Are you one of AVST’s loyal fans?
November 25, 2008 by Jennifer Ross · Leave a Comment
Give me an A! Give me a V! Give me an S! Give me a T!… What does it spell?!?
Have you shouted praises of CallXpress to your peers? Do you have a story to tell about how AVST products or services have impacted your business? If so, then we’re looking for you!
Help other businesses that are considering purchasing AVST products or services, by agreeing to act as an AVST Customer Reference.
Here’s how the reference program works:
- Simply agree to speak to prospective customers and/or media and industry analysts about your experience with AVST products and services.
- As such, these businesses may from time-to-time contact you with questions regarding your level of satisfaction with AVST products, services and support.
- Many customers find it valuable to speak with other companies that share similar business challenges.
- AVST will track the number of times you are contacted to ensure that we do not overburden you with calls.
We know your time is limited and extremely valuable and we will protect it. Our program is designed to be flexible enough to fit your schedule.
Click here to fill out a short questionnaire about your business and product implementation.
Multiple Recording Options for CallXpress
November 25, 2008 by Dana Morio · Leave a Comment
There are three ways to create recordings in CallXpress:
1) Audio Administrator dials into TUI and creates recordings,
2) Subscriber (with Audio Administrator rights) dials into TUI and creates recordings, or
3) Administrator imports the prompts from a .WAV file (press Alt+R from the subscriber’s mailbox screen).
What Every IT Administrator Should Know about Reaping the Cost Cutting Benefits of Unified Communications
November 17, 2008 by Dana Morio · Leave a Comment
Has the struggling economy led you to re-evaluate how your organization communicates? When AVST set out to deliver an open communication platform, over 26 years ago, we did so with our customers’ pocketbook in mind! Here are some quick tips on how AVST’s Unified Communication solution can save your company money.
- Our Unified Communication platform, CallXpress interoperates into your existing telephony and groupware infrastructure leveraging your existing investments and minimizing your short term capital expenditures;
- Unified Messaging offers a single message access point for mobile and office workers increasing your employees personal productivity;
- Self service applications like Auto Agent, Auto Attendant, Notification, and Speech-based Personal Assistant remove human latency and expense;
- Internet based communication such as our Web PhoneManager reduces traditional telephone service to access voicemail and IT solution deployment costs for thick client (desktop) solutions;
- Single number access for fixed and mobile environments increases call completion and productivity;
- Software-based faxing eliminates fax machines and associated maintenance and supply expenses and improved individual productivity;
- Unlimited voicemail mailbox licensing saves your enterprise significant cost on a legacy voicemail platform replacement;
- Open standards based hardware significantly reduces ongoing maintenance costs and TCO of platform versus legacy platforms;
- Telephone User Interface emulations minimize user training and associated cost when transitioning your legacy voicemail system to CallXpress;
- Ala-carte feature delivery for different segments of workforce minimizes incremental licensing cost; and
- AVST in partnership with CIT offers flexible financing plans
Related Articles:
- UC End User Productivity Study Final - posted by Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst
COMMfusion
Can You Picture Yourself in One of These Three Fabulous Venues in 2009?
November 17, 2008 by Jennifer Ross · 1 Comment
Let the Planning Begin… We’ve officially started researching locations for the 2009 CallXpress End User Conference. At last year’s inaugural event in Las Vegas, Nevada, attendees spent two days exchanging ideas and information with their peers, learning about the latest enhancements to CallXpress and speaking with AVST executives and product specialists. The feedback from the event was very positive and we have seen attendees continuing to network with each other and carry on many of their conversations from the conference on the CallXpress User Forum.
Following the successful launch of the AVST Community and CallXpress User Group in 2008, we’re excited to grow next year’s conference to include even more members of the User Group. In addition to accomodating more attendees at the 2009 conference, we are also committed to providing additional opportunities for exclusive training sessions to allow CallXpress users to get the most out of their time at the event. (I’ll post more about the proposed 2009 conference schedule in a later blog entry.)
Here are the top venues in consideration for the 2nd Annual CallXpress End User Conference:
- Long Beach, CA
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Las Vegas, NV
DON’T FORGET: If you want to be guaranteed to receive updates about the 2009 CallXpress End User Conference before it is announced to the general public, make sure you sign up today for the CallXpress User Group. Only members of the CallXpress User Group will receive priority notification about the conference schedule and training opportunities. As a benefit of their membership, CallXpress User Group members will be given the opportunity to book their seat in advance to attend one of the optional training classes being offered in conjunction with the conference.
There are Four Ways to Play Voice Messages on a BlackBerry
November 17, 2008 by Dave Farmer · 1 Comment
There are four basic ways to access a voice message on a BlackBerry device:
- Play message attachments sent using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server
- Play message attachments sent using the BlackBerry Internet Service
- Play the message through the telephone interface
- Access the message through a web browser and e-mail web application
CallXpress can support any or all of these message access technologies for BlackBerry users.
- Play message attachments sent using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server - Some devices are capable of accessing and playing voice messages that are sent to the device as e-mail attachments (only the most recent versions of the BlackBerry devices, see list below). If the user’s device supports opening and playing wave file e-mail attachments ad the BlackBerry Enterprise Server supports the correct type of attachment (requires version 4.1, SP 2 or higher), users can play the message directly on their device. Keep in mind, unlike some other mobile devices, BlackBerry devices do not automatically download the e-mail file attachments. They remain on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server until the user goes to access them. This can lead to some delay in playing the messages.The following BlackBerry devices support playing wave file e-mail attachments:
BlackBerry 8130
BlackBerry 8310
BlackBerry 8320 running software 4.2.2 or later
BlackBerry 8830 World Edition
BlackBerry Curve 8300
BlackBerry Pearl 8100
BlackBerry Pearl 8120Greetings from VoiceCon San Francisco 2008!
November 10, 2008 by Denny Michael · Leave a Comment
Yesterday I arrived in San Francisco to get our new exhibit booth ready for AVST’s participation in VoiceCon® San Francisco 2008. Joining me at the show are AVST executives, Hardy Myers and Mike Berlin, in addition to members of our marketing, sales and engineering teams.
AVST has been actively participating in this annual event for at least the past 4 years. And it is an important event to us (and the AVST Community) because it focuses on the issues central to enterprise voice networks and the migration to IP telephony and convergence. As the VP of Marketing for AVST, I also know that an event of this quality and caliber also provides a unique opportunity to bring decision makers together with the industry’s pioneering end users, vendors and consultants.
While attending and participating in this year’s event the AVST staff will share how interoperability is key to any effective UC solution. We understand the sizable investment you’ve already made in your IT infrastructure (telephony, groupware, and enterprise business applications from multiple vendors). After all, it would be impractical and extremely costly to rip out and replace all components when building your UC strategy. CallXpress is ideally suited to fill this gap and support your disparate or evolutionary transition of your enterprises’ communications infrastructure.
I’ve highlighted a few of the activities we will be participating in below:
- We created a new 20×20 booth that visually showcases the CallXpress suite of communication applications including call processing, voicemail, unified messaging, fax, notification, hands-free speech based personal assistant and automated attendant and communication enabled business processes (CEBP).
- AVST’s Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Mike Berlin, will participate in a panel discussion titled, “Voice Messaging: Are PBXs Still Needed?" on Wednesday, November 12, at 4:00 p.m. PST, in room 124 of the convention center.
- Also on Wednesday the 12th, at 5:15 p.m. PST, CallXpress will be showcased during a 30-minute product briefing session on the show floor.
- We are conducting 16 Press and Industry Analyst briefings over the 2 day show period with a great deal “post show” follow up in the coming weeks.
We also just attended the first Pan European VoiceCon show in Amsterdam a few weeks ago and will also be attending the VoiceCon show in Orlando in the spring of 2009. I’ll write more once I return.
Related Articles:
Defining the Right Path to Unified Messaging
November 10, 2008 by Neil Butler · 1 Comment
(part 1 of 2 in blog series) Unified Messaging is interesting. It’s been around long enough where there’s a number of ways to deploy it. Everyone has a slightly different idea on how you should do that. And if nothing else, when you’re done reading this two part blog post, you should understand the ways of deploying it, which in turn should give you some direction when making choices for your enterprise.
So what is Unified Messaging about? It’s really about access to messages. Unified Messaging provides easier, more productive access to all your message types: voice, fax and e-mail. Not only does Unified Messaging provide access to all your message types but it also enables access from the terminal or device you’d like to use, regardless of location. It’s certainly easy to see that sitting at our desks at work, we have an e-mail client and we spend much of our day inside there. Putting a voice and a fax message into that e-mail client makes it much easier to manage our activities. By integrating these items into a single system, I can now group all my messages based on subject or based on promotions and programs I am working on. I can also use the same way of working, the same kind of prioritization of the e-mail inbox to look for important messages to cover all types of messages, not just e-mail. But it goes beyond that because for some of us, working at a desktop all day long isn’t an option. In today’s mobile environment the urgency to receive messages in a timely manner is magnified, and the benefit of managing all your messages from a single screen is crucial. Read more
Welcome to Hardy’s Journal
November 4, 2008 by Hardy Myers · Leave a Comment
As the CEO of AVST, I have had the distinct honor of working with a remarkable group of individuals from both inside the company and within our channel and our end user customer base. During my tenure, I have also witnessed many significant corporate and product milestones that have continued to inspire me on both a personal and professional level.
On September 29th of this year, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of the creation of AVST through the combination of AVT and Sound Advantage. I was fortunate enough to be a part of that productive acquisition, believing at the time, that if we followed our fundamental principles, we would be able to create an extraordinary product brand that would be the platform for delivering world class and continuous innovation to our customers.
As I write this blog post, I am reminded of the core principles of AVST and how they have led us to where we are today as a company and an extended community. The three foundational principles for AVST that we agreed to on that first day in September 2003 were:
- We would build a world class communications software company that had respect for our customers and our employees as the dual paradigms for our success;
- We would win by having the best products, the best service and a “Customer First, Always!” mentality; and
- We would listen carefully to our end user customers and channel partners to ensure that we continue to deliver innovative solutions to meet our customers’ emerging communication requirements.
I am confident that the success that we have enjoyed as a company over the past five years is a direct result of the AVST team embracing these three overarching principles. With the recent launch of the AVST Community and CallXpress User Group, I am even more encouraged that we are, as a company, staying true to our core principles as we explore new avenues to keep our customers at the forefront of our product development and service initiatives.
After meeting with our inaugural CallXpress User Group members at the End User Conference in August, and witnessing their passion for the product, I am convinced that all CallXpress users will find peer support and expert advice within the AVST Community. From the legacy voicemail user migrating to CallXpress as their next generation solution to the multi-site administrator supporting a mixed Unified Messaging environment, Community members are encouraged to share information and contribute to the development of AVST’s products and services. I can assure you that we are listening carefully.
I am proud to be a member of the AVST Community and I look forward to sharing with you my insight on the communications marketplace in future posts.
Thanks again for your business and participation in the AVST Community.
Related Links:
Sneak Peak:
- In Hardy’s next blog post he’ll be discussing the "Power of the Platform." In this informative article, Hardy will provide insight into the host of features that power AVST’s world-class Unified Communications platform.
