Unified Communications (UC)

Unified Communications (UC) is the seamless integration of voice, presence, chat, data, applications, and other technologies that help dramatically improve your communication processes and business productivity. 

Our software and services enable you to access your account and seamlessly incorporate our high-value cloud communication services, including:

• UC
• Contact Center & IVR
• Account Manager
• Hosted PBX & VoIP
• Integrated Solutions
• SIP Trunking

UC

Call History: See all of your call history from a single, actionable screen. You can search, filter, sort, and even initiate calls

Calling: Users can make calls from anywhere without the need for a desk phone. With only a headset and a computer, you can have all of the convenience of your office phone right at your fingertips no matter where you are.

Call Recording: You can record all of your calls, some of them, or even parts of calls as needed with  UC Call Recording. On-demand Call Recording can be activated, paused, and even resumed during a call with a click of a single button. All of your initiated call recordings can be searched, listened to, and downloaded from a single screen in UC.

Chat: Chat with your colleagues with a single click. Incoming chat notifications are handled through persistent, browser-based alerts.

Enterprise Contacts: Getting a colleague’s contact details no longer requires opening a separate corporate directory. All of your enterprise contacts are automatically pulled into UC.

Meetings: Collaborate face to face, share screens, and chat with colleagues from any location with just your computer, a browser, and a headset.

Visual Voicemail: See all of your voicemail messages on a single screen with information like the date, duration, caller ID, and an attached sound file that can be played. You can filter and even delete messages from this screen.

Voicemail Transcription: Prioritize your messages before you listen to them with voicemail transcription. If enabled, you will receive an automated transcription of the message so that you can determine if it is important or something to address at a later time.

Zero Configuration: There’s no need for complex setup and configuration or a long wait for phones to arrive. Start communicating immediately with only a browser and a headset.

UC Mobile App

With UC Mobile App, your mobile phone becomes your mobile office. Utilize features like office extension, extension-to-extension dialing, caller ID, and more to increase productivity while pulling together voice, chat, video, and other services to support your mobile workforce.

Call Recording: You can record all of your calls, some of them, or even parts of calls as needed with the mobile app. On-demand Call Recording can be activated, paused, and even resumed during a call with a click of a single button.

Cloud Extensions: An extension type that has no physical device information. Cloud Extensions are used to configure the routing of call traffic to and from the Hosted PBX, and to provide voicemail capabilities.

Conference Calls: Join conference calls with the click of a button. See the active conference lines you own and have access to as well as join without the need to remember numbers, access codes, and passwords.

Support for Softphones: Our system works beautifully with most of the popular SIP softphones available today. Softphones let you access your phone wherever you are, allowing you to be called by any telephone number. Any domestic number can be assigned to your softphone line. Softphones offer full-featured phone applications that allow you to make and receive calls, transfer calls, forward calls, teleconference, and check your voicemail.

Enterprise Contacts: Getting a colleague’s contact details no longer requires opening a separate corporate directory. All of your enterprise contacts are automatically pulled into the mobile app.

Mobile Office Extensions: IP desk phone features such as Auto Attendant, Unified Mailbox, and Find Me are seamlessly integrated into mobile workers’ laptops and smartphones.

Visual Voicemail with Voice to Text: See all of your voicemail messages on a single screen with information like the date, duration, caller ID, and an attached sound file that can be played. You can filter and even delete messages from this screen. If voicemail transcription is enabled, you will receive an automated transcription of the message so that you can determine if it is important or something to address at a later time.

Contact Center & IVR

Agent Console: Agents have access to call controls, reason codes, call history, call recording controls, scripting, supervisor escalation, survey tools, and screen customization options.

Call Back In Queue: The call center can put customers in a queue without forcing them to stay on the line. It will automatically dial them back once the appropriate agent is free.

Call Routing: Calls can be routed to any free agent, by team/queue, or by skill-based routing, ensuring that calls are sent to the agent with the most relevant experience.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR): The IVR can automatically collect important data from the customer about the nature of their inquiry, their personal information, and account details which can be delivered to the agent as the call is connected. Customers can also perform basic account inquiries and some self-service actions (e.g. bill payment, order status, tracking, and account balance) with the IVR.

Omni-channel Communications: Agents and customers can communicate via voice calls, live web chat, email, or SMS/MMS without having to leave their agent console or use multiple proprietary applications.

Screen Pops: Relevant data collected from the customer during an IVR interaction as well as historical contact and account data pulled from the database can be delivered to the agent via screen pops, giving them quicker access to data that will assist with the customer interaction and call resolution.

Supervisor Console: Supervisors have the ability to listen in, whisper coach, barge-in, intercept/answer inbound agent calls, accept escalations, view/change agent status, monitor and manage the queue, enable alternate routing, set up and manage skill-based routing, view the call center dashboard, and build, generate, and view reports. Supervisors also have access to call recording and workforce management / optimization features.

Third-Party & Custom Database Integration: Customer account and previous interaction information can be pulled from CRM systems as well as databases, whether they’re custom-built or third-party. Contact Center can be integrated with them in order to deliver relevant data to customers and agents to improve customer engagement.

Outbound IVR: Organizations can perform basic outreach to customers without the need for a live agent to staff the campaign. Appointment confirmation, payment reminders, automated surveys, and proactive information delivery can be handled by the outbound IVR.

Reporting: Supervisors have access to more than 50 canned reports including queue performance (by day, week, month, and queue), agent performance (by day, week, month, and queue), media performance (i.e. voice, chat, text, and email), IVR details including calls by hour and by number, and survey details including results by agent, question, or summary. Supervisors also have the ability to generate custom reports as needed.

Workforce Optimization / Management: Supervisors have the ability to see all of their agents, and take real-time action during calls. Supervisors can even perform administrative duties such as agent scheduling, call forecasting, real-time agent schedule adherence, PTO management, as well as manage multiple locations, shifts, and pay periods.

Account Manager

Account Management: Manage your account including company name, sales reps, agents/partners, billing email, technical email, contracts, and orders.Automatic Billing System: Features include monthly billing, automated credit card charges, dunning, and A/R.

Case Management / LNP: View the status of existing number porting cases, submit new ones, assign case IDs, and search for cases using advanced options.

Click-to-Dial: Browser plugins enable Click-to-Dial functionality for the following browsers:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Mozilla Firefox

Phone Rebooter: Reboot phones remotely without the need to go on-site merely to update a phone configuration or reboot for a minor issue.

Shared Line Appearance Hunt Group: In addition to the above shared line features, there is the ability to group lines into a “busy roll-over“ hunt group. This feature allows calls to be presented to the next available line in the group.

Tax Automation: Automate the calculation of taxes for customer orders and invoices through the use of Avalara’s tax automation system, integrated directly into your company portal.

Test My Connection: A diagnostic tool that allows your customers to test their own broadband connection for VoIP quality, suitability, and firewall port status from within their portal or via a URL.

Accounting: Track orders, invoices, and online billing, including sales proposals, orders, invoices, payments, credits, refunds, and automated monthly billing and dunning systems.

Endpoint Template Management: Create and modify configuration templates for any phone or endpoint on the market.

Message Center: Broadcast communications to service providers and customers.

Operator Console: Web-based presence and call control application that allows users to drag and drop calls to and from other extensions, parking lots, conference bridges, or out of the Call Center queues. There is also access to voicemail, Click-to-Dial, and chat functions. The console’s contact list may be built “on the fly” or imported from another source.

URL Agent: Enables inbound calls to a user’s extension to manually or automatically display a Screen Pop from a third-party web application.

User Dashboard: A web-based user interface that allows users to configure their Hosted PBX, create Call Groups and Queues, as well as view call detail records, billing information, voicemail options, and more.

Hosted PBX and VoIP

Call Conferencing

Conference Bridges: Multiple on-site and outside callers can simultaneously participate in password-protected conference calls. Callers can be assigned “talk/listen” or “listen-only” status.

3-Way Conference Call: After making or receiving a call, a user may “conference in” any third party for a 3-way call.

Call Management

Attended Transfer: Transfer a call to an extension, group, or phone number after announcing the party to be transferred.

Auto Attendant Answering: Set up a telephone number that dials directly to an Auto Attendant. Callers are then presented with predefined options via the Auto Attendant feature.

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD): Used to route calls in a call center environment to the appropriate agents based on factors such as time availability, behavior, and priority levels.

Incoming Caller ID Routing: Route calls based on incoming Caller ID to any Auto Attendant, extension, Ring Group, phone number, ACD, or Call Queue.

Incoming Privacy Screening: Force callers with “No Caller ID” or “Blocked Caller ID” to enter a number that will be presented as their Caller ID.

Listen Live: Allows you to listen in on a selected extension, but not speak.

Barge: Allows you to listen in on a selected extension and speak to the internal caller, but not be heard by the external caller.

Burstable Virtual Call Paths: Call Paths are “burstable,” meaning you can configure your Hosted PBX to give extra call paths “on-demand” to deliver additional calls beyond the number of paths purchased—up to 10 additional paths. The system will automatically track and bill the customers for the extra call paths and they will have use of the additional call paths for the remainder of the billing period.

Call Forwarding: Forward calls via the portal, or via your device or softphone. Calls may be forwarded to any extension or phone number. Note: device or softphone forwarding functionality may vary by manufacturer.

Call Hold: Place calls on hold and play music or a commercial while a caller is on hold.

Call Park: Unlike a call placed on hold, a parked call may be picked up at another extension.

Call Queue: Call Queues are used to route calls on a first-in, first-out basis to the appropriate extension or group. These extensions can be agents logged into the system. Call Queues are commonly used with an ACD where callers hear an announcement such as “Thank you for calling, all available agents are busy, please hold for the next available agent, or press ‘1’ to leave a message.” When the call is ready to be routed, the ACD handles the routing rules.

Call Recording: Selectively record calls for training or documentation purposes. Note: Call Recording requires a dedicated server in the cloud.

Call Routing Time Frames: Allows routing decisions based on time and date. Multiple schedules can be configured from departments with different hours of operation (e.g. business hours, after hours, and holiday hours).

Live Person Answering: Set up a telephone number to ring a specific extension or a Ring Group—sequentially or simultaneously. This option enables your company to use a live person to answer the caller instead of an Auto Attendant.

Multicast Paging: Dial a Ring Group and make an announcement through the loudspeaker of each phone in the group. Note: phone specific; check per brand or model.

No Answer Call Forwarding: Automatically forwards your calls to an extension, group, or phone number when you do not answer your phone.

Office Intercom: Dial another user’s extension and activate their phone speaker to make an announcement. Note: phone specific; check per brand or model.

One Button Redial: A device or softphone feature that redials the last number dialed by the extension user. Note: not all phones support this feature.

1-6 Digit Extension Dialing: Hosted PBX extensions can consist of 1-6 digits.

Outbound Dialing Rules: Configure which types of outbound calls users can make.

Outgoing Call Blocking: Prevent calls to specific numbers or services (e.g. a 1-900 number).

Premium Call Recording: Record incoming and outgoing calls either by default or on demand. Choose which extensions get recorded automatically, which ones can use on demand, and which ones don’t get recorded at all from your company portal. You can also see, search, listen to, and download all call recordings generated from a single screen.

Call Waiting Indicator: Indicates an incoming call (and Caller ID if available) while another call is in process.

Caller ID: Customize the appearance of your outgoing Caller ID by outgoing number or extension.

Caller ID Blocking: Disable Caller ID for all outbound calls made from your Hosted PBX.

Caller ID Routing: Enables the creation of one or more inbound call routing tables that route to a particular destination, based on Caller ID. A Caller ID Route matches either a call’s Caller ID name or number, and then uses a predetermined call route to deliver the call to its destination.

Direct Inward Dialing (DID): Set up a telephone number to dial directly to a device or extension.

Direct Inward System Access (DISA): Allows remote users to dial into their hosted PBX from an outside line and make outbound calls that will display Caller ID information from a DID within their office.

Directed Call Pickup: Allows users to dial *8 plus an extension number to answer a call ringing at that extension. Note: this feature does not work with a Group or Queue call.

Disable Outbound Dialing: Disable Outbound Dialing for specific extensions.

Do Not Disturb: A device or softphone feature that simulates a phone being off-the-hook and sends incoming calls directly into voicemail. Other routing options are also available.

Find Me (Digital Assistant): Set up a personal assistant to find you at up to five locations. This feature is configured per extension and offers multiple options to route calls once they have reached the given extension. Callers are prompted to announce themselves and are given the option to try the next location or to leave a message.

Forward Calls Locally or Remotely (via Phone or Web): Call Forwarding is easy to set up and manage from your desktop or on-the-go.

Incoming Call Blocking: “Blacklist” phone numbers to block them from calling your Hosted PBX.

Incoming Call Identification: Identify incoming calls by modifying the Caller ID to display Call Routing information.

Ring Groups: Enable multiple extensions to be joined as a group, and then route calls sequentially or simultaneously to that group.

Call Management Cont.

Shared Virtual Call Paths: Virtual Call Paths deliver calls to and from the PSTN to either hosted endpoints or SIP Trunks. They are shared by all endpoints on a Hosted PBX, regardless of location. Customers can purchase any number of call paths to suit their needs and are limited only by budget constraints and bandwidth consumption (typically 80 Kbps per call).

Speed Dial: A device or softphone feature that automates the dialing of a predetermined phone number.

Unattended Transfer: Transfer a call to another extension, group, or phone number without announcing the party being transferred.

Voicemail: Associate a voice mailbox with an extension or use an announce-only voice mailbox to provide customers with a prerecorded message when they choose an option through an Auto Attendant or extension.

Visual Voicemail: After a voicemail is received, the Hosted PBX will send an email to any valid email account or alias that you enter into your company portal. The message will include the date and time of the call, the duration, Caller ID (if provided), the mailbox number, and an attached WAV file that can be played on your PC or mobile device. You can also set up auto-delete for voicemail messages after a configurable time, or as soon they are emailed.

Voicemail to Text: Don’t have a smartphone or tablet capable of playing WAV files? Enter an SMS address in your company portal and the Hosted PBX will send a shorter text message to your device. Note: Third-party text messaging rates may apply.

Music on Hold

Commercials on Hold (by Phone Number): You may upload multiple On Hold commercials to your Hosted PBX, and playback can be based on location or queue.

Music on Hold (Custom or Default): You have the choice to upload custom music files, or use our default music to be played while callers are on hold.

Origination and Termination

Domestic Origination: Our platform provides local phone numbers or DIDs in most areas in the United States. That means that we can port your local phone number to our system, and provide your company with the highest quality voice and flexibility of Voice over IP (VoIP).

Domestic Terminations: We provide competitive outbound call packages ranging from pay-as-you-go and prepaid minutes to unlimited usage plans. Our per minute rate is competitive, and our quality and reliability are uncompromising.

E911 Support: Every location and phone number where you utilize a device or softphone must have an associated E911 entry in the Web Portal. The phone number associated with your location is then registered with the national E911 database. You are also responsible for updating this information with us if you move any device to a new location per our Terms of Service.

Endpoint Templates: We provide the ability to create, configure, and distribute phone program templates that can be used with our auto-provisioning servers. This feature streamlines the process of adding new phone models/vendors to our platform. The templates can contain button programming, phone feature access, custom branding logos, and more.

International Termination: We offer competitive international rates, which are available via our website and upon request.

Shared Line Appearance: The ability to emulate a “Key System” where each phone can have predefined line keys that represent a specific phone line. Calls are delivered to the line and all phones with that line key. Any phone can pick up the call and all others will see that it is in use. Calls cannot be transferred from that line, but can be put on hold, or announced and picked up on the same phone or any other phone bearing the same line key.

Toll-Free Numbers: Utilize one or multiple toll-free numbers which may be routed to a specific outside DID, Auto Attendant, group, or queue.

Reporting

Accounting and Billing Reports: Detailed information about accounts receivable, invoices, and revenue can be viewed for all customers or per individual customer.

Activity Reports: Activity reports provide graphs of call traffic and virtual path usage for all call types that occurred during the past 90 days.

Call Center Reports: Detailed reports can be viewed for activity and performance statistics per agent or per queue. Reports include information such as answered and abandoned calls, and incoming calls per DID.

Call Detail Records: Real-time call logging is available within the portal. Information displayed includes call origin, destination, duration, date and time, and call type (International, On-Net, etc.).
Call Traffic by Extension: Track the number of calls by individual extensions.

Call Volume Graphs: Histograms graphically display calling patterns and trends.

Virtual Auto Attendants

Multiple Top-level Auto Attendants: Allows separate telephone numbers to be routed to unique Top-Level Auto Attendants. Each Auto Attendant is individually configurable.

Sub-level Auto Attendants: Sub-Level Auto Attendants are often used for different departments within an organization. For example, you may have a main Auto Attendant for your company, plus Sub-Level Auto Attendants for Sales, Support, etc.

Top-level Auto Attendants (Always On or Time-based): Allows callers to select menu options using a standard telephone keypad. Through the portal interface, calls can be routed to extensions, mailboxes, groups, conference rooms, call queues, or multiple levels of additional auto attendants.

ACD (Automatic Call Distributions) Routing

Agents: Agents receive incoming calls from a queue. To receive queued calls, they must first be set up as an agent, then assigned to one or more queues.

Pause and Unpause: Ability for a call center agent to pause calls from ringing their phone while they complete a task or take a break.

Queues: If available agents are busy or unavailable, calls can be routed to an intelligent call queue. You can prioritize calls by value, request urgency, or customizable rules.

Reason Codes: If an Agent needs to stop receiving calls temporarily, but does not want to log out of the queue, the agent can pause their incoming queue calls and provide a Reason Code to indicate why.

Tally Codes: When an agent receives a queued call and needs to assign it to a specific category for billing or other purposes, he/she can provide a Tally Code to indicate the nature of the call.

Zero Out: Allows a caller to leave the queue by pressing “0” to choose other call routing options, such as voicemail.

SIP Trunking

Enhanced SIP Trunking: An enhanced SIP trunk delivers calls to the premise equipment and acts like a CO line. If the SIP endpoint is offline or cannot be contacted by our system, the system provides an alternate predefined route for incoming calls.

Examples are: routing calls to an Auto Attendant, other SIP trunks (at other locations), voicemail, or a Find-Me Follow-Me sequence. This disaster recovery feature is extremely powerful and flexible.

Standard SIP Trunking: A standard SIP trunk also delivers calls to the premise equipment and acts like a CO line. If the SIP endpoint is offline or cannot be contacted by our system, the system issues busy signals to the incoming callers.

Integrated Solutions

API: We provide an application programming framework to allow other parties to obtain and pass information to our platform from other programs or systems. Some of the capabilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Presence and Click-to-Dial
• Call Control and Status
• Call Logging

Hosted Fax: Allows you to send faxes from your computer, which can then be received via email or routed to a physical fax device. This feature provides immediate access to faxes—anywhere, anytime, and from any device.

Microsoft Outlook Plugin: Optionally installed with Outlook 2010 and 2013, this provides users with the following features: Click-to-Dial, Screen Pops, and Call Logging.

Salesforce.com Plugin: An installable plugin for users of Salesforce.com supporting Click-to-Dial, Screen Pops, and Call Logging.

Screen Pops: A small pop-up window that displays inbound Caller ID information on the user’s screen.