For employees of small businesses to communicate effectively with suppliers and customers in today's competitive business environment, they need ready access to information, updated in real time. They also need to stay connected - to one another and to the business applications they use to do their jobs. With the right solution, your business can collaborate more effectively and solve problems like never before.
Solution Overview
The Cisco® Smart CallConnector Advanced Client is designed to streamline business communications by providing employees with real-time information about the availability of their contacts and offering multiple methods for communicating with them. The solution lets employees know who is available and the best method for connecting with them. With the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client, you can:
• Quickly locate and connect with colleagues using voice, instant messaging (IM), text messages (Short Message Service [SMS]), or email
• Know who is calling and click to answer or make calls and access phone features from a PC
• Get alerts when contacts are available and for new voice messages
• View voice messages, click to listen to the important ones first, and reply or call back
• Send instant messages, text messages, and email to colleagues and external contacts
• Use the Cisco Smart CallConnector toolbar in Outlook to locate contacts, manage calls, and send instant messages.
Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced is a desktop smart communications application that integrates the contact data in your PC applications with the features of your Cisco Smart Business Communications System. As a client-server solution, this application offers integrated access to call handling, visual voicemail, presence and telephone status, federated instant messaging, and integration with Outlook and other Windows applications. Figure 1 shows the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced directory windows in two custom views.
Figure 1. Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Directory Windows
Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced requires the Cisco Smart CallConnector Server. The server maintains the connections to the services of the Cisco Smart Business Communications System and to the user's configuration data. It makes these services available to all Cisco Smart CallConnector clients, including the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client. The server includes a license for eight Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Clients. For larger deployments, additional Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced licenses can be purchased in eight-user increments.
Use the Powerful Search Option to Locate Contacts in the Cisco Smart CallConnector Directories
The Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced directory displays a list of names with integrated click-to-IM, click-to-call, and click-to-send services from any one of several contact directories. You can view and quickly locate contacts and call or send messages (through IM, text message, or email). Graphical icons display the telephone status (idle, ringing, or connected) as well as availability (available, busy, or away) and current location (work, home, traveling, or vacation) for contacts for whom this information is available. The powerful search option allows you to locate contacts simply by entering the first few letters of any visible information about that contact - such as first or last name, department, or phone number. Table 1 lists some of the features supported by the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced directory.
Table 1. Features of Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Directory
Access multiple directories
You can access contact information from any of four directories - Corporate, Personal, External, and Outlook. You can also select the Outlook contact folder to view personal contact information.
Create custom views
You can customize how the directory information is presented by selecting the information fields to view and the display style - tabular or hierarchical and a single line of contacts or a two-line view with photos or avatars.
Perform a global search
You can quickly locate a contact across all the directories by entering the first few letters. The search can be for names, departments, or phone numbers of any entry in the directory that is visible.
List multiple numbers per entry
Each entry can have multiple phone numbers, including two work numbers and home and mobile numbers.
Drag and drop
You can drag and drop entries to make a call, transfer a call, pick up a ringing call, add someone to a conference, or create a chat group.
View phone status
Contacts in the corporate directory associated with presence show their phone status (idle, ringing, or connected). External contacts in the personal directory display availability status.
View presence status
You can view the availability and location of your colleagues and external IM contacts in real time.
Manage contacts
You can add, modify, or delete the contact information in your personal directory.
Integrate calling
You can dial numbers, transfer calls, and set up conferences from the directory.
Send messages
You can send quick messages by email, text message, or instant message.
Manage Active Calls
The call window displays all the active calls, with the callers' names read from the directories. You can click a contact, auto-dial from Outlook, or drag and drop a number to make or transfer a call or set up a conference call. The phone features are available from the context-sensitive toolbar. Popup windows provide notification and caller information for your calls. In the call window, you can:
• View a list of all the current calls on your phone
• Make or answer calls, and dial from the keypad window
• Access the advanced phone features to transfer, conference, park, pick up, or page calls
• Drag and drop numbers from other applications to make calls
The call window supports the features listed in Table 2.
Table 2. Features Available in the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Call Window
View all calls
You can display all active calls with caller names from the directory.
Click to dial, transfer, and conference
You can use the directory listings to make a new call or conference into or transfer a connected call.
Drag and drop
You can drag and drop a number from any Windows application that supports drag and drop to make calls, transfer calls, or establish conference calls.
Access phone features
The context-sensitive toolbar provides access to the telephony features of the Cisco Smart Business Communications System
Receive popup notification of incoming calls
A popup notification window provides information about incoming calls, with caller names from the directory and with buttons to answer a call or route it to voicemail.
Communicate Through Instant Messages
With the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client, you can view presence status and send instant messages to your colleagues at work and to external contacts on compatible IM servers (Figure 2). Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced provides administrator-controlled access to instant messaging and presence federation with compatible Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) IM servers, such as Google Talk and Facebook. When your external account is added to the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client, it downloads your contact lists, allowing you to view your contacts' presence status and click and send instant messages. You can also make your personal availability known.
• View the status of your IM contacts and see when they are typing
• Send emoticons and change the font size, color, and type
• Send documents and files instantly to your contact
• Add additional parties to create a multiperson chat session
• Escalate an IM session to a voice call
• View the recent calls, IM sessions, and email messages exchanged with this party
View and Listen to Voice Messages on a PC
The Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client displays a popup alert message on your PC screen when you have new voice messages. You can view all the new and saved voice messages, play them in any order, and call back or send an instant message or email. You can also download and forward voice messages by email.
The Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client allows you to change your greeting manually or have it change automatically when your availability status changes.
From the VoiceView window (Figure 3), you can:
• View the number of messages waiting and the voice message popup notification
• View the new and saved voice messages in the Cisco Unity® Express mailbox
• Play, pause, rewind, move forward, and delete voice messages
• View the caller's name and presence status (if available)
The Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client provides a toolbar and a context (right-click) menu in Outlook to allow you to access all your communications services directly from within Outlook (Figure 4). You can locate contacts, manage calls, and send instant messages without leaving Outlook. In addition, you can synchronize your availability to the Outlook calendar so that your status is updated based on your Outlook calendar setting. With Outlook integration, you can:
• Right-click on an Outlook contact and auto-dial to make calls
• Use the toolbar to locate contacts from any directory
• Manage calls from the toolbar in Outlook without having to switch applications
• Update your availability status and location from pull-down menus
• Highlight and drag and drop any number to the call window
Figure 4. Cisco Smart CallConnector Toolbar in Outlook 2010
View a History of Calls and Instant Messages
All of your call histories and instant messages are archived on the Cisco Smart CallConnector Server and are available for viewing in the log window. From this window, you can:
• View the incoming, missed, and outgoing calls made from your phone
• Search and locate calls in the call list
• View all the IM sessions
• Click to view the details of messages sent during a session
• Call back or send instant messages from the log entries
Deploying the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client
The Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client is a client-server application and requires installation of the Cisco Smart CallConnector Server. The Cisco Smart CallConnector Server makes deploying and using the client applications easier by:
• Configuring client parameters on the server
• Performing all license management
• Configuring dialing plans on the server, instead of in each individual client
• Importing contact information from Cisco Smart Business Communications System, Active Directory, or Exchange folder
• Initiating automatic client software updates
Servers can be installed in virtual-machine environments for ease of server management. An easy-to-use installation GUI is provided that connects to the Cisco Smart Business Communications System for configuration information, imports the user contact information, and sets up the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client call-control parameters.
Table 3 lists the licensing options for the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client and Server.
Table 3. Licensing Options for the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client and Server
Server license includes 8 Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client licenses, simplifying and reducing the cost for smaller deployments.
8-user license PAKs
Additional Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced licenses are available in sets of 8.
For More Information
For more information about the Cisco Smart Business Communications Solution solution, including the Cisco Smart CallConnector Advanced Client and Cisco Smart CallConnector Server, please visit www.cisco.com/go/smartcallconnector.
Cisco Smart Business Support Services
The Cisco Small Business Support Service provides "peace of mind" coverage at an affordable price, and helps you get the most value from your Cisco Small Business solution. This device-level, subscription-based service includes software upgrades and updates, extended access to the Cisco Small Business Support Center, and next-business-day hardware replacement as necessary. It also provides community-based support to enable small businesses to share knowledge and collaborate using online forums and wikis to help boost business efficiency, identify and reduce risks, and serve customers better.
