With traditional phone systems, over 80% of the productivity enhancing features are never used due to the complexity of arcane key commands. Alternate Access offers phone systems with intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUI) that put phone features at your fingertips, reducing the learning curve and increasing productivity.
The desktop client is your user window to all telephone communication. A GUI gives you access to features in an easy-to-use Windows interface. Some solutions allow you to point and click to play voice messages, place and receive calls, manage multiple active calls, access contacts and users, and more!
Voice mail is presented visually and audibly for easy selection, forwarding, archiving or deleting. You can easily drag and drop to transfer or conference, and point and click to call contacts or listen to voice mail. When calling or transferring, users can pick from a list of extensions and see in advance who is already on a call, saving time while letting you avoid interruptions.
The Call Log keeps record of every incoming or outgoing call from your extension. Call History is maintained "from cradle to grave" so you can always go back and see the path a call took within your organization.
Key Contacts may be imported to your phone system. Each user has a personal directory and access to the public directory shared by all users on the system. Double click on a contact to place a call or drag and drop them into an ongoing call to conference them in. Even transfer a caller to someone in your directory who doesn't work at your company!
Users can create and change greetings, routing lists or the phone extension associated with them. Whether you're an operator handling all of a department's calls or an individual requiring maximum flexibility in accessibility as you move locations throughout your day, you can maintain your availability when appropriate and offer communication options your clients will appreciate.
Presence Management increases communication between workers even when they're not on the phone. Personal statuses such as "Available," "In a Meeting," and "Vacation" inform your team of your location and availability.
Your system can be set to provide Call Announcements so you can hear the name of the person who is calling over the PC speakers or phone while the caller still hears ringing, so with a single key you can accept the call or send it to voice mail.
Workgroups can easily share voice mail, contacts, and call monitors within their teams as needed. Define custom workgroups of users and contacts to effectively manage team-based call handling, voice mail broadcasts, and group call pickup. Create workgroups to match your department structure, so assistants and other users can easily see who in the department is available to take a call. An IP-PBX phone system will dramatically improve your company's teamwork and internal communications.
* Contact Alternate Access to find out which features are available in a given phone system brand.