Acuity s Unified Communications Platform Unified Communications represents the evolution of telephony, in which companies have integrated the traditional desk phone with other business communication tools including presence, video conferencing, conferencing, instant messaging, mobile and much more. Social, mobile and cloud technologies have changed end user expectations and forced businesses to reassess their communications strategies; largely forcing the move away from traditional telephony methods. Having engineered and built its own advanced cloud based hosted PBX platform; Acuity Unified Communications now offers users a truly end to end experience. Specialising in the complete amalgamation of all business communication tools, including the integration of the mobile with the desk phone; Acuity is helping businesses increase productivity, improve profitability and cut costs. Acuity will help your business design, install and maintain a communications solution that takes into consideration not only your office locations - whether national or international, but all business requirements, budget constraints and nice-to-haves.
Acuity s Unified Communications Platform Service Benefits
Cost Control and Measurable Cost Savings per user pricing and free calls between users and sites allows your business to control its costs and benefit from immediate savings. Scalable and flexible Communications Add or remove users easily as your business changes or evolves; excess technology headroom is a thing of the past, helping you to manage your costs more efficiently and save money when required. Peace of Mind should the unexpected happen Calls can easily be re-routed to other numbers including mobiles, home-workers or other offices in the event of an emergency or disaster, helping you maintain business continuity. Never miss a call again Our Follow-Me feature means your calls will follow you even when out of the office. No more missing important calls!
Easy Administration with Minimal effort and reduction of costs Acuity manages the system, so you don t have to. No-longer is there a business need for specially trained or dedicated staff for your telephony system. Free Acuity Support allows you to get on with your business and let us worry about your telephones. All moves and changes are done by simply calling the Acuity Support help line or using our online request page via our website. Handset Flexibility You can utilise our service across a number of devices including: high quality Cisco handsets, cordless IP DECT handsets, iphone, Android, Symbian and Blackberry, softphones on MACs, PCs or Tablets. NE W Future Proofing As the Service is provided on a rental model; you no longer have the up-front capital costs of purchasing a product that will become expensive to upgrade or obsolete. Acuity s systems only run the latest software versions, keeping our Unified Communications Platform (UCP) continuously up-to-date; this ensures you re always running the latest technology without paying the hefty price tag for constant upgrades. Bespoke Design We recognise that the pre-set traditional PBX mould can be uncooperative; we pride ourselves on designing the most suitable solution for your business, however complicated or unusual.
Business change & Platform flexibility Customers can change how the platform is configured to meet their ever changing needs. You won t be stuck with a system that was designed a couple of years earlier and costs a fortune to change. Simply call Acuity Support and we will work with you to re-design your configuration to match your new requirements. Line Savings You no longer require traditional telephony connections as the UCP works over quality Internet connections meaning no more phone line bills. This also carries the added benefit of reducing complexity and the administration of managing multiple lines and data circuits coming into your building. Easy budgeting Pricing is based on a per user basis so as new employees start, you can easily calculate what the additional support costs for that user are; no sudden large capital outlays, simply an increase in the monthly rental. Acuity Support Acuity has dedicated In-house and external engineering staff that can support your request by remote or on-site attendance. Acuity Support is there to help you manage your communications by responding to you in a timely fashion allowing you to focus on your business. Acuity Support is highly regarded by Acuity customers who are already realising the business benefits offered by the service including peace of mind knowing that experts are on hand for any moves, changes or simply some consultative advice.
A typical Acuity Unified Communications Platform customer solution Mobile (iphone, Android, Blackberry & Windows User) IP Acuity Mobile User PDA User ipad User Overseas User SoftPhone IP IP IP Home Worker Home Worker ADSL Leased Circuits Midlands DC Acuity UC Platform London DC Multiple ADSL s ADSL or Leased Circuits VMware Resilient VMware Call Centre Failover Office ADSL or Leased Circuits ADSL or Leased Circuits Office ADSL or Leased Circuits ADSL or Leased Circuits Office Office Office Office
Acuity s Unified Communications Platform Main Features
Fixed to Mobile Convergence With the latest integrated technology, Acuity s mobile offering can now also be offered as standard; meaning all mobile devices and IP Softphones (PC/laptop based phones) can be connected to the platform, communicating in the same way as the supplied Cisco handsets. This works by assigning the user s landline telephone number to his/her mobile number and/or Softphone; removing the need for multiple contact numbers. Whether they are in the office or out at a meeting, all phones will ring simultaneously. With a single number, getting hold of someone in your business was never so easy! Making national and international calls is also as simple; internal extensions or external numbers dialled from the mobile are treated by the PBX as if the individual were making a call from their Cisco handset. The Acuity Mobile application can be downloaded from the Apple itunes Store or the Google Play store to provide true unified communications. Email integration Integration with email allows users to dial directly from Outlook, whilst also enabling the retrieval of voicemails in an e-mail format. Whether out of the office or out of the country, voicemails will automatically be sent to the users e-mail account in the form of a.wav file. Voicemails are retrievable from any one of your connected devices be it your mobile or desk phone.
CRM Integration The Acuity UCP integrates with most major CRM software vendors using an industry standard TAPI interface. This helps enable simple click to dial direct from the contact details on the CRM system through the platform, saving you time to connect to your important customers and suppliers. Bespoke Call Centre Integration The platform also provides bespoke solutions for Call Centres both inbound and outbound focussed. The Acuity UCP can integrate with Acuity s Call Centre dialling solutions which include both Predictive and Power dialling modes. The Acuity UCP integrates with the Acuity Call Centre Solution to also provide customers with high levels of quality reporting.
Telephony Features Acuity Unified Communications is a leading provider of next generation unified communications solutions, enabling business s to improve communications, implement business continuity, integrate the mobile to the desk phone and all whilst reducing costs. Whether it s a telecommunications solution, mobile phone integration with the desk phone providing one number for both devices, super fast access to the Internet or simply trying to implement a disaster recovery strategy, call Acuity Unified Communications now for a free consultation.
Summary List of features and services available on the Acuity Unified Communications platform Account Codes Anonymous Call Rejection Authorization Codes Auto Attendant Automatic Hold/Retrieve Call Centres Call Control Call Forwarding Always/Busy/No Answer/Not Reachable Call Forwarding Selective Call Forwarding Remote Access Call Forwarding Ring Splash Call Forwarding When Not Reachable Call History/Logs Call Hold Call Notify Call Pickup Call Return Call Trace Call Transfer Call Waiting Calling Line ID Blocking and Override Calling Line ID Delivery Cancel Call Waiting per Call Click-to-Dial Directories Click-to-Call (Website/Email/Outlook) Conferencing
Connected Line Presentation Consultation Hold Custom Ring back Directed Call Pickup w/barge-in Distinctive/Priority Alerting Do Not Disturb Extension Dialling Fax 2 email Hunt Groups International Calls from Mobile Last Number Redial Loudspeaker Paging Music on Hold Screen Pops Selective Call Acceptance Selective Call Rejection Sequential Ring Shared Call Appearances Simultaneous Ring Speed Dial Speed Dial 8 & Speed Dial 100 Three-Way Calling Three-Way, N-Way Calling Two-stage Dialling Voice mail Voice Portal Calling Outlook Integration
Advanced Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Features An enhanced version of the Auto Attendant feature, allows callers to interact with the platform by answering pre-defined questions. Once answered the system then routes the caller to further more defined questions relating specifically to the previous answers. This multi-level service provides significant cost reductions to customer service departments. Even complex IVR s can appear simple using a wide range of predefined actions. Our highly qualified Support Team will help you build an IVR which will engage your callers and improve your productivity. Authorisation to Reach Extension This privacy function allows you to restrict who and what can be delivered to your extension. If you want to restrict your list of acceptable callers to avoid unwanted calls, Authorisation to Reach is the perfect solution. Auto Attendant Create voice menus with multiple options and actions, including the ability to navigate directly to your chosen extension number. In today s modern world this is a key feature of any business offering a consistent professional response to inbound calls, intelligent call routing and an automated receptionist; reducing head count costs for the business. Business Continuity The UCP is dual-hosted in two geographically dispersed data centres, offering protection against site, building, or network outages. Calls can be re-routed to another office, home workers or mobiles in the event of an emergency, ensuring your business continuity is maintained. Some insurance companies are now charging large premiums if you do not have a disaster recovery policy in place; Acuity s platform can provide customers with a disaster recovery strategy.
Call Cascading Make sure your calls are always picked up with this feature that automatically cascades calls to additional extensions after a fixed period of time. Vital if you have an inbound telesales team where every call is potentially revenue generating. Call Centre The Call Centre module will make inbound and outbound calling campaigns much easier to administer and use; allowing fluid interaction between agents and customers. The module includes a predictive dialler that handles the automatic calling of target numbers. It also includes two major web based agent consoles, a call management interface and a built-in call scripting package. Call Forwarding When you re not at your desk be sure not to miss that important call. Forward calls to another extension or even to your mobile phone. This feature can be configured based on parameters; for example, before 9:00am the phones can automatically be diverted to mobiles or to voicemail and at weekends the phones can be set to ring an on-call person at home or another office. This can be completed on individual extensions/groups or company wide. Call Logging The Acuity UCP keeps a record of all calls both in and out over the platform. Where required the call logs of these calls can be provided to give customers access to raw call data for analysis.
Calling Line Identity Standard caller display; this can be greatly enhanced by uploading a contact list of your clients/suppliers and staff. When they call in, their company name is displayed so that you can provide a more personal and professional way to answer the call and greet them. Call Pickup Pick up calls ringing at other extensions. For example, a secretary can answer another employee phone without leaving her desk. Call Parking Calls can be parked in a private lot and picked up according to the parking lot preferences. If an important call comes in for a user who s away from their desk, or in a different office, they can be paged and advised which line to pick-up. Call Queues Call queues when used with the Acuity Call Centre Solution can allow multiple calls to be answered by the system. The system can then distribute these calls to agents using sophisticated algorithms. Used by sales, customer service or support departments, they improve customer satisfaction and reduce call handling times.
Call Recording Record important calls as part of customer satisfaction improvement programs or abuse prevention. Call recording can be event driven. This is where a call might turn difficult and the member of staff wants to record the rest of the conversation. Alternatively, full call recording can be set as the default ensuring all in and out bound calls get recorded at an individual, department or company level. Call recording is also available on the Acuity Mobile service which can be downloaded from the itunes and Google Play stores. The Acuity Mobile Service can provide mobile call recording for both inbound and outbound calls. Call Screening Our call screening feature is particularly useful for call centres that want to filter calls by originating location. Banks, insurance companies, or even small businesses can use call screening in order to ensure the inbound caller gets answered by the correct department or office location. Call Transfers Calls can be transferred between the extensions of the UCP wherever those extensions are located. Calls can also be transferred internationally or to non UCP numbers. Click-to-call Click on a contact in your Outlook and pick up your telephone handset and the call will be connected automatically.
Conferences Calls Share information and ideas quickly and easily. Enable virtual meetings with your customers, partners or co-workers next door or overseas. Hold conference calls with up to 30 attendees using the UCP. Customer Preference Ring Tones Distinguish between call types by setting different ring tones for different types of calls; internal, external, manager or direct reports. Do Not Disturb If you are in a meeting or have a heavy work schedule, you can activate this to stop all calls interrupting what you are doing. This feature can be activated and deactivated from either an Acuity UCP handset, softphone or Mobile device with the Acuity Mobile Application installed. Dedicated Voicemail Number We can set up a special phone number that employees can call from a public number in order to check their voicemail messages. A fast and affordable yet centralised access to voicemail from a public phone.
Device & User Mode This allows multiple devices to share the same extension number e.g. a manager can have the same extension number in two offices. Both phones will also receive intercom calls and both will show a voicemail message. Users can log into any handset, allowing a single handset to have multiple users throughout the day. Fax2eMail / email2fax Have your fax messages arrive in your email inbox as a PDF file or even a group of inboxes. Fax2Email will also send your faxes to your mobile device as an attachment. If you need to send an important document by fax, just send from your email system. No need to waste paper and time by having to print it off first and then put it in a fax machine to send it. FindMe-FollowMe Find me and follow me are two call forwarding services that are commonly used in conjunction with each other. Find me service allows the user to receive calls at any location; follow me service allows the user to be reached at any of several phone numbers. The feature is used with the Acuity Mobile Application and allows you to receive calls wherever you are. Free Calls Calls between extensions whether on the main site, remote sites or between home workers are free of charge which can significantly reduce your communications costs.
Instant Messaging (IM) Connect instantly with the Acuity Instant Messaging application software that loads to your PC, and start an IM session with a colleague for quick responses to questions. As more engagement is needed on a subject, invite multiple parties to join in on the same conversation. The IM session is recorded for future reference. Intercom Paging This feature is highly customisable, allowing an extension to broadcast messages to groups or to particular extensions, or even connect to an external PA system. International Calls via the platform from the Mobile Use the Acuity Unified Communications Platform in association with the Acuity Mobile Caller application to handle international calls from your mobile, and get the benefit of Acuity international land line call charges and not mobile international call charges, significantly reducing your mobile call costs. Introduction Play an introduction message as calls come in. This ensures that all incoming calls are answered in the same professional way, giving a professional image of your company from the start. This can be recorded by yourselves and sent to us to upload or we can recommend specialist companies to do this on your behalf. You can have many messages pre-recorded and changed to suit the seasons, holidays etc. You can even have the system set-up to change the welcome message depending on the time of day/day of week the call arrives.
Presence Presence is an invaluable tool that at a glance shows you who s available, who s not and who s on a call. It works on a simple traffic light principle. Red out: in a meeting or on the phone. Amber not currently at my desk (if you haven t moved your computer mouse for a predetermined length of time), and Green I am available to take calls. Presence allows the user to see who is available before calling them. You can set your presence status to be available, busy or use bespoke presence like (Back at 14:00) allowing other users to see if you are available or when you will become available. Mobile Integration (when used with the Acuity Mobile application) The Acuity Mobile application is designed for mobile phones (Android, iphone, Symbian and Blackberry all version dependent), and enables the mobile device to become a seamless extension of the phone system. It allows the user to make calls in a flexible, and above all, more cost-effective manner. It also makes it easy to manage PBX functions, e.g. call diversions, directly from a mobile phone. Flexible mobile working allows remote employees to have a single virtual number and appear as if they were sitting at their desk,whether they are at home, or even in an airport. The Acuity Mobile application uses call-back and call-through technology via the Acuity Unified Communications Platform and the mobile cellular networks and provides Acuity landline pricing for mobile calls, significantly reducing mobile call costs. Multiple Numbers non-geographic and Freecall numbers Be everywhere and anywhere with numbers that enables your company to appear larger and more professional than the competition. Have a Manchester number in London. We can provide telephone numbers for all UK geographic regions and for most cities around the world.
Music on Hold Management Music on hold playlists can be easily organised and customised. The music on hold feature can be responsible for the customer mood after several minutes of waiting on the phone. You can choose from a range of PRS licensed or PRS licence free music. If you prefer, you can even play your own information or sales messages. Number Portability This is the ability to change providers but still keep your telephone number(s). Acuity will work with your current provider to seamlessly move the number(s) across to your new Acuity UCP service. If you then move offices and go out of area, these numbers will move with you no matter where you go. Receptionist Console The reception module which is loaded to a PC allows your receptionist to screen inbound calls and easily drag and drop the call to the intended user extension or their voicemail. SOAP API Interface Interacting with third-party applications is possible using an opened SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). Management level and the PBX features can be controlled from a remote application, making integration easier.
Time Intervals Management Optimise call costs by choosing the best route according to the defined time intervals. You can schedule events that must happen at a certain time of day, for example, automatically redirects to voicemail or to mobiles at a given time. Video Calling The idea is to empower conferences by taking them to a higher level of functionality; giving the user an experience as close as possible to a traditional, real-life meeting. Companies using UCP can cut costs related to setting up face to face meetings as well as avoid the payment of commercial virtual conferencing services. A webcam and microphone is required on the user s pc. The Video Calling service can have up to 8 participants all receiving video images of the other conference members. Additional charges may be incurred with this service. Web Confrecening Using the Acuity Web Conference Service allows users to set up audio conference with attendees viewing a web page where conference detail (documents) can be uploaded for all to see. The service can handle hundreds of attendees simultaneously. The service also records the audio element of the conference for future download.
Voicemail Never miss important messages when you re out of the office! The voicemail feature answers calls after a certain amount of time and records the caller s message. The message will be sent to your email address and mobile email account (where available). Voicemail to E-mail All messages are converted to email and sent to your email account. Whether at your desk or on your mobile simply click the email and listen to the voicemail. If required, voicemail as an email attachment can be sent to more than one individual, allowing multiple users to cover for colleagues on lunch, days off or annual leave.
High Level view of Network Connectivity UK mobile IP Telephony (VoIP) 3G Public Switched Telephone Network Overseas Mobile Apps GSM Communications Platform Via IP Connection Via IP Connection Wireless IP Mobile ipad Laptop Call Centre Office Office Warehouse Home User Home user Mobile Workers
Sales Team To discuss your business communication requirements please call our sales team from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. T: 0800 130 3020 (free from landlines) T: 0333 344 3030 (low cost from mobiles) F: 0333 344 3020 E: sales@acuityuc.com Customer Services For all non-sales enquiries call our Customer Services team from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. T: 0333 344 3010 F: 0333 344 3020 E: support@acuityuc.com www.acuityuc.com Acuity Unified Communications Ltd, 2nd Floor, Quadrant House, 31-65 Croydon Rd, Caterham, CR3 6PB Disclaimer All information, diagrams, text and images are the copyright of Acuity Unified Communications Limited and all rights are reserved. No part of this brochure may be reproduced without the prior written consent of Acuity Unified Communications Limited. Acuity UC and Acuity Unified and Acuity Unified Communications are all Trademarks and Trading Names and Styles of Acuity Unified Communications Limited and cannot be reproduced without the express permission of Acuity Unified Communications Limited. Acuity Unified Communications Limited has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this brochure which is provided in good faith. However there is no guarantee it will remain accurate and is subject to change without notice. All content including diagrams, text, descriptions and other information within this brochure are intended to be as accurate as possible but are given for general information only. Acuity Unified Communications Limited cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage which may occur from use of any information within this brochure. Acuity Unified Communications Limited shall have no liability for any loss arising from reliance by you upon the information within this brochure. No guarantee or warranty and no liability can be accepted for errors contained within this brochure. No statement or information within this brochure forms part of any contract between you the customer and Acuity Unified Communications Limited.
FUTURE VISION DELIVERED TODAY