Get the most out of your IP Office Phone System
A basic IP Office telephone system has hundreds of features you can use without adding extra hardware or paying for new licenses. Here are a few suggestions of ways to use those features to improve your business efficiency.
Control your Telephone from your PC
Every IP Office comes with a license for the “light” version of Phone Manager. This allows you to control calls through your computer with only a few mouse clicks. A simple toolbar allows you to make calls and look up directory contacts. For users who take a lot of inbound calls, the simple interface allows you to hold, swap and transfer calls and see the status of your colleagues. A speed-dial icon shows if someone is busy on a call.
You can install as many copies of Phone Manager Light as you need. The version required depends on your system firmware. Contact us and we’ll send you a link for the latest version that will work with your unit.
Add your customers to a central directory
The IP Office can store hundreds of directory entries. Once added, their name is displayed on your phone whenever they call as well as in the Phone Manager window. This saves time by allowing you to filter and prioritise calls.
If you want to call out using a directory entry, you can either use the “Dial” button in Phone Manager or a programmed button on your handset.
All you need to do this is create a spreadsheet with two columns – one for name, one for number – and import it into the phone system using the Manager software. Please contact us if you need help doing this.
Forward voicemails to your email address.
Forwarding voicemail to email can be very useful if you’re out of the office, because you can listen to the email on a mobile device such as Blackberry or iPhone. And you can keep a permanent record of important voicemails.
Voicemail to email is available on all versions of Voicemail Pro. If you have an embedded voicemail, you’ll need firmware version 4.2 or above and either an IP500 or IP406V2. Contact us if you’re not sure you have the required spec.
Log calls using Delta Server
The IP Office telephone system logs all calls that pass through it. There are a few good reasons to do this. The most obvious is checking for misuse of your telephone system or incorrect billing from your provider.
A more positive use is tracking the effectiveness of your marketing. Once the Delta Server is running you can publish different phone numbers in different adverts, and monitor their effectiveness by tracking the number of calls to each number.
Download Delta Server for free here onto a server or spare PC on your network. If you haven’t got enough spare numbers for all your adverts, consider upgrading to VoIP telephone lines, which allow unlimited numbers and a choice of dialing codes on a single line.