Hosted PBX Quick Start Guide Premium Attendant

Welcome to Cogeco's Hosted PBX Premium Attendant. This feature is like having your very own personal assistant, and it's designed to adapt to each of your department's specific needs. This guide will show you how to set up your new business phone service and customize it to your requirements. Let's get started.

Telephone Access

To Log Into Your Premium Attendant:

  1. Dial 51# from your Hosted PBX IP phone, or, if accessing remotely, dial the 10-digit or toll-free number associated with your Premium Attendant service.
  2. Press *6. You will be prompted to login.
  3. If accessing remotely, enter again your Premium Attendant number when prompted, followed by the pound key (#).
  4. Next, or if accessing from your IP phone, enter your PIN followed by the pound key (#). You will be given the following choices:
    • To change your Premium Attendant configuration, press 1.
    • To change your Account settings, press 2.
    • To leave this account and log on as another subscriber, press 3.

Premium Attendant Configuration Menu

You will hear “Your Premium Attendant is [On/Off].”

  • Press 1 To Turn ON/OFF your Premium attendant
    Note: do not press 1 again to turn your Premium Attendant [On/Off]. When Premium Attendant is off, you will hear, “This number is currently inactive. Please try again later.”
  • Press 2 to edit announcements
    • Press the announcement # (provided to you by Cogeco during service activation) for the announcement that you wish to edit
    • The current announcement will play
    • Press 1 to re-record the announcement
      Record the announcement, and then press # when finished. You will hear “Here is your announcement for [announcement #]”. Announcement plays.
      • Press 1 to save the recording
      • Press 2 to re-record this announcement
      • Press 3 to exit without saving your changes
      • Press 4 to continue recording where you left off. When you have finished, press #.
        • To edit additional announcements, press the [announcement #] for the next announcement that you wish to edit.
        • Press [*] to exit
  • Press 3 to record names or numbers in your dial list
    • Enter the extension of the person whose name you would like to record followed by pressing [#]
    • Record the name and press [#] when finished
    • Recording will play
    • Press [1] to save the recording
    • Press [2] to re-record

Online Access

Login

On the login screen, enter the 10-digit telephone number of the auto-attendant that you’re configuring in the number field. Enter the PIN code of the auto-attendant you’re configuring in the password field. Press the login button.

CommPortal Login Screen

Configuring Your Auto-Attendant

There are three parts required to create and enable an auto-attendant: an announcement, a menu, and a schedule. You will need to create or update all three parts of the auto-attendant, so that it works properly.

An announcement is what is played to a caller when they connect to the auto- attendant or one of its sub-menus. You can have multiple announcements recorded and then pick and choose which to use. This gives you the ability to pre-record frequently used announcements.

Auto-attendant announcement menu

Announcements are given a unique, three-digit, ID that is used when making your recording over the phone. Follow the steps at the beginning of these instructions to record your announcements over the phone.

You can also add and record an announcement, using the website. This requires a working microphone connected to and configured for your computer. To add an announcement, click the Add new Announcement button located in the lower left of the announcement window.

Auto-attendant announcement window

From this window, give your new announcement a name and an optional description. Then choose the action you’d like to take: Record/Play Announcement, Upload Announcement, or Record by Phone.

  • To record an announcement using your computer’s microphone, select the Record/Play Announcement option. Then press the red record button to begin your recording. When you are finished recording, press the stop button. You can then review your recording by pressing the play button. If you are satisfied with the recording, press the Add button in the lower right corner of the recordings window.
  • To upload an announcement of a pre-recorded file, select the Upload Announcement option from the dropdown menu. You can then select the file you’d like to upload, using the Browse option, followed by uploading the selection with the Upload button.
    • Your uploaded announcement must meet one of the file type standards listed below before it can be uploaded:
      • G711 WAV (8-bit, uLaw or aLaw, 8KHz)
      • 16-bit PCM WAV (16-bit, PCM, mono, 16KHz)
    • Once uploaded, press the Add button in the lower right corner of the announcement window.
  • To record by phone, follow the instructions given at the beginning of this document.

A menu allows you to configure what options are given to a caller when a specific announcement is played. To add a new menu, click the Add new Menu button in the lower left corner of the Menus tab.

Auto-attendant add new menu button

You will need to configure the following options to complete a menu:

  • Enter a unique name for your new menu. Use a name that describes the menu you’re configuring.
  • Enter an optional description for the menu, such as the script used in the recording.
  • Select an announcement from the Menu announcement drop down menu.
  • Press the Apply button in the lower right corner to save the new menu.

Once a new menu has been created and saved, select the Keys link at the top of the Menus screen.

Auto-attendant announcement keys link

The keys screen lets you configure options that will be given to your callers. Each of these options should be referenced in the associated announcement.

  • Transfer to Phone: This option allows you to send a caller to a new telephone number.
  • Transfer to Voicemail: This option will transfer a caller directly into another user’s voicemail box. The line you are transferring to must be a member of your business group, and it must have a configured voicemail box.
  • Dial by Extension: This option will transfer callers to a dial by extension directory.
  • Dial by Name: This option will transfer callers to a dial by name directory.
  • Intercept Mailbox: This option will send callers to a configured intercept mailbox. An intercept mailbox is typically a general voicemail box.
  • Go to Menu: This option will take users to another menu within the same auto-attendant.
  • Return to Previous Menu: This option will take users to the previous menu. If a user is already at the root menu, the menu will be replayed.
  • Replay Menu: This option will take users back to the beginning of the current menu.
  • Announcement – Return: This option will play a selected announcement and then return the caller to the previous menu.
  • Announcement – Hang-up: This option will play a selected announcement and then disconnect the call.
  • Hang up: This option will immediately disconnect the call.

Once you have configured the options that will be presented to the caller, press the Apply button in the lower right corner to save the configuration.

Click the Timeout link at the top of the Menus tab. A timeout allows you to configure what will happen to a caller if no option has been selected within a predetermined amount of time. If you choose not to configure a timeout the default behavior from the auto-attendant’s settings will be applied.

Auto-attendant announcement timeout link

After you’ve created an announcement and then associated that announcement with a menu, you will need to apply that menu to a time period. This allows you to play different menus at different times of the day and days of the week.

Time periods are each labeled with a unique name and unique color. The color that is given to a time period is displayed within the paintbrush symbol to the right of time period name. The color associated with a time period is automatically assigned when the time period is created. The maximum number of time periods you can create is 10.

To create a time period:

  1. Select the Add New Period button in the lower left corner of the Schedule tab.
  2. Input a unique time period name in the new pop-up window.
  3. Press the OK button.

To associate a menu with a time period:

  1. Select the time period you’d like to configure by clicking its name under the Periods section
  2. On the right side of the screen, select the menu you’d like to use from the dropdown list at the top of the section.
  3. Click the Apply button in the lower right corner of the screen.

To apply a time period to particular time of day or day of week:

  1. Select the time period you’d like to schedule by clicking on its name.
  2. Click the squares that apply to the time period you’re configuring. When a square is selected it will turn the color of the time period you’re configuring.
    1. Squares by default cover an hour interval. To schedule at the 15-minute interval, click the Zoom In link at the bottom of the business hours section.
    2. To start you are given two default time periods: All other times, and Special Days. All other times it is represented by the white paint brush next to its name.

Auto-attendant time period schedule

Once you have completed the above steps, you will be able to Turn On your auto-attendant. To enable your auto-attendant, click on the Main tab. This tab will give you a summary of your auto-attendant’s status along with links to the different sections of its configuration. Once your auto-attendant is turned on its configuration is complete.

Auto-attendant main tab

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