John,
Getting a receptionist configuration that meets your customer's needs and fits into the UC500 configuration can be complex. Starting from first principles, what are you trying to accomplish? (I assuming that you are not using the add-on for a Windows-based operator console).
1. Will incoming calls go to an auto-attendant where the caller selects zero to go the receptionist or will calls be delivered to the extension of a live person?
Many organizations are uncomfortable sending their callers directly to an auto-attendant. We have non-profits that are concerned their donors may get lost in the auto-attendant. Other organzations want the ability for callers to go directly to the right party.
2. Is there a single receptionist position or is the job shared by different people? If the job is shared, do the same people share the job all the time or are there different people assigned at different times?
It's easier if one person acts as the receptionist all the time, but for small organizations we've found this is often a shared responsiblty. Some have a dedicated person during particular parts of the day, while others have a schedule tahat rotates responsibilty. If there is a full-time or mostly full-time position, you could simply have all calls go to that position and then use Pickup or Group Pickup for others to pick up a call when they hear it ringing.
You can also put an extra button on all potential operator phones as a share line that lets all of these users pick up the call at any time. The drawback is that the default behavior is this rings at every position making the environment more "noisy" and potentially interrupting the concentraion of those not currently on duty.
Prior to the 8.0.4 software pack, you could configure buttons for silent ring through CUE, but that was removed in the latest release. (The UC540 and UC560 are supported for CLI configurations).
It's possible to use a hunt group to distribute the call to every potential receptionist, but this rings their personal extension which can confuse the person receiving the call as to whether it is for them personally or for the organization. You can use a separate button for the operator position and still use a call group, but you can accomplish the same thing with a shared line, so a call group might be overkill.
A BACD can aso be used for the receptionist position, queuing calls for a busy position. However, their is no way to opt-out to voice mail once the caller is in the queue making this a less acceptable choice (IMO). BACD seems to work etter for support positions and the 8.0.4 release now allows to use HLog to log in and out of BACD answering responsibilities.
3. What is the maximum number of incoming calls the receptionist needs to handle simulataneously and what phone will the receptionist (or receptionists) be using (SPA50x, CP_79xx, etc)?
One thing that wasn't obvious to me was that the SPA50x and SPA525 are limited to two call paths on a non-overlay button. By default, they also reserve one of the two channels on a button for an outbound call (so you can transfer the incoming call), If you only provide one receptionist button they can b limited to one call at a time and everything else gets CFB to voice mail.
You can use octo-line capable phones, but remember that only the primary extension can be configured for octo-line. (I believe there is a future release that will allow octo-line capability on phones that support it for other buttons. I also believe the ability to support octo-line capbility may be hardware specific, so if the phone you are using now doesn't support it, it probably won't do so in the future.
If you use a shared line or an additional button and a call group to share receptionist responsibilities, you can get around the multiple simultaneous calls issue, but the incoming calls will be ringing only at nn-busy stations.
You can also stack call appearances by creating some shared line appearances on a "fake" phone (create a new phone in CCA with a made-up MAC address) and then stacking them as an overlay button on receptionist positions. This can get around two channel limitations.
It also helps if you traing recetioists to use call parking instead of hold. Call parking releases the call from the recpetionist's phone so she can take more incoming calls. They just need to keep track of who is on what line. If there is a side car attached to their phone, you can program extra buttons for monitoring call park extensions. That makes it easy to retrieve parked calls.
4. Is different handling required during busies shours and after business hours?
This can be handled by defining a busines shours schedule and then creating daya and night call call handling if the organization uses an auto-attendant.
You can also configure the nght bell to change how incoming calls to extensions are covered. This can be switched on command so if the receptionist leaves their position, you can change where the incoming call rings.
5. How does voice mail for the receptionist need to be retrieved?
Some calls are going to end up in voice mail. When they do, how do you wantmessages to be retrieved? If you've used a shared line they'll be in a general delivery mailbox by default. In some other configurations, you could end up with a regular voice mail box with its own extension number and password. You'll also need to consider how to get a Message Waiting Indicator (MWI).
That should be plenty for now.
Dave
