Viking DVA-1002 Guide

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VIKING ELECTRONICS

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Digital Voice

Announcers

Buyers’ Guide

The most comprehensive source

for all of Vikings’ Announcement Systems

Telecom Solutions for the 21st Centur y

Handle

more calls on

existing lines!

Model DVA-2W

Model DVA-3003

Model DVA-1003B

Model DVA-1002

Model DVA-500A

Model DVA-LP

Digital Voice

Announcers

Buyers’ Guide

The most comprehensive source

for all of Vikings’ Announcement Systems

Model K-2000-DVA

Digital V oice Announcers – That’ s right, they’ re

everywhere

You can hardly make a phone call these days without hearing a recording of

some kind.Voice Announcers give you show times at the movie theater and

school closing information. They tell your customers that they’ve called after

hours. They even play promotional messages or custom music while the caller

is on hold. The bottom line is that all types of organizations are making a

conscious change away from costly live answering,especially in applications

where the majority of callers are seeking routine information. During peak

business hours,live answering means extra staffing,extra cost and lost calls

from customers who don’t like to wait for more than 4 rings.Voice

announcers,digital voice announcers in particular,can answer more routine

calls per hour than most live company operators.

Digital announcers are no longer limited to large organizations.Today, digital

announcers have a place in every office , even small office/home office (SOHO).

For example,when used with a 2-line call sequencer (Viking TMS-2),2 line

music on hold adapter (Viking MOH-2L) or single line phone system (Viking

TS-1) a digital announcer can give the caller different messages at timed

intervals.That keeps them on line and assures them that they have not been

forgotten.Some companies introduce new products this way, while others offer

daily, even hourly specials to keep their customers up-to-the-minute. It’s a great

way to rack up additional sales.

Even music on hold,which usually consists of a radio hooked into the phone

system,has given way to custom recorded music combined with periodic voice

messages.

These are all good reasons to add a Digital Voice Announcer to your phone

system.But which one is right for you? What features should you look for? This

booklet will give you all the information you need to make an informed choice.

Obviously we would like you to purchase a VIKING brand Digital Voice

Announcer. However,the information contained in this booklet will help you

no matter whose product you buy.

Getting to Know the

Technology

We’re well into the digital age and that

means the end of tape and drum

recorders.Broken tapes,rewind cycles,

and periodic cleaning are headaches that,

thankfully, you don’t have to worry about

anymore.By storing your voice messages

and background music as digital data,you

eliminate all the problems associated with

mechanical systems.Today’s digital

announcers are also far more intelligent,

offer you more features, and are easier to

use and reprogram.Before you start shopping for a digital announcer, become

familiar with these features and terms.

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Memories are made of this

All digital voice announcers come equipped with a base amount of message

storage capacity. Manufacturers rate their equipment in terms of the length of

message it can store.Some manufacturers make memor y expansion kits

available to increase the storage capacity of their devices. For example, the

Viking DVA-500A comes from the factory with 16 seconds of message storage.

However,with the addition of a memor y module you can increase the message

length to a full minute. Memory expansion is an important feature to look for,

since many users find additional uses for their announcers once they are

installed.

Sixteen seconds is enough time to record basic information such as business

hours and phone system announcements such as “Thank you for calling.Your

call will be taken by the next available agent.” However,longer announcements,

such as weather conditions,school closings,bank and commodity rates,and

movie listings and times,usually require additional memory.

In addition to memory size, memory volatility is another consideration. Most

Viking Digital Announcers come equipped with non-volatile memory or

ERAM–memory that will not dissipate during power failures.Volatile memory

DRAM requires a backup battery to avoid re-recording the message after a

power interruption.While ERAM is the more preferred type,it is also more

expensive.

What’s the Protocol?

Protocol is an issue that sounds more intimidating than it really is. You know

that home answering machines activate when they detect an incoming ring.This

is known as “Ring Trip” activation.

However,if your organization has a phone system such as a PABX,ring trip

may not work well.That’s because many Key systems,Hybrid Key, and PABX

systems intercept the ringing voltage from the phone company and then

activate the voice announcer with a separate set of wires and a pattern of

commands. The wiring sequence and pattern of coded commands are known

as the Protocol and E & M Interface.Unfortunately, each phone system

manufacturer employs a different wiring and triggering pattern for their E & M

Interface.That means the voice announcer you select must be compatible with

your phone system.Many of Viking’s announcers include 16 Protocols – enough

to work with the majority of phone systems on the market today.

What’s the Hang-up?

A voice announcer that cannot detect caller hang-up is an announcer that is

wasting your telephone resources.Why keep playing the message and tying up

your phone line long after the hang-up? You want a voice announcer that is

equipped with disconnect sensing. This is known as Calling Party Control

(CPC). All Viking announcers except the DVA-1002 are equipped to detect the

CPC disconnect signal generated by the phone company. With CPC detection,

if a caller hangs up 8 seconds into your 1 minute message,the announcer will

stop,recycle,and be ready for the next call. Digital recycling is immediate – no

time-outs,no rewind.CPC detection helps you handle the highest number of

calls per hour.

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