Author: DrVoIP

WebRTC, ShoreTel ECC and CISCO UCCX?

Posted on by DrVoIP

What is WebRTC?   Think of it as a teleconferencing system built right into your browser!   For some time now, call centers have been slowly integrating web chat functionality into the call center tool set.   Visitors to the company website can click on a link and open a chat or “IM” session with the next available agent.  This is a very powerful tool addition when properly implemented, but it reduces the communications process to a the linear, sequential medium of typing.  Not much different than a email with the possible exception that you can “share a form” on the website between the agent and the web visitor.    Some websites have voice enabled chat links and “click to talk to a customer service representative” usually results in a call back.   Why not click and open a real time voice and video link with the call center?   It is very possible to do this, but almost impossible without having the web visitor download a special “plug- in” and having proprietary voice gateways on your call center.

 

This is where WebRTC can play a major role in “peer to peer” communications.  DrVoIP believes this technology has the capacity (excuse the pun) to redefine the communications landscape.  Using WebRTC users are able to establish a real time voice and video communication channel without having to download an special software, or create a special user account!  WebRTC leverages the recent trend in which the web browser IS the “application” and facilitates browser-to-browser communication, with no software downloads or registration needed. The web browsers themselves include all the capabilities needed to support real time  voice and video communications. WebRTC standardizes communications between browsers, enabling audio and video communications, and data bridges to support text chat or file-sharing.  For this reason it is an ideal solution to to enable customer care solutions that desire direct access to the call center!

 

Imagine your prime demographic prospect or client browsing your website from and Droid or IPhone and being able to open a real-time voice and video interaction with your call center based agent or representative!  Talk about “point of sale”!  The client no longer has to search for a call center number, or wait for a call back, but seamlessly adds a human sales or customer service resource within their current search reality!    Chrome and Firefox have stable releases and others are quickly moving to address the emerging webRTC standard.   Yes, we have the technology today to implement “person to person” communications models  within the contact center,  freely mixing the media streams from webRTC with the PSTN and SIP media streams already coming into your call center!

 

We used to say “never trust anyone over thirty” and that still seems to be the case.  To many “old” people running call centers!   There is a generation of folks out there that have never had a wire based phone,  don’t want one and live in the very mobile world of ‘instant gratification”. They have been raised on wireless smartphones, the internet and “faceTime”.  Much the way the broadcast television industry has been crushed by Video on Demand, YouTube and Netflix, your call center will be crushed if you don’t begin to understand the fundamental shift in communications technology that is reshaping the global business communications landscape.   DrVoIP believes, the American Business communications landscape will be littered with the bleaching bodies of those call centers that fail to adopt WebRTC!

A Cure for the common Hold?

Posted on by DrVoIP

The Symptoms  – Help!  My on-hold recording warbles like a wounded canary!  If your customers are kvetching over the aches and pains of listening to your wobbly, distorted on-hold recordings, it’s time to seek medical help.

The Causes – The growing number of professionals who conduct business on the move is part of the affliction, along with the rapid exodus from traditional landline phones to more mobile technologies that rely on the strength of broadband to function.

To cope with the massive communications overload, cell towers are constantly switching between multiple cell phone conversations every second, which can make recorded music sound wobbly, distorted and the speech content almost impossible to understand. It’s an epidemic. And, depending on how busy the local towers are with calls, they’ll reproduce music reasonably well when call traffic is very light. Other times, because of heavy traffic or poor reception, the on-hold messages themselves will sound freakin’ awful.

The Cure – On Hold Advertising has the Rx for the common hold and will make your recording sound awesome! We custom produce all kinds of voice media with no music, just highly professional voice talents. Or, we can spice it up with catchy rhythmic backgrounds specially created to workaround the nuances of cellular connections.  For more tips on making the most of telecommunications marketing to keep your customers happy, and maybe a little less insane, visit us at onholdadvertising.net.

 

Hacking ShoreTel!

Posted on by DrVoIP

I though  I had seen it all!

When you have been involved with the design, deployment and management of customer premise telephone systems for as long as we have, you think you have seen it all. Over the years as we learn from our mistakes we improve our “best practice” list to assure others gain from our experience. When I was barely a teenager, I learned how to assemble a string of MF tones using a Hammond organ keyboard.  Recording two keys at a time, you could create toll call routing instructions that could be played back after making a 1-800 toll call before the terminating end answered! That, along with the famous Captain Crunch 2600Hz cereal box whistle, kept me and my friends entertained for years, stacking toll tandem switches and meeting other hackers in far away phone booths!  Things have changed as in-band signaling has long ago been replaced with out of band signaling and whistles no longer work. Toll fraud however, continues to be a major source of unanticipated costs for business and the toll bandit syndrome is still alive and well in the Internet age.

Just like a web sever which uses well know port 8080 to serve up web pages, SIP phone systems use a common port.  Scanning ports for open port 5060, then banging away for a user login and password to create a registration was child’s play and most companies now have this locked down. The fact that most Voice Mail systems used a common password was also a source of hacking entertainment, but now most manufacturers do not create mailboxes until someone needs one, eliminating a source of illegal phone calls though remote access.  Direct Inward System Access or DISA used to be a favorite tool for making fraudulent toll calls. Users would call into the system, put in a pin and then be granted access to make phone calls.  It did not take long to figure out how to abuse that feature!

Kevin Mitnick needs my help?

Like I said, just when you think you have seen it all, something new shows up. You have to laugh at how obvious and simple it was.  I was recently contacted by a guy who you would think has seen it all, Kevin Mitnick. If that name does not immediately “ring a bell,”  then maybe you might remember a couple of his books:  The Art of Intrusion,  The Art of Deception and most recently Ghost in the Wires.  Kevin has not only seen it all, he has done it all!  Anyway, Kevin was researching a compromised ShoreTel system for a client and wanted to compare notes with DrVoIP.   Apparently someone had gained unauthorized access to the system and was making toll calls that were costing the target company a small fortune. If you have ever experienced toll fraud you know that your vulnerability is broadcast all of the Internet in just a matter of minutes.You will find yourself explaining to Homeland Security why you are making so many phone calls to Dubai!

Kevin had a sheet of CDR records that showed the date and time of the calls. Unfortunately the calls seemed to be originating from the Automated Attendant so they could not be traced to a particular extension number within the system.  We brain stormed some possibilities.  I thought for sure this had to be an inside job!   Maybe someone was using the “find me follow me” feature, but that would only send the call to a single number. These calls were all over the map! Literally all over the globe! ShoreTel does not have a DISA feature and VM boxes do not exist unless they are assigned to a user. The password must be changed as a part of the setup process.  So how was this system hacked?

Well, I could tell you but that would take all the fun out of hearing from you as to your thoughts on how this was done.  I will promise you that it takes one to know one and Kevin, genius that he is, figured this out, not I!   Even DrVoIP was taken in by this clever ruse!  Post your comments below with your thoughts on how this was accomplished and we will send you the puzzle answer Kevin uncovered.  My thinking is that all we can ever hope to do is to raise the bar, keeping out the less sophisticated mice.  There will always be someone smarter, someone more dedicated and focused, who will make it his mission to crack your safe!

Updated with Answer September 1, 2013

– Well a couple of people actually broke the code (excuse the pun)!    What Kevin learned was that one of the great flaws in VoIP is the complete lack of control when it comes to secure Caller ID!   Simply stated, there is no security or verification of Caller ID!   Using any number of readily available tools, it is possible to spoof your caller ID. You can make your phone display any number you want!   ShoreTel has a voice mail feature that enables you to listen to a voice message and then return the call by pushing a voice mail menu option key!   This is a very handy feature, especially if you are calling into your voice mail from you car, just hit the “return call” option and provided the system was able to capture the inbound Caller ID, the ShoreTel will place an outgoing call to that number and conference you in!    So lets put this simple ShoreTel hack together – the hackers gained control of a voice mail box, then called into the ShoreTel Voice Mail system with a spoofed Caller ID and the left a brief message.  Calling back into the system, this time to check their voice messages and then hit the “return call” option key, which then placed a call to an International Middle East location all billed to the the ShoreTel system owner and showing up only as a Call Detail Record owned by the Automated Attendant.    Great feature, but we would recommend that you don’t allow the VM system to place International phone calls!    Thanks to all who took time to write and special thanks to Kevin Mitnick for a really fun Service Call!

 

In search of the Killer Contact Center Script (UCCX or ECC)!

Posted on by DrVoIP

The “Killer UCCX Contact Center Script”

After your first 100 or so Contact Center Scripts, you begin to wonder if it would be possible to generate a “killer script”!   No matter how many hours you sit with clients and do your very best to extract their call handling requirements, it just never seems to be enough! Generally, you have some block of professional hours to complete the script, test, train and turn up before “go live”.   You ask the client for their requirements and “wish list”, then prioritize the list toward the goal of getting as much done as possible within the budget allocated to the project. You no sooner get the script up and operational and the client is  asking for six options that never came up during the time you were discussing requirements. They were never even on the “wish list”!   Last time this happened to me, I determined to write a script which would have run time options for the various script extensions I have seen over the years.  Starting with a basic Generic script which had modules you could switch in and out to achieve not only increase functionality,  but efficiency in both cost and time.

Route Type?  Prompt and Collect!

Most call flow scripts can be reduced to answering an incoming call, playing a menu of options, navigating to a Contact Service Queue, finding the most appropriate human resource or managing queue handling while the caller waits for service.  Sometimes there is no menu after the call is answered, and the call is sent directly to the Queue.   At other times, we need to provide some “prompt and collect” for database look up prior to call routing. We are always looking at operational alternatives for time of day, day of week and holiday or emergency closings.   This sounds like something we could develop into a general purpose call flow script, complete with generic record prompts in the language of choice.  So the Killer Script contains a library of professionally recorded prompts and prompt segments for enabling you to assemble your own prompt!

Where are the IVR Prompts and professionally voice WAV files?

We long ago learned never to start coding a project until we had the actual recorded prompts and wav files in hand!  How many hours of development time have been squandered because an attempt was made to code without the scripts.  When the client finally delivered the actual recordings to be used in the script, they were different than the call flow we all signed off on during the requirements meeting!  Don’t do it!  Get the recordings done first.  Then and only then code your call flow!  This thinking gave way to a concept of numbered prompts!   Again, you no sooner get the project on line and “go live” and the client is back asking if they can change a recording!  Why not create a module that would allow the client to call into an IVR script, select the prompt they want to record, play it to confirm that it is the correct one, and then let them record it themselves!   I started thinking about this after the first experiences in which the client asked for special closing recordings.    The client would say something like this: “Sometimes we have a staff meeting and we need to close the queue.  We want to play a special greeting to the caller letting them know we are in a meeting.”

CCAdmin to allow supervisors to Open and Close Queue with custom Closed prompt!

So we now have a Generic Call Flow Script that has an option for a Contact Center Administration and prompt management!   The Generic Call handler offers some run time options that can be set at run time.  They include a ROUTE TYPE  (i.e., Menu, Direct, IVR or Transfer) that dictate how to handle the incoming caller.   In fact, we can change the route type based on the DNIS or ANI, so the script actually changes its call flow to play a Menu or send the caller direct to Queue with each new call.  We then created a Contact Center Administration module that would allow an authorized user to open and close a queue on demand by dialing into an IVR script.  If you closed the Queue, you were offered the option to record a new closed greeting.  Optionally, you could record any existing prompt by  entering the prompt number.   All of this done by an authorized user with a PIN number and not requiring the System administrator.

Queue management was another area in which a modular approach to scripting could enable a range of options.  Do we play “your estimated wait time” or “your position in queue is” or just play music on hold?  If they are in Queue awaiting an agent resource, do we offer them options like, “Press 1 to leave a message, 2 to schedule a call back, or continue to hold and your call will be answered…?”   Not every client wants these options, but many want the choice. How do you make that option available without burdening  the project with more develop hours?  In fact you might want these options to change based on who called or what number the caller dialed.  We determined to add a third module to our script library. We can now offer the call back option on module basis.

Clearly every call center is different. You will always need to modify your scripts.  It is possible however, to create a flexible, reusable script that has configuration options or modules.  It is also possible to make these options available at run time based on DNIS or ANI. There is no need to launch a separate script when you can reconfigure the same script on the fly to address the various call handling options required to manage a caller through a successful contact center interaction.  Ask us about our generic scripts and save yourself a ton of money while paving the way for self-managed call center flexibility as you move through your business process! DrVoIPGeneric, DrVoIPCCAdmin and DrVoIPCallBack are all available for CISCO UCCX and come with professionally recorded generic voice prompts that can be easily branded.  We also include supporting XML documents for Scheduling, Holidays and a Queue options template for changing call flow based on DNIS!

 Killer Script Overview  – Updated for 2019 Version!

The Core Root script is a single thread that enables both application level run time variables as well as “variables on the fly” through the QueueOptions.XML file.   Typically the script will be trigger by one of the DNIS numbers attached to the script.  This DNIS become strDNIS in our application and it is used to index the XML file to pull back all the variables for that specific CSQ.  One of the variables that is returned is the strApprefix value.   For example we have  “CSQ_SandBox” for testing and it has a strApprefix of “SBOX”.  This variable is prepended to objects like Queue Message Wave Files.  In this way SBOX_QueueMessage1.wav and PTAC_QueueMessage1.wav can both be represented by strApprefix+”_QueueMessage.wav” in the same script!    This also makes it possible to create Layouts that are pushed out to the agents.

The QueueOptions file contains all of the variables that you want configured for a specific CSQ.   It sets options for offering Estimated Wait Time and Position In Queue.   We offer the option of a call back without losing your place in queue.  This has a variable that can be set to enable “record a short message to be played to the Agent before you call is returned” or to disable that option and move directly to collecting the target call back number.

Route Types  (Direct, Menu, IVR, Debug)

Some CSQ’s require that the caller be sent directly to the Call Center.   Others require the caller to navigate an IVR or MENU and the option strRouteType defines these options.   If the caller is to be offered a Menu of choices the script loads the correct menu, again using strApprefix to bring back SBOX_Menu.aef at the appropriate point in the call flow.  Likewise the caller can be directed to an IVR platform before the call moves to the call center.

 

 

The Killer Script is actually a series of scripts, documents, professionally recorded voice prompts and sample XML documents that you can copy, modify or edit to suit your call center CSQ configuration goals.  All this for $295?   What a deal, your average professional service company is billing scripting engineers out a $275-$350 and hour!   If you have any scripting experience at all, you should be able to configure this script!  Optionally, we can quote a fixed project fee to install and configure it for you!

Text Us at 929-292-8100 for details!

Most Annoying Business VoIP Marketing Gotcha’s

Posted on by DrVoIP

If you have ever tried to decide on a new hosted business VoIP solution for your company, then you have most likely run into, and been frustrated by some of the “gotcha’s” that VoIP company’s use to get you to consider their service above all others. Even when you have narrowed it down to just a few options, you have likely struggled to perform a   comparison of VoIP services that helps you make a final decision.

So what are we talking about here? Well here are just a few that come to mind and please add a comment below if you have run into any others that have caused some level of frustration:

Tiered Per user Pricing! – You spot an advertisement that states “Business VoIP service from $19.99 per month” and you immediately get excited and take a look. It turns out that the $19.99 price is only available to companies that want more than 50 lines and you only need 10 lines for your small business. Actual price for 10 lines turns out to be $34.99/user/month.

No Detailed Pricing on Website! – The aforementioned tiered pricing models are actually fairly common and it is great when the VoIP provider’s website clearly states these pricing tiers. There are some providers that do not even list tier pricing information and you need to get on the phone and as such become part of their sales funnel to just get a ballpark price.

Premium Features are NOT included!– Did you know that getting an auto-attendant in addition to business VoIP service can often cost you in the region of an extra $24.99 per month? Did you know that some VoIP companies will charge you an extra fee if you want numbers ported? Did you make sure that the “cool” VoIP feature that you have heard about is even available from the provider that you are about to sign with? The answer to these questions is quite often “NO”, and when you start to add these premium features to you service at a later date, the big savings that you made by switching to VoIP in the first place, slowly start to erode.

What does a Feature actually do anyway? – Believe it or not, there is often different terminology used for the same VoIP feature by different service providers.  The common features (call forwarding, call hold, etc)  are typically named the same but when it comes to more advanced, or premium features, the same feature can often be called something completely different. An example of this is “call pass”, “call flip” and “single number reach”. All of these do pretty much the same thing but are named differently by providers.

Are Smartphone apps supported and what do they actually do? – Functionality and availability vary from provider to provider. Most Smartphone apps are an extension of the in-office solution and create a virtual presence for the user. Others are stand-alone extensions that require an additional payment. Additionally, some of these apps will support VoIP calling via Wi-Fi while others will use cellular minutes for every call.

Does the provider support the Phones I already have? – If you already have IP phones, make sure the new VoIP provider that you are considering can actually support them, as otherwise you could end up with a hefty upfront cost that could have been avoided.

The good news is that there are actually a lot of providers that display this information very clearly on their websites and make it relatively easy to understand what the pricing is, what features are supported and what any extras will cost. The bad news is that it will likely be somewhat painful to perform a proper comparison by simply pulling up two or three provider websites on your screen.

Some options that can help with this comparison are:

1 – Call each provider and request a custom quote and full feature list with detailed pricing for any extra features. If a provider can’t deliver this quickly then you might want to ask yourself why.

2 – Use a 3rd party website that lists the providers that you are considering and check to see if they have a feature comparison tool.

3 – Avoid all the research and comparison and just go with your gut. Not the recommended approach but it can save you time and get you up and running with a business VoIP solution quicker. You may pay the price later though.

Regardless of any potential hassle or confusion, VoIP is still a great option for phone service that every company should be considering.

What is going on at ShoreTel now?

Posted on by DrVoIP

I very seldom comment, in this technology blog, on company policy and just try to stay focused on VoIP.  This time I am speaking out as a ShoreTel Shareholder.You know, one of the people who bought into the $10 a share IPO (at about the time they were suddenly sued by Mitel for patent infringement)?  ShoreTel stock (SHOR) is now trading at $3.50 or so?  The company has been through at least three CEOs post start up. They are now scouting for yet another.  Every key executive in the non-Engineering side of the house has jumped ship.  What do you do when your key sales people go to work for a competitor, like Mitel?  What signal does that send to the market?

ShoreTel had a real lead on VoIP technology. They make excellent products. They have had, and still have, some really great people! Leadership, at this point, is lacking.There have been some clear mistakes!  Acquiring a “hosted PBX company” that cannot even use ShoreTel phones? Come on, I know I am a bit dense but really?   (Note: “Follow the Money”.)  The acquisition of the Mobility Router company, Agito Networks, made some strategic sense,  but there has been no real follow through.  (The secret weapon that was acquired from Agito was the SIP over TLS, which should have replaced the OEM VPN strategy ages ago, and built into ShoreTel phones and Gateways.)  Just like their OEM acquisitions of previous products like the conference server, this will end up being yet another boat anchor!

I was hopeful that someone would buy ShoreTel before it becomes another Altigen (ATGN)!  When I see Directors and the company’s own counsel filing Form 4s with the SEC, that does not sound very likely either.  ShoreTel was the iPhone/iPad but like those products, it has fallen behind. The competitors are moving in with updated solutions and it has lost its luster.  The adopted cloud strategy was a poorly placed wager on what could have been a winning strategy. They have missed the Virtualization market completely.   Actually, very sad indeed! Maybe Mitel (MITL) does have it right? Maybe these two companies will merge?  Why not, most of their executives have?

Open Letter to CISCO Certification Management!

Posted on by DrVoIP

Martin Sloan CCIE Voice Candidate #211151677 speaks for the entire CCIE Candidate community (DrVoIP included) when he wrote the following letter:

I’m writing you this morning to express my great disappointment in regard to Cisco’s recent announcement to retire the CCIE Voice track with no reasonable upgrade path to the CCIE Collaboration.  I know that you’re well informed as to all the arguments which are being made against this decision on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets, so I won’t go into any detail on why I think this is a bad decision.  At this point, the facts are well laid out for everyone to see.

I’d like to ask you to please reconsider this decision and provide a reasonable upgrade path for the certified CCIE Voice candidates.  I, myself, am not yet certified but I will make my first attempt on July 29th of this year.  I don’t need to tell you how much time, money and effort I’ve put into preparing for this exam.  It’s been a goal of mine since I first started on the CCNA.  To completely retire a certification track that is still very relevant is incomprehensible.
At the very least, I want to request that Cisco provide it’s community with an intelligent argument to support it’s recent decision to retire the CCIE Voice without a reasonable upgrade path.  We’ve heard very hallow responses citing new exam topics (that are already on v3) or that the description of the certification path wasn’t accurate with the technology.  These answers are very much an insult to those that have been so loyal and sacrificed so much to achieve CCIE certifications.  Please, ask your team to reach out to the community so we can come to an objective decision on this.

https://www.change.org/petitions/cisco-provide-a-reasonable-transition-path-from-ccie-voice-to-ccie-collaboration

CISCO UCCX or ShoreTel ECC – CCadmin script and power to the Supervisor!

Posted on by DrVoIP

If you have managed a contact center of any size, sooner or later, you will be asked to make a change on demand.    A contact center supervisor feels the need to have a “team” meeting in the middle of the work day and needs the entire staff to be present.  This means nobody will be logged in to take calls.    This is the point they call you, the contact center administrator,  and ask that you not only close the queue but record a new closed greeting.  This happens so often that we determined to automate the process and put the power of opening and closing a queue in the hands of the Supervisor or Team leader.   We created a Script, named CCAdmin,  that is always running and waiting for a Supervisor to call it and make that famous request.

In the case of the CISCO UCCX, the script makes use of the Recording Step and the ability to read an XML document.   Each operating script in the contact center has a “getstatus” subflow at the start of each script.  This subflow checks an XML document, named for the queue, that has a single status variable.  This is a simple boolean operation and it is either set to true or false.  During normal operations it is set to false.  The main queue script calls the subflow, finds the status as false and continues its normal routine of servicing clients.  If however, the status is true, meaning that we have a special closing, the script branches to the closed section of the script and plays a special closed greeting, made by the Supervisor when they called into the CCAdmin script.

The CallCenterAdmin script has the matching setstatus subflow that is checked by the main script.  When a Supervisor calls into the CallCenterAdmin script, they are prompted to select their queue by menu number.  They are asked to Press 1 to open a Queue or 2 to close the queue and make a new recording.   Then they are prompted for a PIN, which compares to a previously stored Integer to determine the Supervisors authority to make a queue closure.  Assuming the PIN is correct, the CallCenterAdmin script, then prompts them to make their recording, thanks them and hangs up.   The CallCenterAdmin script then setstatus to true and waits for the next request. All of the queue scripts in the call center have the getstatus subflow as part of their normal definition.   As each script launches it tests for status and if closed plays the newly recored closed script and hangs up.  When the Supervisor desires to open the queue again, they just place a call to the CCAdmin script and start over.

Though the concept is very straight forward there were a few kool tricks that needed to be developed.  First of all, you need to define a naming convention that allows you to use a standard XML naming convention.  So if we are checking the getstatus of the CustomerServiceStatus.xml we could use the same code we used to check the getstatus of the TechnicalSupportStatus.xml document. The setstatus of the CCAdmin script would also have to address this challenge.  Likewise, making a recording and naming it so that you could use the same body of code or script was also an interesting brain teaser.   CISCO UCCX enables the creation of Recordings wihtin a script, but ShoreTel does not.   Likewise, CISCO UCCX can make use of XML documents as the database record, but ShoreTel would need a flat file or OBDC connector.    I have been able to do the same script on a ShoreTel ECC, but I had to use a standard closed announcement as changing files in ShoreTel ECC on the fly, is not possible.  You can point to a different previously recorded wav file, but you cant create on on the fly.

The application however, is very useful and we now deploy this as a standard for all Contact Centers we deploy.    I will ultimately get the entire CCAdmin script into the lesson library along with the full prompt library as recorded by the first lady of all our prompts, Karen  Brace of OnHoldAdvertising

Compare ShoreTel ECC and CISCO UCCX – Handling Language Options

Posted on by DrVoIP

Anyone who has been deploying telephone systems for any length of time has run into the “language” issue.   Though I am personally tired of having to “Press one” for English, the fact remains that we market on a global basis even if we are a small local business.  It is rare to encounter an Automated Attendant or Call Tree that does not offer us the option of selecting another language.  In the States, Spanish tends to dominate the motivation to change language and it is invariably offered to all callers.

Setting up a basic automated attendant to handle a language change is relatively straight forward.  You end up recording your prompts in at least two languages and then you navigate a different tree based on the selection.   Providing a language option in an IVR Script for a ShoreTel ECC or CISCO UCCX, for example, is an entirely more complex process.  Yes, you end up having to record your prompts for each language offered, but do you really want to write to sets of call flow?  Contact Center Scripts can get relatively complex very quickly.  If you apply the same solution to a Contact Center Script as you do an Automated Attendant Call Tree, you will end up having to create at least two scripts: one in English and one in the other offered language.

You will really want to focus on a single call flow and a single set of prompts.   Do you want to have the complexity of writing a script that says play “WelcomePromptEnglish.WAV” and then have to write the same call flow again, but this time the script says play “WelcomePromptSpanish.wav”.  As my Grandson says, “REALLY”?    Would it not be more economical to write and to maintain a script that simply said play “WelcomePrompt.wav”?    At some point you are going to have to ask the caller to press or say something to change their language choice.   How about we run the same script and the only thing that changes is the subdirectory that the prompts are retrieved from?   In this way we only have one call flow script to maintain and scripting writing is significantly relived of the duplication of effort that language options often require.

ShoreTel and CISCO both manipulate the language option in their respective script editors differently.  Here we take a look at how the Java based Script Library in the CISCO UCCX would implement a language option using a single call flow script.

Should You Run Your Company from Smartphones?

Posted on by DrVoIP

With an estimated 45 percent of Americans now using smartphones (66 percent for those under 30), it smartphones are starting to bleed into the enterprise. And now some businesses are beginning to evaluate whether they can manage their phone system needs directly from a smartphone.

But before jumping directly into managing your business via smartphone, you need to ask yourself a few questions. For instance, what if you want more than one employee to be responsible for responding to your company number? Or, how should you handle call recording, phone routing and other services you traditionally associate with landline service?

In this article, I’ll summarize research from Software Advice contributor Kelly Lindner. She recently shared her insights on strategies for deploying smartphones for business, as well as pros and cons for transitioning to this type of business phone system.

To PBX, or Not to PBX?
Companies with three or fewer employees can usually get by just using their smartphone network to run operations. But larger organizations might instead opt for a “virtual” private branch exchange (PBX) – a call routing and management service – to unite their mobile-device empowered workforce. In this model, one employee’s number is designated as the main line, and other individuals provide their numbers to customers as needed.

Or, companies can leverage products such RingCentral or Google Voice to provide a main line, that routes callers to individual smartphones using business extensions. As an added bonus, when an employee calls from their mobile phone, these PBX systems will show the main line on recipient’s caller ID. Some of these Cloud-based services also offer call recording, voice transcription and other business-focused services.

The Pros of a Smartphone-Run Business
The first and most obvious benefit is customer accessibility. If employees are reachable anywhere – in or out the office – customers are less likely to have to wait on hold, or for their messages to be returned.

“Having a landline tied us to a specific location and was presenting a barrier to connecting with clients. … Now we don’t have to run back to the office to check messages,” said Stuart Randell, a virtual PBX user and head of business strategy at Code & Company Inc.

A smartphone-run business also has advantages for employees. They get to use the device they are most comfortable with. Also, business owners realize savings (though sometimes small) compared with traditional VoIP-based systems.

The Cons of this Telephony Model
There’s nothing worse than hearing that dooming beep indicating your phone is about to lose power. Loss of battery life is a huge negative to using smartphones only for your business. You depend on workers to keep their phones charged, and chargers close by. But we all know it can be easy to forget to plug and recharge your phone.

Additionally, cell networks are not always dependable in certain locations. This connection is particularly at risk during a natural disaster. And, generally speaking, voice quality in any condition can be fickle.

What advantages and disadvantages do you see with using PBX-enabled smartphones over traditional VoIP? Join the conversation by commenting here.