Overview; About This Guide - AT&T MERLIN II Feature Module 2 Planning Manual

Overview

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The efficient management of incoming call traffic is a key to the success of
your business. That's why you've chosen the Call Management System
(CMS) for your MERLIN® II Communications System with Feature Module 2.
For CMS, efficient management of incoming calls means:
Answering and transferring calls to the right people (agents) quickly.
Providing recorded messages and music to encourage callers who have
been put on hold to wait for service rather than hang up.
Distinguishing between types of calls, and giving some calls (for example,
high-revenue-producing, or high-dollar, calls) priority over other calls.
Distributing calls equitably among agents.
Tracking performance and displaying current system activity on CMS
Status screens.
Generating printed reports on call handling and agent performance, even
as CMS maintains operation.
Storing data for analyzing long-term performance.
With some planning now, you can make sure that your system will begin
performing these services on the day it's installed. Then, as you observe the
way CMS operates during its first few days of service, you can decide what
changes and adjustments to make in order to meet the specific needs of your
business.
This guide helps you plan your CMS in enough detail to have it managing
calls the day it's installed. This requires that you make some decisions about
how you want CMS set up initially and that you record those decisions on
the CMS planning forms at the end of this guide. You also have to plan
certain aspects of MERLIN II system administration to make sure that CMS
and the MERLIN II system will work in harmony. All document references
are for the MERLIN II Communications System with Feature Module 2 only.
The information in the remainder of this guide is organized as follows:
Key Terms and Concepts. This part of the guide offers a brief
introduction to. terms and concepts used throughout this guide and in
other CMS documents.
Key Facts and Considerations. This section is a checklist of CMS
fundamentals emphasized throughout the CMS documents. The list is to
be used as a quick reference for the CMS installer or administrator.
A Typical CMS Application. In this part of the guide you'll be
introduced to Bon Voyage Travel, an imaginary travel agency. Bon
Voyage Travel will provide examples of planning concepts throughout the
guide.
Planning Your MERLIN II System: Part One. This part of the guide tells
you how to plan for the inclusion of CMS in your MERLIN II system by
making the appropriate entries on two of the planning forms that come
with the MERLIN II System Planning Guide. If you don't have the planning
guide, you can find the forms and instructions for completing them in
Section 2, "Planning the System, " in the MERLIN II System Installation and
Administration Manual.
Overview 1