Use Avid features to deal with the effects of bad weather
Using several key attributes of Avid’s Hosted PBX service, our clients can limit the impact of bad weather (such as today’s snow, icy roads and 45 mile-an-hour winds). Here are several ways to do this:
- Since our IP phones can work over any broadband connection, some clients anticipate tough commuting by taking their phones home and simply working from there. The phone will perform exactly as it would in the office.
- Using Avid’s web-browser-based CommPortal, set up rules that will ring other phones when their office phone is rung. Most often, that will be a cell phone, but it can also be a home phone.
- Again using CommPortal (this time as an administrator), set up a inclement weather Automated Attendant on the main line. Several clients have done this in advance, providing special instructions for staff and information to customers about how the weather might be affecting their operations. The inclement weather Automated Attendant can be turned on remotely in a matter of seconds by the administrator.
- When office power goes out, calls can be routed to cell phones. And having a cloud-based service, the lines don’t simply ring fast-busy, but can be answered by an Automated Attendant or routed into voicemail. The voicemails can be sent as audio files to an email account and retrieved using a smart phone.
So even when the weather plays havoc with the ability of your people to get to the office or disrupts the power in your office, you can continue to be responsive to your clients.