Introduction

All of ESI’s VIP PC applications work with the advanced capabilities of your ESI system to enhance your day-to-day communication — including the ability to control calls and organize voice mail and contacts.

VIP (Visually Integrated Phone) is available in an Outlook®-integrated edition and a standalone edition (SE), and comes in two “flavors”: the basic VIP and VIP Professional. Each configuration is licensed independently, with easy migration from VIP to VIP Professional. Each lets you intelligently do the following from your PC’s screen:

• Manage your telephone calls
• Manage your voice mail
• Organize your contacts
• Log all your inbound and outbound calls
• Quickly program your ESI Feature Phone

With VIP Professional, you also get:

• Enhanced, more informative user interface
• Secure text-messaging
• Auto-recording capability3
• Compatibility with Outlook-integrated and standalone versions of VIP PC Attendant Console, VIP ACD, and VIP Softphone

And, speaking of those other products . . .

These independently licensed members of the VIP product family, all compatible with VIP Professional, add their own specific capabilities (click their links for more information):

• VIP PC Attendant Console — Makes it easier for even the busiest attendant to handle call traffic efficiently.
• VIP ACD1 — Helps you improve the quality of your customer service when used with ESI systems with built-in ACD (automatic call distribution).
• VIP Softphone1 — Lets you use your PC to connect to your ESI Communications Server from nearly any location with a broadband connection.

Regardless of your selected configuration, VIP is easy to implement. It connects to your existing local area network (LAN) and is non-invasive. There’s no need to upgrade the LAN or install Microsoft® Exchange® — thus avoiding a costly and impractical solution for the small to mid-size business.

The details

Overview
Call-handling
Unified messaging
Call-logging
Contact management
Station programming
Requirements

Overview

• Visually Integrated Phone — Integrates with ESI 48-Key Feature Phone (Digital or IP2).
• Different editions, so you can choose what best suits your working environment:
  • Outlook®-integrated edition — Works under Microsoft® Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007.
  • Standalone edition (SE) — Doesn’t require Outlook (but does import contacts from Outlook 2002, 2003, or 2007).
• Uses familiar Windows® interface — Reduces or eliminates need for training.
• Each edition available in two configurations — Basic VIP and the more fully featured VIP Professional.

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Call-handling

• Call Control window (SE shown) — Its Call Display provides ESI Feature Phone functions on-screen. And the Quick Contact^™ list makes it easy to dial those whom you call most often (see “Contact management”). Color-coded text shows you stations’ status, the same way your ESI Feature Phone’s tri-color feature keys do. In VIP Professional, as shown here, phone and memo icons give you quick access to editing contact information and either e-mailing your contacts or — if there are other users in-house of VIP Professional-compatible software3 — sending text messages to them. VIP Professional also adds a “sliding” volume control bar that lets you set the loudness of your handset or speakerphone, depending on which you’re using at the time.
• Customizable function buttons — The top four are fixed, but you can easily set up to 12 more (or 16 more on VIP Professional) so that each of your most frequently used functions is just a click away.
• Simplifies setup of conference calls — Build the list of participants on-screen in advance, saving time for all; then just click to start the conference call. On-screen Caller ID4 display makes it clear who’s connected and when.
• Provides TAPI support for use with not only Outlook (from either Outlook-integrated or standalone edition of VIP) but also other TAPI-compliant software for outbound dialing, “screen pops” and more.

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Unified messaging

• Manages voice mail — View voice messages, live call recordings, and personal memos; prioritize each message by importance; and select voice mail messages for playback. (The Outlook-integrated edition shows voice messages, call recordings, and personal memos, as well as output from fax servers, in the same Outlook Inbox where your e-mail appears.)
• Synchronizes automatically with ESI phone system’s voice mail — Regardless of whether you use the phone keys or the VIP interface to handle a voice message, the VIP voice mail display provides a continually updated indication of new, old, and deleted messages.
• Shows Caller ID4 data for each message — Just as ESI Phones typically show Caller ID information, VIP displays that information in the Subject line in the Outlook Inbox for each message.
• Recycle Bin — Keeps up to 105 of your most recently deleted voice messages — any of which you can restore quickly if you deleted it by accident.
• Plays back through phone — Some competing products cause all messages to be played back through the PC audio system. However, VIP uses the audio capabilities in the ESI Feature Phone, so the user can still pick up the handset to hear messages privately. This also keeps you from having to use a headset with the PC.
• Saves voice messages as .WAV files, but only when desired — Unlike less intelligent solutions, VIP gives you a choice of whether to save a message as a .WAV file. This spares your network the burden of moving a potentially large .WAV file every time someone in your office gets a message.
• Text-messaging — As an alternative communications method that’s exclusive to VIP Professional users, text-messaging allows quick, unobtrusive exchanges between employees and ends the need for intrusive background announcements and “whisper-paging.” There are even built-in, one-click Quick Responses to simplify and speed up communication between users. Moreover, this text-messaging is safe because it functions on only your ESI system, protecting your organization from the viruses, “spIM,” and other hazards of Internet-based instant messaging.
• 
• Auto-record — Select VIP Professional users may take advantage of this optional capability. With it enabled for you, you need never again miss recording an important call because the system records your every outside-line call, whether incoming or outgoing. Then, at the end of each call, VIP Professional gives you the choice (below) the choice of whether to keep the recording. It’s just that simple — and requires absolutely no third-party hardware.8

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Call-logging

• Missed Calls Log — Shows when callers hang up without leaving a message, so you can call back even those reluctant to use voice mail.
• Call Log — Tracks all calls coming into and from your station.

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Contact management

• Works with Outlook contacts — The standalone edition of VIP imports contacts from Outlook 2002, 2003, and 2007. The Outlook-integrated edition of VIP goes one step further, keeping all contacts in one convenient place within Outlook.
• Synchronizes with ESI phone system’s speed-dial lists (“Dexes”) — The phone system’s Esi-Dex lists are a valuable source of contact information. Whenever a contact is added to or deleted from the ESI system list, VIP automatically synchronizes with the change.7
• Quick Contact list — This integral part of the Call Control window provides easy access to frequent contacts. In the Outlook-integrated edition, preferred Outlook contacts can be dragged into the Quick Contact List for easy dialing and e-mailing.

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Station programming

• Familiar Windows interface — Simplifies programming of ESI Feature Phone station features. Manage external message notification, personal greetings (shown, below), programmable feature keys, and more.

• User-selectable “skins” — Users of VIP 3.15.0 (and higher) can apply various color-and-appearance schemes, or “skins,” to the VIP Call Window, to complement the user”s Windows “wallpaper” and other screen settings.9

(Outlook-integrated edition shown.)

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Requirements

ESI hardware

• ESI Communications Server, IVX X-Class, IVX E-Class Generation II, IVX S-Class Generation II, or IP E-Class Generation II system with installed Network Services Processor (NSP).
• ESI 48-Key Feature Phone (Digital or IP).
• Highly recommended: Caller ID service from telephone provider. [It’s possible to use VIP without CID service, but many of the product’s most compelling features require it.]

Computer system

• One of the following operating systems:
  • For the standalone edition (SE): Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 710
  • For the Outlook-integrated edition: Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 710
• Microsoft Outlook as noted:
  • For the standalone edition (SE) (Outlook needed only either to import Outlook contacts or provide TAPI support to Outlook): Outlook 2002, 2003, or 2007
  • For the Outlook-integrated edition (providing full integration): Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, or 20076
• Intel^® Pentium^® II 400 MHz processor or better [VIP Softphone2 requires 1 GHz or better]
• 128 MB RAM [VIP Softphone2 requires 256 MB]
• 25 MB of hard drive free space

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