I am trying to propose a solution for our small help desk. We need a queue and 6 phones. We are on a tight budget, but we need something that would allow auto-in, ACW (after call work or similar), when people call they can here any outages/connection issues. Then if they want to wait they will be prompted by a menu where they can choose the problem they are having and connect to the next available technician. We only need 6 phones. All help would be appreciated. This HD does not run effeciently.
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Help Desk Phone Queue
- Thread starter COKE CAN
- Start date
Whats the approx budget? How big is your HD? I run one and we support 400 users 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Have you tried Numara's Track It, you can organize everything via email and paging and route new problems to the next available HD person.
Or are you strictly looking for a phone only solution?
Have you tried Numara's Track It, you can organize everything via email and paging and route new problems to the next available HD person.
Or are you strictly looking for a phone only solution?
Here is what we have. We have 6 people, 5 work 1st shift, 1 works 2nd.
We all have our own computers/phone. We are on the Navy network, so we have to be careful as to software being used.
We support a time keeping application that is web based. So on week 2 Thursdays and Fridays, when thousands of people log in it slows down. Then they call us. Since I am the newb, I get stuck at the 1 phone that the calls first come into. Our phone number comes into 1 of 3 lines on the phone.
This doesn't help when we have functional tickets that need to get done. We typically answer 130+ calls with "yes we are working on this"
We want to be able to have people call in and be able to wait for the next available tech. Also if we have any connectivity issues, we want to be able to have that play when they call so they know we are working on it.
We need it as cheap as possible so that we can possibly get this going.
We all have our own computers/phone. We are on the Navy network, so we have to be careful as to software being used.
We support a time keeping application that is web based. So on week 2 Thursdays and Fridays, when thousands of people log in it slows down. Then they call us. Since I am the newb, I get stuck at the 1 phone that the calls first come into. Our phone number comes into 1 of 3 lines on the phone.
This doesn't help when we have functional tickets that need to get done. We typically answer 130+ calls with "yes we are working on this"
We want to be able to have people call in and be able to wait for the next available tech. Also if we have any connectivity issues, we want to be able to have that play when they call so they know we are working on it.
We need it as cheap as possible so that we can possibly get this going.
We just installed the exact system you are talking about, supporting three techs. I have no idea how much it cost or what its called but we got it from Embark/Sprint.COKE CAN said:
I would give them a call to see what solutions are available to you.
MrGuvernment
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- 21,797
good info.
Cisco CallManager Express, it has all of the PBX functionality you would need as well as Basic ACD functionality giving you the ability to queue callers. It supports analog, digital, or SIP trunks for PSTN connectivity. It can also be tied into a legacy PBX if that is a requirement.
If you add Unity Express you can add Auto Attendant and Voicemail on top of the IP PBX functionality in order to play outage greetings and route calls based on menu options.
Cisco's CallManager is not a good solution for your company as the native ACD support (IPCC Express Standard) runs co-resident with the CallManager and only supports 5 agents. Once you get into running IPCC express as a stand alone solution it starts getting pricey which does not make sense if you are on a budget and can do it for less...
CallManager Express is very competitively priced and should fall in line with the government regulations you might have to comply with. It would however be nice to know what kind of budget you are working with...
If you add Unity Express you can add Auto Attendant and Voicemail on top of the IP PBX functionality in order to play outage greetings and route calls based on menu options.
Cisco's CallManager is not a good solution for your company as the native ACD support (IPCC Express Standard) runs co-resident with the CallManager and only supports 5 agents. Once you get into running IPCC express as a stand alone solution it starts getting pricey which does not make sense if you are on a budget and can do it for less...
CallManager Express is very competitively priced and should fall in line with the government regulations you might have to comply with. It would however be nice to know what kind of budget you are working with...
See the thing is, my supervisor planted $1000 in our boses head. She said we could keep our own phones (mine is a Lucent 8410D) and there is another brand as well. I don't know if we will be able to keep the phones. I assume the phones are on VoIP because CAT5 runs into them.
Here is some more info that I gathered:
We have a toll free number that gets directed to my phone first (one of three lines on my phone). Then after three rings, the call rolls to the other techs.
Is there a device some where that controls this? I am clueless when it comes to phone systems guys, so please forgive me.
The device I need to buy, do I set it up at my desk, or does it need to be set up with the VoIP switch? I still haven't got in touch with the Base OPs people that run the phones, but supposedly we don't have a queue device installed already.
I guess I need an understanding of how these devices work also.
Here is some more info that I gathered:
We have a toll free number that gets directed to my phone first (one of three lines on my phone). Then after three rings, the call rolls to the other techs.
Is there a device some where that controls this? I am clueless when it comes to phone systems guys, so please forgive me.
The device I need to buy, do I set it up at my desk, or does it need to be set up with the VoIP switch? I still haven't got in touch with the Base OPs people that run the phones, but supposedly we don't have a queue device installed already.
I guess I need an understanding of how these devices work also.
At this juncture you really need to find out what kind of equipment you have today (PBX, Voicemail, and ACD manufacturer and model), what capabilities this existing equipment has, and what kind of budget you have to work with to accomplish your goal.
If you don't find out this information then none of the recommendations you get are going to do you much good.
If you don't find out this information then none of the recommendations you get are going to do you much good.
Sounds like you are already on an Avaya PBX of some sort (running Audix and having a Lucent 8410D). That 8410D is not a VoIP phone, it is a digital phone. I'm not too familiar with PBX equipment or CCM stuff just yet, but I don't think that 8410D would work with CCM if you went that route. I would definitely ask the PBX person that currently takes care of the phones you have if they can setup a call queue for you, as it seems the hardware that is there seems it could handle what you need already.
fibroptikl
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- 7,339
We had a Cisco PBX at my old work that was able to do that stuff.
COKE CAN said:
#1 find out what your supervisor has been smoking and get some! Either she has no idea what it takes or she already knows what to get, so ask her what she was considering. Since she said this, she may already have a product from Lucent in mind.
#2 If you want to go the VOIP route and NOT buy new phones they make digital to voip converters (look here) That route MAY cost more than some brand new VOIP Phones.