Amanda Work Group Administrations 7 Xx Instructions Manual

							Chapter 1:
Introducing Amanda
What Amanda Does
[email protected]/DOS is an automated attendant and voice processing 
system designed especially for ease of use and flexibility. As a PC-based 
product, Amanda takes advantage of the technical innovations in the 
personal computer market. In addition, Amanda’s standard hardware 
components can be repaired or replaced by any PC service company. The 
computer on which Amanda is installed must be used only for Amanda.
Depending on what lines from your PBX are connected to Amanda and 
when calls are sent to Amanda to be processed, Amanda can serve you or 
your customer in a variety of ways.
Configured as a primary attendant: Amanda answers all your incoming 
calls on the lines you designate and allows the callers to direct their calls to a 
specific person or department without being placed on indefinite hold. If a 
specific person is unavailable, Amanda can take a private message for that 
person without missing any details. 
In this case, the telephone switching system sends all incoming calls to 
Amanda. 
						

							2 Administering [email protected]/DOS
Configured as a secondary attendant: Amanda assists your regular 
operator when call volume is heavy, allowing callers to direct their own calls 
or hold for the operator. Some companies provide specific incoming lines for 
Amanda as a backdoor attendant for calls from vendors, family members, 
friends, and special clients who prefer to have Amanda process their calls.
In this case, the telephone switching system sends incoming calls to Amanda 
only when the regular operator’s extension is busy or not answered.
Configured as an off-duty attendant: Amanda provides 24-hour access to 
your company and its employees when an operator is unavailable.
In this case, the telephone switching system sends all incoming calls to 
Amanda while the office is closed.
Configured as a voice messaging center: Amanda takes messages and 
allows users to send, store, and forward messages, increasing productivity 
and enhancing inter-office communication.
In this case, the telephone switching system transfers any incoming call to 
Amanda if the extension being called is busy or not answering.
Configured as an information system: Amanda provides answers to your 
callers’ most frequently asked questions (so you can avoid costly 
interruptions and provide a higher level of customer service 24 hours a day). 
Information such as your address, available hours, directions to your offices, 
and so forth, might be better handled by Amanda. Amanda’s serial ports can 
access databases and other information stored in other computers, allowing 
Amanda to give callers information on account balances, train schedules, and 
so forth.
In this case, the telephone switching system or even an operator can send 
incoming calls to Amanda. Then automatically, or if selected, Amanda plays 
out the requested information. 
						

							Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 3
How to Use Amanda
[email protected]/DOS can be run as either a voice server or as a 
standalone system, switching back and forth if necessary. In either case, the 
computer on which Amanda is installed must have a DOS operating system 
and be dedicated solely to running Amanda. 
The advantage of running Amanda as a voice server is that you can monitor 
it and adjust how it processes users’ calls from your own workstation rather 
than from the computer on which Amanda is running. When you use 
Amanda as a standalone system, you use DOS applications to control 
everything from the computer on which Amanda is installed.
[email protected]/DOS comes with one license for the client software, 
the applications that allow you to access Amanda from your workstation. To 
allow other users to access Amanda via their workstations (in addition to 
their telephones), you must purchase a license for each user. Besides the 
usual user options (such as listening to messages and changing the setting for 
Do Not Disturb), the client software allows users to dial telephone numbers 
listed in Windows applications. 
Voice ServerThe computer running Amanda as a Voice Server must 
have a LAN adapter. During the installation, software 
was provided that allows you to access a Microsoft 
Workgroup network. 
In addition to installing the Voice Server, you can install 
client software which allows you to interact with Amanda 
from your workstation. One copy of the client software is 
supplied with this product. It contains five Windows 3.11 
applications. Two of them assist you in your role as 
Amanda system administrator:
Amanda Administrator Allows you to control how 
Amanda processes calls and to 
create reports.
Amanda Monitor Allows you to observe what 
ports are active and so on.  
						

							4 Administering [email protected]/DOS
NOTE:To set the configuration options client_activation_key and 
n_clients, see Installing [email protected]/DOS. When 
n_clients is 0, you have only one client. This allows you to run 
Amanda Administrator to control Amanda Voice Server.
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.
The others allow you to process messages, place calls, 
and manage your personal mailbox:
Amanda Messenger Allows users to access their 
messages from their worksta-
tions as well as by telephone. 
Amanda Dialer Dials telephone numbers that 
appear in Microsoft Word for 
Windows, Microsoft Excel, 
and other Windows applica-
tions.
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.
Standalone 
SystemIn this mode, you control Amanda from the computer 
on which it has been installed using DOS applications.
All users access their messages by telephone. 
						

							Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 5
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’s Users screen (if using Amanda as a standalone) or 
from Amanda Administrator (if using Amanda as a voice server). 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.  
						

							6 Administering [email protected]/DOS
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.” 
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 
mailbox’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. 
						

							Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 7
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).
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 
						

							8 Administering [email protected]/DOS
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 she processes that call. How does she know what 
mailboxes to use?
 As Amanda answers a call, she 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 44 for more information about setting up this 
mailbox.
 She proceeds with the mailbox she 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 exten-
sion or a number from a menu) to a mailbox and continues process-
ing at that mailbox. 
 Depending on the fields associated with a particular mailbox, Aman-
da uses the contents of that mailbox’s Extension field, Done Chain 
field, Busy Chain field, or RNA (Ring No Answer) Chain field to de-
termine 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. See Installing [email protected]/DOS 
for more information about the Token Programming Language.
 Eventually, the caller talks to someone, leaves a message, and/or 
hangs up.
The following diagram helps to illustrate this concept. 
						

							Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 9
Call Processing Diagram 
						

							10 Administering [email protected]/DOS
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 usu-
ally 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.
Processing a Mailbox
Every time Amanda processes a mailbox during a supervised transfer, she 
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 Programming Language
The second page of the diagram shows in detail what Amanda does when she 
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.