Here at net2phone Canada, we offer a hosted PBX, cloud-based business telephone solution. From our clients perspective, this means no hardware is required on site whatsoever, aside from the Voip (pronunciation similar to voice or void) business phones themselves. Our phones connect to the network just like a computer would, using common CAT5 or CAT6 ethernet cables, rather than having a traditional premise-based PBX server that resides in a back room in your office. Each of our provisioned phones support dual registration and actively register to multiple data centres, which we have dispersed throughout Canada. That's where all calls originate and terminate. All of our clients are able to manage, edit and customize their phone system through our browser-based client portal, SONAR. Today, we welcome you to the on-demand walkthrough of SONAR, net2phone Canada’s Self Service Administrative Portal. This will be a look inside an administrator’s point of view. Let's get started.
The portal can be accessed by clicking on the client portal tab from net2phone Canada’s main web page, at www.net2phone.ca. Every user has access to SONAR. Depending on what their role is within your organization, they may get slightly different views or privileges. Your login credentials would be your extension @ your domain.com, and each user would use a minimum four digit pin to access the SONAR portal.
Once you have logged into SONAR, you are then presented with the SONAR home screen. This is a quick, high-level snapshot of your organization as a whole. You see all active calls, anyone who is currently on the phone, who they are speaking with, as well as the duration of their calls. Active calls are also displayed on the right hand side in the statistics tab. You also get to see the total amount of users on your system versus the total number of connected devices. This is a good way to check if any of your phones are disconnected, particularly in remote office or satellite office scenarios. To confirm which extensions are online or offline, you can expand the Contacts tab in the right hand corner of the screen and you can separate these contacts list by department, by location, etc. Once you access the contacts list, you are then presented with who is on the phone, who is currently available, or who is currently offline, determined by the colour of the circle. Hovering over an agent’s name also presents a phone icon, which allows you to immediately dial that user.
net2phone Canada’s solution comes with a variety of software integrations, including integrations with CRM platforms like Salesforce, Zendesk and Zoho. We have also integrated with Google Chrome, which is the web browser used during this demo. Our Google Chrome integration allows users to click to dial any phone number listed while using your browser.
When navigating to the Call Center tab, call center supervisors will be greeted with a view that displays a live insight into what’s currently happening, as well as a historical representation of past calls through Call Center Reports. Say, for example, your organization receives an inbound caller. SONAR would show this new caller appear in the right hand side stats grid labeled Caller Waiting, or CW. It is then possible to then click on the queue and get more detailed information on this call, such as who it is from, the name, the number dialed, the status, the agent and the duration. Once the call has ended, SONAR’s live updates change the stats to reflect what is currently happening, without having the supervisor refresh the page to see fresh data. When looking at the stats grid, users can customize this by adding thresholds to the variable, as well as customizing the colors that appear with different values. Simply click on the settings icon, find the variable you would like to set and set the threshold number. In addition to the Callers Waiting, there are statistics for Average Wait Time, Average Handle Time, Abandoned Rate, Calls Answered and Call Volume.
Below the stats grid is a representation of your agents. Supervisors will be able to see all of the agents by name, extension, as well as their status. The status turns grey when not signed into the queue, green when available and red when busy with a call.
Navigating over to the Call Queues table, supervisors have the ability to edit which agent is in specific call queues. Other options include setting up Wrap Up time for the agent, which grants the agent a specific set of time in between taking calls and becoming available again. Maximum Simultaneous Calls can be set to determine how many calls get directed to the agent at once, along with queue priority for the agent. This can determine which call queue needs the most attention at any given time.
By selecting the Edit Call Queue button on a specific queue, SONAR allows supervisors to modify the treatment of call queues individually. A common Round Robin queue would dispatch the call to the agent who has been off of the phone the longest. Other options include Ring All which is a first-to-answer system, Linear Hunt which directs calls in a certain order, or Linear Cascade which directs calls to certain groups. If unanswered, the call gets directed to the next group within a certain order, and so on.
The Pre-Queue Options tab, Supervisors can set up different queue rules. They can set the number of required agents for that queue, which depends on if they want that queue to lead to a voicemail if no one is available, etc. There is also an option for callbacks. This new feature prompts the caller after waiting in the queue for a specific amount of time if they would like to leave their number within the system to hold their spot. The agent can then later on accept the callback and let the system call them back automatically when it is their turn to be dispatched. Another option is Forward If Unavailable, which sends the caller to a different area such as voicemail or back to an auto attendant after a set amount of time expires.
For In-Queue options, Supervisors can set Queue Ring Timeout, which sets the time limit on each prompt previously mentioned, allowing the caller to choose from a set of options after a certain period of time waiting in the queue. The Agent Ring Timeout determines the amount of time that the queue will try an agent before sending a call to a different agent. Initial Agent Group To Ring sets the number of agents that will be notified in the first group of a Linear Cascade Queue style, and Agent Group to Add After Timeout sets the number of extra agents to handle the call assuming Group 1 has not answered. Logout Agent On Missed Call logs the agent out on any missed calls that they receive, which forces them to log back in to re-enter the queue. The Forward If Unanswered option, similar to the option in the Pre-Queue Options tab, lets Supervisors set the destination where unanswered callers will be routed to if the call goes unanswered.
Jumping into the Historical Reports section, Supervisors can gain access to views of how the company was performing in the past days, months, quarters, etc. This is not a live view, but rather shows data that has already been collected. Simply set the date ranges and view the specific metrics that pertain to the call queues. Clicking on the settings wheel near the top right-hand corner of the chart allows for customizations with regard to the metrics shown. Any changes made to the selection of metrics will automatically have the chart refresh to show up-to-date information. All data shown in this section is exportable in CSV, simply by clicking the Download button and manipulating the data offline.
Looking at SONAR through an Agent’s perspective, users can log into SONAR and see specific information of the call queue that they are a part of. Many of the call statistics are similar in view to what Supervisors see, with a few exceptions. Agents can set their status by simply pressing the online/offline button on the right hand side of the window. Other status options include Lunch, Break, Meeting, Web or Other.
In the SONAR Attendant Console, users can use this virtual sidecar style hub to run business phone communications without your deskphone to complete certain call actions, such as call transferring or placing calls into auto attendants. As an example, here we dial into the system to see how things work. Once a call has been detected, it will pop up on the screen showing a few options to choose from, including Accept or Reject. Once accepted, it will show the caller’s information and let the user simply drag and drop the call on any of your colleagues' names. Dropping it on a colleagues name prompts multiple options. The call can either be transferred directly to the destination, it can be registered as an Assisted Transfer which allows the user to speak to the agent before transferring the call over, or let the caller immediately be directed towards a voicemail box. Not only can the call be dragged onto an individual's name, but it can also be dragged into a specific call queue, or back into a main auto attendant. Another option is to place the call into the Call Park section, which takes the caller off of the original phone and allows any other phone within the office access to retrieve the parked call. Within the Contacts tab, users have the ability to search contacts within the organization. As your organization grows and the list becomes larger, this function becomes very useful to quickly find specific agents and their respective availabilities and status.
Another aspect of net2phone Canada’s features is SMS Messaging. Through SONAR, users have the ability to send and receive basic text messages. It is important to note that this feature only supports basic text messaging, without the support of pictures, GIFs, videos or other multimedia. When your prospects and/or customers call your organization either through an auto attendant or call a direct agent, the SONAR application can track not only inbound calls, but any text messages that come through that same number. This offers multiple ways of communicating, all through the browser based portal. Newly received messages pop up in a conversation in SONAR, while users still have the ability to initiate conversations. net2phone Canada users also have the ability to have SMS messages directed into a queue, where a message will follow a certain order where it appears, and if not answered within a certain amount of time will pop up on the next user's screen. This conversation will then belong to the user who answers and initiates conversation with that contact.
Under the Users tab, SONAR will display all users within your system. Clicking on the user's name will allow for changes to be made to First and Last names, as well as basic Caller ID information. Included with net2phone Canada’s service is our Voicemail to Email feature, which sends user’s voicemails directly to their inbox, containing a transcribed message as well as a .wav audio file for those who choose to listen back to their missed message. In this section, users have the ability to either setup, change or add additional email addresses that they would like to use with this feature.
All users have the ability to forward calls to their mobile phones or simultaneously ring their desk phone with their mobile phone. Simply select Add Rule, then select which from the different options to forward calls to a cell phone, or to set up simultaneous ringing. This includes the option of setting a custom ring delay between these devices. Not only that, but net2phone Canada has your back during the call process with SureAnswer, which automatically directs calls to a different number in the event that all your other devices are offline. Other call forwarding options include redirecting calls to a colleague when calls go unanswered or simply when you’re busy.
Under the Voicemail section, users are presented with different voicemail settings, including the voicemail Greeting settings. This allows for customizations to the amount of greetings wanted or needed, which will be stored for future use. To record a custom greeting, simply click on the Manage button, then Add Greeting, then either Upload an existing greeting or Record a new one. Hitting Call will ring your extension or the entered mobile phone number, and will prompt you to set up your new greeting. SONAR’s drop down menu allows users to manage and select their greetings depending on the current situation and need.
Within the Auto Attendants tab, SONAR allows users to manage their auto attendants, adding as many virtual receptionist greetings as they see fit.This is something that is covered during the initial net2phone Canada onboarding process, but users still are able to change settings post initial setup phase. By selecting “Manage Audio”, users have the choice of either uploading a pre-recorded message, recording a new message, or requesting net2phone Canada to professionally produce the recording. In this case, all that would be needed from the user is a company script. Users are then able to customize the functions behind each number option in the attendant. This has options like forwarding to a specific user, call queues or groups of extensions, name directories, voicemail box, external numbers, promotional or directional messages and a repeat option. Adding a tier allows users to add a fresh new greeting, whether that be the next prompt or a new prompt in a different language - perfect for setting up a multilayered auto attendant.
If your organization prefers using a live receptionist to answer calls during hours of operation, and trigger an auto attendant during off hours, jumping into the Time Frames tab allows users to view SONAR’s specific time frame rules. Simply click on Add a Time Frame, and then Days Of The Week And Times. Next, users would choose the specific day and time they would like their auto attendants to operate, and adjust according to their unique schedule. Time Frames can also be set up by date range, where holiday closures would affect the hours of operation for your business.
When navigating to the Music On Hold tab, users have the ability to customize any On Hold music they set up with their business phone system, heard when callers are placed on hold or within one of the call queues. Users would simply upload their existing music files or choose from a selection of stock music provided, and then name the files. Those files get stored within the portal. If your company would prefer to play an important message just before the caller hears the on hold music, SONAR does give users the option to include an Introductory Greeting.
When looking at the Phone Numbers tab, users are presented with all of the phone numbers listed with your account. It is important to note that net2phone Canada clients are not limited to the number of lines or channels on their net2phone Canada account. This means all staff can be on calls concurrently and vise-versa. Anyone calling in would never get a busy signal. Because of this, we only need to port or transfer phone numbers that people physically dial to reach your organization. To determine where calls are routed when each respective number is dialed, users simply select edit by clicking on the phone number. Users can then set up calls to be directed to specific agents directly, select the auto attendant option for callers to be routed to a custom auto attendant, or any other option listed in the drop down menu.
Users have the ability to view detailed reports through the Call History tab. If agents are required to circle back to specific calls within the past week, month, quarter, etc., they can simply leverage the time frames to run a report on all calls to or from the organization in that specific timeframe. Other filtering options include filtering by user name or extension, internal department, caller phone number, dialed phone number or call type. This option consists of either inbound or outbound calls. By clicking the Filter button, users are then presented with a summary of calls that show details such as who was on the call, who they were speaking with, the date and time stamp of the call and the duration of the call. An optional “a la cart” feature that is not offered with basic service would be the call recording feature. Call recordings enable users to record and locate all calls to or from a specific extension and allow for call playback, all within your web browser. Users are also able to download the calls and store them on their device by selecting the Download button. All of the information and reports shown are exportable to CSV, whereby net2phone Canada can help users make sense of the information and help create graphs or pivot tables to analyze and make data driven informed business decisions.
All net2phone Canada users get access to SONAR Phone, net2phone Canada’s soft phone product, located by selecting the SONAR Phone near the top of the portal window. This allows users located either at the office or in remote locations to make, receive, transfer or conference calls with their business softphone through their browser, without having any SONAR limitations. Thanks to our browser-based portal, no software is required for use of the softphone. All users need to do to access the SONAR soft phone is to sign into their SONAR profile and begin making calls.
Finally, if users are having trouble with SONAR, they can start a live web chat conversation with our support team from within the SONAR portal, or simply dial extension 611 from any net2phone Canada phone.
Thank you for watching this on-demand walkthrough of net2phone Canada’s SONAR Self Service administrative portal. Let's talk about your phone system requirements. Contact us and set up a call to see what net2phone Canada can do for you and your business.
