Single Standalone Mailbox

The simplest and most common use of a standalone mailbox is to play an outgoing greeting, then record a message from the caller. If a message from the caller is not desired, the mailbox can be set to "announcement only" and will hang up after the outgoing greeting is finished playing. If your service plan supports fax features, the mailbox can be configured to receive faxes or provide fax-on-demand functionality.

The standalone mailbox is sufficient for many applications.

Multiple Standalone Mailboxes

Multiple standalone mailboxes work the same as a single standalone mailbox, there are just more of them. Each 800Link service plan offers some number of multiple extension-type mailboxes. Some ways multiple standalone mailboxes can be used are:

Multiple products or services - Each mailbox can be assigned a particular product or service and the outgoing greeting customized for that purpose. Messages are stored separately in their respective mailboxes, so the product or service the caller was inquiring about can be identified. The same concept applies to personal use for members of a family or organization.

Source tracking – If a product is being advertised in several types of media (newspaper, radio and Internet for example), assigning a specific mailbox for each type allows a call to be traced to the particular type of media that generated it. Using a different mailbox for each market a product is advertised in allows the market that generated each call to be identified.

Targeting specific markets – Advertising in diverse markets may require tailoring the content of the message as well as the language it is delivered in to each specific market to get the best response. A different mailbox can be used for each target market.

Simple Menu

Often it is desirable to allow the caller to make a selection from various options. Standalone mailboxes can used to create a menu. When a call comes in, the caller is played an outgoing greeting that presents the various options. The caller can then select an option by pushing the appropriate touch-tone key. The outgoing greeting for that option is played and then the caller has an opportunity to leave a message.

Generally, menu options are a single digit (1, 2, 3). However, the option length can be from one digit to four digits. An option length of one allows for ten menu options (0-9). An option length of two allows for 100 menu options (0-99). In most cases it is advisable to keep it as simple as possible and stick with less than ten options.

Multi-level Menu

There are many situations that benefit from a multi-level menu approach. The example at the left shows two levels, but there is no limit to the number of levels that can be added.

If an application must have more than ten options, it is easier for the caller if they are broken down into sub-groups rather than trying to keep track of one long string of menu options. Other common uses are to make a language selection as the first option or to make logical divisions of content (press one for audio, press two for fax).

Menu with Return

Some applications need to allow the caller to make another selection without having to call back after the first is complete. For example, an audio presentation line may have several presentations and the caller may want to listen to more than one. The menu options can be configured to return to the menu after a particular option has finished. This configuration also allows the caller to select a different option at any time, even if a presentation is currently in progress.

Menu with Introduction and Return

It is common to greet a caller and give them an overview of what they are going to hear before actually presenting the menu options. If a caller is likely to select more than one option during a call, it would be inappropriate to greet them again when the first selection is finished and the call returns to the menu.

To avoid this, an introduction can be recorded separate from the menu greeting. When the introduction has finished, the call is transferred immediately to the menu. This way the introduction is heard only once and only the menu options are replayed when the call returns to the menu.

Menu with Introduction, Return and Message Option

There is one shortcoming of the two previous examples – the caller never has an opportunity to leave a message. By simply adding an additional menu option to leave a message, the caller can be instructed to choose that option at any time to leave a message.