I guess we deviate from the norm on this one. We use Cisco CallManager
with an auto-attendant set up. Once the auto-attendant picks up, the
caller has the option of pressing a number to choose one of our
departments (Admissions, Bursar, Attendance, etc.), directly input an
extension, choose an option to hear directions to either of our
campuses, or press 0 to talk to our receptionist. Although some people
were hesitant to move to this system, the response has been pretty
positive over the 2 years we've been using it. There are some people
that automatically press 0 and have our receptionist route the call, but
there are many that either know the extension of the person they're
looking for, or find it on our website, and find it faster and easier
with the automated system. The other bonus for us is that it eliminated
the need to have a person dedicated to answering phones at our lower
school campus, which is smaller with fewer staff than our ms/us campus.
Regards,
Charles Polizano
Network Administrator
Poly Prep Country Day School
9216 7th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11228
(718) 836-9800 ext. 3920
cpolizano@polyprep.org
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Bill Ivey
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 7:05 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Does a live operator answer your school phone?
Hi!
We have a live attendant during and beyond the school day. Besides =20
answering the phone and providing a personal touch, which suits our =20
image, they welcome visitors to campus and do myriad other tasks. =20
Honestly, I get annoyed and frustrated by schools with automatic =20
systems answering calls, and I think of myself as a tech-oriented =20
person. But that is just one perspective, I know.
Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School
On Mar 18, 2010, at 2:50 PM, Bill Perpelitt <billp@delphian.org> wrote:
> We are looking at ways of automating call routing for our school. We
> currently have a live operator answer all calls during business =20
> hours but am
> not sure this is very efficient.
>
> I was curious how other schools handle incoming calls. Anyone using =20
> an
> auto-attendant for their main line?
>
>
> Bill Perpelitt
> Technology Director
> Delphian School
> http://www.Delphian.org
> 20950 SW Rock Creek Road
> Sheridan, OR 97378
> 503-843-3521
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see
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> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, =20
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