WEEK 3 (19-23 APRIL)

Beginning of the week, I continued last week pratical task which was testing the IP phone and softphone. I had to configure the IP phone in order to make and receive calls. The configuration was done by excessing the phone's asterisk server. The phone that I used was Linksys SIPURA SPA 921. After configuring it, I was able to make calls to the softphone which I configured last week.

How an IP phone works

Configuration in Asterisk server

End of the week, I was asked to do some research. I was given 3 research topics. First topic was IVR customiztion. IVR stands for Interactive Voice Response. It is the technology that we use everyday when we call a bank or a hospital or any large business. It is the voice activated prompts that brings us to the correct person or gives us the answer we want. IVR automates inbound call routing and fosters self-service.The whole process of placing an order by the caller, and checking the status with the help of the order number can be automated with the customized IVR flow. During wait time or hold time, messages about other products and promotional offers can also be played allowing you to capitalize on cross-selling and up-selling opportunities. For example a customer may ask for a "Meal for two" instead of two individual pizzas after listening to the offer while he was in the queue.

IVR application

The second topic was Find Me/Follow Me. Find me and follow me are two call forwading services that are commonly used in conjunction with each other. Find me service allows the user to receive calls at any location. Whereas follow me service allows the user to be reached at any of several phone numbers. Find me / follow me numbers use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to route all of the incoming calls to one single telephone number. These numbers let the users consolidate their communication devices.

Find Me/Follow Me

The last topic for the week was 3-party voice conferencing. Voice conferencing is one of the most critical elements of group communication. Excellent voice quality is essential for both voice-only calls and visual communication environments, ensuring that everyone can clearly hear and be heard to improve productivity and deliver a seamless, natural communications experience.

Below are the steps to setup a third-party conferencing service to be the main audio conference solution:

1. As the host, enter the meeting room.
2. Select the Meeting menu.
3. Select Set phone conference options. The Phone Conference Options appears.
4. Select Other.
5. Enter the conference number.
6. Enter the participant code.
7. Enter the Moderator code.
8. Click OK.

Audio Conferencing