Overview

Contact information can be imported into the system to give more useful information about the outside party involved in a call and to provide directory search features to Phone Manager client users to help them find a contact to call. Multiple directories can be created and imports can be scheduled to run at a pre-determined interval so as to keep the data current. Directories can be created from different sources including text files (CSV format) and direct database connections.

Within Phone Manager there are several locations that can contain directory information. These include:

• Global contact directories, for example Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Salesforce.com etc
• Personal directories
• Microsoft Outlook personal contacts
• PBX Speed Dials

Depending on the type of contact then the information is populated in a different way.

Using the contact information a Phone Manager user can search the directory to find any matching contacts to dial. When an inbound call is received the relevant directories are searched automatically and the matching contact information is made available and displayed on the client toaster.

Central contact databases

For global contacts the information is stored and accessed from a single location. This can include a text file in CSV format or a direct database connection using ODBC or OLE DB. The contacts from these locations are imported into the system either manually or on a pre-configured schedule.

Each contact can contain up to 5 telephone numbers,10 custom fields (up to 1000 characters each) and a VIP flag and associated text. Each of the fields can be given a custom label to make it easier for the user, for example:

There can be multiple contact directories that are stored centrally and users can be assigned to one or more specified directories to allow them to access contacts that are applicable to them.

To assign directories to specific users see the Managing Directories section.

The global directories contacts can also have a VIP flag and text associated with them to allow for these entries to be highlighted on the Phone Manager banner as important contacts.

Personal Contacts

Personal contacts provide a user with their own personal contact directory. This works in a similar way to the global directory but only that user is able to search/add to this directory. These contacts are created by the users from the Phone Manager client software directly, not via the website. They are stored centrally on the server and will follow users as they move between computers.

Microsoft Outlook personal contacts

If a user has the "Download Outlook contacts" option enabled on their profile (see the Client Profiles section for details), personal contacts from within Microsoft Outlook can then be searched directly from the Phone Manager client.

The contacts can be searched using the Home, Telephone or Mobile/Cell numbers as well as the first, last and company name fields associated with the Outlook contact. The only user that can then search and access these contacts is the PC user running both the Phone Manager client software and Microsoft Outlook.

PBX Speed Dials

The PBX contains its own directory in the form of system speed dials. These entries are configured from within Mitel Database Programming and the system will automatically download them directly from the PBX when connected. Each entry only has a name and number associated with them and either of these fields can be used to search.

Every user has access to search the system speed dials.