Options available for call handling through PC for the users of IP PBX

This article describes the various options available for the users (Extensions) of the IP PBX. So, we look at what kind of PC interface the user is provided with, how that interface can be customized, what are the options of the IP PBX that the users can themselves control, and why is call handling through PC for the users of IP PBX exciting.Most of the users of IP PBX have individual IP Phones. Or they have soft phones on their monitor which can act as a IP Phone along with headphones and mic. These SIP enabled clients are registered with the IP PBX as an extension and when any calls come to their extension, it is forwarded to their IP Phone and the user can attend to it. But, some IP PBX vendor provide a software interface/application in their PC (which is in turn tagged with their extension) and this software application lets them do a lot of things with their call instead of just pick up, answer, hang-up, dial a number, hang-up functionality of a normal IP Phone. We will look at a list of such features in this article.

Why is call handling through PC exciting for the users of IP PBX:

¤ The software application on their PC allows them to do a lot more than call-dialling and call-pick up.
¤ It gives them useful options for managing their voice mail.
¤ It gives them presence information of other extensions registered with the IP PBX
¤ It gives them a lot of options to handle incoming calls.
¤ It gives them a lot of options to handle the phone book, calls and extensions.
¤ Multiple extension users can log-in a particular queue from a IVR for example, and answer to the list of waiting callers. Just like a call centre.
¤ It has applications to integrate with the internet to such an extent that before the extension owner picks up the calls, he knows who is calling, what were the recent discussions held with this contact, a list of their pending orders, from which area they are calling, information about their company etc.

Handling voice mail messages:

The user can get notified by email, when a new voice mail comes to them. They could even click a link available in the same mail to download it and listen. Or, if they are logged into their software application for the IP PBX, they can click to listen to their voice mails. Gone are the days when the phones had a blinking light when a voice mail is waiting for them.

Presence and Chat:

All the extensions of the IP PBX are presence enabled. That means, just like an instant messenger, the users get to know the status of their co-workers, can click on their contact list to open a window and text-chat with them. The messages displayed against each name in the contact can be customized by the users.

Handling incoming calls:

The following options are available for handling incoming calls through the software application available in the user’s PC:

¤ Send the incoming calls to voice mail by clicking and dragging them to the voice mail.
¤ Hold the current incoming call and pick up another call, when over with that, resume the first one.
¤ Transfer the call to any extensions by dragging the incoming call to any contact in the phone book.
¤ Do an informed transfer – hold the current call, call the co-worker on the other extension, inform him and then transfer the line to him.
¤ Start recording any call from any point of time by just clicking a button!
¤ Automatically transfer the calls to your mobile after office hours, automatically transfer calls to your voice mail when your are busy or on the week ends.

Using the phone book window of the software application:

¤ Look at the frequently dialled numbers.
¤ Set up parallel ringing – the call dials both on your extension and also on your co-worker’s extension and anyone can pick up the call. Helps when you are not there on your desk.
¤ Monitor your subordinates call by listening to any calls that they may be doing on official time- without their knowledge.
¤ Barge into a call going on between your colleague and someone else.
¤ Whisper into a call going on between your colleague and someone else and only your colleague can hear you speak.

Call Queuing:

Suppose you have announced an exciting offer on your website. Many people are trying to reach your company through the IVR. You can set up a separate queue for such callers and designate more than a single agent to pick up calls from that specific queue. This is more of a call centre feature, but could be useful in situations like the above as well. Or if more than one help desk assistant is present.

Integration with CRM:

You can integrate your IP PBX with certain specified CRM packages/ or if your CRM vendor can integrate the PBX thorough an API, then you can do even custom integrations. The advantage of such integration is, when a caller is calling into a certain extension, the extension owner can access the user record of the caller (If it is already stored in the CRM) and get information like who is calling, what has been the recent discussions with this person, what is the status of the pending orders for them etc. All that, before even picking up that extension. That sounds cool, doesn’t it?

Integration with Google maps/ Search:

IP PBX also lets you to create separate windows for Google maps and Google search so that when some one is calling, their location is automatically displayed in Google maps on the PC monitor and information on their user_id or phone number is fetched through the Google search and displayed on the monitor.

Pop-up: Any of the above information can be made to automatically pop-up after customizing the required information in the pop-up window by the user when he gets an incoming call in his phone.

Seems straight out of the future? Well here is one more, some IP PBX also support video phones, so that you can see the caller and talk to him! We seem to have come a long way from those analog phones and analog PBX. It is not about cost cutting any more. It is about enabling you to be more efficient in your communications so that user productivity is maximum.

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