Managing Your Phone Numbers

 Your assistant needs to know the phone numbers where it can reach you. It uses them to transfer calls to you and to identify you when you call.

Service Phone Numbers

This section displays:
  • Phone number(s) to dial to reach your virtual assistant. You can reach your virtual assistant by dialing either the direct number of your virtual assistant service, or your Smart Number DID if you have one, or your company's Virtual Receptionist number. For more on how to call your virtual assistant., click How Do I Call Evatel.
  • Phone number(s) where people can reach you. People can reach you by dialing either your Smart Number DID if you have one, or your company's Virtual Receptionist number. For more information on how people can call you, click How Do People Call Me Through Evatel.

Managing your Phone Numbers

The Phone Numbers page under Settings is where you specify the different phone numbers where you can be reached. These are also the numbers you normally use to call your assistant.

Formatting your Phone Numbers

There are 2 ways of entering phone numbers:
  1. Directly in the Phone Numbers page under Settings
  2. Using the phone properties window by clicking its label (Business, Mobile, Home) or the phone icon .

Phone Type

Select one of the three phone types supported by Evatel:
  • Phone for traditional PSTN phone numbers
  • Extension for PBX Extensions
  • SIP for SIP phone numbers
  • SIP Phone for IP Phones used as Main SIP line for business or home

Phones - Numbers in TAPI Format

Traditional PSTN phone numbers are TAPI formatted as you enter them:
  1. Select the Country/Region to define the country code
  2. Enter the City/Area Code
  3. Enter the Local Number.
The result should look like this: +1 (514) 555 1212 or +33 (1) 4331 1212 or +44 (3456) 6789 are all valid phone numbers (TAPI-compliant).

 

PBX Extensions

PBX Extensions can be used to forward calls directly to your extension if your company's IP-PBX or hosted PBX supports SIP dialing of extensions.  If this is the case, you can specify the Extension without your company's main phone number.

 

SIP Phone Numbers

SIP phone numbers are entered in the standard SIP format as follows:
  • "sip:" as the SIP Prefix
  • Phone Number or User name: telephone number or name of the SIP phone subscriber;
  • The "@" sign
  • Provider Host Name or IP Address: the host name or IP address of the subscriber's SIP Telephony Provider (SIP gateway or Softswitch);
If the IP telephony provider requires authentication, enter your account credentials to be authenticated in the fields below:
  • User Name: Enter your account's user name
  • Password: Enter the account password
As an example, "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." or "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." or "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.") are valid SIP phone numbers for John Smith.

 

SIP Phones

For SIP phones used as the Main SIP Line of a user, you must enter the following information:
  • Physical Extension:  It is the physical extension ID used to reach the SIP Phone directly without going through any call forwarding feature of the switch;
  • Caller ID:  The Caller ID of the SIP phone subscriber (displayed when calling from this SIP Phone)

NOTE: Do not specify SIP phones if they are not registered with your current telephony provider.


From the Phone Numbers page under Settings click on Properties to access the additional settings for your phone number: Login Authentication, Phone Session Startup and Incoming call filtering.

Login Authentication

Specify how you want to be authenticated when you call from each phone number defined in your phones. Here are the options to choose from:
  • Recognize me and log me in automatically (Auto-PIN): Your assistant will not ask you to enter your User ID or PIN when you call from an Auto-PIN phone number. This can be a time-saving convenience because you will automatically be treated as if you had already fully identified yourself.  You should know however that any caller using that phone number will be given immediate access to your account and can listen to your messages, modify your personal settings, etc.
  • Don't answer. Call me back (Call Back): Your assistant will call you back when you call from a "Call Back" phone number. This access method can provide many benefits:
    • More secure access: Call Back blocks access to intruders using your Auto-PIN number as their caller ID.
    • Long Distance Savings: Any long distance call charges will be based on the low rates of your company or service provider
    • More cost effective: No air time charges if your wireless provider charge only for outbound calls
  • Recognize me but ask for my PIN (Auto-ID): Your assistant will not ask you to enter your User IDwhen you call from an Auto-ID phone number. This can be a time-saving convenience because you will only have to enter your PINeach time you call your assistant from that phone.

Note: If you don't set any of the above options for a phone number, your assistant will ask you to enter your User IDand PINwhen you call from this phone number (Public). This is the recommended setting for any phone that may also be used by other subscribers.
 

Phone Session Startup

Select how you want your assistant to start your phone session when you call from this phone number:
  • Play my personal greeting: to be greeted by name each time you call from this phone.
  • Tell me what's new: to have your assistant immediately tell you how many new messages and appointments you have when you call.
  • Start my phone session with: to select the starting menu (Home page) for your phone sessions (Main Menu, Voice Dialer or Dialtone).
    • The Main Menu provides direct access to the main assistant services such as emails, appointments, contacts, call logs, etc. This menu is recommended for phones such as mobile phones used mostly while away from the office.
    • The Voice Dialer menu provides access to your voice directory in speech mode. It enables you to directly speech-dial phone numbers or call contacts and colleagues by name. This menu is recommended for phones used at home or the office (not far from a computer).
    • The Dialtone menu provides access to your voice directory in touchtone mode. It enables you to directly dial phone numbers and extensions. This menu is recommended for your office or home phones if you are a beginner or if you are in a noisy environment.
       

Call Screening

Use this option if you want your assistant to tell you who is calling you (call screening):
  • Check the Tell me Who is Calling option to have the assistant tell you who is on the phone when transferring calls to you. You will then have the option to:
    • take the call,
    • transfer it to a colleague, or
    • reject it and send it to voicemail.

To learn more about the options you have when answering a call with "Call Screening" enabled, go to Call Screening.

  • Uncheck the Tell me Who is Calling option to disable "Call Screening".
     
 

Phone Number Restrictions and Limitations

Note the following restrictions and limitations when specifying your phone number options:
  •  Auto-PIN Duplicates are Not Allowed. Auto-PINnumbers are unique for each user. Evatel does not allow any user to set a phone number as Auto-PINif it already exists as an Auto-PINnumber for another user. In case of conflict, the assistant will report an error with the conflicting User ID (user who uses the same number as Auto-PIN). Conflict situations happen usually if you choose a number that is not unique and personal to you. Mobile phone numbers are more personal, but home numbers may be used by other family members.
  • PBX Extension extensions not allowed in Call Forwarding. Any PBX extension specified at the end of a telephone number is ignored when forwarding calls to you.
  • Call Restrictions Apply for Call Back. You must have the required permissions to receive call backs on  certain toll phone numbers. The assistant will not call you back on a phone number for which you don't have the required permissions.