NewEnglander
01-08-2010, 12:20 AM
Hello,
My company manages apartment complexes and employs superintendents and maintenance workers to address problems and emergencies as they arise within our properties. In order to facilitate this a phone paging solution was created some years ago. Unfortunately it has since been shown to be incredibly inefficient and frustrating as it is a 'dumb' solution in that when tenants call our system it automatically 'blind' pages (sends a signal that a voicemail has been left in the office) all of our superintendents. This is problematic as often times the tenant will hang up before leaving an actual message and because we only have one voicemail box they will often call for non-emergencies at all times of the night.
So, with this in mind, I've been tasked with identifying a system that will provide the following features to help improve our service and the sanity of our Supers:
- Automated Attendant
- Multiple Response Options (Press one for an Emergency, press two for...)
- Call-Forwarding (Rather than page send the call directly to the Super if an emergency)
- Multiple Voicemail Boxes (To allow for differentiated service based on needs)
I have found solutions but they are very, very expensive relation to our relatively small scale.
With this background in mind, are there any small, low-cost (<$300) systems that may provide these features? We use one analog line (I am trying to push for VoIP in the future but not just yet) but may be able to add a second if necessary.
I very much appreciate any help that you can offer. Thanks again.
My company manages apartment complexes and employs superintendents and maintenance workers to address problems and emergencies as they arise within our properties. In order to facilitate this a phone paging solution was created some years ago. Unfortunately it has since been shown to be incredibly inefficient and frustrating as it is a 'dumb' solution in that when tenants call our system it automatically 'blind' pages (sends a signal that a voicemail has been left in the office) all of our superintendents. This is problematic as often times the tenant will hang up before leaving an actual message and because we only have one voicemail box they will often call for non-emergencies at all times of the night.
So, with this in mind, I've been tasked with identifying a system that will provide the following features to help improve our service and the sanity of our Supers:
- Automated Attendant
- Multiple Response Options (Press one for an Emergency, press two for...)
- Call-Forwarding (Rather than page send the call directly to the Super if an emergency)
- Multiple Voicemail Boxes (To allow for differentiated service based on needs)
I have found solutions but they are very, very expensive relation to our relatively small scale.
With this background in mind, are there any small, low-cost (<$300) systems that may provide these features? We use one analog line (I am trying to push for VoIP in the future but not just yet) but may be able to add a second if necessary.
I very much appreciate any help that you can offer. Thanks again.