Unified Messaging

CallXpress unifies all office communications

Email, SMS, fax and voice in a ‘one stop messaging shop’.

Transparent integration of CallXpress with Gmail subscriber’s mailboxes delivers an Enterprise-class Unified Messaging communication platform to Gmail users, which can be remotely accessed within the Google environment via a laptop, Smartphone etc.

Added advantage: Guaranteed secure access to voicemail

If you are using CallXpress as your messaging platform, you never need to access your mobile providers messaging system to pick up your voice messages, which, as we are constantly reminded by the News of the World scandal, is not hack-proof.  CallXpress is. See our previous blog post to find out more.

Reseller Opportunities

It’s good news for those whose company already has a CallXpress UM system in place and it’s a good opening for our reseller partners selling unified communications, as they can now introduce the popular Gmail compatibility of CallXpress to their customers.

If you would like any further information, please contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

ProcessFlows can help local government organisations improve their telecommunications processes. Handle all calls in a timely and efficient way with less resource and reduced costs.

Councils receive thousands of phone calls a day

It is a familiar scenario: Staff are busy routing calls from the general public to the appropriate person/department, answering internal calls from members of staff wanting to be put through to a colleague in another department, asking callers if they can call back – it is a chaotic and inefficient way of processing calls.

For callers, it is frustrating having to wait in a queue for their call to be answered

Or the phone may even ring off, followed by a message; “All our operators are currently busy, please call back later.”  Callers did not even get the option to leave a message, so they will put the phone down feeling a bit annoyed.

A ProcessFlows speech solution developed specifically for Councils;

• Automatically deals with all your inbound calls
• Uses AVST CallXpress, a vendor independent speech application
• Builds on an organisation’s existing telephony infrastructure
• Provides call processing functionality which automatically copes with the peaks and troughs of inbound calls
• Re-routes and diverts calls to the appropriate person, wherever they are, via a dedicated number /voicemail box
• Helps staff working from home or in another office keep in touch

Improved customer service

Generally people accept that you can’t always get through to the person you want to talk to on the first attempt, but if they can get through to that person’s dedicated voicemail and leave a message, or automatically be transferred to someone else who can deal with their query, they will probably put the phone down feeling that they have had a good customer experience.

Want to find out more?  Contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

The phone hacking News of the World story does not want to go away – MPs have backed calls for a new investigation into allegations, that in 2007, News of the World journalists hacked into the mobile phone voicemail of well known political figures.

Using mobile phone provided voicemail is inherently insecure, the fact that the mobile providers’ numbers are standard and you can dial them from any phone, not just mobile, is not a good start.  And what’s more, it is often impossible for the average user to know whether someone is tampering with any of their received voicemails.

If those who were hacked worked for organisations that had installed and used an independent and secure unified messaging platform, chances are (if it was properly administered and managed) this would never have happened.

Why?

• You have to know your unique PIN number to pick up your voicemail
• Unified Messaging supports both remote phone users and office based staff
• Unified messaging platforms provide secure options for voice mail, which can be set up using ‘rules’ to meet the level of security and needs of the individual and company they work for
• Messages are held within the organisations’ infrastructure, not on a third party network, over which administrators have no security controls.

How?

• The messaging platform seamlessly takes the place of the mobile network provider’s answer phone services
• The users’ mobile phone is very simply reconfigured via the handset to automatically forward calls to the telephone number at work at the point it would normally go to voicemail if unanswered
• Go to your mobile phone menu, choose divert option and enter your unique pin number
• The unified messaging solution then handles the calls in your company’s secure environment
• Users access their messages from their mobile or landline with a unique PIN number.

The security benefits are…

• There are never any messages held on the mobile providers’ server.  If anyone tries to access any voicemail inbox for the UK phone providers, even if they hack into the mailbox, there are no messages as the user does not need it.
• If the hacker realises that they need to hack into the voice box of a third party unified messaging system, this will very challenging.  Multiple unsuccessful attempts to access the voicemail can lock the mailbox – say after 3 attempts.  An administrator can be alerted using enterprise management tools.  The attempts are logged on the system.
• Rather than adhering to conventional 4 digit access pin numbers, administrators can force users to select an irregular number of digits on the PINs – such as 5 or 6 digits.  Users will probably hate it, but it makes it more secure.
• Facilities to prompt users to change their security pin on a regular basis, plus the ability to stop users reverting to previous pin numbers.
• Restrict access to messages by only allowing users to call from a designated phone number or internal handsets.  Alternatively, if you don’t want users accessing their voicemail box from your organisations front messaging menu, you can issue them with a bespoke number for message retrieval only.
• The system reports on who logs on and when.

Built in security:

• Recognition of specific phone numbers to allow access
• Incorrect  cut off
• Mailbox lockout if tampering is attempted
• Instant and visual indication if anyone has listened to a message, even if it is only to the first few seconds
• Phone records, so any false numbers trying to gain access can be traced
• Users can be forced to change passwords regularly.

In addition to the benefits of heightened security, mobile workers no longer have to learn multiple voice messaging systems and callers can choose automatic transfer when listening to a voicemail message, instead of having to hang up and redial.

Unified messaging platforms deliver much more than just mobile messaging security, they give you advanced voice mail, call processing, unified messaging and speech-enabled capabilities as well.

If you would like any further information, please call us on 01962 835053 or email info@processflows.co.uk.

CallXpress addresses all the capabilities identified in the September 2009 Gartner Report ‘Critical Capabilities of Corporate Telephony’.

The report highlighted 8 things you should consider when building your corporate communications.  Percentages represent the perceived importance by users.

• Fits any type of architecture -20%.  Allows you to build on your existing IT investment
• Scalability – 15%.  Deploy in one environment today and add-to as needs grow.  Up to 384 ports or networked for up to 40,000 users
• High-availability options – 15%.  Multi-server architecture provides automatic stand-by and disaster recovery
• UC Integration – 15%.  Over 250+ TDM, IP-PBX, and Centrex integrations, plus email clients and business applications
• Mobility – 10%.  Unified messaging, hands free speech and personal assistant for complete tailored mobile working
• Efficient Management, Diagnostics and Remote Support – 10%.  Single admin interface for 3 or 4 CallXpress global systems + networking capabilities
• Open Standards Support – 10%. Easily Adapts to Enterprise Environments.  Works with SIP, RTP, QSIG, SMDI, Cisco, Mitel, NEC
• Midsize Business Support – 5%.  Multiple licensing options on multi-site locations

Contact us if you would like to find out more.

What is the difference between Unified Messaging and Unified Communications, and between email and a phone?

Andy Whiteside, Avanquest Solutions:

If you listen to the hype from a lot of telephony and application manufacturers, they’ll tell you that there is no difference, and they now make no distinction between any form of communication software – it is all ‘unified’.

Our question is “Where on earth did this claptrap, twaddle and just plain rubbish come from?”  Well, our theory is that it came about because Unified Messaging was, and still is, brilliant (bear with me).

Unified Messaging was conceived, built and put into production within a couple of very short years in the nineties.

The companies that built it added value, differentiated and still today manage to make users lives a lot easier and feature rich than plain old voicemail.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve just launched the latest version of CallXpress – CallXpress 8, with voice enabled dialing functionality.

CallXpress works with your existing voice infrastructure, pulling the technologies together so you can receive all email, fax via email, phone and SMS messages in one place – your email environment.  And because it is voice enabled, it listens to what you say!

The integrated hands free Speech Dialler, which is a new benefit in CallXpress 8, is a speech recognition and voice user interface which allows you to access and manage your inbox and connect with the person you want to communicate with (be that by voice, email, fax or text) without manual intervention.

The sophistication of mobile devices and networks has created an environment where users expect to be connected and productive wherever they are.  For this to be possible, users must have access to the same productivity tools on their mobile devices as they have on their desktop computers.

CallXpress 8 has been developed specifically for mobile employees. Never miss a message.  CallXpress 8 will notify you of new voice or fax messages via email, phone call or SMS.

Read the rest of this entry »