January 1999

Price: An 8-port system retails at $5,700.

RATINGS (0-5)
Installation: 4.75
Documentation: 4.75
Features: 4.5
GUI: 4.5
Overall: A

[email protected] is tAA's Windows NT version of their unified messaging, voice mail/auto-attendant system. This new product is a feature-rich application that builds on the strengths of [email protected] (see the review in the June 1998 issue of CTI�) and integrates fully with Windows NT.

INSTALLATION
Amanda brought a turnkey voice mail system to TMC™Labs with all the software pre-loaded and tested, thus not much installation was required. We decided to skip the integration with our Nortel Norstar switch since we tested that feature in a previous review of the Amanda system. However, we should point out that unlike the previous product - [email protected] - [email protected] does not support digital integration with the Nortel Norstar switch.

Instead of integrating [email protected] with our switch, we plugged two analog lines directly into the ports to be used for the auto-attendant and voice mail capabilities. We did examine the administration screens for setting up mailboxes and the screens for configuring each client. On the client side, choosing which mailbox/extension to attach to is done from a tabular administration screen called "Amanda Mailbox Settings". Configuring mailboxes on the server was fairly straightforward, utilizing a Windows-based GUI for applying various settings such as greetings, and for caller options, such as "call screening" and "do not disturb." Some of the features in the administration screen are a bit more advanced and complex, only to be tried by a trained Amanda administrator, such as the "chains" feature.

On the client side, it was pretty easy to integrate the Amanda system with Microsoft Exchange/Outlook. By simply adding two services to the Exchange Profile - "Amanda Addresses," which contains a list of all available voice-mail recipients on the system, and "Amanda Folders," which is the container for holding voice mail messages and call history - you attain "unified messaging" capabilities. Overall, installation was extremely simple.

DOCUMENTATION
The documentation consisted of three ring-bound manuals, including "[email protected] Workstation Features," "Administering [email protected]," and "Installing [email protected]." All three manuals were very good, with a well-thought-out design, plenty of screenshots, an extensive index, and a table of contents as well. The administration manual also had diagrams for showing the flow of a call through the Amanda auto-attendant/IVR. The fourth manual, called "Using [email protected] Telephony Features," was more of a booklet, and it should be helpful in aiding users to access all the telephone features. It also contained some diagrams for showing how to traverse the menus within the auto-attendant/IVR and voice mail systems. VARs and interconnects will find the installation manual well organized, although the Quick Start guide might be sufficient for getting a system up and running quickly. Overall, we were very pleased with the documentation, which earned a 4.75 rating.

FEATURES
Major features include audio-text, automated attendant, automatic telephone dialing and connection, auto-scheduling, fax mail, guest IDs, and IVR. [email protected] features a 4-to 48-port configuration range and is capable of supporting 100,000 users. Voice storage hours, messages per user, and the number of notification possibilities are limited only by disk space storage capacity. Instantaneous synchronization with the Amanda server (no polling) is a nice feature which allows voice mail and fax messages to show up immediately.

Also included are desktop call screening, call control, as well as support for multiple greetings (including scheduled greetings). The all-important "unified messaging" of voice mail and faxes is also a standard feature. Faxing capabilities include faxback, fax on demand, as well as the ability to fax from any desktop (fax server). Finally, easy-to-design reports via a pseudo-wizard will make administrators happy.

OPERATIONAL TESTING
The last time we tested Amanda's voice mail system, it ran over DOS with a Windows admin GUI ([email protected]). With [email protected], Amanda has ported and optimized their code to run on Windows NT.

Call Screening
After setting up one of our extensions to allow call screening, we dialed into one of the Amanda ports and we were greeted by the auto-attendant. We entered the number for one of our extensions, and the Amanda auto-attendant prompted us, "At the tone, please say your name and company, and I'll announce your call." After we stated our name, the call-screening feature displayed a screen pop on the Windows 95 client machine that had been logged onto that particular extension. You can also choose to have the person's name played over the PC's multimedia speakers. At this point, we could take the call, transfer the caller to another extension, direct the caller to voice mail, or play a greeting, such as, "I will be with you shortly, please hold."

Next, we made another call and left a message on our test mailbox to allow us to evaluate the product's voice mail recording capabilities, quality, and ease of retrieval. We tested retrieval of the test voice mail messages we left using both the TUI (telephone user interface) and the sound card utilizing the Amanda GUI.

Inbox Message Retrieval
Starting with Amanda's GUI, which is integrated onto the Microsoft Exchange/Outlook toolbar, we found playing the voice messages pretty straightforward. The actual voice mail player form was simple enough, and we liked the "Private" check box to prevent someone from forwarding your voice mail to someone else. However, we did have a couple of issues with this player form.

First, when you need to forward or reply to a voice mail, there are no Cc: or Bcc: fields for addressing, just a To: field. Second, when you want to reply to or forward a voice mail and then add some comments, the form does not initially display a memo box for typing comments. Instead, you have to click on a menu option and then choose "edit body" to add comments. This was a bit of a nuisance. Also, the "edit body" field is a simple memo control, which only allows for simple text with no formatting, such as bolding or underlining.

The voice mail form seems very voice mail-centric as opposed to e-mail-centric, supporting volume controls, an elapsed time bar, a "private" option, and other voice mail-type controls. This design decision affects how you attach files. For example, if you wish to attach a file such as a Word document, you won't be able to - although you can attach faxes. The only workaround we determined was to first save the voice mail as a .WAV file, then start a standard Exchange e-mail form. Next, attach the .WAV file (and any other file). This certainly would be tedious.

Another option is to just forward the voice mail and then send a separate e-mail with other file attachments, but that too is a bit tedious and cumbersome. One final option is to "uncheck" the "Use the Amanda Messenger form for forwards and replies," which allows the use of the standard Exchange e-mail form. In this case, any voice mail messages that are forwarded or replied to are sent as a standard e-mail with a .WAV attachment. While you can easily insert comments with full e-mail formatting functionality using this feature, you lose the advanced voice mail player features, such as volume control, marking private, and others.

Message Retrieval via the Telephone
After testing the playback of voice messages from the GUI, we next tested voice mail playback from the telephone interface. When you use the telephone to listen to messages, your telephone rings, which allows you to pick up the handset, get connected to the Amanda system, and then hear your voice messages. You also have the option of using your handset when you record your greetings. That is, you can, if you choose, switch to using your sound card and microphone when you record your main greeting, your name, and other custom greetings. You can also play back your voice mail messages from the road by dialing into the auto-attendant and utilizing basic DTMF keys to fast forward, rewind, and save messages.

"Patience, Young Jedi…"
One thing we didn't like about leaving a voice mail message was the choice of the number "9" to actually send a voice mail message. Typically the caller is prompted to hit the "#" key when he/she is done recording a message. After hitting the "#" key the caller has to listen to options 1-8 sequentially before finally hearing the option to send the message. We would propose changing the "send" key from "9" to "1," since we noticed that we were getting a bit impatient waiting for the prompt to tell us which key to use to actually send the message.

Exchange Integration
Amanda keeps its voice and fax messages on the voice mail system, and through a service added into Outlook/Exchange, the service communicates with the Amanda server to access the voice and fax messages. Within your Exchange/Outlook inbox, you have Call History, Current Messages, and Deleted Messages contained within this Amanda information store. One really nice feature of the system is that it will actually keep the recordings of any screened name in the Call History folder. Thus, if a user has call-screening on, and a person calls in, states their name, but you do not accept the call for whatever reason and the user doesn't leave a message, you can still play back the person's name and return that call. Many competing products don't have this feature.

Keeping new voice and fax messages in Amanda's information store, which is separate from your traditional Personal Folders or Microsoft Exchanger Server mailbox, is a definite design decision. One of the reasons for this decision is that Amanda takes care of the complex task of managing voice mails, such as auto-purging old voice mail if a given date is exceeded. Since voice mail has a much more critical response time than e-mail, separating the two has the advantage that the voice mail doesn't get lost with the rest of your messages. Still, we're sure some users would prefer all their voice mail and faxes to appear directly into one inbox along with their regular e-mail.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
As previously mentioned, the voice mail player form needs to be more e-mail-centric, supporting multiple attachments as well as the ability to immediately type comments into the form without having to click on a menu option. The "send voice mail" function needs to have its touch-tone digit changed from "9" to "1" to prevent callers from having to listen to options they most likely will not need to use. Also, the option to use one information store for e-mail, fax, and voice mail would be a great addition.

CONCLUSION
Amanda is a very attractive voice mail/auto-attendant system featuring easy administration, unified messaging, and various other features. Probably the most attractive element of tAA's products, including @Large.Office, is tAA's extremely competitive pricing. Taking the original [email protected] to the next level, [email protected]'s support for Windows NT and increased port density make this product a winner.