| Artisoft's TeleVantage version 3.5 is a
software-based PBX package which offers several advanced voice mail
options in addition to the standard features offered by many traditional
voice mail systems on the market today. These features are combined with
an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI), which allows users to have
extensive message control management and desktop call control simply with
the click of a mouse button.
INSTALLATION
The first phase in the installation process was setting up the hardware
components. We found this to be straightforward. The first step would
usually be installing the Dialogic boards. Since our test system was
delivered to us from Artisoft with the Dialogic boards pre-installed, we
only needed to remove the cover and confirm that the boards were seated
properly and that each one had been assigned a unique SCSA ID. Since the
IDs are set via physical switches on the board itself, it is ideal to set
them for each of the boards prior to installation. Ensuring that each
board has a unique ID is extremely important to its operation. This is the
only way the system can distinguish between the different devices and
trunk lines on each board.
Model Number
Also, be sure to note the model number of the board prior to installation.
You will need this information at a later point in the installation
process in order to successfully configure the Dialogic drivers in the
Dialogic Configuration Manager. The model number is located on a white
label affixed to the back of the board.
Once the boards are uniquely configured and set in the proper bus
slots, they need to be connected via an SCbus ribbon cable, and a CTbus
ribbon cable if your system uses CTbus boards as well. The ribbon cable is
used to connect each of the Dialogic boards to each other in a piggyback
fashion.
Connecting Voice Boards
Once the cables are installed and the system cover is replaced, the
next step is to connect the voice boards to the trunk lines using the
Dialogic BCP Connection Panel. Using a 37-pin LSI amphenol cable (included
with the hardware), we connected the analog voice board to the Dialogic
BCP Connection Panel.
Next, standard phone cables were used to connect the analog trunk lines
from the wall jack to the RJ-11 connectors on the BCP Connection Panel.
For outside lines, we used a 4-line Teltone analog simulator. Then,
individual stations were connected to correspond to user phone lines.
Software Setup
Phase two of the installation process is the software setup and
configuration. Utilizing the auto-run feature on the installation CD, the
main menu of the TeleVantage Master Setup screen was immediately
initialized on startup. From this menu, we first selected the setup for
the Dialogic DNA drivers.
Once the installation was completed, the drivers needed to be
specifically configured for use with TeleVantage. This is why it is
important to know the board's model number. An inaccurate model number
will install the incorrect firmware file and prevent successful
communication between the boards and the TeleVantage software.
Configuration of the boards, such as choosing an IRQ or setting the IP
address on the VoIP board, was not too much of a hassle since each of the
boards had been auto-detected by the Dialogic Configuration Manager.
License Information
The last part of the software installation was installing TeleVantage
Administrator and entering the license information. The Administrator
allows you to monitor your system and perform various administrative
tasks, such as creating users and modifying auto-attendant menus. The
system settings dialog box was very intuitive, which helped move the
process along quickly.
Where's The DOS Window?
Overall, the installation went smoothly and corresponded to the
documentation. One problem we did encounter involved the SQL portion of
the installation, which needed to be completed prior to TeleVantage being
installed. According to the installation manual, selecting TeleVantage
Server from the Master Setup menu should invoke the SQL Server
installation. A DOS window should open and remain open until the
installation is complete. The black DOS window never displayed for us, and
the installation kept jumping directly into the TeleVantage Server setup.
After several unsuccessful retries, and receiving repeated error messages
due to missing SQL files, we determined that SQL was still partially
installed from a previous installation. A call to tech support was
necessary, and we were given instructions for editing the registry and
deleting the Artisoft and Microsoft SQL keys.
Once they were removed, the rest of the installation went smoothly. Had
the system been clean, we probably would not have encountered this problem
(although reinstalling TeleVantage should not be as difficult as it was,
either). Several reinstalls, as well as system reboots, made the process
more tedious and time-consuming. The installation program should detect a
prior version of TeleVantage in the registry and automatically remove the
keys.
DOCUMENTATION
The documentation for TeleVantage 3.5 includes an installation guide,
an administration guide, and a user's guide. All of the manuals are easy
to read, contain detailed and precise information, and include plenty of
screen shots and diagrams, which support the written content.
FEATURES
TeleVantage 3.5 includes many call management features such as call
logging and reporting, multi-level auto-attendant, multi-line call control
and personalized call handling. Some of the main messaging and remote
access capabilities include "follow-me" call forwarding, call
and message screening, and Internet telephony. TeleVantage also includes
an Administrator utility which is as intuitive and user-friendly as the
Client interface. From the Administrator GUI, you can view user
information, device configurations, and call logs. Also included is a
device monitor which allows you to view the status and assignment of
trunks and Internet trunks
Follow-Me Call Forwarding
The user can specify an internal or external number, including the
ability to redirect calls to a home phone or cellular phone.
Call And Message Screening
A variety of screening options are available which allow the user to
choose how each incoming call will be handled. Callers' names are
announced over the phone or PC speakers, as well as displayed on screen.
Internet Telephony
TeleVantage 3.5 includes a built-in gateway, based on the H.323
standard, that allows calls to be routed over the Internet or an intranet.
Employees can be connected to any external number as quickly as if they
were dialing the extension of an employee two offices down the hall.
What's New?
New features in version 3.5 include support for running TeleVantage
server on Windows 2000 Server. Also new in this release is support for
ACT! 2000 and Goldmine 5.0. Artisoft has also added support for ISDN BRI
which is important in the European market. Version 3.5 now supports
Dialogic's line of PCI-based MSI (analog station) boards, allowing
customers to purchase PCI-based industrial computers.
Another improvement is a more intuitive IP gateway administration and
configuration. Version 3.5 also supports enhanced E-911, which is required
by law in many states. Developers will enjoy TeleVantage's enhanced
plug-ins that allow outbound dialing, enabling you to program predictive
dialers. On a related note, Artisoft has published their API for
determining the hook-state, which allows developers to determine if an
agent's phone is on or off-hook.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
TeleVantage client version 2.1 is used in-house at TMC Labs and we are
very satisfied with its performance. It has several features that we use
extensively. One particular highlight of version 3.5, which version 2.1
lacked, is the ability to customize the order in which messages are played
back. You can select from several play orders for both new and old
messages, such as listening to them in order of newest to oldest, or
vise-versa. Changing the voice message playback order is done from the
user-friendly TeleVantage client. From this program you can also perform
desktop call control, manage and record your greetings, view your call
history, set your call forwarding rules, and much more. The user-friendly
interface looks a lot like Microsoft Outlook with the Outlook bar turned
on.
We tested call forwarding by setting up a rule such that the user
"Babe Ruth," with caller-ID 212-555-2222, was automatically
redirected to another Teltone test number (212-555-1111). When we
simulated a call from Babe Ruth's number via the Teltone simulator, the
TeleVantage system forwarded the call directly to the test number.
IP-Centrex
We thought it would be neat to try the IP-Centrex feature which would
allow us to get dial tone on a second TeleVantage server over an IP
connection. Since we only had one TeleVantage server in our lab, we called
Artisoft and asked them for the IP address of one of their systems located
in Cambridge, Mass. We entered the IP address and the access code into the
IP gateway settings in the Dialing Service dialog box within the Artisoft
Administrator program.
We chose "5" as the access code to get a "second dial
tone" from the Cambridge TeleVantage system. Next we entered Lee's
extension (an Artisoft employee
with whom we were working during our testing process). However, all we
heard was silence.
You Can't Raze A Firewall
We thought perhaps our firewall was blocking the H.323 traffic. We
knew that our firewall blocks the VoIP packets in only one direction
(inbound), so perhaps Lee could hear us, but we couldn't hear him. Thus,
we started pressing DTMF tones like crazy to see if Lee would hear us.
Sure enough, about 2 minutes later, Lee called us (via the PSTN) and asked
if we were pressing DTMF digits. Lee suggested reconfiguring our firewall
to allow the H.323 traffic through, which was next on our agenda anyway.
Unfortunately, the firewall that we use was acting a bit flaky and
wasn't accepting our changes, so we weren't able to get this feature to
work. It's also our main corporate firewall, so we didn't want to keep
rebooting. Nevertheless, we have seen this feature work at trade shows, so
we're confident it's just a minor firewall configuration issue. We were,
however, able to successfully complete a VoIP call to our TeleVantage
server using the NetMeeting client. Overall, TMC Labs was extremely
impressed with Artisoft TeleVantage's VoIP capabilities.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
Overall, we were pleased with the features implemented in the latest
version of Televantage. There are however a few areas of improvement that
deserve mentioning.
One suggestion deals with the call forwarding feature. Selecting
"Call Forwarding" from the Tools menu will bring up a dialog box
which includes an option at the bottom to "Prompt recipient to accept
or decline call." The only complaint with this checkbox is the lack
of intuitiveness in its wording. When you read this description, you
interpret it to mean that the recipient of the call will only have the
option of accepting or declining the call, without actually knowing who
the call is from. Our suggestion is that this option should also include
in its description that it will "announce" the caller's recorded
voice and then give the recipient the option of accepting or declining the
call.
Another improvement to mention is being able to schedule greetings so
that you can set an after hours greeting which would route calls directly
to voice mail. Also, when the auto-attendant is dialed followed by an
extension, the caller should be able to press another key, such as the
asterisk key, immediately after the extension to go directly to voice
mail.
Finally, there is no "Undo" feature in the TeleVantage
client. Thus, if you move a voice mail to another folder or delete it, you
can't undo it. You can go to the deleted items folder (or the folder you
moved it to) and retrieve it, but if you have lots of voice mail, you may
have to scan or listen to each voice mail to find the one you're looking
for.
CONCLUSION
TeleVantage is a solid phone system solution for efficient message
control management and desktop call control. In fact, the true power of
the TeleVantage client is its ability to manage multiple incoming calls
with the click of a mouse, as well as the ability to quickly and easily
create conference calls (a feature that is often feared and misunderstood
by most users). While a learning curve does exist when it comes to
utilizing the advanced features, such as VoIP, the installation and
configuration is very intuitive and is supported by the documentation. The
Artisoft TeleVantage system is undeniably one of our favorite phone
systems here at TMC Labs and we highly recommend it.
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