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2. What kind of voice software do I need?
3. Do I need a phone system?
4. How do I integrate my phone system to the voice mail system?
5. What kind of phone system do I need?
6. Where do I purchase a phone system?
7. How does Auto-Attendant work?
8. How many voice ports do I need for my applications?
9. How do I expand my system in the future?
10. What do I need to add fax-on-demand features?
11. How do the fax-on-demand features work?
12. What kind of fax hardware do I need?
13. Where do I purchase phone system?
14. How do I integrate Caller ID to my voicemail system?
15. What kind of Caller ID hardware do I need?
16. Where do I purchase the Caller ID hardware?
17. How good is the voicemail system running on a single line voice/fax/modern board?
18. How do I let my customer access the information in my database through the voicemail system?
| 1. What kind of Voice board do I need? |
Generally, we recommend voice board from Dialogic Corp because they are the most widely supported hardware in today's telephony market.
Here is the list of voice board we recommend to those of you who are just getting started and need a 2 or 4 ports system. All these boards are Dialogic compatible and are expandable for adding more ports.
 New voice
Bicom Inc
Please visit the official websites of the above listed companies to learn more about their voice boards.
| 2. What kind of voice software do I need? |
First, let's look at what types of voice software are available in the market today.
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Developer's toolkits that come with the voice hardware: These require programming in very difficult and low-level codes to interface directly to the voice card driver. Users will have the maximum flexibilities to tailor-made their system. However, such toolkits are only recommended for experienced C programmers and companies with plenty of time to spare.
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High-Level Development Toolkits: Users no longer need to interface directly to the hardware but they are required to have programming experiences in order to understand and use the software library for creating their applications.
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Application Generators: Generally running in Windows environment with GUI (Graphical User Interface), these packages have built-in voice function blocks for users to create their own applications without coding. Some packages also include high-level development toolkits or function blocks that allow users to design new functions to create some very specialized applications.
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Turnkey Applications: These are ready-made voice application packages. It is canned software, where the user fills in the blanks to specify his configuration.
High-level development toolkits and applications generators are the most common tools for users to create voice applications. The prices differ considerably from one vendor to another.
Before settling for a specific tool, you have to consider what you need in your application, your budget, your time and your programming experiences.
| 3. Do I need a phone system? |
The need to integrate the voice system with a phone system depends on whether your application needs to transfer incoming calls to extensions. Voice boards do not transfer calls, it is the phone system that does this function. If your voice application is strictly for voice messaging, audio-text, fax-on-demand, or other functions that do not require transferring phone calls, you do not need a phone system.
| 4. How do I integrate my phone system to the voice mail system? |
The key to understanding the integration between a phone system and a voice system in the auto-attendant application is to know that the phone system sits in front of the voice system.
Incoming phone calls are directed by the phone system to ring at designated extensions that are connected to the voice system. Therefore, when someone calls in, it is the voice system that answers the call. After the caller selects the desired extension, the voice system will dial a hook flash and the extension to transfer the call. The voice system monitors whether the transfer is answered. It can retrieve the call if there is no answer and allow the caller to leave a message.
| 5. What kind of phone system do I need? |
The 3 types of phone systems are PBX's, hybrid's and key systems.
Most voice boards only support phone systems that can connect to single line, analog telephones (a.k.a. POTS - Plain Old Telephone Set). PBX's and hybrid’s systems fit this category.
A key system uses proprietary telephones and generally will not be supported by voice boards. Centrex is a service provided by the local telephone company. It is like having a PBX, except for that the hardware is located at the Central Office. Centrex will work with voice cards.
| 6. Where do I purchase a phone system? |
You may want to refer to the following websites for phone system options:
Able Communications
BBS Telecom
| 7. How does an Auto-Attendant work? |
The way that the Auto-Attendant works is that once the caller is transferred successfully, the voice line is free to take another call.
| 8. How many voice ports do I need for my applications? |
If you have 2 phone lines, the chances that 2 calls ring in at the same time is high. On the other hand, if you have 10 phone lines, it is very unlikely that 10 calls ring in at the same time. But 4 calls ringing simultaneously are possible.
Based on your knowledge of the phone traffic in your office, you can estimate how many voice ports you need.
| 9. How do I expand my system in the future? |
Normally, voice boards have 2 ports or 4 ports per board. To increase voice ports in your system, you can add more voice boards to the PC. For example, to set up a 12-line voice mail system, you can install three 4-port voice boards.
| 10. What do I need to add on fax-on-demand features? |
| 11. How do the fax-on-demand features works? |
Fax-on-demand is a voice and fax integrated application. It allows users to call into a voice system to retrieve fax documents automatically. There are one-call and two-call methods of fax-on-demand.
The one-call method requires users to call in from a fax machine. After going through the voice menu and selecting desired documents, callers will be asked to push the "start" button on their fax machine to receive fax on the same call.
With the two-call method the voice system will ask the caller for his or her fax number and queue the request for delivery on a separate call.
The advantage for the two-call method is that fewer fax ports are required. With 4 voice ports and 1 fax port in a system, four callers can call in to request fax documents simultaneously. All request are put on queue to be faxed out through the one fax line.
The advantage of one-call method is that the caller pays for the entire call, including the transmission of the fax documents.
| 12. What kind of fax hardware do I need? |
In addition to voice hardware, one or more fax boards are required to add the fax-on-demand feature.
| 13. Where do I purchase the fax hardware? |
Some very popular boards are the Pure Data's Satisfaxtion product line (formerly of Intel).
You can install multiple Satisfaxtion boards in the same PC. The Satisfaxtion 14.4 Data/Fax Internal Fax / Modem can be purchased from Computer Discount Ware house for $236.
There are also options for multi-port fax boards:
GammaLink: Multi-Port Fax Board Manufacturer
Pure Data, Inc: Single/Multiple Port Fax Board Manufacturer
CDW Corporation
| 14. How do I integrate Caller ID to my voicemail system? |
To integrate Caller ID into the voice system, you can either use voice cards with built-in Caller ID or use a separate Caller ID device. You will have to ensure that the voice software you use supports the Caller ID hardware.
| 15. What kind of Caller ID hardware do I need? |
You will need dialogic boards that support Caller ID. Some good options are Proline/2V, D/21H, D/41H.
| 16. Where do I purchase the Caller ID hardware? |
Zeus Phonestuff: Maker of Whozz Calling?, Caller ID devices.
| 17. Is it recommended for a voicemail system to run on a single line voice / fax / modem board? What is the future expandability for such system? |
There are many companies that manufacture voice / fax / modem boards that bundle some sort of voice mail software. Many users are wondering if they can use this type of hardware to set up a voicemail system for use in their businesses. We have found that the voice functions of these type of boards are often unreliable and of poor quality. We will not recommend these boards to people who rely on voicemail seriously for their business operations.
Generally, it is not possible to expand such systems.
| 18. How do I let my customers access the information in my database through the voicemail system? |
Conventionally, a voice system that provides users access of information in the database is referred to as Interactive Voice Response System (IVR). Since each business has its own very unique database, to set up an IVR system does require customization of the voice software to the database. This will also indicate a higher cost for such system.
We strongly recommend Windows-based voice software because it is easier to link the database to the voice application in this environment. You will be able to find a wide range of Windows programming interfaces and tools in the market.
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