You can access voice and fax messages in your mailbox as well as text messages, and create voice greetings for your phone, if you have a FirstClass mailbox, and your administrator has installed FirstClass Unified Communications. If you are unsure whether your organization uses FirstClass Unified Communications, check with your administrator.
Note
You can use FirstClass GO to create voice greetings and specify how they are to work, but to record the actual greetings, you must use FirstClass for web browsers or the FirstClass client.
Voice messages appear as regular text messages with a recording attached. Faxes appear as regular text messages with image files attached.
You can create as many voice greetings as you need to suit callers or types of calls. These greetings play whenever you can't answer your phone. This lets you:
These are the types of greetings you can create:
| Greeting type | Description |
|---|---|
| external | Plays for callers outside your organization. |
| internal | Plays for callers inside your organization who are calling your internal extension number from their internal extensions. |
| unknown | Plays for callers whose numbers are blocked or unknown. This may include some cellphones. |
| spoken name | Your name, for system identification. This will play along with the default system greeting if you have no other greetings activated, or no other greetings apply. |
You can record as many greetings as you like, but we recommend a minimum of a spoken name and an external greeting. For internal calls, if there is no internal greeting, FirstClass will look for an external greeting to play.
As well as assigning a type to a greeting, you assign a status:
| Greeting status | Description |
|---|---|
| enabled | The greeting is active. FirstClass will play it when it applies. |
| disabled | The greeting is inactive. FirstClass will ignore it when searching for a greeting to play. You can enable the greeting whenever you want. |
| override | The greeting overrides any other greetings of the same type. FirstClass will ignore all other greetings of this type. To use other greetings of this type, disable this greeting. |
FirstClass searches both internal and external greetings in the following order:
| Order | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Override greetings (in the order determined by the type of greeting, as described below). |
| 2 | Greetings that play for specific called numbers (give these numbers to your administrator so they can add them as valid numbers for your mailbox) or for people calling from specific numbers. |
| 3 | Greetings that play at scheduled times. These override greetings that are identical except that they aren't scheduled. Scheduled greetings have their own hierarchy. First to play are scheduled greetings for specific called or caller numbers. If there is a greeting scheduled within the same time period as another scheduled greeting, the greeting with the start time closest to the current time will play. If there are two greetings for the same calling/called number, and their schedules are identical, or the schedules start at the same time but end at different times, the first greeting you created (the oldest) will play. |
| 4 | A standard greeting with no customized settings. |
| 5 | The system greeting plus your spoken name. |
| 6 | The system greeting when you haven't created a spoken name greeting. Your name will be supplied using text-to-speech. |
To create a voice greeting, tap the Workspace icon on the toolbar, choose Voice Greetingschoose Voice Greetings from the workspace menutap the Workspace icon on the toolbar, choose Voice Greetings, then tap the New button.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The name that will identify this greeting in the list of greetings. For example, a greeting to be played for all external callers could be named "Standard external greeting". |
| Greeting type | The type of greeting: external, internal, unknown, or spoken name. Ignore Voice Menu, because you can only create a voice menu using the FirstClass client. |
| Status | The greeting status. Use this field to enable or disable a greeting, or to make it override other greetings of the same greeting type. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Comments | A description of the greeting, such as "Standard daytime external greeting". This is just for your own information. |
| Numbers dialed | This only applies if you have multiple phone numbers forwarding to your mailbox and you want anyone calling a particular number to receive this greeting. Type the phone numbers, including area codes, separated by commas. For internal extension numbers, fewer numbers may be required. For example, if your work phone, cellphone, and home phone have all been linked to your mailbox by your administrator, and you have a custom message you want played for calls to your home number, type your home number here. |
| Caller numbers | Ignore this field if the greeting type is "Unknown Caller". The specific incoming phone numbers that are to receive this greeting. Type the phone numbers, including area codes, separated by commas. You can use * as a wildcard. For example, if you want all callers from a particular area code (905, for instance) to receive this greeting, type 905*. Don't type 1 before a long distance number. If it is an international number, type the country code before the number. |
Only complete this section if you want this greeting to play on a scheduled basis.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Starts | The date and time when you want FirstClass to start using this greeting. To change the displayed date and time, tap this field. |
| Ends | The date and time when you want FirstClass to stop using this greeting. To change the displayed date and time, tap this field. |
| Duration | This is another way to specify when FirstClass should stop using this greeting. |
| Repeat interval | If you want this greeting schedule to repeat at regular intervals, choose the interval. |
| Repeat until | If you chose a repeat interval, you can specify the date at which the schedule repetition should end. |
| Color | Only applies to the FirstClass client. |
| Time zone | The time zone associated with this schedule. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| After greeting plays | What you want to happen after this greeting plays: Record message allows callers to leave a message. This is the default setting. Record and make urgent allows callers to leave an urgent message. Transfer caller to the zero revert number transfers callers to your system's default "zero-out" transfer number (or to a number you have assigned to key zero in your call answering preferences). If you haven't assigned a number to key zero, it's normally Reception. You don't have to have a greeting recorded to use this option. If you choose this and record a greeting, you may want to inform callers that they will be transferred after the greeting. Transfer caller to this number transfers callers to the number you specify here (an extension or a 10-digit number). You don't have to have a greeting recorded to use this option. If you choose this and record a greeting, you may want to inform callers that they will be transferred after the greeting. Disconnect disconnects callers. You don't have to have a greeting recorded to use this option. If you choose this and record a greeting, you may want to inform callers that they will be disconnected after the greeting. |
| Caller-initiated transfer | Specifies what to do if callers try to transfer: Allow caller to transfer allows callers to use the transfer options you specify in your voice preferences. Choose a key and type an extension or 10-digit number. Note that your administrator may have put dialing restrictions on your system. Ensure that you are able to dial this number. If you clear this checkbox, callers won't be able to use any of your preferences' transfer options or the default system transfer number set by your administrator. Override transfer menu preferences lets you override your transfer preferences for this greeting only. Choose a key and type an extension or 10-digit number. Note that your administrator may have put dialing restrictions on your system. Ensure that you are able to dial this number. If callers tell you that they are being cut off when transferring, the system may be disconnecting too quickly. You can build in a system pause by following the transfer number with a comma (,) for a one-second pause or a semicolon (;) for a five-second pause. |
| Addressing options | Creates a message to the email address you specify: To forwards callers' messages to the address you specify, without leaving a copy in your mailbox. Cc copies callers' messages to the address you specify. A copy of this message is left in your mailbox. |
Use this section to override your fax preferences for this greeting.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| fax handling | How incoming faxes should be handled: Default respects your fax handling preferences Override User Preferences uses the handling you specify here for this greeting. |
| Initiate fax CNG tones | Tick this checkbox if this greeting applies to faxes only. Don't record a greeting. |
| override fax format | How you want faxes to be handled when you chose Override User Preferences above: Reject doesn't allow the receipt of faxes. JPG receives faxes in JPG format. This is a common, easily downloadable format, viewable on almost all platforms. Each page will be a separate attachment. PNG receives faxes in PNG format. This format is similar to JPG, except PNG files are smaller. PCX receives faxes in PCX format. This is a legacy format. Each page will be a separate attachment. DCX receives faxes in DCX format. This is a legacy format. All pages are received as one attachment. |
Ignore this section. You must use FirstClass for web browsers or the FirstClass client to attach the appropriate recording for this voice greeting.
To specify how you want FirstClass voicemail to work, choose Preferences from the application menu, then update the Voice section.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Interface | Default is what your administrator chose for you, and is the commonly used voicemail system in your organization. If you need to change this, choose your voicemail system. |
| Language | Default is what your administrator chose for you, and is the language most commonly used in your organization. If you need to change this because the majority of your correspondence is in another language, choose your preferred language. |
| TTS language | TUI Language is the default text-to-speech language chosen by your administrator, and is the language most commonly used in your organization. If you receive messages in various languages, choose Auto Detect. FirstClass will then examine each message and try to determine its language. |
| Auto play unread | When accessing messages by phone, the message will play automatically without you pressing a key to begin the playback. |
| Message tagging | You can tag messages by color for your convenience. When listening to voice messages by phone, you must press a number to assign a color. Choose a color here to correspond to each number, up to three numbers. |
| Navigate mailbox as calendar | Ticking this checkbox sorts all messages in your mailbox by date instead of the message number assigned when a message is left. |
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Key and Transfer caller to | Select a key and type a corresponding transfer to number to allow all callers to transfer to another number instead of leaving a message. You can have up to two transfer numbers. Be sure to type the full 10-digit number. Don't type 1 for long distance numbers. Don't type outside line access code numbers (such as 9 for an external local line). If callers tell you that they are being cut off when transferring, the system may be disconnecting too quickly, and the number isn't being properly processed. In this case, you can follow the number with a comma(,) for a one-second pause or a semicolon(;) for a five-second pause. If you enter a transfer number for key 0, this will override the system zero-out option (usually meaning dial 0 to reach reception). You may wish to list these options in your voice greetings so callers are aware of them. If you want to allow only certain callers to transfer, create this greeting just for them. |
| Called no-message | Specify what you want FirstClass to do when a caller hangs up without leaving a voice message. Never means you won't know about the call. Always makes FirstClass send you messages notifying you of all missed calls (Called, no message). Only valid caller IDs sends these notifications only for callers with valid caller IDs. |
| Fax format | Choose your preferred format for received faxes. Reject disables the receipt of faxes. JPG is a common, easily downloadable format, viewable on almost all platforms. Each page will be a separate attachment. PNG is similar in all ways to JPG, except PNG files are smaller than JPG files, and so more easily downloaded over slow or expensive connections. PCX is a legacy format. Each page will be a separate attachment. DCX is a legacy format. All pages are stored as one attachment. |
| Voice format | Choose your preferred format for received voice messages. Default is what your administrator chose for you, and is the most common voicemail format used in your organization. MP3 is FirstClass' standard sound recording format. It is playable on almost all platforms. IMA ADPCM is better known as WAV. These files are slightly smaller than MP3 and are telephony quality. |
| Embed fax | Tick this checkbox if you want faxes to be in the body of the message rather than attached. This option isn't available for DCX format faxes. |
| On the phone | Tick this checkbox if you want callers to be notified when you are on the phone. This notification is made before your greeting plays. |