Hosted PBX - Scenarios

Our hosted PBX is a very versatile and customizable tool that can aid a number of different types of business in handling and processing their telephone traffic. Whether small or large, geographically diverse or centralized, we have feature-rich PBX solutions that provide unparalleled functionality.

Below are a few common, real-life scenarios which demonstrate how the available features our Hosted PBX solutions can be applied.

If you have any special call processing needs, please contact us to explore your options at sales@douglastelecom.com or 800-551-1384.

scenarios and their setups

Solutions for Inbound Call Centers

Our hosted PBX incorporates many features to aid in call processing, call management and supervising for inbound call centers. These tools can also make it possible for call center employees to function as one cohesive unit, even if they are separated geographically.

The web-based call management interface allows unparalleled visibility of call traffic and employee actions. At a glance it allows users to see who of their colleagues is on the phone, away from their desk or out of the office. Supervisors can even keep track of employee and call center performance with a display on their interface that shows a wide variety of statistics, such as average call time, hold time, time spent on telephone calls and the total time clocked in that day - all in real time!

Call holding queues may be enabled to handle overflow call traffic, making sure that you never lose a call (and sale) due to a busy signal. Incoming callers can wait on hold, listening to on-hold music until your personnel become available to service the call. Multiple call holding queues may be set up, depending on the varied and unique needs of your business or organization. Multiple queues allow incoming callers to self-select which department or service (such as sales, customer service, technical support and etc) with whom to speak. Each call holding queue may be customized with your own messages, music and other features.

FlexyLines:

Douglas Telecom's unique adaptive "virtual capacity" is another advantage that DTI's Hosted Digital PBX offers. Imagine that you have one local business phone line from Douglas Telecom and one toll free number from Douglas Telecom. Traditionally, the number of people calling you simultaneously or waiting on hold (listening to the on-hold music or navigating your voicemail system) would be limited by the exact number of telephone lines for which you paid. It used to be that if you paid for too little capacity, your clients would get busy signals or hear a message telling them your service is disconnected. If you bought too much capacity you were wasting money on lines you weren't using. For many businesses with seasonal call traffic, this was an especially difficult decision. It meant paying year round for phone lines used only a portion of the year.

With the DTI Hosted PBX system, all call processing is performed by Douglas Telecom, on DTI's servers and, as such, there is no limit to your call capacity. Literally hundreds of people could call you simultaneously, wait on hold or navigate your voicemail system and you would never face the embarrassing situation of a customer receiving a busy signal or the dreaded "all circuits are busy" message. What is the cost to have unlimited incoming call capacity as a feature of your DTI Hosted PBX? It's free!

FlexyCatch™

FlexyCatch™ monitors the calls from the holding queues as they are answered to ensure successful connections. FlexyCatch is specifically designed for situations in which an answered call disconnects in a suspect fashion. The telephone's receiver may slip causing an accidental disconnect, or a problem employee might be dodging incoming calls by answering and then immediately hanging up. When this occurs, FlexyCatch™ detects the drop, retains the call and returns it the top of the call holding queue, to be answered by the next available individual.

Too long on hold? Callers can choose:

Advanced Features: FlexyCallReturn. We can create many custom features to organize and help your customers navigate your PBX system. If you anticipate high hold times, add FlexyCallBack to the PBX and customers can choose, while waiting, to leave a message or enter their call back number into the system for a return call. Return calls may be handled in two ways:

* The voicemail message(s) may either be left for a specific employee's voicemail box or email alerts of new messages left by customers who had been holding could be sent to a specific email address.
* Or, when one of your representatives finishes the call they are on, the system could automatically call the customer back and connect them with the available representative.

This advanced feature gives clients the ability to "wait on hold" without being on the phone. With FlexyCallReturn in place, a call not answered is NOT a call not received.

Solutions for Multiple Locations

With our hosted PBX and telephone services you can seamlessly integrate multiple office locations into one cohesive PBX set-up. If all of your locations are set up on our service, you may easily dial colleagues in any location by extension, without incurring long distance charges.

Communicating with your company will also become easier for your clients as all employees could be reached through one set of extensions; transferring a caller to a colleague at another location will be as easily as transferring a call to your colleague at the next desk.

Additionally, if you use our web-based call management interface, managers would be able to supervise the telephone traffic of employees, even if they are at a different geographic location.

Please contact us to explore your options at sales@douglastelecom.com or 800-551-1384.

Solutions for Small Businesses

Our hosted PBX incorporates many features to aid small businesses to keep in touch with their customers. The hosted PBX is a flexible tool that can be customized and modified to suit the needs of a number of small businesses.

With our VoIP hosted PBX service, geographic flexibility is a reality, allowing users to work at the office, at home and in the field and still enjoy business-class call processing and PBX features. The VoIP telephone sets are not tied to a specific location as is typically the case with an analog telephone system, but can be installed anywhere that the user has access to a broadband Internet connection. Additionally, all call processing takes place on our equipment, leaving little telecom equipment to maintain or acquire, other than the telephone sets themselves.

An unlimited number of extensions may be set up on the hosted PBX, and they can be used in a number of ways to enhance communication. Certain extensions may be set up to provide recorded information, such as the mailing address, office hours or driving directions. Others may be set up to connect callers to outside telephone numbers, such as an employee's cell or home phone so that he/she may be seamlessly connected to important calls when out of the office, without having to give out private cell or home numbers.

In a typical hosted PBX set-up, a small business either uses multi-line ringing, an auto-attendant or a combination of the two to handle incoming calls. For example, many business owners choose for incoming calls to first ring on all telephone sets (or a subset) for 30 seconds, and if not answered in that time span go to the auto-attendant for the caller to enter a specific extension or choose a menu selection. This set up can be further enhanced with alternating day / night time greetings and call schedules.

The ability to receive voicemail alerts via email also aids the busy small business owner, who may or may not always be in the office to receive important calls and messages. Emailed alerts allow him/her to check and listen to new voicemail messages when away from the office.

If you have any special call processing needs, please contact us to explore your options at sales@douglastelecom.com or 800-551-1384.

Solutions for a Telecommuting Workforce

With our hosted PBX and telephone services you can seamlessly integrate employees at office locations and telecommuters into one cohesive PBX set-up. If all employees, regardless of location, are set up on our service, you may easily dial colleagues in any location by extension.

Communicating with your company will also become easier for your clients as all employees could be reached through one set of extensions; transferring a caller to a colleague at another location or at home will be as easy as if they were sitting in the next room.

Additionally, if you use our web-based call management interface, employees would be easily able to keep tabs on whether a colleague is in or out of the "office" or on a telephone call and better be able to communicate and collaborate.

Please contact us to explore your options at sales@douglastelecom.com or 800-551-1384.

Solutions for a Mobile Workforce

With our hosted PBX and telephone services you can seamlessly integrate employees at office locations, telecommuters and employees on the road into one cohesive PBX set-up. If all employees, regardless of location, are set up on our service, you may easily dial colleagues in any location by extension.

Communicating with your company will also become easier for your clients as all employees could be reached at a common telephone number (either a local number or a toll free number) through one set of extensions; transferring a caller to a colleague at another location, while traveling or at home will be as easy as if they were sitting in the next room. An unlimited number of extensions may be set up on the hosted PBX; certain extensions may be set up to provide recorded information, such as the mailing address, office hours or driving directions. Other extensions may be set up to connect callers to outside telephone numbers, such as an employee's cell so that he/she may be seamlessly connected to important calls when away from their business telephone set, without having to give out private cell numbers.

Additionally, if you use our web-based call management interface, employees would be easily able to keep tabs on whether a colleague is in or out of the "office" or on a telephone call, allowing for more efficient communication and better collaboration.

An unlimited number of extensions may be set up on the hosted PBX, and they can be used in a number of ways to enhance communication. Certain extensions may be set up to provide recorded information, such as the mailing address, office hours or driving directions. Others may be set up to connect callers to outside telephone numbers, such as an employee's cell or home phone so that he/she may be seamlessly connected to important calls when out of the office, without having to give out private cell or home numbers.

Solutions for a Home-Based Business

Our hosted PBX service can aid the home-based business in both keeping in touch with and presenting a professional image to customers and vendors. With our service, home-based businesses can have both toll free and local numbers assigned specifically for their business (which helps keep personal and business matters separate).

Any number of extensions may be set up on the hosted PBX, and they can be used in a number of ways to enhance communication. Certain extensions may be set up to provide recorded information, such as the mailing address, office hours or product information. Others may be set up to connect callers to outside telephone numbers, such as a cell phone for seamless connection to important calls when on the go, without the necessity of giving out private cell numbers to business contacts.

If you have a partner who also works out of their own home, he/she may be incorporated into the same hosted PBX, allowing you to transfer calls back and forth as needed. Multi-line ringing, an auto-attendant or a combination of the two allows you and your partner both to handle incoming calls.

Voicemail alerts via email allow you to check and listen to new voicemail messages when away from the office, anywhere that you have access to your email account.

If you have any special call processing needs, please contact us to explore your options at sales@douglastelecom.com or 800-551-1384.