For small to medium-sized offices, Praxon’s Phone Data eXchange (PDX) version 1.2
can be considered a “blackbox” PC-PBX, which is based on an embedded, Unix-like
operating system. The PDX provides a well-designed Web-based interface and supports most
types of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT and Unix, and provides
connections via T1 or ISDN BRI. An analog module has recently been announced, as well.
This system currently supports up to 12 trunks (6 ISDN BRI lines) and up to 64 extensions.
With its TAPI support, the PDX also offers a graphical interface called Virtual Console
(VConsole), which provides desktop control functionality for end users.
INSTALLATION
To access Praxon’s Web-based GUI, an Ethernet connection must either be
connected directly to a PC or to a hub on your LAN. Connect an amphenol cable from the PDX
to a breakout box, with an analog phone connected to one of the ports. Then you can record
your greetings after accessing the Web-based GUI. An emergency analog line also can be
allocated in case of a power outage. After that, just open your Web browser and type in
the default IP address supplied by Praxon. Of course, you could also set the proper IP
address by pressing, “*11#” on your phone and following the simple directions
from the voice prompt.
We recommend first establishing a trunk connection via either a T1 line or at least one
ISDN BRI connection. This will ensure that running the wizard takes only a few minutes.
For the initial configuration, we first entered the default administrator user name and
password. Then, since we used ISDN for our configuration, the wizard accessed a page for
entering our ISDN phone numbers and SPID numbers. We finished entering the numbers and
clicked the “Next” button, which brought us to a page that showed us whether or
not the numbers were accepted.
After activating the ISDN lines, the next page of the GUI consisted of entering the
main number for dialing into the Praxon PDX and entering the number used for obtaining an
outside line (9 is commonly used). The final feature on this page is entering any
restricted prefixes that you do not want end users to call, such as 900 numbers.
Other aspects of the initial configuration include entering basic company information,
recording greetings for the automated attendant, adding users into the PDX system,
configuring receptionist extensions (if needed), and entering departmental headings to
identify hunt groups and shared e-mail addresses. These are all done so easily that an
administrator may not even need to use the administrator guide or help files.
Users must download the Virtual Console software and the PDX TAPI Service Provider.
There is a page during the initial configuration that allows you to easily download both
applications in seconds.
Once you are finished with the initial configuration and you log in as the
administrator, you can access virtually any setting you wish to configure by clicking on
the appropriate tab on the top of the screen. Directly underneath the tab is a task bar
that lists all the options on the screen. This avoids scrolling down the page if you
already know which option you want to access.
Overall, the whole installation process makes an administrator’s job a breeze. The
administration GUI is clean and most settings are simple to find and configure. The
installation is such a fast process that the most time consuming part is the data entry
for all of the PDX system users — and you only have to do that once.
DOCUMENTATION
Consisting of quick-start administrator and user guides and manuals, as well as help
files, the documentation clearly discusses the set up, configuration, features, and
troubleshooting guidelines of the Praxon PDX. Since the Web-based GUI is very intuitive,
the documentation truly guides you when you’re unsure of what to do. The
documentation does what is intended to do, and that is commendable.
We have only two suggestions to improve on the documentation. The administrator guide
could use more screen shots, and the help files should be context-sensitive so that the
topic displayed on your screen would be the topic that appears as your help file.
FEATURES
Telephony features of the Praxon PDX include traditional PBX functionality (transfers,
call conferencing, etc.), as well as overhead paging, music-on-hold support, Direct Inward
Dial (DID), Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS), Caller-ID, distinctive rings, a
stutter tone when you have new voice mail, and multi-tenant capabilities. It also offers
e-mail access through your ISP, aliases, robots (e-mail auto-responders), and reflectors
(aliases that point to an external e-mail address instead of an internal one that can be
included in the PDX distribution lists).
Other significant features include:
- ISDN BRI or T1 connections with the use of analog phone extensions.
- Web-based GUI used for both administers and end users.
- Voice mail with unlimited number of mailboxes, and an auto attendant with multiple
greeting configurations.
- Remote access to office, IP routing and filtering, DHCP, and Network Address Translation
(NAT).
- Network management, including SNMP notification.
- Detection of fax tones and redirection to a fax extension.
- VConsole GUI.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
After the installation and initial configuration was complete, we looked at both
the VConsole and the user’s Web interface. With the VConsole, you can dial out, pick
up, transfer, hold, park, release, mute, redial, and conference calls, as well as transfer
calls to voice mail and apply the “do not disturb” feature. We tried all of
these actions, which worked on our first attempt. Our past experience with other products
tells us this is very impressive. Often, there is some sort problem with getting TAPI to
work, whether it is with TAPI compliance or some other problem. Speed dial buttons, six
possible lines, and the ability to type in phone numbers in the window make the process
simple.
The user’s Web interface is similar in appearance to the administrator’s Web
interface. The tab options for the user’s GUI include: phone, voice mailbox, company,
preferences, and wizards. When clicking on the phone tab, a display appears that has
functionality similar to the VConsole. You can call internal phone extensions as well as
external phone numbers, make blind or announced transfers, program up to four speed dials,
make conference calls, and check your personal contacts list. It also shows you the status
of calls on hold and calls waiting, allows calls to be forwarded, and gives you a “do
not disturb” option. We tested these capabilities without a problem. While we think
that using the VConsole is more appealing for users, this Web page does have added value
for administrators.
The Web-based voice mailbox interface shows new and saved voice messages that can be
deleted or forwarded to another extension. When voice messages are deleted, you can still
view them, restore any of them to the voice mailbox, or flush some or all of the deleted
messages from the PDX system. When a message is forwarded, you can record a prompt to
accompany the forwarded voice message. Of course, you can play the message over the phone
or over a speaker (a simple application is easily downloaded to play the .WAV file). After
testing all of these capabilities, the only problem we encountered was that sometimes a
message that already had been played still said “new” in the status box because
the Web page had not yet refreshed.
The company option allows you to view a contacts page, a directory of employee e-mail
addresses and extensions, a Web links page, and a documents page for accessing commonly
used documents. The preferences option allows you to set your preferences for your
password, contacts, e-mail, greetings, phone features, and voice mail. The user wizards
screen is where you can set out-of-office notices for e-mail and voice mail, download the
VConsole and TAPI service provider, and configure your initial setup for phone
preferences. Obviously, the wizards tab should be among the first pages accessed by the
user.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
While the Praxon PDX has a user-friendly Web interface and many solid features, we could
still think of some room for improvement. For future releases, it would be useful for the
PDX to have the ability to screen calls, dial by name, use rules-based routing, implement
one-number follow-me functionality, and include some type of boomerang capability (for
instance, obtaining a second dial tone to make calls and returning to your voice mail on
the same call). Other features we would like to see are ACD functionality integrated into
the system, a voice over IP (VoIP) module, and possibly even the implementation of some
type of application generator. We understand that an analog trunk connectivity module is
on the verge of being released. (The product currently supports only one emergency analog
port.) It may be available by the time this review is in print, and we are glad Praxon
will be adding analog support.
One final suggestion involves e-mail. It would be nice to be able to receive and read
your e-mail from the Web-based GUI. In this way, the Praxon PDX would be one of the few
true unified messaging systems (rather than just being an integrated messaging system).
This would be very beneficial to end users, especially those who wish to retrieve their
e-mail remotely.
CONCLUSION
In the April and May issues of CTI�
magazine, we reviewed six different PC-PBX systems. While the Praxon PDX (which is a
similar product to those we tested earlier) does not support as many trunks and extensions
as the other products, it is still a system worth recommending for smaller companies, as
its price dictates. It is less expensive than the systems we reviewed earlier. Also,
potential customers will find comfort in the fact that the PDX is based on an embedded,
Unix-like operating system.
The strongest component of the PDX is the installation and configuration process. The
main reason for this is the simplicity of utilizing the Web-based GUI. For this reason,
when Praxon says that the initial configuration takes a short time, they actually mean it
(unlike other companies that think a short time is a few hours or even a few days). We
commend Praxon for implementing a system that is so easy to administer, troubleshoot, and
use. |
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