Cloud PBX Guide: Working with Auto Attendant

Cloud PBX Guide: Working with Auto Attendant

Contents

Overview        1

Adding Auto Attendants        2

Recording Intro Greetings and Menu Prompts        3

Editing Auto Attendants        4

Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant (Main Fields) Table        5

Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant (Additional Fields) Table        6

Deleting Auto Attendants        7

Auto Attendants Best Practices        8

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Overview

Automated attendants (“auto attendants”) are automated greetings with options to route calls. The Cloud PBX system has an auto attendant builder that gives you easy access to change recordings and options anytime.

The Auto Attendants list displays each auto attendant. From the Auto Attendants List, you can edit auto attendant settings and record the auto attendant greeting.

To display the “Auto Attendants” page, click the “Auto Attendants” icon on the menu bar:

The following figure shows an example of the Auto Attendants page. The “refresh” button  at the top-right side of the page refreshes the information on the page.

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Adding Auto Attendants

1. From the “Auto Attendants” page, click the “Add Attendant” button. The Add a Auto Attendant pop-up window will appear.

2. Complete the fields. (See “Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant - Main Fields” table.)
3. Click “Continue”. A page similar to the following will appear.

4. Complete the fields. (See “Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant - Additional Fields” table.)
5. Click “Save”.

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Recording Intro Greetings and Menu Prompts 

Each auto attendant can have an optional introductory greeting that plays when a call is directed to the auto attendant followed by the menu prompt. An example of an introductory greeting might be:

  "Thank you for calling Acme Corporation. You've reached us outside normal business hours."

A menu prompt might be:

  “Press 1 for sales, press 2 for marketing, or press 0 for operator assistance.”

Separating intro greetings from menu prompts allows you to change greetings for holidays or night-time hours, for example, without re-recording the entire message.

To record a greeting:

1. From Auto Attendants page, click the “audio” icon  next to “Intro Greetings”. A Manage Greetings pop-up window similar to the following will appear:

2. From this pop-up window:

• To play a greeting, click the “audio” icon.
• To upload a new greeting, hover over it, and then click the “pencil” icon on the right side of the row. For “New Greeting”, click “Upload”. Click the “Browse” button, and navigate to the MP3 or WAV file you want to use for your greeting; click the file, and click “Open”. Click “Upload”.
• To record a new greeting, hover over it, and then click the “pencil” icon on the right side of the row. For “New Greeting”, click “Record”. In the “Call me at” field, enter the number to call (either an extension or a telephone number such as your cell phone), and click “Call”. You phone will be called. At the prompt, record the new greeting, and then press # when you finish your recording.
• To delete a recording, hover over it, and then click the “X” icon at the far right of the row. At confirmation prompt, click “Yes” to delete the recording or “No” to retain it.
• When you finish, click “Add Greeting” followed by “Done”.

To record a menu prompt:

1. From “Auto Attendants” page, under “Menu Prompt”, click either the field “Click to add a new menu prompt” or click the “audio” icon  next to the field. Either step displays a Manage Audio pop-up window similar to the following:

2. Complete the following fields.

3. Click “Save” in the Manage Audio pop-up window.

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Editing Auto Attendants

1. From the Auto Attendants page, either:

• Click a name
• OR
• Hover over a name, and then click the “pencil” icon at the far right of the Auto Attendants page. For example:

  Either step displays a pop-up window similar to the following:

2. Complete the fields. (See “Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant - Additional Fields” table.)
3. Click “Save”.

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Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant (Main Fields) Table

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Adding/Editing an Auto Attendant (Additional Fields) Table

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Deleting Auto Attendants

1. From the “Auto Attendants” page, hover over the auto attendant, and then click the “X” icon at the far right of the row. A confirmation prompt will appear.
2. Click “Yes” to delete the auto attendant, or “No” to retain it.

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Auto Attendants Best Practices

When configuring your auto attendant, observe the following best practices:

1. Consider your callers. Do they know with whom they want to talk or what function they need (customer service, sales, and so on)? Taking your callers into account will help you determine how to configure your auto attendant.
2. If callers know with whom they want to talk, assist them by providing options such as:

• “Dial your party’s extension at any time.
• “Press x for a dial by name directory.”
• “Press x for the first available person/general voicemail.”
• “Press 1 for Bob, 2 for Susan,” and so on. However, this approach does not scale well.

3. If callers do not know a specific person but need a function, provide options such as:

• “Press x for a dial by name directory.”
• “For sales, press 1.”
• “For customer service, press 2.”
• “For accounting, press 3.”

4. Keep greetings brief. Do not flood callers with too much information (hours, directions, fax numbers). Instead, place that information into a “play message” option.

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