 2 would hear the Shipping department’s automated attendant greeting:
"Thank you for calling the ACME shipping department.
To check on the status of your order, press [1];
For new orders, press [2];
To report shipping discrepancies, press [3], or stay on the line."
The Shipping department’s automated attendant greets callers through two shifts of the day. Callers dialing Shipping’s direct outside number still reach this recording.
Accounting also has a direct outside number. Callers reach the same recordings when they press 3 from the ACME main automated attendant, or when they dial Accounting directly.
"You have reached the ACME accounting department.
For Accounts Payable, press [1];
For Accounts Receivable, press [2];
For all other inquiries, press [0], or remain on the line."
All of the power, flexibility and features available at the organization’s NP-UM Agent application are also available to every department, extension or mailbox within the organization. This is because all NP-UM Agent applications are built from combinations of the same basic building block -- the call box.