Cisco Systems OL-13207-01 User Manual

Operator and Support Desk Orientation

Operators in your organization need information about Cisco Unity Connection that is specific to your
installation. In addition, if your organization has a support desk, the staff will need to be prepared to
answer the questions that users may ask, and to be aware of the resources that are available to assist them
in answering user questions.

See the following sections:

• Operator Orientation, page 5-1

• Support Desk Orientation, page 5-2

Operator Orientation

Operator orientation should address the same points as user orientation, but in greater detail. Operators
must be familiar with how users use Cisco Unity Connection. Depending on the size of your
organization, the operator may be the person users are likely to ask when they have questions about
Connection.

In addition to the information in the “User Orientation” chapter and the “Support Desk Orientation”

section on page 5-2 (as applicable), operators also need to understand the following concepts and tasks.

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Roles of the Operator and the Automated Attendant

The way your organization uses the automated attendant determines what the operator responsibilities
are. The automated attendant is a call handler that is used in place of a human operator to answer and
direct calls by playing greetings and responding to touchtones. The automated attendant can provide a
menu of options (for example, “For Sales, press 1; for Service, press 2.”), and it can also provide
information (for example, “Our normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.”).

Directing Calls

Regardless of how your organization uses the automated attendant, many calls will go to the operator.
The operator must know how to direct calls to voice mail and to user phones. With Cisco Unified
Communications Manager (CM) (formerly known as Cisco Unified CallManager), you can program the
phone to direct calls to voice mail. For details on setting this up, see the tech note How to Transfer a
Caller Directly into a Mailbox, available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps2237/prod_tech_notes_list.html.

Forwarding Messages to Intended Recipients

If an operator also owns a call handler or system distribution list, make sure that the operator knows to
review messages frequently, and to forward messages as necessary to the applicable recipient(s).

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Support Desk Orientation

Using the Cisco Unity Greetings Administrator

An operator who is responsible for changing call handler greetings for the organization can use the
Cisco Unity Greetings Administrator when it is not practical to change a greeting in Cisco Unity
Connection Administration. For example, if the office is unexpectedly closed because of bad weather,
the operator can call from home to use the Cisco Unity Greetings Administrator to enable the alternate
Opening Greeting, or to rerecord a call handler greeting stating that the office is closed. For information
on using the Cisco Unity Greetings Administrator, see the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity
Connection, at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_maintenance_guides_list.html.

Using the Cisco Unity Broadcast Message Administrator

If an operator will be responsible for sending recorded announcements to everyone in an organization
(or to particular location(s) within an organization), explain how to access and use the Cisco Unity
Broadcast Message Administrator to send broadcast messages. For information on using the Cisco Unity
Broadcast Message Administrator, see the System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_maintenance_guides_list.html.

Support Desk Orientation

Chapter 5 Operator and Support Desk Orientation

Support desk orientation should address the same points as user and operator orientation, but in greater
detail. Support desk staff must be familiar with how users and operators use Cisco Unity Connection,
and the common problems that users may encounter when using Connection. Instead of using the
Connection server, it may be helpful to set up a test server that support desk staff can use to browse to
Cisco Unity Connection Administration, and troubleshoot and test client applications.

To prepare for possible calls to the support desk at your organization, familiarize the support desk staff
with the resources listed in the “Support Desk Resources” section below, and with the potential user
concerns and misconceptions listed in the “Potential User Concerns and Misconceptions” section on

page 5-3. (See also the“Operator Orientation” section on page 5-1 and the “User Orientation” chapter.)

Support Desk Resources

• User documentation is available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_user_guide_list.html. In particular,

support desk staff may find the Cisco Unity Connection at a Glance documents helpful in gaining a
high-level visual understanding of the flow of the Connection conversation.

• The Compatibility Matrix: Cisco Unity Connection and the Software on User Workstations is

available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_device_support_tables_list.html.

• The following chapters in this guide provide information on how user workstations should be set up,

and describes how users use Connection client applications:

–

Setting Up Access to the Cisco Personal Communications Assistant

–

Setting Up Playback and Recording Devices for the Media Master

5-2

–

Configuring an E-Mail Account to Access Cisco Unity Connection Voice Messages

• The Troubleshooting Guide for Cisco Unity Connection is available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/prod_troubleshooting_guides_list.html.

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Chapter 5 Operator and Support Desk Orientation

Support Desk Orientation

• For descriptions and the URLs of all Connection documentation on Cisco.com, see the

Documentation Guide for Cisco Unity Connection. The document is shipped with Connection and
is available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_documentation_roadmaps_list.html.

Potential User Concerns and Misconceptions

Table 5-1 describes potential user issues, which are typically based on misconceptions about how

Cisco Unity Connection works. Users who encounter such issues are often those who are accustomed to
another voice messaging system, have not yet completed Connection training, or are unaware of a new
feature or functionality change to an existing system.

Table 5-1 Potential User Concerns and Misconceptions

Potential Issue Description

Delayed messages Users may believe that their messages are delayed for the following reasons:

• While listening to new messages, users may skip a message and inadvertently mark it new.

Later, when they check messages again, they hear the skipped message and believe that the
message arrived after a delay.

• Users may skip more messages than they intend while listening to their messages, and later

check messages again only to hear one or more of the skipped messages, and believe that the
message(s) arrived after a delay.

• While listening to messages, other new messages arrive that users may not be aware of. Later,

when they check messages again, they hear the new message(s) and believe that they were
delayed.

Deleted messages By default, when users delete a new or saved message, Cisco Unity Connection does not ask them

to confirm the deletion. You may want to enable Connection to request confirmation from users
before proceeding with the deletion, especially if many users do not belong to a class of service that
allows them to retain and review their deleted messages. You can set up Connection to confirm
deletion of messages on the System Settings > Advanced > Conversations page in Cisco Unity
Connection Administration.

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For information on deleted messages, refer users to the “Deleting Messages” chapter of the User
Guide for Cisco Unity Connection, available at

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_user_guide_list.html.

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