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Telephone Services Wants to Hear from Employees About Voice Mail System, Features

Now that most Lab employees have had time to become familiar with the new voice mail system, the Telephone Services Department is looking for additional recommendations on ways to help make using voice mail as easy and convenient as possible.

Replacing the voice mail system has given the Laboratory the opportunity to take advantage of the latest voice mail features and functions available. These include Fax Messaging, Visual Messenger, automatic message saving and the option to skip new messages just to name a few.

"We have already received feedback from users on features they find difficult to use and suggestions on changes to voice mail that they would like to see implemented," said Cheryl Taubenfeld of Telephone Services. "We relied heavily on recommendations from the Lab community when we selected our new voice mail system, which includes numerous advancements in voice mail technology."

On Dec. 17, 1999, Telephone Services completed the switch to the new voice mail system, the Octel Overture 300. Its 15-year-old predecessor, the VMX 5000, was no longer supported by the vendor and was not Y2K compliant.

The Octel Overture 300 was selected after much research and testing. Customer surveys were conducted in 1998 and input was provided by Telephone Services Advisory Committee members. During the 18 months when the old and new voice mail systems ran side by side, Lab employees were able to beta test two new features, Visual Messenger and LiveConnect.

Employees who have questions or complaints about voice mail are encouraged to contact Telephone Services by sending e-mail to tsc@lbl.gov or calling X7997. "Your issues will be addressed promptly on a one-on-one basis," Taubenfeld said.