Up-to-date list of ESI phone systems compatible with VIP PC Attendant Console1
ESI Communications Servers
IVX® X-Class*
IVX E-Class Generation II*
IP E-Class Generation II*
IVX S-Class Generation II*
* Legacy product.
Handling an active office’s phone traffic is an incredibly demanding task, particularly for an attendant who has other duties as well. That’s why ESI created VIP PC Attendant Console. Built on the incredibly full-featured VIP Professional software platform, VIP PC Attendant Console is ready to give even the busiest attendant the tools to handle call traffic and help keep the office running smoothly.
Like other VIP applications, VIP PC Attendant Console is available in both a standalone edition (SE) and an Outlook®-integrated edition, so you can select what’s best for your office environment.
In addition to VIP Professional’s regular Call Display and Quick Contact List, VIP PC Attendant Console includes constantly updated views of:
- Incoming calls
- Holding calls
- Up to 200 virtual buttons (like programmable feature keys, but on-screen)
1.
IVX S-Class Generation II requires an optional Network Services Processor (NSP), which must have been installed at purchase; other systems shown all have built-in NSPs.
The details
Overview
- Advanced call handling increases efficiency during periods of heavy incoming call traffic.
- All the power of VIP Professional, and so much more.
- Familiar Windows® format — Intuitive, requiring less training.
- Drag-and-drop functionality enhances rapid call processing.
- Lets user organize and sort station icons by label color to easily locate employees and determine their availability.
- Conveniently fits into your computing environment — Available in both standalone edition (SE) and Outlook®-integrated edition.
Incoming Calls view
- The Incoming Calls view displays all incoming calls, in the order in which they arrive. For each incoming call, one of three status conditions applies:
- New incoming calls, indicated in black type.
- If a call remains unanswered beyond a certain period, it automatically goes into the Attendant Queue (bold blue type and a “Q” icon). The caller hears a system prompt advising him/her of the delay. Also, you can choose to place a call into this Queue (if you know there will be a delay in answering and wish to spare the caller having to wait through several rings).
- If you’ve already handled a call but it has “returned” to you for some reason, it’s a re-routed call — indicated by bold black type and a “recycling” icon. Among other things, this keeps you from greeting the caller as if this were a newly presented call.
- This provides powerful call handling.
How can you answer a call in VIP PC Attendant Console?- Obviously, you can click the Call Display’s Answer button. This answers all waiting calls in the order of their respective arrival to VIP PC Attendant Console.
- You can double-click any call in the Incoming Calls view. This lets you decide the order in which you’ll answer calls, especially based on Caller ID3 information.
- You can even drag-and-drop. Drag a call from the Incoming Calls view and drop it onto a programmed button in the Virtual Button Window. As with programmable feature keys on your ESI Feature Phone, each button can represent an extension, department, mailbox, or speed-dial number. Let’s say you see a call and know from its Caller ID3 information that it’s Joe’s wife. If your Virtual Button Window has a button for Joe’s extension, just drag-and-drop the call onto that button to transfer Joe’s wife directly to his extension.
Holding Calls view
- The Holding Calls view shows up to five calls that are on hold (if more than five are on hold, a scrollbar appears). This view displays both calls that are on system-wide hold and calls that the attendant has placed on exclusive hold. If a call remains on hold beyond a certain time limit (programmed by your ESI Reseller), VIP PC Attendant Console uses bold red text and a “bell” icon to draw attention to this.
- To take a call off-hold, just double-click it. VIP PC Attendant Console lets you decide which call to take off-hold; so you can base it on the Caller ID3 information, how long the call has been holding, a combination of the two, or any other factor you wish.
- There are three ways you can place a call on hold when using VIP PC Attendant Console:
- When speaking to a caller, click Hold in the Call Display window.
- When speaking to a caller, press HOLD on your ESI Feature Phone.
- While a call is ringing, drag-and-drop the call from the Incoming Calls view into the Holding Calls view.
Virtual Button Window
- Shows the status of up to 400 entries — The buttons in the Virtual Button Window, similar to the programmable feature keys on your ESI Feature Phone or physical Expansion Console, provide single-click access to extensions, mailbxoes, departments, and speed-dial numbers. As in VIP, just drag-and-drop to program these buttons. VIP PC Attendant Console is always fully synchronized with the phone system, which assures that the buttons remain up-to-date and show the accurate status for each of the items they represent.
- Color-coding — Each displayed station button gives color-coded, at-a-glance indication of the station’s button:
When the button is . . . The associated station is . . . Silver gray Idle Red In use Amber In do-not-disturb mode And, if your system is equipped with ESI Presence Management, the Virtual Button Window even tells you when users are off-premises (“OUT” indications in the graphic, above).
- Easy on-screen organization — With the Virtual Button Window, you can group buttons within folders, as shown above, to simplify managing them. VIP PC Attendant Console also lets you give buttons color-coded labels for additional ease of keeping track of who is in what department, who performs which function, etc. This is in addition to the buttons’ color-coded status indications mentioned above.
- Even more powerful call-handling — When using the Virtual Button Window, you can transfer a call by any of these three methods:
- Drag-and-drop it onto a button, from either Incoming Calls or Holding Calls.
- After answering the call, click Transfer in the Call Display. This pops up a complete listing of extensions, mailboxes, departments, and speed-dial numbers; just click the one you want.
- As always, press TRANSFER on your ESI Feature Phone.
Text-messaging
- This VIP Professional-based feature is particularly powerful for use in VIP PC Attendant Console. You can send a text message to any user in your ESI system who’s equipped with a VIP Professional-compatible application.2
- ESI text-messaging is completely non-intrusive. Forget about old-fashioned “whisper paging” and minimize the need for noisy overhead pages: if Joe gets a call but is already on another call, just send him a quiet, instant text message.
- One major advantage ESI text-messaging has over other instant-messaging solutions: it’s safe from viruses, “worms,” and other security threats. That’s because it’s on just your system and doesn’t involve the Internet. This also mimimizes workplace distractions by limiting employees to only intra-business text-messaging.
- You can type a new message each time (in the Type Message field), use the built-in, customizable Quick Responses to save time, or use any combination of the two as you see fit.
Requirements
ESI hardware
- ESI Communications Server, IVX S-Class Generation II, IVX X-Class, IVX E-Class Generation II, or IP E-Class Generation II with installed Network Services Processor (NSP).1
- ESI 48-Key Feature Phone (Digital or IP).
- Highly recommended: Caller ID service from telephone provider. [It’s possible to use this product without CID service, but many of its most compelling features require it.]
Computer system
- One of the following operating systems:
- 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 20074
- Intel® Pentium® II 400 MHz processor or better
- 128 MB RAM
- 15 MB of hard drive free space
1.
IVX S-Class Generation II requires optional Network Services Processor (NSP), which must have been installed at purchase; other systems shown all have built-in NSPs.
2.
Both standalone and Outlook-integrated editions of VIP Professional, VIP PC Attendant Console, VIP ACD, and VIP Softphone.
3.
Requires Caller ID service from your telephone service provider.
4.
Current VIP software, including VIP PC Attendant Console, is compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista (but not 64-bit Windows XP). For more details, see the VIP section of the downloadables page on the ESI User’s Guide site. The Outlook-integrated edition of VIP is incompatible with Vista Business SP1 (32- or 64-bit) running Outlook 2007.