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Centrex Voice Services The word Centrex is derived from "Central Exchange" as opposed to a Private Branch Exchange or PBX system. Simply put, Centrex is a voice communications service provided by your local telephone company. Centrex supplies your company with phone system features via your existing phone lines. You receive all or most of the features that you would normally access from a piece of equipment on site at your company (see diagram). All you need in order to have a Centrex phone system is touch-tone phones and an agreement with Verizon (Bell Atlantic) listing the features you would like. Basically, it’s a decision between owning your own phone system equipment that is located on site and being responsible for the repair and maintenance, or leasing a phone system from the local telephone company and not being responsible for maintenance or repair issues. Centrex can be a powerful option for your company if you’re looking to purchase a phone system or want to enhance your existing phone system. In some cases, Centrex lines are less expensive than PBX trunks and normal phone lines. Centrex Features Call Forwarding: (busy, no answer, and all calls) this feature can be invaluable to a business person "on the go" or someone who needs to get calls after hours. Dial *72 and the phone number you want calls forwarded to, and that’s it. To deactivate the feature dial *73. Call Hold: To place a customer on hold, depress your flash hook button quickly to place caller on hold, and then again to get the caller back on the line. Conference Calling: To discuss important issues with a group of clients who are at different locations, at the same time, place the first person on hold, dial the third party, depress the flash hook again quickly and all parties are connected. Call Transfer: Depress flash hook quickly, dial outside phone number or three-digit Centrex extension, hang up and the call is transferred to the number dialed. Intercom Dialing: Dial a three or four-digit extension to call another station within the Centrex system. This feature eliminates toll charges when calling other locations within the same town. Line Treatment Codes: Allows you to control costs by restricting incoming and outgoing calls for a particular line (e.g. 900 number blocking). Direct Inward Dialing (DID): This feature saves time by avoiding needless transfers. The caller can easily reach the exact person by dialing his or her direct phone number. Direct Outward Dialing: Eliminates line sharing which may result in busy signals. Centrex is a non-blocking system, i.e. you will always get an outside line because each station has its own phone number and phone line. Optional Features Answer Any Line: Dial *71 to answer another phone. This feature comes in handy if someone is away from their desk and needs you to answer calls for them. Auto Attendant: Allows calls to be answered by an automated attendant, which gives callers a menu option to direct them to the appropriate person or department. Automatic Callback: Dial *78 to reach a fellow employee whose line is currently busy. When their line becomes available, your phone will alert you via a distinctive ring. Caller ID: The name and phone number for incoming calls can be displayed on the telephone set. (not available in all areas) Call Waiting: To answer a second call while you are on the line with someone else, depress the flash hook quickly to answer the second call. The first caller will remain on hold until the flash hook is depressed again. Centrex Administration: This feature allows you to activate and deactivate Centrex lines and features. This saves time and money associated with service order changes through your telephone company. Distinctive Ringing: Allows you to know if a call is coming from within the business or from an outside line. Speed Calling: Allows you to program important and often-used numbers. Voice Mail Boxes: Each station can have its own electronic mail box for sending and receiving messages. |
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