Peters Connects - Attendant

Automated Attendant is ideally suited to manage call distribution during business hours, after hours and during exceptional periods such as public holidays. Its features ensure that all calls are handled, regardless of when they are made or received.

During business hours, Automated Attendant offers features such as a greeting, automatic call answering with a recorded greeting, IVR selection menus and an announcement of the caller's position in the queue.

Another important feature is the handling of calls outside of business hours or on special occasions such as holidays. Automated Attendant provides a full menu of options that do not affect existing system settings, such as creating different announcements for holidays, creating a regular closing announcement, and routing calls to alternative destinations such as voicemail or mobile phones.

Attendant can display an employee's current location via a Wi-Fi mobile phone or a device with a beacon. The current location is displayed in a separate area of the company directory and on a floor plan of the selected employee.

The operator can use the Attendant program to operate the gate that controls vehicle access to the company premises.

The operator presses a button on the intercom. The operator receives a notification and can talk to the visitor and operate the barrier. If a camera is installed, the operator can immediately see on the Attendant screen the person requesting access to the building.

"Employee calendars (Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes) can be viewed in real time from the Attendant operator's console. After selecting an employee from the company directory, the employee's calendar can be displayed, along with the times at which they are free/busy. In addition, if an appointment is designated as Private, the subject and location remain invisible to the Attendant operator.

When the telephone operator also acts as a receptionist, his or her job involves welcoming and registering visitors who come in for an appointment. With Attendant, it is possible to register a visitor and print out a badge at the same time.

The Attendant operator can also see which employee the visitor has an appointment with and view a history of all visits to the organisation. When the visitor leaves the building, Attendant can update the system to indicate that the visitor has completed their visit.

The presence status of employees, e.g. Online, Offline, Away and Do Not Disturb can be displayed on the Attendant console and linked to Microsoft Skype for Business and Cisco Unified Presence Server.

Sending SMS text messages directly from the Attendant console to employees' mobile phones (GSM) ensures that employees can be reached even when they are not near a desk phone.

When the Attendant operator selects an employee from the company directory, they can send an SMS message with a single click.

This option requires a link to the GSM mobile network. PeterConnects supports several methods to establish this link.

From the Attendant console, it is possible to send and receive instant messages using the Skype for Business. This can be particularly useful when employees are on the phone and the operator needs to alert them to an important call.

By selecting an employee from the company directory, the operator can simply send him an e-mail.

For messages that are used regularly, such as "visitors waiting at reception", the operator can create predefined messages that can be reused; to further speed up the process, call data such as the name and number of the caller or visitor can be transmitted directly.

If an access registration system is used, it is possible to display on the Attendant console which staff members are present or absent. If an employee is present on site, the Attendant operator can see at what time the employee entered the site and through which entrance. If the employee is not present, it is possible to see what time they left the building and through which exit. The access registration system is linked to the Attendant system via an XML connection.

Attendant allows real-time monitoring of the call queue by a group of agents, so that support from colleagues is always available, especially during the busiest times of the day.

Information can be displayed via an LCD or wall screen in the agent room or on the PC of the manager responsible for call handling efficiency. Real-time data such as details of current queues, incoming calls, call waiting time and agent status, including the number of connected agents handling the call volume are displayed on a single screen with graphical representations for easy reference.

Attendant collects data not only on inbound calls handled, but also on missed calls. This data can be used to create a range of useful reports on the performance and workload of staff using Attendant. The data collected is provided in an SQL database or in text files that can be opened directly in spreadsheet programs such as Excel for further analysis.

From version 7.2 of PeterConnects Attendant, 20 different reports are available via the reporting portal, so managers do not need to create reports and can use the reports offered.

The Busy Light is used as a visual indicator that an Attendant operator is engaged in a telephone conversation. The LED displays different colours depending on whether the operator is busy, on hold or available. The Busy Light can also be used to alert the Attendant operator of incoming calls, which is convenient when the operator is not sitting at his desk.

Different alert colours can be configured with a specific ring tone and volume for different types of callers, making it easy to identify internal, external and alarm calls.

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