So you can’t get any help from the IT department getting a private printer connected to your office PC.  So what do you do?  You run down to your local favorite “we sell cheap computer stuff” store and buy a “hub” or “usb multiplier” or something that looks like a small “Ethernet Switch”.  You take it back to the office, and having send the quick start guide, you unplug your computer from the wall jack, plug it into your shiny [...]

A VoIP deployment is an act of intimacy.  One of the great challenges for the deployment team is defining the demarcation point between the phone system, the network and the various applications that integrate withe the phone system.   Clearly, the foundation of a successful deployment is a strong network foundation.   The ability of the network to provide the necessary DHCP services including NTS, IP and vendor specific options are area’s that need to be clearly defined.   Who [...]

ShoreTel has now release the Enterprise Contact Center 5.1 for Beta users.  We are just now playin with it, but it has quite a few hot new features and even a new “look and feel” as it relates to icons.    For those of you who have installed the ECC, one of the more time consuming aspects of this deployment is the need to visit each desk to install the Agent Toolbar software.   Well, your prayers have been answered! [...]

The ShoreTel Enterprise Contact Center has two sources of generating both historical and real time data.   With the release of 5.X, ShoreTel created the C2G (“cradle to grave”) or Interaction Reporting functionality.   This MySQL database is clearly visible in the default location of D:\ShoreTel\Contact Center Server\DbProvider\Data\c2g  though you may have installed it somewhere else.   For this database to be active, you have to create an OBDC connector to the MySQL database on the local host.  Then database connector in the [...]

Getting old is a pain in the neck!   Literally and figuratively!  I am trying to figure out the benefits of getting older and I am not coming up with a very long list.    You built a library of experience, I guess that must count for something.   There is new generation of telecom professionals that have no idea what a cross bar switch is, but so what.   Nobody is really missing buggy wips either.   In the [...]

Every call center has peaks and valleys.  Normall businesses operate with very predictable calling patterns.  Traffic over the normal business day, starts out slow and peaks between 10AM  and 2 PM in the afternoon, then trickles down.  The old Bell Curve distribution pattern!   Call centers on the other hand, have very different call characteristics depending on the nature of the business.  One characteristic that we can be confident in, is the fact that there are more callers than “agents” [...]

ShoreTel will often have a controlled release of software.   For example, Version 9.0 might be shipping to new clients but will not be availalbe to existing installations until it is declared GA.    Existing clients with a compelling need, could always obtain the upgrade, but it would be subjected to the terms of a controlled release.  Over the years I have observed that an 8.0 release, for example, never goes GA, but becomes 8.1 when it does.   With [...]

You have dutifully enable Differential Service Control Points on you WAN network, to enable EF for voice traffic!  This is the minimum daily adult requirement for QOS on a WAN connection.   Prior to Version 9+ ShoreTel did not mark all traffic with a DSCP value, only media traffic between end points.   If you think this through, what happens to the media stream played out by the ShoreTel server during Automated Attendant of Voice Mail use?  Would this media [...]

Fax Machines on ShoreTel?   It is not uncommon for system administrators to create a user named FAX SEVER, then define it as EXTENSION ONLY.    Though I personally have been trying to eliminate all the forest eating fax machines and printers on the planet, it would appear that Fax machines are going to be with us for quite some time.   Even with a fax server, people want to stick a piece of paper into the machine and watch [...]

Microsoft Office Communications is a powerful collaboration tool. The MOCS provides web conferencing, IM, audio conferencing, desktop sharing and also provided SIP. For purposes of this brief discussion, we will stay focused on the Internet Messaging component of MOCS. With the Release of ShoreTel 8+, the Professional Call Manager provides both desktop to desktop video conferencing and Internet Messaging. The Internet Messaging component makes use of a Microsoft OCS server and the ShoreTel solution integrates the solution as an application [...]