Remote Agents

[mchapman]

Hi,

I am planning to purchase the Manager's Manual (which will more than likely answer the following question), but I wanted to go ahead and post the question here as well.

I would like to know if my remote agents will need ATA's, or can they use their existing POTS analog phone (maybe with a headset)? Just a minor clarification would be helpful.

Thanks,

Mike

[henry]

Hi Mike,

I'm assuming from what you have said that your remote agents will be on a different site, probably at home?

In that case you can use two approaches:

1) Select in phone "client protocol" => "EXTERNAL" and enter their landline phone in the "dialplan number" box. This will mean your agents can operate their normal phones but will probably want a headset for them to make it comfortable.

2) Log your agents on using a softphone such as xlite or IDEFISK. This will mean they are logged in to your server directly on their PC meaning you don't have to pay for the call between your server and their land line. This could save you 60p/hour in the UK and it's definately the approach I would take. If you take this approach your agents will need broadband and a PC with a sound card. They will also need a headset to plug into their PC. You will also need to consider the bandwidth implications for your server depending on whether it is located on broadband or in a data centre you might have bandwidth problems.

If you add some more details about how your installation will be setup then I can help point you in the right direction.

[chander.prakash]

The suggestion of the softphone is the most viable and economical. I will go along with it. I have XLite installed and is running fine.