Tips:
Getting more from your phone
Using special mailboxes
Virtual Mailbox Key
The Virtual Mailbox Key feature lets you create a programmable key that monitors any mailbox in the system: the boss’s mailbox, a guest Mailbox, Q & A mailboxes, etc. A secretary could have a key that indicates when the boss has messages and could easily access them (if so authorized).
Coverage for guest mailboxes, Cascade or Q&A mailboxes lets you know when a new message exists and allows you to pick it up by simply pressing the Virtual Mailbox Key.
If you have outside reps who are not in the office but get phone messages there, give each a guest mailbox so that callers can be transferred to leave them a message. Create Virtual Mailbox Keys on the receptionist’s console so that when the reps call in to conduct other business and check messages, the receptionist can see at a glance that they have messages.
If you have several people in the shipping department who don’t have phones, give each a guest mailbox for spouses or others to use to leave them messages. Place a phone in an area that they all can see regularly. Program a Virtual Mailbox Key for each person with his name above it. As they go by the phone, if their mailbox has a new message their key will be blinking. All they have to do is press the key and they will go directly to their messages.
A sales department may create a department mailbox for all calls to sales that go unanswered. Create a Virtual Mailbox Key on the sales manager’s phone so he/she can retrieve the messages and move them to the appropriate rep.
It’s a good practice to set up a general delivery mailbox for callers to reach at night. Create a Virtual Mailbox Key on the operator’s phone that shows at a glance that messages have been left. Press the key, and use the move feature to move the messages to the appropriate people.
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Guest mailboxes
Guest mailboxes are usually used for personnel who do not have a phone assigned to them such as outside reps, shipping personnel or members of a department who do not require phones.
Assign them guest mailboxes and they can appear to outside callers just like any other employee. You can list them in the auto attendant directory. They can have their “extension” number printed on their business cards, or have spouses dial their mailbox number at the auto attendant. A station key can also be created for them by programming their mailbox number as a station key, then it is easy to transfer someone to their mailbox. Also, you can create a Virtual Mailbox Key to monitor and easily retrieve messages.
Guest mailboxes can be created to allow you to have two mailboxes with instructions in your personal greeting for a caller to leave a message at the tone or dial 3 0 7 (your additional guest mailbox) to leave a message regarding a special responsibility such as emergency calls. You can then program that mailbox to call you at home when these types of messages are taken.
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Group mailboxes
Group mailboxes allow for messages to be placed in the mailboxes for all members of the group. If you have several sales reps, place them in a group mailbox, so that you can easily leave the same message for all. You can even create a programmable key for the sales group mailbox.
Don’t forget to use Quick Groups for messages to select mailboxes.
A group mailbox actually creates messages in its members’ mailboxes so that each can handle his/her copy of the message individually. Another option would be to create a guest mailbox and create a Virtual Mailbox Key on the sales reps’ phones so that only one of them would end up with the message (when a rep retrieves the message in the guest mailbox by pressing the Virtual Mailbox Key, all the other reps’ Virtual Mailbox Key lamps would go out).
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Cascade paging mailboxes
Use cascade paging mailboxes if you want to be assured that important after-hour messages are returned, such as emergency service calls for tech on duty, etc. For example, if your service department is closed at night but you want to provide emergency service, have the service department’s calls forwarded to a cascade paging mailbox. Here is a sample greeting for the service mailbox in such a case:
“You have reached the service mailbox. If this is an emergency, dial 4 4 4 now or leave a detailed message at the tone and you’ll be called first thing in the morning.”
Set up cascade paging mailbox 444 with a personal greeting along the lines of: “This is the emergency service number. Leave a message at the tone and a tech will be paged to call you back. If this is not an emergency, dial 2 0 6 now to return to the service mailbox.”
The cascade paging mailbox is then set up to page the tech who is “on-call.” But, as the name of the mailbox implies, you can have the system page additional techs if the emergency message is not answered within the response time you desire. You can have the paging escalate to three different pagers.
A similar scenario can be used for sales after-hours, or for a department of reps on the road; for example, if a message has not been answered by a certain time, have the manager’s pager notified.
You can also create a Virtual Mailbox Key to allow the manager to monitor the mailbox in the morning, to assure that no messages have gone unanswered.
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Q & A mailboxes
(Not on IVX 20 or IVX 20 Plus.) Q & A mailboxes let you record a series of questions for a caller to answer, allowing you to collect information in a much shorter period of time than might otherwise be possible.
Use this mailbox for people who are responding to an employment ad by having them answer questions about: name, phone number, degree, last job held, how long worked there, etc. Use Q & A for employee satisfaction polls or a suggestion box.
Use Q & A for surveys, such as having customers rate how they were treated by your sales staff: name, phone number, nature of help, who helped the customer, rate satisfaction 1 to 10, complaints (if any), etc.
Use it for prospects who want additional information. Have employees transfer callers who are interested in a particular service or product to a Q & A mailbox to get more info.
In the personal greeting for each Q & A mailbox, be sure to include instructions as to how to record answers, e.g.: “...After each question, you’ll hear a beep to begin recording. Press 1 after each answer to advance to the next question... Please state your name at the tone...” Be sure the caller is informed during the last question that it is the final question, and whether the call will then be transferred or disconnected.
Remember to create a Virtual Mailbox Key to provide instant notification that a Q & A message has been taken.
Need more than 10 questions? Set forwarding for the mailbox to another Q & A mailbox and use its 10 questions to serve as questions “11–20.”
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