Three weeks and no new blog material... get on it Paul! OK... the subject I've chosen for the second edition is line appearance. Your user may experience Line Button Withdrawl because the PBX doesn't work the same as their old telephone system. This is a common issue especially when people are used to doing something in a certain way. So here are some tips...

First, wrap yourself in the idea that your user will come to really like the things that they can do with their new IPitomy system. They do have to get used to the idea that it will work a little differently though... embrace the benefit of a completely integrated dialing function. Try dialing on your IPitomy IP550 and notice that it doesn't care if you're dialing an outside telephone number or an internal extension number - the dialing operation is the same! FEEL the power here! Only one time did I ever hear someone tell me that they wanted to dial "9" to select an outside line! I couldn't believe my ears - in so many years of telephony, I am used to hearing "WHY MUST I DIAL A "9" argh $@&!...

If you find a customer that wants this - go for it... the IPitomy can be programmed to accept a "9" as the first digit dialed for "outside" calls and strip off the 9 prior to sending the destination request to the network... it can do it. But I think that after awhile people that use the IPitomy as it is will find that they really enjoy NOT having to decide how a call is placed prior to placing the call. Notice that this extends to the feature LNR (Last Number Redial)... callers can now redial internal numbers as well as outside numbers!

Enter the LINE Button... in the PBXes of old you had to press "9" to tell the PBX that this number was going to be an outside number. In key systems it was necessary to press the "Line" button prior to dialing an outside number. This isn't required in IPitomy. Programming of Outdialing instructs the PBX software how to place a call... internal or external. If the number request isn't in the outdialing instructions for a trunk route, the number is placed internally. This flexibility however must include some checks to know when the user has finished dialing. This causes a pause between the time a number is dialed and when the call is placed... some people don't like that - me included. So IPitomy has implemented an end-of-digits command that inform the software that the user is finished inputting numbers and the call should be placed with the digits input. This is a button in the display of the IP550 labeled "Dial". Not hard. But there is a better way - at least in my book... coach your user to operate the phone a bit differently... rather than pressing a Line button first (which does nothing at all except give them a pacifier dial tone), have them dial the number they desire (internal or external) and then either lift the handset or press the speaker button. This instructs the software that the user is finished inputting a number and invokes the dial function at the same time!

Either way, when they do this a Line button is accessed for the call... here is the subject of this post. In the picture above, have a look at the extension number of this telephone in the display... its 2254. Line buttons on an IP550 are very different than they are on a key system. Line buttons of an IPPBX are essentially access channels from the extension to the resources available in the PBX. On the IP550 the buttons are labeled "L1, L2, L3" and "L4"... these are private buttons that are not shared with other extensions. They are (usually) multiple access points from the PBX to the extension and can be expressed as Line 1 of extension 2254, Line 2 of extension 2254, etc. See the labeling in the photo. These allow the user of the extension to handle calls without interruption by other users.

This is in itself very desirable, but often a source of resistance by users who feel comfortable allowing callers to be universally accessible by all extensions... though it is easy to see how this might in fact be detrimental to the handling of callers. For the purposes of call distribution, IPitomy has many powerful capabilities... one that emulates the generalized access of callers waiting for their desired connection is Call Park and Call Pick Up. For the user who "need" a general access point to which they may place a call on hold and any user retrieve that call from hold; use Call Park/Pick Up. When using Call Park the user - engaged on a call simply presses the Call Park button. The next available park destination is used for the call they wish to park and that destination is made known to the user by verbal confirmation of where the call is parked! Miss IPitomy tells the user; "...call park, 701" (or 702... 720). The user that is to retrieve this call simply goes to any phone (registered to this PBX) and dials that park number.

In the photo notice that the six programmable buttons are pre-configured as Call Park, Voice Mail, Pause Calls, and Call Pick Up 701, 702, 703. These first three Call Park destinations are then available at all telephones and easily accessible in a similar fashion to the old - placing a call on hold technique... if the user demands such operation. Other options are blind transfer and Direct Call Pick Up from the extension. You will also notice in the picture that I have labeled my telephone with a label that I produced with an Excel file... if you'd like to do this for your customers send me an email and I'll send you the file, you can modify it to your taste.

I hope this helps you convey the beauty that is the IPitomy Line Button and helps you to see how the implementation that IPitomy has adopted is very caller-conscience. If you have comments, please send them to me at my email. Thanks for reading and for selling IPitomy.