STORM Centrex Version: 1.0 Feature Overview
Feature Overview STORM Centrex offers competitive call rates, while all internal calls are free, including calls between sites. Introduction STORM Centrex provides VoIP telephony throughout your Organisation with all the functions of a traditional PABX system but with a host of additional features, including: intelligent call forwarding call barring voicemail management call recording a personal conference for each user a screen-based Switchboard facility with its own conference manager as well as the normal PABX functions such as: answering incoming calls putting callers on hold transferring calls to other users by warm or cold transfer. Being a hosted solution, deployment of STORM Centrex eliminates the cost of PABX installation and associated engineering and maintenance costs. The only hardware required is an IP phone for each user. Mass Deployment technology has made the configuration process as simple as just uploading a configuration file and plugging in the phones. For Organisations with distributed workforces and hot-desking requirements, STORM Centrex enables you to give the external appearance of a workforce united in one office while incorporating home workers and staff on the move. All services, including conferencing and call recording, are delivered via IP networks. When combined with the ipath soft phone (see below) the system replaces the controls usually associated with a desk phone. STORM Centrex streamlines you phone operations and gives you the ability to change system settings on the fly, and with immediate effect. STORM Centrex uses a comprehensive Webbased Admin Portal that gives administrators total control over system functionalities, enabling them to allocate each user a login and an individual service profile that provides access to whichever services and functions the administrator decides is appropriate for that type of user. End User Devices User devices available for use with STORM Centrex include a range of physical IP phones as well as the ipath soft phone. STORM ipath Desk Phones The STORM ipath 120 desk phone, shown above, is one of a range of IP phones designed for office environments. These phones have all the necessary features for call conferencing, recording and routing and contain a built-in web server allowing plug-and-play configuration. 1
STORM Centrex SIP is the now-dominant protocol used for IP telephony and all STORM phones are fully compatible with SIP. ipath Soft Phone The ipath soft phone is a virtual phone application that runs on your PC. It is used in conjunction with a USB-type headset that makes use of the audio resources on your PC. Incorporating features such as conferencing on demand, call recording and intelligent call forwarding, the ipath soft phone brings VoIP telephony to your desktop to provide you with a range of features simply not available on a normal phone. Designed to operate in any environment from the Small Office/Home Office to the large Enterprise, the ipath soft phone allows you to stay connected and manage your calls and availability with a comprehensive suite of carrier-grade Voice and Presence features. The ipath supports hot-desking simply log in to your phone on any PC that has the ipath software installed. With integration to the corporate directory and your personal address book, you can quickly place or transfer calls by looking up people by name or email address. Options to integrate to Microsoft Outlook are also available, which allow you to make and receive calls to and from your Outlook contacts. Depending on the options allocated to the user, the following features are available on the ipath soft phone: Call forwarding/divert Call Hold Warm and cold call transfer Call History (missed calls, dialled calls, received calls) Call timer Calling party name identification Conference calls, with a screen showing the conferees as icons Last number redial Mute call Voicemail, with one button message retrieval Out-of-Band DTMF tones support Presence information Hunt group opt-out Visual indication of the number of messages Support for multiple network interfaces Support for multiple sound cards User-specified ring tones Volume controls for speaker and microphone Macro writing capability. For service operators, carriers and enterprise networks, ipath can be customised to include your own branding. Pairing of Devices The ipath can be used on its own with a headset, or can be paired with your desk phone. STORM Centex users can have a workstation equipped with both a PC and an IP desk phone. The ipath soft phone application runs on the PC and is paired with the physical IP phone on the desk. 2
Feature Overview When an incoming call is received, for example, the desk phone rings and the ipath displays information about the caller in its call alert window; the user can then answer the call either by picking up the physical phone or by clicking on the ipath off-hook button and using their headset to speak to the caller. Organisations The architecture of STORM Centrex follows a hierarchical format, allowing great flexibility in the deployment of the system. STORM Centrex can adapt precisely to accommodate the physical and logical structure of a business, so that the telephone system works efficiently across all departments and workgroups. The system allows multiple Organisations to use the facilities, sharing the system s resources but in all other respects remaining entirely separate. The Organisations menu within STORM Centrex and is based on three broad tiers: Organisations, User Group Types and User Groups. Each Organisation can create sub- Organisations one level down. User Groups are set up within an Organisation, arranged in a hierarchy of User Group Types that reflects the way the Organisation is structured (for example: Division, Department). User Groups and User Group Types Within each Organisation, every User is a member of a User Group. User Groups may be arranged in a hierarchy of User Group Types. The number and names of User Group Types in the system are configurable by the Organisation's Administrators to fit the structure of the Organisation. An example of a user group hierarchy within an Organisation might be as follows: Organisation - the top level, for example ABC Associates Division - different geographical offices within the Organisation, e.g. EMEA, APAC Department - a further subdivision into Departments, e.g. Sales, Marketing, Support Every Organisation also has an automatically created User Group Type: Administrators. The following diagram illustrates an example of a User Group structure: 3
STORM Centrex This hierarchical structure makes it easy to navigate the system to manage users and extensions, for example. New Organisations can be created and edited in real time, ensuring quick setup of Organisation, User and User Groups for immediate deployment of new extensions. In this way, the overheads usually associated with adding or moving lines and extensions is greatly simplified. The Administrator login sits at the root of an Organisation. The Administrator does all the configuration of users, devices, extension numbers, user security codes and feature allocation. Administrators can modify an Organisations' settings in real time, and with immediate effect, allowing the system to be efficiently tuned to an Organisation s changing demands. Managing Users The Users section of the interface allows administrators to easily manage user attributes such as personal details, login details, user rights and privileges and User Group membership. The system stores all user details together with that user s current extension mapping and assigned destination address. Managing Extensions In STORM Centrex, an extension maps to a user at whichever phone the user is currently logged in. This makes hot-desking possible and allows calls to follow users as they travel between sites. Extensions can be created individually, as a batch, or imported from a prepared file. Extensions are mapped not only to individual users but also to: Call Treatments Voicemail Retrieval (for Users, Call Treatments, or the Organisation) the Call Park Conferences Managing Destinations The destinations addresses (DDIs) assigned to your organisation will map to Users (if they have a direct dial number), to STORM Centrex Call Treatments such as Hunt Groups and the Switchboard, and to Services such as Voicemail. You use NGPP to assign the relevant DDIs to STORM Centrex Users, Call Treatments and Services. Managing Sites STORM Centrex supports Site-specific attributes. Users, devices and Call Treatments can all be assigned to a Site. In particular, all call handling for a site can be forced into Disaster Recovery rules with just one click. Call Treatments A Call Treatment is a way of handling or routing a call. STORM Centrex supports four different types of Call Treatment: Hunt Group Switchboard Supervised Group Pickup Group 4
Feature Overview Hunt Group A Hunt Group consists of multiple users, typically belonging to the same user group or with shared responsibility for a particular function, who get called in turn, or all together. If, for example, a caller wants to speak to 'someone in Support', they can call the Support hunt group. A Hunt Group is set to one of three possible Hunting Modes: Parallel Ringing: all currently attending phones in the group ring simultaneously, and stop ringing when the first person answers. Terminal: a sequential hunting mode, where the group members are called in sequence until one answers. Cyclic: the system remembers which phone was the first to be called last time, and so this time calls the next one on the list first. Attendance in a Hunt Group can be set to Compulsory, or users can be given the right to opt in and out when they please. Pickup Group Calls routed to a user via the Pickup Group call treatment can be 'picked up' by any other user within the group dialling **XXX (where XXX is the extension number assigned to the Pickup Group). This is useful, for example, if an incoming call is routed to someone who is away from their desk; another person within the group who hears the phone ringing could then pick up the call and take a message. Extended Call Treatments Extended call treatments are call treatments with rule-based overflows that determine how a call is handled if the original call treatment fails. For example, if no-one in a hunt group answers a call after a certain time (or if everyone in the group is busy), the call can be diverted either to another group, to the switchboard or to a service such as voicemail. Switchboard Call Treatment A Switchboard Call Treatment routes calls to a Waiting Area on the Organisation s Switchboard. Waiting Areas are mapped to destinations addresses, which determine the Waiting Area a user will appear in on the Switchboard. A Switchboard Call Treatment is always in Parallel Ringing mode. Supervised Group A Supervised Group is a group of users whose calls can be monitored by an Administrator or Supervisor. This service requires a PIN, which is set by the Administrator. No further configuration is required, other than defining which users will be monitored. You can also define additional overflows in the form of Disaster Recovery Rules. If one of your sites becomes isolated for some reason, you can force all Call Treatments for that site into Disaster Recovery with just one click, and the call routing will then follow the Disaster Recovery overflow rules. 5
STORM Centrex Switchboard The Switchboard allows various functions of the system to be operator-controlled. Callers can request assistance and be transferred among different user extensions, hunt groups or conferences. from a number that the system recognises in the Corporate Directory, then the caller s name will appear beneath the icon. Service Types The Service Types you define are presented in a visually attractive manner, allowing administrators to see instantly the combination of features available to users. This provides the flexibility to change users rights according to business needs and developments. The Service Types screen displays the current combination of user rights for each Service Type. Switchboard features include: Incoming call waiting areas Corporate Directory Presence information Warm and Cold call transfer Transfer to Hunt group Toggle between parties Retrieve last diverted call Callers arrive at the Switchboard screen as visual icons that appear in defined waiting areas. Operators can service callers with a click, greet them, and then transfer the call to a user within the Organisation, to conferences or to Hunt Groups, simply by dragging and dropping the caller's icon to a name or service listed in the directory, or to icons representing conferences. The Corporate Directory shows up-to-date Presence information, including whether the user is currently on the phone or otherwise unavailable. Warm transfer allows the target user to reject the call. The operator can also use keyboard shortcuts for answering and transfer operations. A caller s icon changes colour when they are set to listen-only, require assistance, or have been waiting too long. If the caller has called in An administrator assigns each user a specific Service Type which conveys rights to use any of the following features: Call hold/forward/transfer Call history Contacts List Pull to Ground feature Call Recording Unified Communications Conferencing Presence information Access to the STORM Admin Portal Access to the STORM Personal Portal Access to the STORM Switchboard Access to STORM Response Access to STORM View Other technical features, such as the maximum number of hunt groups a user may participate in, and the CLI Presentation option for the user are also configurable by an Administrator. 6
Feature Overview Time of Day Services Time of day services allow you to define a sequence of actions that will apply only on specified dates and times. When active, these override you normal call handling. Using the Admin Portal, this facility allows you to define call handling for out-of-hours services and holiday periods, as well as recurring events such as Public holidays. Call Forwarding Administrators can define call forwarding rules for each user. Voicemail Settings Using the Admin Portal, Administrators can set the following voicemail attributes for each user: Mailbox Security - The Mailbox PIN is asked for when a user dials from his or her STORM Centrex phone into the User Mailbox extension to pick up messages. The system will know whose messages to play, by the phone they are calling in from. Mailbox Introduction Settings - The Introduction Settings determine the greeting that will be played to callers inviting them to leave a message. Users can record their own greeting through the User Mailbox extension number, or use a standard greeting. Notification Settings - STORM Centrex can send an email notification to a user when a voice message arrives in their mailbox. The message can be sent to the chosen email address as an attachment. Alternatively, an SMS notification can be set. From this screen, Administrators can configure: Call Forwarding Rules: one or more Actions (such as routing to another number, a call forwarding group or voicemail) that are attempted by the system in succession under certain conditions, e.g. the origin of the call, the time of day or the number being busy or unanswered Call Forwarding Groups: these are groups of numbers that belong to the user that work like a Hunt Group when the rule forwards the call to Multiple Destinations Breakout from Voice Mail: a feature that enables the caller to 'break out' of the user's voice mail by pressing a key and be routed to another number, call forwarding group or service. The key to be pressed is not configurable from within the STORM Centrex admin portal, but is typically the digit '0'. Users can also set their own call forwarding rules using the STORM Centrex Personal Portal. 7
STORM Centrex Call Barring Call Barring is a facility that enables an Organisation to bar inbound or outbound calls from or to certain numbers or prefixes. For example, if an Organisation wants to bar outbound international calls, the prefix '00' can be added to the outbound barred list. An attempted call from or to a barred number is dropped after a message is played to the caller to explain why the call is barred. If a prefix is barred for an Organisation, it is barred for all sub-organisations below it. Reports The following reports can be generated through the Admin Portal: Free Devices Report - lists all hardware devices that do not currently have a user associated with them Call Treatment Overflows lists your current overflow configurations. Emergency Numbers All STORM Centrex phones can dial emergency numbers, even when they are not currently associated with a user, nor able to make any other calls. The CLI of the Site where the phone is located is used for Geographic identification. Security All access to the Admin Portal is protected by the use of an RSA Token. This provides strong two-factor user authentication, based on complex single-use passwords that change automatically, every 60 secs. To prevent possible fraudulent use of the service, call volumes can be monitored over a number of days to determine typical patterns of use, and an alert raised when volumes, frequency or costs deviate X% from the calculated mean. STORM Centrex - Personal Portal Users with the relevant rights can access their own recordings, voicemail, conferencing and call history, plus various personal settings, via the STORM Centrex Personal Portal. Call Recordings You can start and stop the Call Recording facility by clicking a button on the ipath soft phone, or by entering a dedicated key sequence on your IP desk phone. Call Recording allows you to: Record calls for future reference Monitor customer interaction Improve service levels Verify compliance to regulatory and legal requirements. The Personal Portal provides access to your recordings, from where they can be downloaded or streamed to your PC, organised into folders, annotated and rated for various uses, and renamed or deleted as required. 8
Feature Overview Personal Voicemail Users can access their personal voicemail messages at any time by dialling a dedicated extension and following the prompts for voicemail retrieval. Alternatively, you can access your voice messages from a voice mailbox via the Personal Portal, which allows you to stream or download your messages and organise them similar to you call recordings. Personal Conferencing The STORM Centrex Personal Portal provides you with a personal audio conferencing facility, directly accessible via you ipath soft phone, or indirectly via the Personal Portal. Using a dedicated access number, you and you colleagues can engage in audio conferencing, including the ability to record the entire proceedings. Call History The Personal Portal allows you to view a complete history of your calls, sorted by All Calls, Dialled Calls, Received Calls or Missed Calls, and filtered by prefix or number. Personal Settings The Settings menu of the Personal Portal allows users to configure the following attributes: My Numbers Details of your personal home/work/mobile numbers these will appear as options in the Corporate Directory Speed Dials Define up to 99 speed dials codes for easy access to those numbers you dial frequently Divert Calls Define intelligent Call Forwarding rules to divert your calls based on specific events (see below) Call Screening Bar incoming calls by number or by prefix Hunt Group Opt-in Manage your participation in those Hunt Group where you membership is defined as Optional you choose whether to participate or not. Call Forwarding Call Forwarding lets users define intelligent rules for diverting their incoming calls based on various criteria: Always - the rule always applies On No Answer - when a call is not answered within a specified time On Busy - when your number is busy On Time of Day - during a specified time frame only. Rules can apply to all calls, to internal calls, to external calls, or calls from specified numbers or area codes. Based on these events, the actions to be taken include: Call Destination forward the call to an external number (for example your mobile or home number) Divert to Voicemail divert the call to your personal voicemail Forward to Call Treatment forward the call to a defined Call Treatment such as a Hunt Group or Switchboard Forward to User forward the call to a named user s extension. 9
STORM Centrex This powerful facility allows, for example, someone working at home for the day to divert all internal calls to a work colleague or to voicemail, but all external calls - from potential clients - to their home or mobile number. Codecs Supported The following codecs are currently supported by STORM Centrex: PCM A-law PCM Mu-Law G.729 G.723 GSM GSM EFR G.726 ilbc Additional codecs can be added if required. Copyright and Disclaimer We reserve the right to make changes to the information in this document at any time without notice. Information published in this document is believed to be reliable. However, we assume no liabilities for inaccuracies or omissions in this document, or liability arising from the use of such information. Furthermore, we assume no liability for the infringement of patents or other intellectual property rights owned by third parties which may result from the application of this information. STORM is a registered trademark of Content Guru Ltd. Centrex is a trademark of Content Guru Ltd. ipath is a registered trademark of Redwood Technologies Ltd. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without our written permission. 2011, All rights reserved Contact Us If you would like to find out more about how STORM Centrex can benefit your company and be tailored to suit your business needs, please contact your Solutions Consultant. 10
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