Amanda Work Group Administration Guide
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Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda3 Amanda Fax Allows you to fax anything that you can print from a Windows application. It also allows you to convert the printable item (document, spread sheet, and so forth) into a fax file or a fax message. This client has 16 and 32-bit versions. N OTE:For details about adding clients, see Installing Amanda @Work.Group/Win- dows. How Amanda Operates To users and callers, Amanda is a voice on the telephone guiding them to people, services, and messages. However, Amanda’s entire design revolves around the mailboxes defined by you, the system administrator. This chapter explains what a mailbox is, how Amanda uses mailboxes to process calls, and how Amanda processes each mailbox based on the contents of fields associated with it. A Mailbox for Each User Each user of the Amanda system has a mailbox. The Amanda Company recommends using the same number as the extension number, but you don’t have to—unless you are using digital integration (such as SMDI). Amanda dials the extension number to reach a user who has a call. The mailbox identifies a record in Amanda’s database. The record contains fields that define how Amanda processes each user’s calls. The system administrator initially (and ultimately) controls the contents of these fields, but the user can change many of them. For example, the user can turn Do Not Disturb on and off during a hectic day. The user changes the contents of these fields using a telephone and a series of menus. He can also use Amanda Messenger. The administrator changes them from Amanda Administrator. The administrator can view all the fields associated with the mailbox at the same time and move easily from the fields for one mailbox to the fields for another. In addition to these fields, each mailbox has one or more recorded greetings. For example, when a user does not answer a call, the caller hears a greeting, such as “Hi. This is Ralph at extension 123. Please leave a message….” A typical mailbox is configured to ring a telephone extension and record messages from callers. Users periodically check their mailboxes for messages, or they can be notified that a message exists in a variety of ways. Typically, there is one user for each mailbox, even though several mailboxes might share a single telephone extension. Mailboxes that Control Call Processing There are more mailboxes than there are users. This is because mailboxes also control the flow of a call. For example, the company greeting and all the menus are played as greetings for mailboxes. One mailbox directs the call to another mailbox for further processing. By default, Amanda starts with mailbox 990, known as the Company Greeting mailbox. Amanda plays a very short greeting for that mailbox, which is something similar to “Thank you for calling The Amanda Company.”
4 Administering [email protected]/Windows The Done Chain field, one of the fields associated with mailbox 990, causes Amanda to route the call to mailbox 991, known as the Caller Instructions mailbox—unless the caller enters the DTMF (touch tone) digits for another mailbox, such as Ralph’s 123. The greeting Amanda plays for mailbox 991 is a menu of choices (for example, “For sales, press 1. For customer support, press 2….”). If the caller presses a number from the menu, Amanda routes the call to the mailbox associated with that menu number. The Caller Instructions mailbox (by default mailbox 991) is very important because the caller returns to it if all else fails. It is what keeps the caller from becoming lost in the system. You don’t have to use mailboxes 990 and 991, but it is very important that you use two mailboxes. The first should always provide a very short general greeting. The second should be a very specific set of instructions or a menu that allows the caller to reroute himself. The caller can hear it under a variety of circumstances. The second mailbox must be the value stored in the first ID’s Done Chain field. You can use these two mailboxes for all calls coming into Amanda, or you can use two different mailboxes per port. This allows you to have a separate general greeting and set of instructions for each port. Mailboxes that Provide Information An information mailbox (such as 990 or 991) does not accept messages from callers; instead, its greeting is played to callers to provide them with various pieces of information, such as the company’s hours of operation, location, and so forth. No real user or telephone extension corresponds to this kind of mailbox. The Power of Mailboxes Amanda makes a distinction between the mailbox and the user’s extension, although they are usually the same number. The mailbox is the number for a record in Amanda’s database. The extension is what Amanda must dial to transfer a call. By making this distinction, Amanda can provide powerful features through her Token Programming Language. All of Amanda’s mailboxes are stored in a single database, so no two users can have the same number. For example, you can have only one mailbox 0 (usually the company operator). To use 0 more that once, Amanda provides single-digit menus. When you define a single-digit menu, you provide a mailbox to be processed for each number on the menu (1–9 and 0). Amanda processes that mailbox when the user or caller selects the corresponding menu number. For example, if a caller is in mailbox 100 and mailbox 100 maps the menu number 0 to mailbox 222, then Amanda sends callers who press 0 to mailbox 222 rather than to the company operator designated as mailbox 0. When a digit is not mapped as a menu number, Amanda treats the digit as a mailbox. For example, if 0 is not mapped, the caller who enters it reaches mailbox 0, which is usually the operator. Similarly, if a caller enters more than one digit, such as 123, the caller reaches mailbox 123 (if it exists).
Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda5 Processing Calls and Mailboxes To learn the basics of Amanda’s call processing capabilities, you must understand the following concepts. How Amanda processes a call by going from one mailbox to another How Amanda processes an individual mailbox based on the contents of its fields Processing a Call Amanda waits for incoming calls directed to her by your telephone switching system. When a call comes to an Amanda telephone port, Amanda goes from one mailbox to another as the system processes that call. How does the system know what mailboxes to use? As Amanda answers a call, the system starts with the mailbox defined for use with the port that handles the call. This is usually mailbox 990, the Company Greeting mailbox. See “Recording the Company Greeting” on page 26 for more informa- tion about setting up this mailbox. The system proceeds with the mailbox the system finds in the Done Chain field for the current mailbox unless the caller enters an extension. Amanda translates the digits that the caller enters (whether an extension or a num- ber from a menu) to a mailbox and continues processing at that mailbox. Depending on the fields associated with a particular mailbox, Amanda uses the contents of that mailbox’s Extension field, Done Chain field, Busy Chain field, or RNA (Ring No Answer) Chain field to determine what to do next. Tokens from Amanda’s Token Programming Language are used in the Extension field. The Done Chain, Busy Chain, and RNA fields contain only mailboxes. More information about the Token Programming Language is in Installing Aman- [email protected]/Windows. Eventually, the caller talks to someone, leaves a message, and/or hangs up. The following diagram helps to illustrate this concept.
6 Administering [email protected]/Windows Call Processing Diagram NOTE:If a Done Chain field is not defined, Amanda uses the Done Chain field of the Company Greeting mailbox as a default. While this default Done Chain can vary from port to port, it usually is the Done Chain field for mailbox 990 and is initially set to mailbox 991 (referred to as the Caller Instructions mailbox). Because of this feature, callers who make invalid choices return to the Caller Instruction mailbox and hear a menu of choices. This keeps them from getting lost in the system.
Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda7 Processing a Mailbox Every time Amanda processes a mailbox during a supervised transfer, the system follows the path shown in the following diagram. The settings for the fields associated with the mailbox, such as the Do Not Disturb, determine what actions Amanda does or does not take. While Amanda processes every mailbox the same way, the dotted rectangle around the left column of the diagram’s first page shows a typical call—starting with Amanda dialing a user’s extension and ending with the call being answered, busy, or not answered after a number of rings. The right column of the first page (outside the dotted rectangle), shows the processing for additional (in some cases, special) features. For example, it shows how Amanda: Routes the call if Do Not Disturb is on Identifies the caller, the called party, or both Allows the called party to screen calls Knows when to go to another mailbox or process tokens from the Token Program- ming Language The second page of the diagram shows in detail what Amanda does when the system supervises the transfer of a call and finds that the extension is answered, busy, or not answered. The third page shows when messages are recorded and where they are stored. N OTE:At any time, the caller can enter a number from the menu or the number for another mailbox. If the caller enters a single digit and there are menu fields, Amanda checks for values in those menu fields first. If the menu field for that digit is empty or if the caller enters more than one digit, Amanda assumes that the caller entered a mailbox.
8 Administering [email protected]/Windows Mailbox Processing Diagram
Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda9 Mailbox Processing Diagram (continued)
10 Administering [email protected]/Windows Mailbox Processing Diagram (continued) Customer Service and Support The Amanda Company provides customer service and support Monday through Friday from 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time, except holidays . Customer Support: (800) 800–9822 For sales, contact The Amanda Company at the East Coast office. Dealer Sales: Telephone: (800) 410-2745 Distribution Sales: Telephone: (800) 410-2745 International Sales: Telephone: (203) 744-3600 International Support: Telephone: (203) 744-0860
Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 11 We b S i t e : http://www.taa.com End User Support End user support covers the actual usage of Amanda through the telephone, such as picking up messages, sending messages, changing greetings, and using distribution lists. Registered Amanda sites receive free end user support for the life of their systems. Be sure to send in your registration card! System Administration Support System administration support covers the configuration of Amanda; such as setting up mailboxes, programming notification, setting automatic schedule changes, and creating reports. Registered Amanda sites receive free system administration support for up to six months after the installation. Be sure to send in your registration card! Installation Support Installation support covers the initial connection of Amanda to a telephone switching system as well as problems that occur when the system changes or Amanda is upgraded. The Amanda Company offers installation support to any dealer who buys a turnkey system. Qualified Amanda marketing partners and solution providers, who are in good standing, receive installation support for any system. Application Support Application support covers extended programs that can be configured using Amanda’s powerful Token Programming Language. The Amanda Company can write custom applications for you. All Amanda solution providers, who are in good standing, receive application support. Please contact your Amanda sales representative for more information.