| Unified Communications
WHAT
CAN I DO WITH UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS?
FirstClass
Unified Communications stores all of your voice, fax, or text
messages in one central location, allowing you to access them
from your FirstClass Mailbox, your telephone, or a web client.
This
unit explains how to set up FirstClass Unified Communications
using the FirstClass client. The first section covers how to set
your voice messaging preferences. Following sections deal with
customizing your voice greetings and configuring your voice messaging
system based on your specific requirements.
Setting
your voice messaging preferences
Set
your voice messaging preferences to specify how your voice messaging
works best for you. Through custom greetings, some of these preferences
can be overridden for specific callers, specific called numbers,
or at set times during the day.
On
your Mac or Windows client, access your voice messaging preferences
on the FirstClass Preferences form.
1.
Choose Edit > Preferences
2.
Go to the Messaging - Voice tab.
Called,
No message:
If
a caller hangs up without leaving a message FirstClass Unified
Communications can be configured to generate a Called, No message
notification in your Mailbox.
Generate
for valid caller ID's applies to any incoming number the system
can identify.
Generate
for invalid caller ID's applies to blocked numbers and calls from
analog cell phones.
Call
transfer menu:
Key/Transfer
to number: Select a key and enter a corresponding extension/phone
number to allow all callers to transfer from your line to another
number. You can have up to two transfer numbers. Be sure to enter
the full number including the area code with no spaces or other
separators. Do not enter 1 for long distance calls, since the
system has been programmed to do this automatically.
List
these options in your voice greetings so callers are aware of
them.
If
you want to allow only certain callers to transfer, customize
a greeting to override these preferences. See "Call Handling
tab" in the following section.
Accept
faxes:
Click
on the checkbox to accept faxes into your Mailbox.
Format
for incoming faxes:
Each
page as separate attachment (PCX): is the default setting. It
makes downloading and saving selected pages of a fax easy.
One
attachment for all pages (DCX): if you select this setting, all
pages of the fax will be included in one attachment.
Message
play options:
Auto
play unread messages: When accessing messages by phone, the message
will play automatically without first pressing 2 to begin the
playback.
Suppress
message envelope: The message will play without first playing
envelope information such as the caller's name or the time of
the call.
Play
only From name: Only the caller's name or phone number will play
before the message.
Mailbox
language:
The
user has a choice between English (United States) and French (Canada) to be the default language for the user's Mailbox.
When a particular language is chosen, the fields in the Mailbox
(like "to:", "Name:", "Subject"
etc.) will be displayed in the chosen language.
TTS
language:
Text-to-speech
language. The user has a choice between English (United States) and French (Canada) to be the default language for the user's incoming
text messages.
Types of voice greetings
For all external calls, the system will look for an external
greeting.
For all internal calls, the system will look for an internal
greeting. If there is no internal greeting, the system will look
for an external greeting to play.
Both external and internal greetings will be searched
for in the following order:
Scheduled greeting with override
Scheduled greetings will play at scheduled times, overriding
any non-scheduled external greeting. You can have scheduled greetings
which play for specific called numbers, or for chosen callers.
If there is a schedule conflict, the most recently created scheduled
greeting will play.
Override greeting for calling or called number
You can have greetings which play for specific called
numbers (if you have more than one phone number linked to your
FirstClass Unified Communications Mailbox), or for chosen callers
(calling number). The system will check for these settings and
override other less customized greetings.
Enabled greeting
This is a standard enabled greeting with no custom settings.
Your external greeting will play for internal callers if you have
not recorded an internal greeting.
Spoken name
Your spoken name will identify you as the sender for
any voice message sent to FirstClass Unified Communications users.
If you record no other greetings, your spoken name and the default
system greeting will play for all callers.
System greeting
If you have recorded no greetings, the system greeting
will play and the system will play your name using text to speech
if you have this feature installed. The system greeting will be
similar to the following:
"Welcome to FirstClass Call Answering. <Name> is not available to take your
call at this time. Please leave a name, number and message after
the tone."
Creating voice greetings with a FirstClass client
If you urgently need to create a new greeting, but you
have only FirstClass client access (no phone or web browser available)
you can record a new greeting by doing the following. Remember
that the sound quality may not be as high as a recording done
by phone.
To create a greeting using the FirstClass client:
1
Open your Voice Greetings folder on your Desktop.
If the folder is not on your Desktop, choose File >
Open > Voice Greetings. The folder will open and will be automatically
added to your Desktop.
2
Click the new greeting icon to create a new greeting,
or choose File
> New > New voice greeting.
3
Record your greeting:
Click record on the recorder panel and record your greeting
using your computers microphone.
Click record again to stop recording.
Customizing
greetings:
There are four tabs on the Voice
Greetings form. Depending on how much you want to customize a
greeting, some greetings will require that settings be changed
on all tabs, while others may only need to be given a unique name
and activated. The basic features of each tab are outlined in
the next few pages.
General tab:
Comments: enter
details about the greeting. If this is a standard external greeting
that plays during regular hours, a logical comment is Standard
external greeting.
Numbers dialed:
This only applies if you have multiple DN's and you want anyone
calling a particular DN to receive a customized message. Enter
the DN's, including area code, that will receive the custom greeting,
separated by commas.
For example, if your work phone,
your digital cell phone, your analog cell phone, and your home
phone are all linked to your Mailbox as valid DN's (the administrator
can set this up), and you have a custom message you want played
for calls to your home number, enter your home number in this
field.
Caller numbers:
This refers to specific incoming phone numbers. Enter the phone
number(s), including area code, that will receive the custom greeting,
separated by commas.
If you want a client to receive a
personal greeting, enter the phone number and record a personalized
greeting that plays for that client only.
Do not enter 1 before a long distance
number. If it is an international number, include the country
code before the number.
Addressing options:
Within addressing options, you have a choice of forwarding the
incoming messages or sending a copy of the messages to a DN within
your system, to an e-mail address or to a conference. When forwarding
is chosen, no copy of the message will appear in the user's Mailbox.
Call Handling tab:
Normal handling:
This greeting will play and the caller can leave a message. This
is the default setting so you do not have to set it manually.
Mark messages urgent:
This gives messages a priority of urgent. This is useful if you
set your paging preferences to only forward urgent messages.
Transfer to system number,
Transfer to custom number, Disconnect after greeting:
A voice greeting is not required.
Transfer to system number:
Select this if you want all calls to be transferred to the default
system transfer number (usually Reception). If you select this
option and record a greeting for it, you may wish to inform callers
they will be transferred after the greeting.
Transfer to custom number:
This should be used like Transfer to system number, but you would
specify an extension or an external number and the caller will
be transferred automatically.
Disconnect after greeting:
Callers who receive this greeting will have no messaging
options. The greeting will play and the caller will be disconnected.
If you select this option, and record a greeting for it, you may
wish to inform callers they will be disconnected after the greeting.
Caller Transfer:
Allow callers to transfer:
This is selected by default. This allows callers to use
the transfer options you set in your voice preferences. Clearing
the checkbox will prevent callers from using your transfer options
or the FirstClass Unified Communications system transfer option.
Override transfer menu preferences:
This allows you to override the transfer preferences you set on
your voice preferences form for this greeting only. Enter the
key(s) and transfer number(s) you want to use as overrides.
Scheduling tab:
Set a schedule for when this greeting
will play. This can be specific times, days, or a combination
of both.
Starts at: Choose
the start date and time for this greeting.
Ends at: Choose
the end date and time for this greeting.
Duration: Choose
the duration you want the greeting to play. Depending on your
schedule, you may set only Starts at and Duration
and the Ends at date and time will fill in automatically.
Color: Select the
background color for this greeting in calendar view.
Repeat interval:
If you want this greeting schedule to repeat at regular intervals,
choose an interval from the drop down list.
Repeat until: If
you chose a repeat interval, you may wish to choose and end date
from the drop down calendar.
Faxes tab:
Override you fax preferences for
callers hearing this greeting only.
Fax handling:
Use preferences:
This will activate the fax handling preferences you set in your
voice preferences. This is the default setting for all greetings.
Override preferences:
This will override your fax handling preferences for this greeting
only.
Accept faxes: When
chosen with Override preferences, this will accept faxes for this
greeting type.
Format for incoming faxes:
You may choose to receive faxes for this greeting in
a different format than your default.
Each page as a separate attachment
(PCX): This is the default. It makes downloading and
saving selected pages of a fax easy.
One attachment for all pages
(DCX): If you select this setting, all pages of the fax
will be one attachment. This is the preferred choice for longer
faxes.
Choose a status for the greeting.
If you want the greeting to play
for callers, choose Enabled.
If you do not want the greeting to
play for any callers but you want to save the custom settings
and the *.wav file for future use, choose Disabled.
If you want this greeting to override
all other greetings with the same custom settings, choose Override.
Click OK.
Once you have recorded and customized
your greetings, your Voice Greetings folder may look like this:
This user has several greetings and
his spoken name recorded. All greetings are currently active,
except for a few.
After customizing your greetings,
all greetings in your Voice Greetings folder will have an LED
light, which will be green when the greeting is enabled and currently
scheduled, and black when the greeting is either disabled, or
not scheduled to play at the current date and time.
Creating voice greetings with a web browser
If you urgently need to create a new greeting, but you
have only web browser access (no phone or FirstClass client available)
you can record a new greeting by doing the following. Remember
that the sound quality may not be as high as a recording done
by phone.
To create a greeting using a web browser:
1
Record and save a voice greeting by following the instructions
in Creating voice files, below.
2
Open your FirstClass Desktop using a web browser.
3 Choose Voice
Greeting from the drop down menu at the top of your screen and
click New.
4
Upload the pre-recorded voice files.
5
Customize the greeting.
Creating voice files
To create voice files to be uploaded to a message using
a web browser, you must be using a Windows operating system.
Configure Sound Recorder:
1
Start Sound Recorder by choosing Start > Run and type "sndrec32".
2
Choose File > Properties.
3
At Format Conversion, choose Recording formats and click Convert
Now.
4
Choose IMA ADPCM at Format.
5
Choose 8.000 kHz, 4 Bit, Mono 3kb/sec at Attributes (4kb/sec
is also acceptable if there is no 3kb/sec option).
6
Click Save As and save the format as something recognizable, like
FirstClass.
7
Click OK to close all windows to return to the recorder panel.
Accessing the saved configuration:
1
Start Sound Recorder by choosing Start > Run and type "sndrec32".
2 Choose File >
Properties.
3 Choose your saved
recording format at Name.
4
Click OK to close all windows to return to the recorder panel.
Record your voice file:
1
Click the record button.
2
Record your message or greeting.
3 Click the stop
button.
4 Choose File >
Save as and save the file with a unique name.
5 Choose File >
New and begin at step 1 to record another voice file.
6
Attach the file to any message, document, or greeting. |
