Overview

What’s really important?

When it comes to choosing a new phone system the traditional techniques for assessing new capital equipment purchases tend to be thrown away. In fact buying a new phone system is very much like buying the company car. Whilst return on investment and maximising returns is important, we instinctively make judgements about brand values, build quality and perhaps seek the opinions of our peers. But when it comes to the crunch, one factor outweighs all others – RELIABILITY. No one wants to get stranded on the motorway or worse, and the same can be said for your phone system.

In business we do not always get a second chance. For most businesses the phone system is their lifeline. It keeps you close to your customers. If your phone system fails how much business might you lose? Despite the web and email, the phone, which we all take for granted, is still for most of us our primary customer contact method.

Can You afford to compromise on reliability?

We take for granted that the phone system works all the time. However the convergence of phone systems with data networks has removed that age-old assumption.

As we start to integrate our phone systems with our data network, what price reliability? Are we prepared to sacrifice the reliability and features of traditional phone systems to secure the genuine benefits presented by the flexibility and cost savings of a converged voice/data network?

NEC, one of top five global communications suppliers, has held back from promoting IP telephony until we could guarantee a solution that does not force phone users to trade off reliability for voice/data integration. We make no apologies at NEC for focussing on reliability. Reliability is after all the one quality we take for granted with any phone system. Once we get that right we can start looking at the value added benefits of the new data convergence architectures.

We know buying a new phone system is now more complex than ever. The decision isn’t easy but we hope this brochure puts into perspective what is important and how NEC can help your business to make the right decision.

NEC Values – Communication Without Compromise

This brochure introduces Aspire, the new communication system from NEC. The design brief was simple – deliver a phone system with the IP convergence required by todays customers, without compromising on the reliability and features our customers have come to expect from NEC.

Simple concept! The Aspire Integrated IP Communication System is the reality. By focussing on reliability first, Aspire will meet the needs of those customers who want the best of both worlds – a full blown IP communication system with the reliability and features of traditional telephony.

What is Aspire?

Aspire is an integrated all in one communication solution offering a full suite of integrated communication and messaging solutions including:

> Wireless DECT	> Automatic Call Distribution
> Voice Messaging	> Contact Centre
> CTI	> Unified Messaging
> Automated Attendant	> DHCP Server
> Enterprise networking	> LINUX/Windows application server

With unique bundled applications such as Aspire MySystem, Aspire is like no other phone system. Aspire also gives you the management tools to improve your phone productivity.

Tight integration with both voice and data resources provides both operational and cost benefits however Aspire can adapt to your existing legacy resources. As befits an open communication platform Aspire open interfaces allow the connection of third party or existing peripheral communication equipment such as voice mail, call logging, video conferencing systems etc. Aspire IP voice switches communicates on a peer-to-peer basis. This minimises bandwidth requirements and eliminates single points of failure.

Full IP functionality brings to Aspire cost effective remote working using TCP/IP, overlaying whatever data transport mechanism your business prefers – leased line, frame relay, ISDN, ADSL or even the internet. With the roll out of ADSL by the major carriers IP networking of remote offices and home workers now becomes an affordable option for many businesses.

mySystem

All IP phone systems deliver the benefits of converged networks and reduced network management costs. So what makes Aspire different from other IP phone systems?

If you can’t measure, you can’t manage!
The phone system is probably one of your
major investments, yet is it value for money?

Very simply - Is my new phone system making my business more efficient? How do I measure phone efficiency? This has always been a problem for businesses. Traditional call loggers monitor phone usage, not how efficiently your business is using the phone.

A call logger may tell you that you lost 20 calls last Thursday. But you need that information when the problem occurs - not when you got round to looking at your call logging report - that’s too late.

Aspire provides you with the management tools to start putting in place phone performance targets – service levels for want of another word.

Aspire MySystem is a unique real time phone monitoring application that instantly identifies problem areas.

“If I can’t measure it - then I can’t manage efficiently.”

Phone usage goes hand in hand with staff costs, your biggest cost. How do I ensure that I am getting the best from my staff and my new phone system?

Use Aspire MySystem!- It’s bundled with every Aspire.

No matter how good your new phone system is, staff are only human. If they were not good at answering the phone before, then what’s goingto change?

With Aspire, the answer is MySystem. MySystem will change your staffs’ perception of the phone system. Put simply, MySystem is ‘Big Brother’ for your phone system. MySystem is not a call logger, it monitors phone use service levels, not just usage. It tells you how good your staff are at using the phone system. It does this in real-time so you can react to problems as they occur.

Taking a very simple example no business likes abandoned calls, yet unless you are monitoring all your staff, all the time, how do you ensure calls are answered efficiently? Aspire has used call centre technology to solve these problems for you.

Aspire MySystem can also display its performance parameters on computer screens so all your staff can see how efficient they and their colleagues are. If you are really brave, you could have a display monitor in your reception area so your customers can also see how good you are!

Aspire MySystem is a unique management tool that allows you to establish and monitor service levels of your phone system. Aspire MySystem software is included with every Aspire and is provided free of charge. Aspire MySystem can work alongside a caller logger. In fact also included is Aspire Call Manager, a powerful call logging application that is free to use for 30 days. MySystem provides you with real-time information on how your phone system is being used. MySystem provides you with answers to the following:

How Many Calls Received
How Many Calls Abandoned
Average Waiting Time per Call
Longest Wait Time
How Many Calls Waiting to be answered
How Many Calls Made
How Many Staff Available to Answer Calls
Conversation Length
How Much Time Spent Talking

You can display this information by company, department, or even by individual staff member. Aspire MySystem is a unique phone management tool providing System Administrators with a new way of monitoring the efficiency of phone system usage. Good customer service ultimately depends on your staff using the available technology to its best effect. MySystem gives you the confidence that your phone system is being used most effectively. By focussing on the level of phone service MySystem is the only application that tells you at a glance how well your business is communicating with your customers and suppliers. Alarms can be activated if preset service levels are not met, giving you the information to react to changing circumstances. If your abandoned calls are increasing because customers are not prepared to wait, then divert waiting calls to other staff. The solution is easier if you know the problem!

Aspire MySystem is a unique management tool that allows you to establish and monitor service levels of your phone system. Aspire MySystem software is included with every Aspire and is provided free of charge. Aspire MySystem can work alongside a caller logger. In fact also included is Aspire Call Manager, a powerful call logging application that is free to use for 30 days.

myPhone

Aspire harnesses the power of your phone and integrates it with your second most-loved office appliance, your PC.

Phone styles and features have stayed relatively unchanged for many years. What is so exciting about Aspire is how it harnesses the power of your phone to your PC applications. Aspire Myphone integrates your phone and PC to make you more productive.

Every Aspire system is supplied with the MyPhone Personal Phone Productivity Manager. The MyPhone browser gives phone users point and click control of their phone preferences and screenpops into MS Outlook. Keeping in touch is made easier – find your contact in MS Outlook, click and you’re dialling automatically!

MyPhone provides convergence at the desktop. We all have PCs, and we all have phones. The Aspire Myphone browser application integrates your most important business tools to make you more productive.

MS Outlook Integration - MyPhone automatically links to Outlook using your contacts to provide point and click out dialling, and screen popping for people calling you. If their details are in your Contacts list then MyPhone will show who is calling before you answer.

Feature Tool Bar - Icon based features put your most used phone features on your PC desktop.

MyPhone Profile Manager - What happens if I get a caller and I’m on the phone or out of the office? Where do you want your calls forwarding to?
MyPhone allows you to get the best out of your phone system.

MyMissed Call Log - This caller said he called five times last week. Keep a record for as long as you like of all calls that you did not answer.

MyCall Log - These are all the calls I have made from this phone. I can see the duration and time of each call.

Deflect - You don’t want to take the call, but you don’t want to dump it in voice mail? Press the MyPhone Deflect button to route the call to nominated colleagues.

Deflect to Voice Mail - VM is so abused nowadays that it’s got a bad name. This feature leaves you I charge. You decide what calls go to voice mail, not the system.

Phone Choice - MyPhone works with any type of phone including DECT handsets and analogue phones.

Use customised BLFs to see co-worker status

MyPhone simplifies feature access, such as setting up your own Call Forwarding profile

Aspire CID Analogue Phone
MyPhone can also be used with low cost analogue phones or DECT phones, providing information that can be dispalyed on shared phones or on PC screen.

Phone Choices

It’s the phone on the desk that interests most users. If it’s difficult to use or learn then that is going to increase user resistance and increase training costs. That’s why with the Aspire phones we have insisted that their look and feel is similar to our traditional systems.

When you see the new Aspire phones, there is the immediate feeling of user friendliness.
> Red/green LED buttons to show you which calls are yours
> Rows of buttons, so you can customise your phone to give one-touch access to the features that you use
> No wasting time scrolling through feature lists or looking for the feature on the display - Press the button, you’re there!

Aspire copes with all user requirements, from the most sophisticated to the most basic. Install IP phones everywhere, if that is your requirement, or if you are on a tight budget but still want the best, then use analogue POTs phones with a display.

All Aspire systems support analogue caller ID allowing low cost POTs phones to display caller information. Transitioning to IP is also simplified as all our 12/24 multi-button phones can take the optional IP adaptor turning any phone into an IP phone.

Aspire Display Phone Highlights

• 12/24 Feature/DSS Button Versions with Red/Green LED
• Headset Connection
• Ten One Touch Speed Dial Buttons
• Voice Control
• Adaptor Modules - IP, USB, Serial Analogue line etc.Integrated Wall bracket
• Handsfree and Shared Listening
• Tilting Display
• Voice Announce and Intercom
• Directory Integration
• Multi-Lingual Displays
• MyPhone Integration
• CTI (TAPI 2.1) Integration
• DSS/Add-on module
• Cream or Black colour options

What do we want our phones to do?Simple – allow us to communicate easily with our colleagues, customers and suppliers. It has got to be simple to use and it’s got to work all the time. “When I pick up the handset I want to hear dial tone – now!”

Starting from these very simple statements - Aspire delivers.

Simple? Then why so many buttons?
Aspire has over 100 features. How many do you use – ten? Customise your Aspire phone and store your most used features under individual buttons. Each Aspire phone has either 12 or 24 soft buttons for storing features.

One touch access - it’s easy!

If you require more soft buttons, say for a small reception area, then use our 24 button Add-On Module.

Aspirephone Adaptors
All Aspire 12/24 multi-button phones can be enhanced by installing optional adaptor modules, increasing their flexibility and reducing your upgrade costs.

IP Modules – Includes two port hub
USB Module – Single USB Port for basic CTI applications
Serial Module – Single RS232 Interface
Analogue POT’s Module - for fax machines, answer machines, etc.
Conversation Record Module - For the connection of analogue recording devices

Each Aspire phone user can configure their own phone profiles. You can customise your phone to suit your own requirements. Aspire has hundreds of feature profile combinations.

Typical Aspire Display Phone Feature Applications include:
Internal Paging via phone speaker.
Missed Call – Redial last ten unanswered calls.
Call Redirect – Don’t want to take the call? Then divert the ringing call to a colleague, or voice mail.
Call Forwarding – six options including No Answer/Dual Ring/VM.
Second Call Indication – On the phone? – See CLI/name of second caller.
Call Pick Up – Answer a colleague / group of colleagues’ phones.
DDI/CLI Name Number Display.
Conference – Up to 32 party.
Call Queuing - Using ISDN, calls can be queued to busy extensions minimising abandoned calls.
DDI Routing – Customise where you want unanswered calls rerouted to, based on the DDI number called.
Divert to External Number.
Trunk to Trunk transfer using ISDN.
Intrude – Interrupt an existing call.
Account Codes – Including verified to ensure calls are allocated to specific account centres.
Call Waiting/Camp On
Music on Hold/Background Music

Operator Options