Amanda Work Group Administrations 7 Xx Instructions Manual

Chapter 1:
Introducing Amanda
What Amanda Does
[email protected]/DOS is an automated attendant and voice processing 
system designed especially for ease of use and flexibility. As a PC-based 
product, Amanda takes advantage of the technical innovations in the 
personal computer market. In addition, Amanda’s standard hardware 
components can be repaired or replaced by any PC service company. The 
computer on which Amanda is installed must be used only for Amanda.
Depending on what lines from your PBX are...

2 Administering [email protected]/DOS
Configured as a secondary attendant: Amanda assists your regular 
operator when call volume is heavy, allowing callers to direct their own calls 
or hold for the operator. Some companies provide specific incoming lines for 
Amanda as a backdoor attendant for calls from vendors, family members, 
friends, and special clients who prefer to have Amanda process their calls.
In this case, the telephone switching system sends incoming calls to Amanda 
only when the regular...

Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 3
How to Use Amanda
[email protected]/DOS can be run as either a voice server or as a 
standalone system, switching back and forth if necessary. In either case, the 
computer on which Amanda is installed must have a DOS operating system 
and be dedicated solely to running Amanda. 
The advantage of running Amanda as a voice server is that you can monitor 
it and adjust how it processes users’ calls from your own workstation rather 
than from the computer on which Amanda is...

4 Administering [email protected]/DOS
NOTE:To set the configuration options client_activation_key and 
n_clients, see Installing [email protected]/DOS. When 
n_clients is 0, you have only one client. This allows you to run 
Amanda Administrator to control Amanda Voice Server.
How Amanda Operates
To users and callers, Amanda is a voice on the telephone guiding them to 
people, services, and messages. However, Amanda’s entire design revolves 
around the mailboxes defined by you, the system administrator....

Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 5
A Mailbox for Each User
Each user of the Amanda system has a mailbox. The Amanda Company 
recommends using the same number as the extension number, but you don’t 
have to—unless you are using digital integration (such as SMDI). Amanda 
dials the extension number to reach a user who has a call. The mailbox 
identifies a record in Amanda’s database. The record contains fields that 
define how Amanda processes each user’s calls. The system administrator 
initially (and...

6 Administering [email protected]/DOS
By default, Amanda starts with mailbox 990, known as the Company 
Greeting mailbox. Amanda plays a very short greeting for that mailbox, 
which is something similar to “Thank you for calling The Amanda 
Company.” 
The Done Chain field, one of the fields associated with mailbox 990, causes 
Amanda to route the call to mailbox 991, known as the Caller Instructions 
mailbox—unless the caller enters the DTMF (touch tone) digits for another 
mailbox, such as Ralph’s 123....

Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 7
The Power of Mailboxes
Amanda makes a distinction between the mailbox and the user’s extension, 
although they are usually the same number. The mailbox is the number for a 
record in Amanda’s database. The extension is what Amanda must dial to 
transfer a call. By making this distinction, Amanda can provide powerful 
features through her Token Programming Language.
All of Amanda’s mailboxes are stored in a single database, so no two users 
can have the same number. For...

8 Administering [email protected]/DOS
Processing a Call
Amanda waits for incoming calls directed to her by your telephone switching 
system. When a call comes to an Amanda telephone port, Amanda goes from 
one mailbox to another as she processes that call. How does she know what 
mailboxes to use?
 As Amanda answers a call, she starts with the mailbox defined for 
use with the port that handles the call. This is usually mailbox 990, 
the Company Greeting mailbox. See “Recording the Company 
Greeting” on...

Chapter 1: Introducing Amanda 9
Call Processing Diagram 

10 Administering [email protected]/DOS
NOTE:If a Done Chain field is not defined, Amanda uses the Done 
Chain field of the Company Greeting mailbox as a default. 
While this default Done Chain can vary from port to port, it usu-
ally is the Done Chain field for mailbox 990 and is initially set 
to mailbox 991 (referred to as the Caller Instructions mailbox). 
Because of this feature, callers who make invalid choices return 
to the Caller Instruction mailbox and hear a menu of choices. 
This keeps them...