Stargate Technologies, Inc.

Voicemail systems, like microwave ovens, have become ubiquitous over the last 10 years.  Often I’ll hear from client, “I hate voicemail!”, when what they really mean is they hate Automated Attendants.  We’ve all been sentenced to “voice mail jail” at one time or another, when you’ve tried every option offered, and still can’t get to a live person to help you with your problem.  This just happened to me yesterday, when calling my bank.  thankfully, although the message never says “press 0 to speak with a representative”, I tried it anyway and finally found someone that could help me. 

When looking for a voice mail system for your business, there are several factors to consider.  The first is, of course, the dreaded Automated Attendant.  This is a DIFFERENTIATOR (a device that helps your salesperson decide which product is the best fit for your business.)  Most systems have this feature as part of the voice mail, and you can choose to use it or not.  Most businesses that I’ve worked with use the Automated Attendant in a back-up position, with their own staff answering incoming calls live.  The AA is there for busy times, or for after-hours.  Other businesses, usually with a lot of telephone lines and multiple departments choose to use the AA upfront, offering their callers options to route their calls to the appropriate department automatically.  For example, “Thank you for calling XYZ Company.  For sales, press 1, for Service press 2, for Parts, press 3″.  Most voicemail systems include the AA as part of the system.  Here comes another DIFFERENTIATOR.  Multiple Level Automated Attendant.  Let’s take the same example above, but a little more sophisticated.  “”Thank you for calling XYZ Company.  For Sales, press 1″.  The caller presses 1, then hears “For washing machines, press 1.  For dryers, press 2.  For refrigerators, press 3″, etc.  Each one of these secondary routes may direct to a specific individual in the sales group.  A mulitple-level AA is not available on all voice mail systems, so consider that when looking for your new voice mail system

Ports determine how many calls (or internal users) can be handled simultaneously.  If you’ve got a small business with just a few lines, 2 or 4 ports is plenty.  But if you’ve got 40 employees, a full T-1 coming in and are using an up-front Automated Attendant, you could need 8, 16 or more.  If your business is growing, make sure you can add ports down the road.

Mailboxes are another thing that must be considered.  How many do you need?  Don’t forget to allow for 5 years of growth, and don’t forget to include workers that may need voice mail, but don’t necessarily have a phone on the system.  This is another DIFFERENTIATOR.  Some voicemail systems only allow one mailbox per actual phone.

Storage is another factor to investigate.  If the voicemail is PC-based, then the storage is most likely determined by the size of the pc’s hard drive.  If the voicemail is hardware-based (a module or card), then there is probably a maximum storage size stated, in minutes per mailbox, or hours per system.  This is another DIFFERENTIATOR.  If your staff get lots of messages, and need to keep them for a while, don’t skimp on storage.  Most messages are less than a minute long, but when they fill up a user’s mailbox, it’s a problem!

Features on voicemail systems vary greatly, depending on the platform and the cost.  Most basic voicemail systems offer the standard package:  record a personal greeting, listen to messages, delete messages, turn on a message waiting light on my phone.  If your business needs require more, then pay attention to the feature list.  For example, if a worker receives a message that needs to go to a different worker, can they transfer the message?  Or, do you need to be notified immediately (like on a cell phone), that someone has left you a message?  Is there a need to create messages that can be broadcast to a group of mailboxes?  Are any of my workers visually impaired, and need to be notified audibily when they have a new message?  There are too many features to list, so take a good look at your messaging requirements before you decide.  Any of these could be a DIFFERENTIATOR, based on your business needs.

Unified Messaging is the ability to see your voice mail messages in your e-mail client on your desktop. Some products fully integrate with your e-mail, but may require that you have your own Microsoft Exchange server. The benefit is that when you delete a voicemail message from your e-mail, it is also deleted from the voice mail. The advantage is that you have a single “messsage store” for all of your messages, rather than checking e-mail and voice mail separately.

When you’re shopping for a new voicemail system, the biggest determining factor will be the phone system to which it is connected. When your salesperson goes over the capabilities of both with you, you’ll wind up with the best phone system and voice mail product for your business. If you feel like you want some help determining what the best option is for you then please email us at sales@stargateti.com or give us a call at 425-678-4900 in Seattle or 425-609-6200 in Everett or call us toll free at 800-553-7021 and let us know what questions you have. We can answer questions for you over the phone or have an expert come out to your location and do a full system review to see what options make sense for you.