[jesnofear]

Something i would like to see in a new release would be the ability to make a mailbox, (as simple as that sounds, but wait there is more)
Ok, so i have call groups, some of these call groups get there own mailbox, so anyone of the select people get the voicemail for that group at any given time.
currently i create an extension, set it as away, and never look at it again. this works well except the BLF, and or Voicemail notification. so while voicemails are being left, no one knows they are there by looking at the phone. which in some cases the phone is all they have.

[igor.snezhko]

Yes, mailbox for call group is a requested feature indeed. Currently I configure a "group" extension to send a VM as email attachment to mailing list. In this list I include requested recipients.

[KerryG]

Why does a phone system function need to have its own mailbox when you can simply create an extension to use? Unlike other systems, there are no extra costs for adding additional extensions so why is this a problem?

[KerryG]

The problem is that it is very difficult to actually implement since the SIP standard wasn't designed for it. Ok, so I get to my desk in the morning and my MWI light is on. I hit my voicemail button and check my messages and clean out my box. A few minutes go by and I realize my MWI light is on, I check my messages...nothing..better check the support mailbox...nothing...how about the sales box...nothing...maybe accounting..oh there is a message there. Seems like a rather horrible user experience. Yes, SOME phones support multiple mailboxes, but that is most certainly not the majority.

Ok, so BLF maybe? That's about as non-standard as it gets, you can't subscribe to a mailbox so there isn't a way to tell if a message is there or not.

How about this, it goes to a email account and when I sit down to check my mail, there are the voicemails that have been left. No box to check, now MWI to deal with. Just a voicemail sitting in my inbox. That's pretty convenient.

I certainly do not have issues with people asking for different features, but the danger is in asking for a feature without thinking it all the way through about how that would be used and what the consequences are of implementing it.

[mtnman]

This is actually a quite common request.

I am still evaluating/using SIP based systems, but my training and experience is in proprietary PBX systems. I can create a group mailbox and then assign a button to a phone that will be lit indicating a message is waiting in the group mailbox number for what I assigned to the button. The user doesn't have to check different voice mailboxes, as they know which box it is in.

Email notification is certainly an option, but if everyone receives an email, there is no way of knowing if the message was acted upon. If the mailbox is emptied by a user, then the light go out for all the users and there is no confusion if the messages were addressed.

Obviously SIP handles things differently, so I doubt a button assignment would work.... but if it could, I think that would be a good idea to have implemented.

[leejor]

Ok, so I get to my desk in the morning and my MWI light is on. I hit my voicemail button and check my messages and clean out my box. A few minutes go by and I realize my MWI light is on, I check my messages...nothing..better check the support mailbox...nothing...how about the sales box...nothing...maybe accounting..oh there is a message there.

If it were limited to two possible mailboxes per extension, a personal and a group, then it could go something like this...

MWI is lit, hit the voicemail button, or dial access code, message is...You have one new personal message and two new group messages, to hear personal messages press one, to hear group messages press two.

Once you do the first choice then you would be dealing with that mailbox until you "backed" out. It would mean a revised voicemail menu, but would give an entire department a common mailbox that the receptionist or DR could send a customer to when no one in particular is requested. Yet the first one back from lunch/in in the morning could get the message and deal with it. This feature would be especially useful for a small business with 3 or 4 extensions and no receptionist...four rings----> common mailbox, all sets get MWI.

It would be listed as one of the options when choosing where to send an unanswered call when setting up a ring group, and would be disallowed if one extension were in more than one ring group..."this ring group cannot be sent to a group mailbox as it contains one or more extensions that exists in another ring group with a common mailbox, delete that extension and try again"

This feature request has been brought up in the past by a number of people, including myself.

[KerryG]

MWI is lit, hit the voicemail button, or dial access code, message is...You have one new personal message and two new group messages, to hear personal messages press one, to hear group messages press two.

Ok, I get this. Nice explanation of an implementation. I could actually get behind supporting this method.

[jesnofear]

Avaya!!!! they are able to do this perfectly, which is why i am kinda mad that no one else dose it yet, If you go with the IP Office 2xx and higher, and setup the voicemail server there are a lot of cool things you can do, such as all phones WMI can light up when a voicemail is left in a general box.
there are other cool things you can do as well, setup short codes with memory, so like lets say you close the office due to weather, you hit the short code and it will keep the office *closed* until you hit the other short code that will throw it back into normal operation.

Kerry,

Yeah, I know we can do this--but it is a "kind of" work around. Why do I say it is a work around?

-the MWI doesn't light up on all the phone(s) monitoring this voicemail
-its a bit more steps to get the "other" voicemail--

I'm certainly not complaining because I'm not sure who does do this perfectly. I"m not even sure how I would tell to make it work--A BLF light that all phones can subscribe too that blinks if a voicemail? I don't even know if that is possible...

It's just from a request standpoint something that people ask for and is a "not perfecT" from implementation and use perspective.

Matt

[jesnofear]

Some scenarios are different, such as a call center environment. At my old job, we setup a call center where no one in the call center had a mailbox, because "They" didnt need one, but we had a general mailbox setup for patients who were calling in there med refills, which is something that is not 100% urgent to address at the time but when they are no longer on a call they go in, pickup the voicemail and do what they need to do.
Also in my new scenario, i am starting a new company where i am having 2 remote workers answer phones, if both workers are on the phone or they dont answer in 60 seconds, then it rolls to the general mailbox. then when they finish with the phone call, they are able to address the missed call. BUT if they have no notification of the voicemail they dont know to check it. and not everyone is going to be in front of a computer.
Its great that we tie the computer in so closely with the phones, but when setting things up, sometimes phones can be by them selves.

The problem is that it is very difficult to actually implement since the SIP standard wasn't designed for it. Ok, so I get to my desk in the morning and my MWI light is on. I hit my voicemail button and check my messages and clean out my box. A few minutes go by and I realize my MWI light is on, I check my messages...nothing..better check the support mailbox...nothing...how about the sales box...nothing...maybe accounting..oh there is a message there. Seems like a rather horrible user experience. Yes, SOME phones support multiple mailboxes, but that is most certainly not the majority.

Ok, so BLF maybe? That's about as non-standard as it gets, you can't subscribe to a mailbox so there isn't a way to tell if a message is there or not.

How about this, it goes to a email account and when I sit down to check my mail, there are the voicemails that have been left. No box to check, now MWI to deal with. Just a voicemail sitting in my inbox. That's pretty convenient.

I certainly do not have issues with people asking for different features, but the danger is in asking for a feature without thinking it all the way through about how that would be used and what the consequences are of implementing it.

[cfive]

Depending on your mail server specifics, this is handled fairly well with public folders (best), or distribution groups. For example, if you use Exchange the functionality is there for either method.

Even if you use an ISP's email offering, you may be able to set up an email account that more than one user have access to (or use that and forwarding to create a distribution group).

The biggest hurdle for most small businesses is getting the idea that telephony can actually integrate with their IT environment, and, some things don't always have to be handled exclusively by the hardphone .