ftp://ftp.inphonite.com/downloads/InphonteVoice_CSV_Import.zip

The new key fields are the Source Columns and the Column Mappings in the File layout section. The Source Columns allows you to define what your delimited file looks like. Here's an example of a simple Source Columns definition:

In the above sample, the import would look for LastName, FirstName, PrimaryNumber, CompanyName and Groups as valid headers in the source file. You can import column headers from a delimited file by selecting Import | Import Column Headers from the menu. This will look at the CSV file and import the headers for you. You can also export the columns as a template to save as a backup or to import into a different import instance. Now that you created the source columns you need to map the data to the destination columns. To accomplish this open the Column Mappings configuration. Here's what that dialog looks like:

The above example maps the columns in the source file to the available fields in InphoniteVoice. To map a new column, select the column you would like to map to. Then select the column to map to from the Source Columns list and select Insert. You can combine multiple source columns fields into one InphoniteVoice field by specifying multiple fields in the template. You can also put static text into the template field to have a particular import always fill out a field with a static value.

InphoniteVoice's new Flexible Delimited Import gives you to ability to control the format of the data and make changes with ease.

Inphonite’s ShoutOut (Shoutout.inphonite.com) service is a great solution to that dilemma.

It's a free text to voice call program. At a math teachers’ conference last year, the instructors recommended a few websites that could do text-to-voice. However, they either cost money per call or the text-to-voice was so unintelligible that the message was missed. I’ve used ShoutOut and it’s better at converting text to speech. I tested with “I like to read. I read a book.” and it differentiated between the two “read” pronunciations correctly.

Teachers can use this to remind students to complete and bring in homework, let them know about a special class activity, remind them if class is in a different building, or other such uses. The system is limited to 25 calls per email address per day and one call per phone number per day. If you have multiple email addresses, you can send 25 messages from each one and reach all of your students.

I would recommend Inphonite ShoutOut to any teacher for standard classroom reminders.

• Open the InphoniteVoice Administrator Client and bring up the channel configuration:

• For each channel that you want be reserved for transfer capability, change the call direction to TransferOrConference.
• Change the Transfer Method property to Conference.
  
• After you have restarted the Inphonite Interface Service, you can monitor the status of the channels and verify your configuration by bringing up the Interface Monitor:
  

As you can see, "Conference" transfers are easy to set up, and best of all it works with any phone line or VoIP provider.

Most of our users are not geeks. They can turn on computers and use them to accomplish things, but when it comes to changing domain rights or networking computers together, they're lost. And they should be; that's not their area of expertise. So we in the Support Department at Inphonite often find ourselves speaking with geeks who have been brought in for a specific purpose: to troubleshoot the things that non-geeks don't have the time or desire to try to figure out.

IT consultants are a great resource. They often are involved in the installation of our products, or in troubleshooting some mysterious problem that all-of-a-sudden cropped up. In those situations, your geek needs to talk to our geek, and soon. Of course, the support engineers at Inphonite can sometimes seem a little hard to reach, and the smallest delay seems like hours when you're paying someone $65 an hour to be there.

Most software vendors — including Inphonite — make their support representatives available for scheduled appointments. Quite frankly, this is the best way to make sure that a geek here is available for your geek there. Since you probably have to schedule time with your IT person, schedule time with our support engineer at the same time. This way, you can have the peace of mind knowing that everyone who needs to be involved in your installation process or in troubleshooting your mysterious issue will be available. No calling in a panic needed. And no paying someone $65 an hour to sit by the phone playing solitaire.

Occasionally, we speak with customers who find themselves faced with a dilemma: They need to record (or re-record) a ReminderPro message, but the room where the computer is located is noisy and not suitable for recording professional messages. Certainly, we want the messages we deliver to our clientele to be of a high quality, and background noise doesn't meet the standard.

In this situation, we often suggest using alternative software and a microphone for the recording of the ReminderPro messages. You see, ReminderPro stores each message in two WAV files located in the ReminderPro program directory. For example, the greeting for the Daily message says "Hello, this is...", and is stored in a file named daily.wav. The closing is the portion of the message that says "Press 1 to confirm your appointment...", and is stored in a file named ^daily.wav. You can use other software to record the greeting or the closing for your message, and then drop the file into the ReminderPro directory, replacing the existing file. ReminderPro will then use the recording you made elsewhere for the message.

There are a couple of gotchas here. First, the recording needs to meet certain specifications. The specs necessary for ReminderPro to use the file(s) are as follows:

• Channels: Mono
• Bit Rate: 128 kbps
• Sample Rate: 8 khz
• File Format: Wave Sound (.WAV)

Secondly, the files must be named correctly. So, if you have a message named Daily, there must be a daily.wav and a ^daily.wav file located in the ReminderPro directory. If they're not there, the program won't find them and, thus, can't play them when calls are made. The name of the message determines the names of the files.

Now, you may already have voice recording software you can use. If not, there is a plethora of them. Personally, I have used Audacity, which is free. It allows you to make recordings that meet the requirements. If recording directly through ReminderPro won't work for you, Audacity could be an option you'll want to consider.

If there are other freeware packages you like, please share your suggestions here.

Tichy’s is located next to the Reumannplatz metro station on Vienna’s U1 line. It is also very close to Favoritenstrasse, a popular pedestrian shopping zone. These connections provide Tichy’s its customers.

An on-premise IVR solution should provide multiple connectivity options including analog, digital and VoIP.  Of course a SaaS IVR solution simply requires a browser and Internet access.

Tichy’s ice cream parlor has both indoor and outdoor eating areas, as well as a takeout counter. This is where they serve their ice cream specialties, including the Eismarillenknoedel (apricot ice cream dumpling). Usually, I fight my way (it’s more of a crowd than a queue) to the takeout counter to order their fantastic ice cream.  Tichy’s appeals to customers with different wants and budgets.

An IVR system should meet the varied needs of customers, whether the customer is a single doctor practice that appreciates the minimal upfront investment of a SaaS, or a hospital using an on-premise IVR solution to cost-effectively send 100’s or even 1000’s of appointment reminders and other notifications each day.

Tichy’s is open about six months of the year, from April to early October.  On the day Tichy’s closes for the season, people wait in long lines to receive free ice cream.  Everyone is served until supplies run out.  Talk about customer appreciation!

Don’t just give people a little taste of your IVR solution, provide them with a generous free sample. (Better yet, don’t make them wait in line to get it!)

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ReminderPro and InphoniteVoice are compatible with Skype for SIP, now in open beta.

In addition to Skype, other SIP providers supported by Inphonite include Verizon, VoiceEclipse, Broadsoft, Sylantro, Level 3, Quest, and GlobalIP.  A knowledgebase article on VoIP support for Inphonite products can be found here. 

Groups support the use of hierarchy, allowing you to create sub-groups of groups (and sub-sub-groups of sub-groups and so on.) Consider, for example, an organization that has multiple locations, multiple job roles and multiple departments. You might want to create three different hierarchies based on these factors.

Creating the Sample Group

To create the sample Groups in the diagram above, create the root level groups first (Location, Department, and Role) and then create the second level Groups assigning the appropriate parent for each of these groups.

Assigning the Group Membership

Once the Groups are created you can assign membership by modifying the Contact and setting the Group Membership section. Remember you can assign a Contact to more than one group at a time.

Sample Uses for Hierarchical Groups

• Emergency Notifications
  • Suppose you had a need to notify everyone in the Support department at the East location. You could open up the Contacts list, select the  button next to the Groups filter, and:
    • Select the Support and East location groups.
    • Set Member of to All Groups.
  • This would filter the Contact list to only Support personnel at the East location. You could then use the  Enqueue Now button to send messages to all of those personnel. 
• Sending Inclement Weather Notifications
  • If all of the Contacts imported have a Group that indicated which office they were visiting, you could quickly notify all members of that group that the office is closed.