Tips:
Getting more from your phone
 
Live calls/Operator station

• Key system vs. PBX operation
• Hold and page
• Call waiting
• Background announce
• Private line
• Virtual Mailbox Key
• Quick Groups
• Quick Move
• 60-Key Expansion Console
• Guest mailboxes
• Group mailboxes

Key system vs. PBX operation

• A key system has a line key assigned for each outside line. To make an outside call, you must manually select an available line.
• A PBX has no line key appearances but has the lines pooled into line groups. To make an outside call, you select a line group by dialing 9 (or 8 or 71–76) and the system automatically assigns a line from that line group.
• Traditionally, key systems have been small systems, and PBXs have been used as larger systems. Generally, companies are required to change to a PBX when they have too many lines for a key system.
• Key systems show lines in use by how many line keys are lit, while PBXs don’t give users any visual indication of lines in use. Managers use the number of lines available/busy to gauge how busy things are. Additionally, employees learn to delay making (or cut short) unimportant calls when they notice that most of the lines are in use.
• Key systems also make hold-and-page very easy. For example, a user will put Line 3 on hold and either page (or yell over the cubicle wall) “John, you’ve got a call on line 3.” John can then simply press the appropriate line key and get the call.
• Conversely, PBXs usually require calls to be put on hold and retrieved using awkward key combinations such as ##87 to hold, **87 to retrieve a call placed in hold orbit 7, etc.
• ESI overcomes the major disadvantages of a PBX by adding the visual line status to the bottom line of the phone display (except on the legacy 12-Key Feature Phone). The small blocks or vertical lines indicate the relative amount of lines available and busy.
• Your ESI system also has a visual HOLD key that allows calls to be parked and retrieved without the use of cumbersome codes. A unique combination of the display and the voice prompts provide all information needed to hold and retrieve calls.
• Although most systems require you to operate as they were designed, your ESI system allows you to choose to use your station as either a key system or a PBX. Using your station as a key system will provide the advantages described above — just remember that, as your system grows, you will find yourself with fewer programmable keys, which can be used for many other very valuable features. Which is best? If you have under five or six lines, try key system mode. If above five or six lines, you may find it more valuable to operate the system as a PBX and have the programmable keys available for station keys or other feature keys.

Hold and page

• Visual hold allows the system to have many calls held and retrieved with users able to see what’s going on. To put a call on hold, press HOLD when connected to an outside call. Then simply page or notify the intended party that he/she has a call on “Line (whatever the number).” Your display will show you the calls that you have held, so that you can monitor that the calls have been retrieved. Additionally, calls not retrieved after an extended period will recall to your station.
• To retrieve a held call, press HOLD and dial the line number associated with the held call. As example, when you hear: “[your name], you have a call on Line 6,” simply press HOLD 6. You’ll hear the double connect tone when the other person has been connected. To help you verify the held call’s line number, the display will momentarily show a list of all calls on-hold when you press HOLD.

Call waiting

• Call waiting works just like at home, but with many additional features. In conjunction with Caller ID, your display will not only show the Caller ID and duration of the current call, but it will also show the Caller ID of the call that’s waiting. Press FLASH to toggle between the calls, or press RELEASE to drop the current call and be automatically connected to the other call. If you ignore the waiting call, it will be transferred to your mailbox.
• If you need to transfer a call to someone who is already on a call, simply press his/her red-glowing station key and hang up. Or, you can press his/her red-glowing station key and wait for him/her to flash over, announce who is to be transferred, and then hang up to transfer. If the user declines the call, press FLASH to return to the caller in order to transfer him/her elsewhere.
• You can call-wait to a busy station if you want to announce that a meeting is starting or that someone is in the lobby waiting. The user can decide to toggle over to you, or if on a very important call, can choose to stay on the current call.

Background announce

• Many times in a supervisor/secretary relationship or for close work groups, you may want to announce something to another user on a call without them having to toggle from their current call. Background announce allows this.
• For this feature to work, the user must have allowed both call waiting and background announce at his/her station (PROG/HELP 3 1). The announcing party must also have programmed an announce key as one of his/her programmable keys.
• To use background announce, you must first call-wait on the station as described above and then, if your announce key is green, you can press and hold it to make a short announcement to the user — for example, “Bill, your appointment is in the lobby.”. The outside caller can’t hear your background announcement.
• The user can still choose to toggle over to you, since you are in call waiting until you hang up.

Private line

• The installer can set an outside line to serve as a private line for a particular station. Calls to that number will ring directly to your phone, bypassing the operator or auto attendant. If you have a private line, you must program a line key on your phone so that you can access it to place outside calls.
• A private line gives senior management the assurance that they can be called directly even if all regular lines are busy. It assures that a line is always available for an important outside call even if all regular lines are busy. Calls to your private line, if unanswered, will be forwarded to your mailbox, just like other calls.

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 paging 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 whether 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. Each can see if his mailbox has a new message by noting whether his key is blinking. If so, all he has to do is press the key to go directly to his 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; this will show at a glance if messages have been left. If so, the operator can then press the key and use the move feature to move the messages to the appropriate people.

Quick Groups

• Use group mailboxes to send a message to a set group of people; but use Quick Groups when you need to send a message to people who are not in the same group. Press VOICE MAIL and then press the station keys for the appropriate people. Remember to indicate to them that they are part of a group message: “John, Pete, and Sarah — for our meeting at 2:00, please have the latest sales figures for your regions.”
• You can move a message or recording to a Quick Group and add an introduction such as: “John and Bill, here’s a copy of a message left for me today. Please let me know how you think we should respond . . . ” or “John and Tom, here’s part of a conversation with Joe which has the directions to his office. Meet you there at 8:00 tomorrow morning . . . ”
• If you have created a key to transfer to a department such as the Sales or Service Department, you can include that key in Quick Groups and the message will be left in the mailbox for each member of the department.

Quick Move

• If you frequently take messages for others, this feature will save you lots of time.
• Usually you will ask a caller if he/she wants to leave a message for someone or go to the person’s voice mail. If the reply is something like this — “Just tell Bill to call me tonight at 233-555-9876...” — you have to write down the information and put it on Bill’s desk, or call and repeat the information into Bill’s mailbox.
   
  Or...
• ...you could record the caller’s message and/or your confirmation — (after pressing RECORD): “Your name is John Smith and you’d like for Bill to call you tonight at 233-555-9876. Are there any other instructions?...” Then press RECORD again to stop recording. When you’ve finished the call, you can go into your mailbox and move the recording to Bill’s mailbox, then delete the message from your mailbox.
• Quick Move saves you the last two steps. In the example above, while recording, simply press Bill’s station key and the recording will be transferred to Bill’s mailbox as a new message.
• It can appear to your customers that you’re giving them more personal service than just transferring them to a mailbox. If you’re part of a sales team and take calls for one another... “Sorry, John’s away from his desk. Would you like for me to give him a message?” ...you then press RECORD and John’s station key. The customer feels he’s getting personal service (which he is!) and John gets the message in the customer’s own voice and with complete details — no mistakes.

60-Key Expansion Console

• The 60-Key Expansion Console is easily attached to an ESI 60 Business Phone, ESI 40 Business Phone, or 48-Key ESI Feature Phone to add an additional 60 programmable keys. These extra programmable keys add the ability for attendants to set up station keys for all stations, or for extensive use of Virtual Mailbox Keys to monitor many mailbox functions.
• Executives can use the Expansion Console to create additional station keys to aid in monitoring station activity such as a sales group or for service observing. More available station keys allow for greater use of Quick Groups.
• The IP Server 900 and ESI Communications Servers can also use a Second Expansion Console, which connects to the 60-Key Expansion Console and provides 60 more keys.

Guest mailboxes

• Guest mailboxes are usually used for personnel who don’t have a phone assigned to them, such as outside reps, shipping personnel, or any other employees who don’t require desktop phones.
• Assign guest mailboxes to such employees, 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 such an employee by programming his/her mailbox number as a station key; then, it is easy to transfer someone to the employee’s mailbox. Also, you can create a Virtual Mailbox Key to monitor and easily retrieve the employee’s 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. (See “Urgent messages” and “Retrieving messages from an off-premises location.”)

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.
• Remember 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 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).