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Optional voice mail feature:
Q & A mailboxes

(Not available for ESI C-Plus [or older IVX S-Class and IVX C-Class models with Integrated Answering Machine))

Important:

This is a special, optional feature not explained in the tutorial. Be sure to get your Q & A mailbox numbers from the System Administrator.

Q & A (question and answer) mailboxes allow you to ask callers for more detailed information, such as on an employment questionnaire or a survey.

As a Q & A mailbox owner, you can record up to 10 questions. The system groups the individual answers and plays them back as a single message (separated by short beep tones). Normal message handling capability — delete, save, etc. — applies to all answers within the message.

Note:

Each answer can have a maximum length of a regular message as programmed by the Installer.

In the first question, include instructions to conclude each answer by pressing 1 or to pause for the next question: “Record your name at the tone, then press 1 or pause for the next question.” [Next:] “Record your address at the tone...” [etc.]

At the conclusion, the caller can be forwarded to another extension or mailbox, or automatically disconnected. Include in the last question the appropriate information, such as: “This is the last question. After you have finished, please hang up...”

Note:

If the caller fails to respond to two questions in a row, the call will be disconnected.

A Q & A mailbox is turned “on” only when at least one question has been recorded. Deleting all of its questions will turn “off” the mailbox.

Programming Q & A mailboxes

  1. Press PROGRAM  followed by the Q & A mailbox number.
  2. You will be prompted to do one of the following:
    1. Record the questions;
    2. Change the password;
      or
    3. Access previously deleted messages.
    (See the following explanations.)
  3. When finished, exit by hanging up.

1  Select question

Select the desired question number, 1–10. the ESI phone system will play the question and give you the option to perform one of the following:

1  Record question

Begin recording at the tone, press 1 to stop. The new question automatically replaces the old one with that question number.

Important:

The mailbox won’t be enabled if no questions exist in it.

2  Delete question

When prompted, press 2 again to confirm deletion. (See “Important” note, above.)
If you delete a question in the middle of a list without replacing it, the playback numbers of the other messages won’t change (this is important only for your knowledge in programming, since the system itself won’t introduce each question to the caller as “Question 3,” “Question 6,” etc.).

Example:

If you deleted question number 3 out of five questions, the system would play only questions 1, 2, 4, and 5 to a caller. When you retrieve the playback, two beep tones will separate answers 2 and 4.

3  Hear current question

2  Password

The password may consist of two to eight digits followed by # (0 cannot be the first digit). If you prefer not to have to enter a password, enter 0 as the entire password.

9  Message Recycle Bin (un-delete)

The ESI phone system stores your most recently deleted 10 messages in a Message Recycle Bin to let you recover, or “un-delete,” messages that may have been deleted in error. Press 9 to advance through deleted messages. Press 8 to restore a message to your mailbox as an old message.

Retrieving messages from
an ESI Feature Phone

Press VOICE MAIL  and then enter the mailbox number.

Note:

(References throughout this User’s Guide to the VOICE MAIL key refer to the 24- and 48-Key Feature Phones and ESI Cordless Handsets; on a 12-Key Feature Phone, you must have assigned one of the programmable feature keys to be a Voice Mail key.)

Virtual Mailbox Key

See “Virtual Mailbox Key.”

Retrieving messages when off-premises

  1. Call the main number.
  2. If the auto attendant main greeting answers, press and enter the Q & A mailbox number.
    If a live operator answers, have the operator transfer you (by pressing VOICE MAIL , followed by entry of the mailbox number).