ons to those found on ACD. They are par- ticularly interested in functions that provide information on the handling of customer calls and on staff members' productivity. These systems will have to be more flexible and collect more information than today's ACDs. They will also have to combine functions such as multiple appearances of extensions for call coverage with the capability to track progress and status of calls as they move through the organization (transferred, conferenced, put on hold, etc.). While traditional PBX manufacturers have not been able to deliver these capabilities, newer communications server based systems will lend themselves more easily to the de- velopment of these applications. For more information on setting up a Call Center see The Call Center Handbook by Keith Dawson. Also, subscribe to Call Center Magazine (order from 888-824-9793 or www.callcentermagazine.com) The Telecom Handbook 93 Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfrancis.com CHAPTER 5 Voice Mail and Automated Attendant Voice Mail and Automated Attendant are presented together because they are almost always functions of the same system. They may be collectively referred to as Voice Processing. Throughout this chapter, when we mention Voice Mail, the capa- bility for Automated Attendant is implied. Definition by How it Sounds to the Caller The easiest way to define the difference between Voice Mail and Automated Attendant is by what you hear. Here's an example of an Automated Attendant: "Thank you for calling CMP Books. If you are call- ing from a touch-tone phone and know the extension of the person with whom you wish to speak, you may dial it now. To purchase advertising, dial 1; to order a book, dial 2; for a company directory, dial 8; if you are calling from a rotary phone or need assistance, please wait. Someone will be with you shortly." The Automated Attendant can be likened to a live switch- board operator who directs calls to the appropriate extensions. It can answer and direct multiple calls at the s