Phone Problems

Last year, we upgraded our phone system due to continuing problems with our old phone carrier.  We switched to a Voice over IP solution with iCore, shortly thereafter acquired by Vonage.  We got all new phones and equipment, and retired our old PBX.

I had hoped this major upgrade would put our phone problems behind us.  Sadly, many continue to experience problems with the phones.

To help us track an manage complaints, I have created an online form.  You can fill out this form whenever you have a problem with the phone.  Doing so will notify the help desk so we can open up a support incident with Vonage.  Use of this form will also allow us to track complaints in order to look for patterns.

The form asks eight mandatory questions: 

1. Was the call incoming or outdoing?
2. Date of the call
3. Time of call
4. Your phone number
5. The other party's number
6. What was the problem?
7. Did it repeat?
8. Is this a pattern?

There is also an optional 9th question for you to leave any comments.

We need the answers to the mandatory questions so that Vonage can look at the call in their logs to determine what went wrong.

If you need to look up the time of a call, or the other party's number, you can do so by pressing on the down arrow on your phone, then TYPE, then select the list of received calls or placed calls.  You should have a list of your calls with the phone number and a time stamp listed.

Once you enter a problem.  Our help desk is notified.  We can then open up a support incident with Vonage if needed.

The form itself is a Google Form.  I recommend filling it out using the Chrome browser.  You may experience problems if you use Internet Explorer or other browsers.

You may access this form from this blog post.  I will also place a link on the Research Home Page shortly.

https://goo.gl/forms/pfv44BXMJkBzyd8B2

Faster Calling Fewer Buttons

Many of us call the same numbers over and over again.  We don't want to be bothered having to redial the same ten digit numbers repeatedly.  Vonage offers a range of shortcuts to make this easier.

In an earlier post I explained how you can add users to your phone's LCD screen so that you can call them with a push of a single button.  In a different earlier post I explained how to look up a number quickly on the phone, either from the firm directory or from a list of previous callers.

Today, I'm going to describe yet another shortcut.  We have the ability to set up eight shortcut that can be dialed by pressing a single number.  Essentially, we assign a phone number to the numbers 2-9 on your keypad.  To dial any of those pre-programmed numbers, you simply need to press the button and then hit "dial".

If you have more than eight numbers, there is also an option called "speed dial 100".  This allows you to add up to 100 numbers by dialing # and then a pre-assigned two digit code, then press dial.

Adding users to the LCD screen seems preferable to either of these two options.  Adding to the LCD screen means you can see the user name, meaning you don't have to remember who is assigned to what button.  It is also literally a single button press.  Therefore, the only reason to use these additional shortcuts would be if you have already filled up all the spaces on your screen.

The speed dial 8 can be set up by dialing *74 then the shortcut number, then the number to be called.  For example, if I wanted to assign 215-922-1100 to number 2 on my phone, I would dial, *7422159221100 This can also be set up in the portal.  If you are not comfortable programming it yourself or going into the portal, the help desk will be happy to set up the numbers for you.  Just send us a list via email.  Once set up you simply press the number assigned (e.g. "2") then press "dial" and you are connected.

Speed dial 100 works in a similar way but allows you to store up to 100 numbers using a two digit code (00-99).  You can configure a speed dial 100 number by dialing *75, then the shortcut numbers, then the number to be called.  For example, to set 10 as the shortcut for 215-922-1100, I would dial *75102159221100.  Like speed dial 8, speed dial 100 numbers can also be set up in the portal.

Once configured, simply dial # plus the two digit code, then dial, to call a number.  For me it seems more complicated to memorize 100 different two digit calling codes then to simply look up the number and dial it.  But if you think this may be useful to you, it is an option we can program.

Phone Hoteling - for the Lawyer on the go.

Perhaps you occasionally or often need to work in another office.  You would like to be able to receive calls, but don't want to deal with all the calls on your cell phone.  There is a phone at the location where you are working, but it does not have your number on it.  This is where the phones "hoteling" feature comes in handy.

Hoteling allows you to set up temporarily any phone in the firm with your phone number.  We just need to know the extension of the phone where you are sitting.  From that, we can configure your calls to ring directly to that phone.  Further, any calls you make from that phone will identify you as you, rather than the name of the phone you are using.  It will also alert you about pending voicemail messages.

Hoteling is really limited to the phone number itself though.  It will not import your favorites or other settings you may have on your permanent phone.  The LCD screen does not change at all.  Hoteling also will not work with phones outside the firm.  Also, while you hoteling, calls to the host phone will go directly to voicemail.

With those limitations, hoteling can be a valuable tool if you are visiting another office and want to keep in touch.  If you have the need, feel free to call the help desk to set it up for you.

Receiving Voicemail Messages

Messages as Email Attachments

Many people have commented about the new feature that allows you to receive all of your voicemail messages as an email attachment.  If this was not turned on for you and you would like the feature, call the help desk and we can fix it for you.  Similarly, if you find the feature annoying and don't want copies of your messages filling up your email inbox, let us know and we can turn it off for you.

You may also just want the email notification, but not receive that bulky WAV attachment.  We can configure your line to notify you with an email only, no attachment.  You can then still check messages on your phone after getting a notification.

Keep in mind that WAV files can take up a fair amount of space.  I recommend you delete these emails after listening to them unless there is a specific reason you need to save it.  Otherwise, you may find your Gmail inbox filling up at an alarming rate.

If you try to open the attachment in Gmail, you will get an error that it cannot be played.  You would need to download the file to your computer and listen to it in Windows Media Player, or whatever preferred audio player program you may use.

You should be able to download the files on your phone, however, you may find it takes longer to download that it would be simply to call your phone and check messages.

Checking Messages Remotely

That brings me to my next topic, accessing messages remotely.  To do this, simply call your office phone number on an outside line and press * once your voicemail message begins.  You will then be prompted for your password and can then listen to your messages.

Messages Waiting

If you have unread messages on your phone, you will have a red blinking light at the top of the phone informing you of this (although we can turn that off if you prefer).  Check messages by pressing the message button (the envelope button to the left of your number pad) and connect.  Then follow the prompts.

The default configuration is that your messages are saved both on the phone and sent to you as an email.  If you listened to your WAV file attachment, that does not affect the read status of your messages on your phone. If you prefer to receive messages only as emails and never saved to your phone, we can configure that for you, or as mentioned previously, save messages only on your phone and just receive notifications via email, or the third option of no email notifications at all.

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Do Not Disturb: Be careful!

The new phones come equipped with a Do Not Disturb button, labelled DND.  There is also a DND button on your home screen which does the same thing.  If you enable this feature, all of your calls will go directly to voicemail.  If you have a staff member covering your calls, turning on DND will prevent the calls from ringing at that phone too.

If you don't want to be bothered by incoming ringing, but still want your secretary to answer your calls, just use the -/+ key at the bottom of your phone to turn the ringer all the way down.  This will prevent you from hearing the ring until you turn it up again.

Some people have turned on this feature inadvertently, so be careful not to do this by accident.

If you see a red "do not enter" symbol next to your name on the LCD screen, you have DND turned on. To turn it off, simply press the DND button again and the symbol next to your name because a green circle with a check mark.

Setting Up And Using Your New Voicemail

When you get your new phone, one of the first things you will want to do is set up your voicemail.

To set up your voicemail, do the following:

1. Press "messages" button.  This is the button with an envelope on it to the left of your number pad..
2. The main menu screen showing the number of any messages pending.  Press the button below "connect" to continue.
3. You will first be asked to enter a password.  The default password is 5252.  
4. Next, you will be asked to change your password.  Enter your new password as instructed (twice).
5. You must then record your name, which will be used by the voice mail system.  Record your name and press # to save.  Be sure to record and save your name.  Failure to do so may result in an error message when you try to change other settings.

That's it! Voicemail is set up and ready to go.

It is also recommended that you record a full greeting message. You may choose to record one greeting while away or another for when you are busy.  You are not required to record both these, but the option is available if you wish.  If you just record the away greeting, it will be used for both instances of away and busy.

To record a new greeting, do the following:

1. Press "messages" button.  
2. Press the button below "connect" to continue.
3. Enter your password and press #
4. Per the instructions, press 1 to listen to voicemail.
5. Press "2" to record a greeting to be played when you are on the phone (a busy greeting) or press "3" to record a call when you are away from your desk.  In other words, you can have two messages, one for when you are on a call and another for when the phone just rings several times when no on can pick up.  Again, you don't have to have separate greetings, but you have the option.
6. Once you have recorded your greeting, press #.  You have the option to listen to your greeting, re-record it, or simply be finished.

When someone leaves you a voicemail, you should see a red blinking light on the top right of your phone.  This indicates you have a new unread voicemail waiting.

To access voicemail, do the following:

1. Press "messages" button.  
2. Press the button below "connect" to continue.
3. Enter your password and press #
4. Per the instructions, press 1 to listen to voicemail.
5. Per the instructions, press 1 again to listen to your messages.
6. You may save the message by pressing pound or delete by pressing 7.

There are a few advanced voicemail features that I will cover in my next blog post, including ways to be notified of voicemail messages while away from the office.  Stay tuned for more soon!

Introducing Your New VoIP Phones

New VoIP Phones

The firm is in the process of upgrading our phone system after decades of use from our existing PBX. We have decided to move to a Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system.  Essentially, that means instead of using traditional phone lines and equipment, your phones operate on the same Ethernet cable used by your computer.  Calls can go out using either the Internet or a private computer network that connects back to Vonage (formerly iCore) where it connects to the other party using whatever phone system is being used on the other end.

VoIP has been around for many years and is now the norm for most businesses.  It is more efficient, can provide better sound quality, and provides you with many more features than traditional phones. Many businesses delayed moving to VoIP because of call quality issues.  When making a call on the Internet, delays of even a fraction of a second can greatly hurt call quality.  For this reason, we have installed an internal private line to most of our offices that will ensure call quality of service back to the phone vendor's main connection.

Everyone who currently has a direct dial number will keep that number.  None of that will change. Some people within the firm do not have direct dials at present.  Under the new system, they will. Because of this, some 4 digit extensions may change to make them consistent with the direct dial numbers that we get for those people.  We will also maintain everyone's existing extension as a alternate extension.  So if you have someone's extension memorized, you will still be able to reach them using that old extension, as well as the new one.

The new phone system comes with a wide variety of features that I will address in upcoming posts over the next few weeks.  Today's post will focus on the phone itself.

All existing landline phones in the firm will be replaced by a new Polycom VVX 410 Business Media phone.  It works much like your current phone, but there will be a few changes.

Vonage has provided this Quick Start Guide, which you may fine helpful.

Making a Call:

Currently, in most offices, you must press an outside line button or dial "9" to get an outside line. That is going away.  With the new system, you dial the area code and number.  No need to dial a "1" either.  You must dial an area code, even for local calls.  Dial 10 digits, and the phone should start ringing.  If you dial a four digit extension, you must then hit the "dial" button to complete the call.

You also have the ability to assign speed dials to up to 11 numbers.  These will show up on the LCD screen on the phone.  Once configured, just press the button next to the person you wish to call and it starts ringing.

The Firm's directory is also available on the main screen.  If you do not know a number, just scroll until you find it and select that number.

Receiving a call:

No real changes  here: You can simply pick up the receiver and start talking, or press the speaker button and talk through the speaker.  There is also a button for a headset usage.  We don't expect many people to use this, but if interested, let me know.  Personally, I find the speaker works just as well as a headset.

Transferring a call:

There are three ways to transfer.

1. Consultative Transfer.  This is where you want to speak with the recipient before transferring.
1. Press the "transfer" button (button with two hand sets to the left of your number pad)
2. Dial the recipient's extension and wait for them to answer.  You may announce who is calling and ask if they want to speak to the caller.
3. If yes, just press "transfer" again and hang up.  If no, you should see a "cancel" option on your screen.  Press the button under cancel and you are speaking with the original caller again.
2. Blind Transfer: This simply transfers the call straight to the recipient without any discussion.
1. Press the transfer button
2. Press the button under "blind" on your screen.
3. Dial the recipient's extension.
4. Press transfer and hang up.
3. Transfer to Voicemail
1. Press Transfer
2. Dial *55
3. Dial the recipient's extension
4. Press # and hang up.

We have a Transfer Quick Tips Sheet, which basically spells out what I said above, that you can also review or save for future reference.

Three way calling:

When speaking with one party, you should see an option for "Confrnc" on your screen (if not, press the button under "more").  Press the button under confrnc and call the third party.  You can then speak with that party alone, then press confrnc again to join all three of you on a single call.  You cannot have more the three parties (including yourself) on a call unless you are using one of the conference room speaker phones.  However, if there are two or more people in our office on the call, each of then can conference in one other party and have everyone speak together.

Getting Help:

For a more detailed presentation of the phone's features, you may also find this PowerPoint presentation helpful.

Of course the Help Desk is always available to provide assistance.  Please keep in mind that we are still learning some of this as well, so please be patient with use. Our main focus right now is just getting everyone set up with the basics.

The other option for help is the iCore Help Desk.  Dial 611 on your new phone and you will be connected to them.  They should be able to answer your questions or help you make any changes you need.

Stay tuned for more:

I will be posting several more blog posts over the next few days that will help you with additional information on some of the other things you can do with your new phones.