Call queuing

[havonasun]

I have a customer with two lines and an RCA 4-line set with a couple of cordless handsets. It's a print shop, and they (one to two people) use the cordless phones heavily. He has a need for call queuing but no budget for ACD. I know the NEC DSX has attendant/intercom queuing, but I'm not sure if it will do what is asked. He would like the system to answer calls after so many rings, say hello, and put the caller on hold where they listen to MOH ads. After some time, the system will come back to the caller and offer a digit to keep holding or leave a message. This will happen repeatedly until the call can be answered or goes to VM. In the shop space, he only wants to hear a hold recall reminder since the constant ringing is not a good atmosphere for his clients.

I don't know if the DSX could do all of that, or maybe with a concession. I think the IPOffice might, but...that god-awful ring tone. I wondered about a dept. group key that doesn't ring, or park & page, or find me/follow me, and maybe a directed pickup from the cordless? I have no idea. I'm really trying to keep him from going with a hosted solution. On top of that, I need to find him a pro-recorded MOH and an OnHoldPlus.

I welcome your ideas.

 

[curlycord]

Want's a new system but no budget?
That RCA does not have a add on ACD anyway and if it did how could they possibly afford a new system if they cant even afford ACD?
Why would you be trying so hard (for a petty customer) to keep them off a hosted system when in this case seems the most practical.....am I completely out too lunch and reading this wrong?









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[sbcsu]

Tell customer to hire (even part time) a receptionist to answer phone calls

 

[Wanebo]

They should hire an answering service and just dump their lines there.

 

[havonasun]

That petty customer happens to be my best friend. The budget is around $600 for a used system. It's a very busy two-man print shop. Hosted systems are at the mercy of the network they travel through, and being a recurring cost, they hardly have any return on investment. There are many small key systems that have automatic queuing without a full blown ACD package. All I'm asking for is a technician's recommendation of a small platform that can handle the task without a bunch of licensing, not a salesperson's recommendation of which customer is worthy of my attention.

 

[curlycord]

That petty customer happens to be my best friend"
"The budget is around $600 for a used system"

Those two pieces of info would have helped in your first....sorry for being offending.

"There are many small key systems that have automatic queuing without a full blown ACD package"
Since you are aware of that fact you know more than I and with a $600.00 budget I am useless in this matter.


Used Norstar 3X8 with Callpilot...it has the Park and Page and a built in Basic Call Centre (ACD) and should be just over the budget.

I just recalled Grandstream has cheap pricing, I do not know the system well but have been eyeballing it just for that factor.
I am more of support tech then a salesman but maybe some info here
I think our Vendor price in Canada is about $500 for the server and sets are about $125.







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[curlycord]

Have you looked at Freepbx and 2 SIP cordless sets?

What are these brands of key systems with built in queuing you speak of as examples?




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[donb01]

I have always been a fan of Panasonic for small key systems in the past, but it has been years since I looked into their various offerings. I would assume they might have something that would do at least some basic queueing. Another problem you haven't considered here (possibly) is that what good is call queueing if you only have 2 lines? If you are already on the phone on both of the lines the caller will get a busy signal on a POTS line because there are not multiple channels on analog lines.

Some suggestions might be to see if your carrier can provide this service for you and add queuing to your lines as some kind of Centrex service where it can handle multiple channels using the flash button or something. I know your carrier can likely provide you with voicemail, so it wouldn't surprise me if they have other services available. Another place you might look into is Viking Electronics. They have an assortment of gizmos and gadgets that you can use with standard phone lines and they might have something like an automated attendant box or something that might have basic answer and hold functions.

One of the big features of our voicemail system is that it now offers ACD-style call queuing, but they roll their eyes up into their heads when I ask what good that is to me. They ask what I mean. I say that I only have 24 channels in the system and that has to support callers coming in to any of the 900+ phones in our system as well as any of the 700+ mailbox owners that might be calling in to check their messages, and callers to the automated attendant menu system. Why would I want to queue calls IN the voicemail system when that would tie up a port the whole time that call is waiting to be answered? I think your friend is in the same boat with only 2 lines. It's going to be difficult to find a cheap solution for this - it might be cheaper to add another line, although AT&T is jacking up the rates again in August...

Don Bruechert, Voice Comm Analyst II
CareTech Solutions @ Holy Family Memorial
Manitowoc, WI, USA

 

[havonasun]

Hi Don, thank you for your response. The problem is that my friend can't get to the phone while engaged with a customer, and the constant ringing is distracting. The Viking AR-1 looks like it might be the right tool for the job. You would have to get two of them, and for another $200, he could get a used phone system off ebay. So while I'm still looking for the right solution set, I've forwarded the AR-1 to him to see what he thinks. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[allworxguy]

If the ringing of the phone is a distraction, then a call queuing device will not solve that. The device will answer the line and play a greeting/msg to the caller. But it will continue to ring the phones. Ho else will you know someone is waiting on the line?

Marv ccna