We knew SmartVoice was smart. With its ability to shift bandwidth from voice to data and back as needed; its 6.0M of bandwidth; its standard key voice and data features like OneCentral, Fax to Email and Email Hosting; and its many customizable features and add-ons; there was no question that SmartVoice was smart. But it looks like someone gave it a shot of Ginkgo Biloba, because SmartVoice just got smarter.

SmartVoice now features a series of customizable Hunt Group Tools that emulate PBX call distribution functions. And while this type of hunting does not involve crossbows, camouflaged vests or beer drinking (hopefully), it does mean your callers can quickly and easily get what they’re after—you.

So what can SmartVoice’s enhanced brainpower do for you? Well, let’s say an important client has an immediate need and needs to get in touch with your office right away, so she calls the main number. The receptionist has been on the phone for the last hour with tech-support to fix the office copy machine, so she can’t switch over to answer the phone. With a typical phone set-up, your client’s call would go to voicemail and would not be answered and returned until the copy machine was properly collating and stapling. But it might be too late by then, leaving you with an unhappy customer and your broken copy machine.

Let’s try this the smart way. With SmartVoice’s new hunt group capabilities, calls are automatically rerouted to another predetermined number in the office. So if the customer got a busy signal or the phone went unanswered, the call would automatically go to the next predetermined person. What if that second person is also on the phone? Well, SmartVoice can’t be outsmarted—the call would go to the next person on the list. SmartVoice keeps trying extensions until it hunts down an available person to give your customer the service she deserves.

But SmartVoice’s intellectual prowess does not end there. It is extremely flexible and can be customized to your needs. So, if you want to be fair to your employees and give them an equal chance to make a sale...or you want them all to equally share the burden of answering the phone...you can have a central number that automatically directs an incoming call to a predetermined user. The next call that comes in goes to the next user and so on.

Or let’s try it a different way. You have a customer service office and you don’t care who answers the phone—you just want it to be done as quickly as possible so the customer isn’t left waiting. You can have an incoming call ring every user in the hunt group and direct the call to the first person to pick up the phone. Smart, ain’t it?

Let’s kick it up another notch. Users can be part of more than one hunt group. So Bob in Customer Service could be in the hunt groups for Customer Service, Tech Support and Sales. And he would know exactly what type of call he is getting before he answers the phone. The caller ID on his phone would list not only the number that’s calling but also the name of the hunt group that is directing the call. This helps Bob sound smarter when he answers the phone. And who doesn’t like to sound smart?

By now you’re probably thinking...”Wow! All this smartness in a phone system?” To which we say, “Is ‘smartness’ really a word? Probably. And oh yes, all this in a phone service and more!”

In addition to setting up the hunt groups, you can still have direct extensions and voicemails for each of your users. So if someone really wants to get a hold of Sara in Marketing, they can still call her directly without being redirected to the next available user. SmartVoice smartly gives you the flexibility to develop a system that works for your office.