| VoiXX 2.5, from Intersis Technologies, is an
Exchange-based unified messaging platform for medium-sized businesses. It
uses the Exchange message store for voice mail creation, combined with
features like Lernout & Hauspie's speech recognition and
text-to-speech engines for the TUI. Although it lacks a network fax
component, it does offer a Web callback feature and a Web message delivery
interface, along with support for both Brooktrout and Dialogic voice
boards. We especially like its installation and administration processes,
but there were some odd user interface quirks, and some of the
documentation and management elements are difficult to use. Still, this
product impressed us with its easy implementation, solid feature set, and
competitive pricing. We tested VoiXX 2.5 for about three weeks.
INSTALLATION
The issue of scale keeps the technical requirements evolving, but Intersis
makes some minimum suggestions. These include a Pentium II at 300 MHz, 128
MB RAM, 300 MB SCSI disk space, at least one voice board, Windows NT 4.0
Server with updated service packs, and Exchange 5.5. For the clients,
minimum requirements include a 486-class PC at 66 MHz, 30 MB disk space,
16 MB RAM for Windows 9x or 24 MB RAM for Windows NT, optional sound
system, and Outlook 97 or Exchange Client 4.0. Intersis engineers
recommend (as do we) that the server be formatted with the NTFS method.
The numerous PBX options are too many to list here: the product can
basically work with any PBX.
For our testing needs, we used two NT Server computers connected by a
100/BaseT network. One computer ran Exchange 5.5, the NT 4.0 Option Pack,
IIS server, and Internet Explorer 5.0. The other ran the VoiXX server
software, Outlook, and a Brooktrout 4-port voice board. In lieu of a PBX,
we connected two of the Brooktrout lines to a Teltone analog line
simulator, with two user extensions also connected.
Installing all of the software -- the server, connector, client, and
Web programs -- worked fine on the first try. (Laugh if you want, but in a
laboratory environment where we change disk partitions more often than we
change clothes, that's a big deal.) Installing the Web component was the
most tedious part, because you need to customize a few active server
pages. In real-world situations, that means involving your Webmaster (in
addition to your IT director, your telecom director, etc.). Along the way,
we also installed the L&H speech engines and Exchange forms, and we
configured some system prompts and verified the proper operation of the
VoiXX services. Once this was complete, we re-applied the latest NT
service packs and configured several Exchange users and an administrator's
account. We were ready to begin.
DOCUMENTATION
VoiXX 2.5 includes four main documents in Adobe Acrobat format: the
administration reference, installation/configuration book, end-user guide,
end-user reference, and VSL scripting manual (for customizing the IVR).
The documents were lengthy and well written, and they showed smart
organization, good use of screen captures, and comprehensiveness. Our sole
complaint is the copy editing -- it seems like Intersis forgot to turn on
spellcheck, and this makes for a turbulent ride. Learning how to
administer and use enterprise CTI products is enough of challenge without
having to stumble through poorly edited manuals. The online help is
slightly better, but it was incomplete in our version (an alpha version of
the product).
FEATURES
The VoiXX 2.5 feature set is very specific and organized. For example, for
administrators there is VoiXX Configuration, which operates as an icon in
Windows' Control Panel; VoiXX Manager, which monitors and controls
real-time system activity; and VoiXX Trace, for capturing major parts of
the system operation for future analysis. Other utilities are also
included, like a file version checker (useful for upgrade and
troubleshooting woes), a batch file tool, and VoiXX Converter, used to
convert the software's PCM message compressions into standard .WAV
compressions (and back). For end users, there is VoiXX client, which opens
automatically with Outlook voice messages, or can be opened manually
without Outlook; and VoiXX Travel, the TUI component. For message
recipients who cannot read .PCM files, the outbound messages automatically
include a link to the VoiXX "light" player. End users can also
make use of the Converter tool. The Web components are an
"extra" that intrigued us, particularly because they're not
available as a standard feature in most of the competitive products.
VoiXX Configuration
VoiXX Configuration, accessed with a Windows Control Panel icon, is the
master set-up menu for the application. Its 11 submenus include options
for Exchange, trunk lines, PBX, parameters, number substitution, names
list, messages, ASR (speech recognition), PBX mask, pager (notification),
and advanced options. There's not enough room here to cover every feature,
but the next few paragraphs will introduce you to the highlights.
With the Exchange tab, you can set a global mail signature, containing
a Web link for non-VoiXX users to click through to download a player
applet. The Exchange server and mailbox names are also set here. The
adjacent Lines menu lets you configure specific lines for inbound calls,
outbound calls, both, or none. Here, you can set each line's operator
access number, the number of rings by which to answer, the default system
messages and search name, and whether or not the line uses voice mail, an
auto-attendant, or a VSL file. This is also the menu where you set
individual user options, such as phone number, extension, and available
system features.
As you'd suspect, the PBX tab configures how VoiXX works with your
existing telephony system. Administrators set parameters for dialing,
digit input timeout in milliseconds, and line-on-hold activation options.
(A related option, Number Substitution, is another tab off of the main
VoiXX Configuration menu used for translating dialed digits into
meaningful system digits.) Next, the Parameters screen sets up more
auto-attendant options (like supervised transfers and auto-forward to
voice mail), basic VoiXX Travel options (if and when to announce the
message date, etc.), and voice mail options (min/max recording time, max
extension number digits). Further, the Names List feature is where
administrators import users when VoiXX must announce them to incoming
callers. Among the setup options here are the name, extension, and
text-to-say/files-to-play.
Two of the Configuration tool's most advanced options are the Messages
and ASR screen. Here, the text-to-say/files-to-play sequences are divided
into 12 categories: messages to change, voice mail, auto-attendant,
travel, contacts, outbound, VSL addresses, numbers, date/time,
text-to-speech, ASR, and miscellaneous. These options require extensive
planning and patience to get just right, in conjunction with the ASR menu,
where you choose languages and system words to attempt to recognize.
PBX Mask is the menu used for configuring how to access your PBX, how
to send message waiting signals, masks to ignore and to use, etc. Pager is
a similar menu, where you set how to access the system modem, how to
handle messages that are too long, etc. Last, the Advanced messages option
allows for importing the details of the Exchange, PBX, Names, ASR, Lines,
Substitution, and Messages tabs, and for exporting all system details to a
single file, which is useful for continuing configuration and planning
over time.
The other administration interfaces -- VoiXX Manager, VoiXX Trace, and
VoiXX Converter -- are of the powerful, no-frills variety for daily system
management. VoiXX Manager's main screen shows the trunk lines, their
status, what programs they're operating with, and caller ID data. Its
options provide access to the command queue, a trace function, help files,
system licensing, installed languages, and additional trunk line commands.
There's also a shortcut link here to the Configuration menu. VoiXX Trace
lets you view every aspect of every line and call, to precisely analyze
what is working, what is not working, what could work better, and why.
Icons are provided to easily switch your trace between servers and lines,
and to view, save, log, and refresh the data. VoiXX Converter is the
simplest tool to use; users simply open a VoiXX or .WAV file and select
the desired .PCM or .WAV format to convert it to.
VoiXX Client
VoiXX Client has an excellent feature set of its own. A typical message is
shown is Figure 3, and from Outlook, you know it's a voice message because
it uses a yellow telephone icon instead of the standard e-mail icon. The
subject line includes the message length. Also included in the message
window is the player, which has a slider bar, a volume control, the option
to play messages through your telephone or through your computer speakers,
and the usual VCR-style buttons. There's also an options button, where you
can choose the telephone extension that the system will ring to play your
messages (if you're not at your own desk) as well as an autoplay option,
which makes messages play as soon as you open the message file.
The player itself can be opened separately from Outlook. In this case,
it appears with pull-down menus for file, options, and help menus. VoiXX
Travel settings are accessed with the options menu; the travel screen has
four menus of its own, including Security, Preferences, Filters, and Play
Files. Under Security, the settings are for a user ID and PIN codes, and
for telephone access and inbox notifications.
User Preferences include choosing which messages to listen to (all or
just voice messages), sort method, text-to-speech voice (male or female),
if and when to announce the message date, and whether or not to disable
message waiting lamps. The Filters option sets up rules for which messages
to play or skip, and the Play Files option has to do with which extensions
and system lines are used when you dial in. Play Files is also useful as a
way to set different messages based on the time of day, holidays, etc.
The telephone interface has its own set of features. E-mail messages
are read to you with text-to-speech, and all messages can be replied to
with voice. E-mail can also be forwarded to the nearest fax machine, and
messages can be created from the TUI address menu. The extended menu
allows you to listen to just voice messages or just e-mail messages.
There's also a special menu just for the text-to-speech features, from
which you can change the current dictionary, repeat a paragraph, or skip
to the next paragraph.
Web Component
As you've probably gathered by now, there are two parts to VoiXX's Web
component: a callback option and a messaging option. Both options are
highly customizable and are normally built into your organization's
existing site. Customers or employees can use the callback option by going
to the site, entering their local telephone number, and selecting the
person or department who they wish to receive a call from. If the person
or department is un-available, the system can be designed to call the user
back and ask if they wish to leave a message. The messaging option can
also work in reverse: you can call into your own system and leave a
message for customers or other employees to access over the Web.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
After a few weeks of testing, we were generally impressed with this
product. We did find some unusual behaviors that the Intersis engineers
said would be fixed in time for the full release. Mostly these quirks
pertained to Windows services that had to be manually started, and to
documentation and online help issues.
For administrators, we tested VoiXX by importing several users and by
creating a few new users, each with different properties and privileges.
Some of the users had TUI access; some had personalized attendant
messages; some of the accounts were loaded with every bell and whistle;
some had a basic converged inbox and nothing more. We found the PBX Mask
option to be quite useful for gathering all system details in one place,
and while using a Control Panel icon instead of a standard window is a
clever idea, we'd suggest that administrators link a shortcut directly to
the desktop instead.
Using the client application and the corresponding telephone interface
was not as much to our liking. In particular, we did not like that voice
mail files are not created and saved in the standard .WAV format by
default. We asked Intersis engineers about this; they cited file size and
development issues as the reasons for not doing this. The included file
conversion tool is very easy to use, but it's still a separate
application. It would make more sense if users could right-click on a
voice message in Outlook and do an immediate conversion to a predetermined
file type. Or better yet, there could be a way to program a three-button
mouse or a keyboard macro to do the same thing.
The Web components and features like speech recognition,
text-to-speech, and auto-attendants were all easy to learn, but tedious to
actually configure. Of course, this is more a comment on those
technologies than on Intersis's implementation of them, but there are
things that might be done to make this simpler. Perhaps one solution would
be a more visual interface -- something more along the lines of an app-gen
-- rather than having four different places within the administration
interfaces for completing related tasks.
Our overall opinion is that everything with this product worked well.
However, although we can excuse much of the required tinkering, we feel
that VoiXX can be made simpler, for both administrators and end users. We
like the tight Exchange integration, which made it easy to import and
export users and user groups, but we dislike that configuring user options
involves one click here, one click at another menu, a third click
elsewhere, and so on.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
As we've been discussing, the main areas where this product can stand
improvement are copy editing of the documentation and the planning of the
management issues. We'd also like to see a shortcut in the configurations
for the system messages and speech-recognition options that you could use
for immediate testing to see if the TTS/ASR words sound right.
This product is very powerful and feature-rich, but for all parties
involved, it can be made a lot easier to manage. Most of the features that
we expect from a good enterprise-scale UM system for Windows NT are
already included; however, we feel that the learning curve might cause
some potential buyers to shop other solutions. This is a shame, because
VoiXX does what it claims to do, and it does so very well.
CONCLUSION
As mentioned in the introduction, we feel that VoiXX's implementation,
feature set, and pricing make it deserving of our endorsement, but after
concluding our operation tests, we have some concerns. Is a great product
a worthwhile purchase if other products work almost as well but are easier
to use? The answer, as usual, is that it depends on things like the
knowledge and experience of your technical management staff, and the size,
needs, and future plans of your organization. In many cases, Intersis
VoiXX 2.5 may be the ideal solution. We recommend checking it out. |
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