The Voice Server has all the features that you would expect from a high-end traditional telephone system with the added benefits of 21st century IP technology, keeping costs down for both the equipment and calls and significantly boosting efficiency.

With PSTN and Internet connectivity as standard, call queuing, Integrated Voice Response functions, audio and video conferencing and automated call transfer as standard, all solutions also include the Perihelion Resilience Service to ensure continuity of service and secure backups. There's an option to record all external calls onto hard disk.

User number

In traditional office phone systems an extension number is associated with a physical object – a phone handset. With the Perihelion Voice Server, however, a User Number is associated with a person, regardless of where he or she may be. That person will define how to be contacted through a configurable Dial Plan which contains options such as calling an office handset, a home or other remote phone, a mobile, voicemail or any combination of these.  The Dial Plan can be changed easily at any time via a web interface or by phone.

Dial Plans

Incoming calls to users are routed in accordance with one of nine pre-configured Dial Plans, effectively a list of numbers to call one after the other. Dial Plans are at the heart of the system and are often used to implement a “Follow Me” option.

By default, DialPlan1 is defined to call ‘Work’ for 10 seconds, then call ‘Assistant’ for 15 seconds, then call ‘VoiceMail’. So if a call were made to Amanda the system would dial her desk phone for ten seconds, then the physical handset for Steve, her assistant for 15 seconds, and then finally her personal voicemail.

An alternative DialPlan might be ‘Mobile’ then ‘VoiceMail’. Any calls to Amanda’s landline would be diverted to her mobile number. If she were working from home she could choose DialPlan3 and set this so that any incoming calls to the work number would be routed to  ‘Home’ then ‘Voicemail’.

Yet another alternative is to use a roaming SIP phone such as a WiFi-enabled mobile, allowing calls to an office number to be automatically diverted through a VoIP gateway to the mobile.

Dial Plans are typically configured by the System Administrator, and any of these can be activated by users according to their specific working patterns.

Groups

A Group is a list of numbers that will ring at the same time; for instance, an incoming call to an accounts team may ring all of their free handsets until one of the team answers. Up to ten Groups can be configured.

Incoming calls

Incoming calls are handled by the system according to a set of user-configurable options.

When a new incoming call is detected, the Voice Server  checks the current date and time, and can choose different routes for the call depending on whether the office is open, closed or on holiday. The opening times, holidays and routing options are all user-defined.

Three stages of call routing can be defined, often in conjunction with Groups. In the default routing, for example, step one might be “call the reception phone” for 10 seconds; if there is no answer step two could be  “call all the admin staff handsets” for 15 seconds and if no-one answers, go to option three which is “leave voicemail for reception”.

Outgoing calls

Outgoing call options are set up when the system is installed and can be changed at any time. For example, calls starting with 00 might be routed via the internet through a cheap international gateway, while normal calls starting with 0 go through the local PSTN.

Directory

The Voice Server maintains a directory of short dials which include the actual number represented by the short code and a name or description. The first 50 numbers are available to every user on the Voice Server. In the next Voice Server release the range 51-99 will be made available for personal short dials, which can also be configured on most phone handsets or softphones.

If a number is in the Voice Server Directory then any incoming call from that number will have the corresponding description displayed on the phone as the Caller ID name.

Caller ID

Any number specified in the short dial directory will be displayed on the phones as the number followed by the name specified, allowing for easy identification of incoming calls.

Messages

Messages are easily recorded for use with the IVR or call queues.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Auto Attendant

An IVR typically presents a caller with various choices of how the call should be routed, e.g.  “Please press 1 for sales, 2 for Service or 3 for Accounts.” The Perihelion Voice Server has ten IVR options available for configuration, each corresponding to a Message to be played, as well as ten options for numbers to be called should the caller press any number from 0-9. An IVR is typically invoked from a DialPlan option.

Queues

A Queue represents a group of numbers that are called when a call comes in. Ten queues can be set up and any user can be a member of one or more queues. If all the members of a particular queue are busy then the caller hears background music and after a period is told where he or she is in the queue and an estimate of how long  before the call will be answered.

Hold Music

The Voice Server can play music when callers are on hold or in a queue. This is either selected at random from the pre-configured choices or the Voice Server administrator can upload any suitable mp3 file.

Holiday and work time

Working hours can be defined on a day-by-day basis and the system comes with common holidays pre-configured. These can be edited to reflect personal or company holiday variations.

Voicemail

The Voice Server includes individual user voice mailboxes which are easily accessed, and in addition voicemails can be forwarded to the appropriate user as MP3 attachments to emails, allowing them to be listened to without any delay.

Conferencing

The system supports ten ‘conference rooms’. Callers dialling into one of these rooms are all able to speak to each other.  The Voice Server also supports low-cost High Definition Video Conferencing as a value-added option, especially useful for companies with multiple office locations.

Recording

The Voice Server can be specified with recording enabled. In this case it is fitted with RAID disks that are large enough to store a year's worth of calls. The administrator can select whether calls in a queue are to be recorded and whether all calls to or from an extension are to be recorded. Recording can also be turned on during a call. All calls are available for the administrator to listen to at a later date.

Call Records

The Voice Server keeps a record of all calls, logging who made the call, when, where to and how long the call lasted. At the end of each month it compresses that month’s records and deletes the call records from the same month a year ago, ensuring that there are always twelve months of call records available. Call records are available to Voice Server administrators via the Voice Server Admin web interface.

As a value-added option the Voice Server has a Call Statistics module which provides full reporting of all incoming and outgoing calls, analysed by time of day, routing, user, incoming number etc. With graphs and charts included this is particularly useful for cost and efficiency management or for monitoring Key Performance Indicators.

CRM Integration

The Voice Server integrates with a number of Customer Relationship Management systems. Incoming numbers recognised by the CRM system will trigger a screen showing details of the incoming caller (such as account name, sales activity, current products etc). Calls can be initiated from within the CRM system with a single click.

The Voice Server also allows integration with Microsoft Outlook, again allowing click-to-call from within the contacts list.

Multiple Locations

The low cost of the Perihelion Voice Server makes it easy to deploy in multiple office locations, giving customers the opportunity for even greater flexibility for backup and resilience; for instance, calls can automatically be routed through the second location if PSTN connectivity to the first location is disrupted.

Perihelion Resilience Service

A 100% foolproof service? Doesn’t exist in the real world, no matter what some providers may say. But with Perihelion’s Resilience Service – a standard feature with all Voice Server solutions – we come as close as anyone. First there’s the secure backup; every night (or on demand if significant configuration changes are made) each Voice Server backs up its settings to Perihelion’s central data facility in London. In the unlikely event of a hardware problem the entire configuration can be restored onto a new unit within hours.

Secondly there’s the failover service: if there’s a problem with outgoing phone lines the Voice Server will automatically fail over to Perihelion’s Central Server, allowing business to continue as usual.