David Ptasnik <davep@u.washington.edu> (07/14/90)
In article 9651@accuvax.nwu.edu appears: >I have an idea for a peripheral device for hotel telephone systems >The device would need to interface with the hotel PBX so that it >1. Selectively intercept calls coming in (local and non-local) based >2. Be accessible from any phone in the hotel by dialing some special number. >3. Determine the caller's number when accessed using the special >Ned Robie uunet!h-three!ned I'm not sure what you want this device to do, but it sounds like an automated attendant. There are a variety of them already in existence, and they interface with the PBX through single line station ports on the PBX. I am not aware of hotels using the service, they tend to be a very parsinmonious as a group (or at least they never bought anything from me, might be a personal problem - hmmmm). This device would allow incoming callers to dial a special number. The auto attendant. would answer the phone and ask the caller to dial the guests room number. If the system was sophisticated, had voice mail, and was integrated with the hotel's registration list, it could even let you spell a guest's name. The system would then ring the room. If there was no answer, it could take a voice mail message, X-fer the call to the front desk, or do other things. If a voice mail message were left, the system could activate the guest's message light, and allow the guest to retrieve the message, as though the guest had a personal answering machine. Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? If not, perhaps telling us the application, rather than the functions, woudl make it easier to respond. davep@u.washington.edu
blake@pro-party.cts.com (Blake Farenthold) (07/17/90)
In-Reply-To: message from davep@u.washington.edu >The system would then ring the room. If there was no answer, it could take a >voice mail message,...activate the guest's message light, and allow the guest >to retrieve the message, as though the guest had a personal answering >machine [now for today's Farenthold telecomm horror story] A service similar to what you described is/was in place at the Westin Gallaria in Houston. If there was no answer in your room you'd go back to the operator who'd ask if you wanted to leave a message. If so, she'd then transfer you to a voice mail box which recorded your message and was SUPPOSED to light up your message light. There were several problems with this arrangement, however. The most annoying was it didn't always light your message light. I was in the hotel three nights. The first day the system seemed to work fine. I didn't get any messages the second day. The third day my message came on and I had three messages, two of which were datestamped with the previous day. I was HOT. Fortunantly the calls were friends wanting to buy me dinner, not clients ... but it was still a bad showing for the hotel. I felt bad complaining pecause I like to see new technologies expanding new places but it really hacked me off that I missed the message. I think the problem was HUMAN ERROR. There was FAR too much human intervention in the process. When there was no answer instead of going AUTOMATICALLY to the Voice Mail box you went to an operator first. I suspect it was the operator who forgot tt turn on the message waiting light. You also had to go through an operator to retreive my messages ('could you connect me to my voice mailbox please' always got a strange reaction ... not sure if she didn't know the voice mailboxes were their messaging system or if she was surprised I knew their messaging system was a voice mail box. The boxes lacked good prompts so I never figured out how to retrieve saved messages (I wonder what the person who got the message I accidently forwarded thought?) I wonder if my old messages are still there, months later, taking up disk space. On a side note: Our Office phone system is an old ITT 2100. Is there an auto attendant that will work with it that has the 'type in the user's name using the letters on the phone' option? Seems like a great idea for after hours calls. UUCP: ...!crash!pnet01!pro-party!blake Internet: blake@pro-party.cts.com Blake Farenthold | Voice: 800/880-1890 | MCI: BFARENTHOLD 1200 MBank North | Fax: 512/889-8686 | CIS: 70070,521 Corpus Christi, TX 78471 | BBS: 512/882-1899 | GEnie: BLAKE