Artisoft TeleVantage 5
In late December Artisoft released version 5.0 of its flagship TeleVantage phone system. Since its introduction as the industry's first software-based phone system, TeleVantage has continued to set the standard with its robust feature set and future-proof architecture. With version 5, Artisoft greatly increases the scalability of the system, further enhances call center functionality, and improves administration and user productivity. For users with TeleVantage 3 or 4, version 5 is a simple software upgrade.
New Capabilities
The increased scalability of TeleVantage 5 allows anywhere from 8 to 480 phones and 4 to 192 phone lines. In addition the system now supports conferences of up to 60 users, eliminating the need for external conferencing services.
TeleVantage has always been able to use any analog phone, from basic handsets to wireless units and headsets, along with many ADSI feature phones and IP phones. TeleVantage 5 adds direct support for Toshiba digital handsets as well as Avaya, NEC, Nortel, or Siemens handsets via a gateway. In fact, users of Toshiba or ADSI phones can now receive pages or intercom calls, for single users or workgroups.
Another new feature in version 5 is tenant support. The system can track multiple user groups such as departments or organizations on just one server. This lets a property manager, for example, supply one phone system for the building while providing separate auto attendants, dial by name directories, and call tracking for each tenant.
For organizations with users who roam throughout an office, changing desks or departments, TeleVantage now allows them to log in and their phone settings will follow them around. Caller ID is now configurable on a per-user basis as well, allowing remote users to call back using a DID (direct inward dialing) number.
TeleVantage 5 can call remote users to announce when a new or urgent voice mail message has been received, and allow them to listen to the message and even return the call. If the caller is in the TeleVantage contact database, the system will provide a choice of any known numbers to use for returning a call.
Call Center Features
Artisoft has improved the outbound call center functionality to compare with that for inbound
calls, allowing TeleVantage to function for both inbound and outbound call centers at the same
time. Features such as call recording, wrap-up time, and real-time statistics allow administrators
to optimize agents' time.
For busy inbound call queues, TeleVantage allows callers to be redirected to voice mail, or overflow
agents or queues, even at a remote location.
Supervisors can now coach or silently monitor agents using any handset (or headset), freeing them from being tied to a desk while monitoring.
Application Interaction
TeleVantage 5's built-in IVR toolkit allows developers to interface applications with the phone system using Visual Basic or other development tools, for example allowing prompts for customer information or to provide automated order status. The SMDR service provides other utilities real-time call details.
January 2003
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