OnState’s Spring 2009 software release includes a major new component for viewing account information. It also includes the beta release of OnState Mobile for use in cell phones as well as several feature enhancements. Expected release date is May 15, 2009.

NEW FEATURES

• “My Account” link This link allows system administrators to view their OnState account information including the total number of user licenses purchased and configured, along with the amount remaining in their OnState credit balance. OnState credit is required to make or receive public switched network phone (PSTN) calls. For example, calls to a US toll-free number are typically charged at the rate of $US 0.029/minute, whereas calls to or from a US local number are $0.019/minute. Other rates apply for calls to and from other countries. A positive credit must be maintained. If the balance reaches zero, calls to and from the PSTN will no longer be processed. To ensure continuous service, if your credit balance falls below a minimum threshold, an email will be sent to the address configured as the primary administrator of your system. (This is specified under Global Attributes.) Additional information on this screen includes the users licensed for Call Logging, AutoDialer, and Chat. The Account Status screen also includes a link to log into the OnState self-service support portal.

On-Demand Call Center Account Status Screen

• Credit balance display — The account credit balance is recalculated every six hours and whenever someone logs into the Supervisor application or opens the My Account page.

OnState Credit Balance

• OnState Mobile — This new feature allows you to extend the OnState Virtual PBX and On-Demand Call Center capabilities to mobile phone devices. OnState Mobile tracks the business presence of your remote or traveling employees. Staff can now use their mobile phones to participate as part of your call center operation, either directly receiving customer calls, transferring to another employee in the company, or acting as a secondary support resource to your core sales and support teams. This new application is implemented as a PHP server page with a very simple interface designed to work in mobile browsers that do not allow advanced technologies such as AJAX, GWT, or even Javascript.

OnState Mobile running in an Apple iPhone

• Outbound calling with Caller ID in OnState Anywhere. Enables calling from any device (Skype, SIP soft phone, etc) with a unique Caller ID displayed to your customers. To make an outbound call you simply enter the phone number in the text box in the standard international format: +16179340381. Only North American phone numbers with the +1 country code are allowed in this release. Alternatively, you may enter a Skype ID or SIP address. Click Call Now and the device you are using (Skype, Xlite, Gtalk, etc.) will ring. Click Answer or Pick Up to initiate the outbound call. [NOTE: Outbound calling using this option requires OnState credit and will be charged at the standard outbound rate.]

If you are using Internet Explorer and Skype, you can also call other agents in your system or someone in your list of Skype contacts.

Making an outbound call through OnState Anywhere

Making an outbound call through OnState Anywhere using IE and Skype

• Our customers overwhelming choose  to use softphones, but for those of you who prefer a physical phone device, we now support a range of SIP phones including the Polycom SIP phones (models IP-301, IP-501, and IP-601) and the Grandstream SIP phones (models GXP 2000 and GXP 2020).

Polycom SIP Phone

• New icon for outbound AutoDialer calls. For users who are making outbound dialer calls and also answering inbound calls, it can sometimes be confusing to know if you are connecting to an incoming call or an auto-dialed call. The new icon should help to distinguish the two.

Example of an outbound AutoDialer call on OnState Anywhere

Example of an incoming PSTN call answered on OnState Anywhere

• Ability to specify which users will be enabled for Chat, Call Recording, and AutoDialer when subscriptions for these additional services are purchased. Only users who have the check boxes marked will be able to answer chat calls, make outbound AutoDialer calls, or have their calls and chats recorded and sent to an administrator.

• Automatic refresh of the Status page in the Supervisor. Many customers requested this feature so they could better monitor their agents’ activities in real time without manually refreshing the screen.
• Support for all characters in all browsers including Safari. Chat callers using Safari or Opera as their browser noticed that the lower case “t” did not appear when typing to an agent. Now all characters are properly displayed.
• A number of bug fixes in the OnState Reports are included in this release. The Call Details Report now tracks usage charges accurately. Previously, these fields were always null, but they are now live so you can see the charges associated with each call. The summary reports now include outbound calls dialed by an agent. These improvements will give you a more accurate assessment of your call center services as well as your employees’ performance so you can improve you overall customer satisfaction.