Auto Attendants
Evolution UC includes an auto attendant to answer calls and presents the caller with a customized script that allows the caller to select a resource or destination. The auto attendant then routes the call to the selected resource or destination. An auto attendant provides the familiar “Press one for sales, press two to talk to support...”
Note: There are some specialized system auto attendants that are pre-configured in Evolution UC. They are as follows:
| Dial String | Description |
|---|---|
| ConferenceAdmin | Allows a caller to access the internal conference room system. |
| DialByFirstName | Allows a caller to input the first three letters of a person’s first name as assigned under the Caller ID Name of an extension and be connected directly to that extension. Evolution UC automatically assumes that the first word listed in the Caller ID Name field is the first name. If only one word is listed it will use that word as the first name. Evolution UC will read the letters of the matched name to the caller. If there are multiple matches the first instance of the name alphabetically will be read and the caller can indicate that name is incorrect and Evolution UC will proceed to the next name alphabetically until the first name is found. |
| DialByLastName | Allows a caller to input the first three letters of a person’s last name as assigned under the Caller ID Name of an extension and be connected directly to that extension. Evolution UC automatically assumes that the second word listed in the Caller ID Name field is the last name. If only one word is listed it will use that word as the last name. Evolution UC will read the letters of the matched name to the caller. If there are multiple matches the first instance of the name alphabetically will be read and the caller can indicate that name is incorrect and Evolution UC will proceed to the next name alphabetically until the last name is found. |
| VoiceMailAdmin | Allows a caller to access the internal voicemail system. |
To Configure a New Auto Attendant
- Plan how you would like your auto attendant to function and the announcements that will be required to implement the auto attendant. For example, where do you want to route callers when they press one, two, three, etc? And what is the script that you want to record that welcomes callers and presents to them the options?
- Configure the announcements that you require for your new auto attendant. For more information on configuring announcements, see the Announcements section of this document.
- Click the Call Routing tab then click Auto Attendant.
- Click New Record and the configuration screen displays.
- In the Menu Name field, enter a name for the new auto attendant.
- In the Announcement field, select the announcement that you configured in the steps above. This option allows you to assign a pre-configured announcement to this auto attendant.
- In the Urgent Announcement field you can select an announcement that will be played before the regular announcement for special situations you might be having that your callers would need to know about such as closed for bad weather.
- Check the Allow Extension Numbers checkbox if you would like to set Evolution UC to listen for digits that are dialed by the caller to escape the auto attendant and connect directly to an extension.
- Set the Timeout value. This is the number of seconds before the menu will repeat.
- Set the Allowed Invalid Attempts. This is the number of attempts the caller has to select an invalid choice or no choice at all before the system follows the path selected in the Timeout Path.
- In the If Caller Presses fields, select the appropriate Send Calls To option and Location for each phone key press.
- In the Send Calls To field, under the appropriate key press column, select the type of destination that you would like to send the call. Available options: Extension, Extension Group, Auto Attendant, Custom Routing Rules.
Note: You can send the call to another auto attendant, allowing you to build multiple tiered auto attendants.
Note: You can use option zero as an operator selection or what ever you choose.
- In the Location field, under the appropriate key press column, select the actual location or device that you would like to send the call.
Note: The available options in this field change according to the type of destination that you select in the Send Calls To field. For example, if you choose Extensions then Evolution UC will provide all of the extensions that you have configured as options in the Location field. Also note that you must configure your extension, extension group, auto attendant, or custom routing rule before you can select it as an option in the Location field.
- Click Save to save your settings.