Switchboard Phone Systems – The Modern Equivalent
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Switchboard phone systems are realistically a defunct term. Yet where organisations have a dedicated telephonist it is not unusual for them to refer to them like this. It all harks back to the golden age of silent movies when exchanged based operators would connect your call for you on an old switchboard with cords. These were actually the central exchange operated by the telephone company and were a distant relative of current phone systems.
When customers were able to be dialling themselves, these big things became obsolete because we all had our own dial to use. But this wasn’t true of businesses as they adopted a smaller variation on the theme of switchboard phone systems. For whatever reason the name, switchboards, seems to have stuck with those of that era.
More recently the switchboard has been replaced by the operator console. Whilst the original variants were hardware orientated consoles they are commonly deployed as a Microsoft Windows application. At least one telecommunications manufacturer has christened their offering as a WOC.
Running the switchboard on phone systems is about appearing professional by being in complete and relaxed control. In this respect, information is king. If you know who’s on to whom it brings efficiencies to a busy firm. On Samsung’s latest OfficeServ phone systems the switchboard software is called OfficeServ-Operator. It will present a screen that instantly shows the status of users. Whether they are engaged, idle or in do not disturb (DND).
When an inbound person is presented it replaces caller ID with their identity. It will display the previous 3 extensions that they have historically gone through to. This enables the answering party to quickly suggest alternatives lest their intended handset be occupied.
Controlling traffic on contemporary switchboard phone systems can be via your PC mouse. Everything is drag and drop today and touch screens are the next step. The price of all this jiggery pokery is minimal because it’s all solid state and highly competitive. Expect to pay not terrifically more than you annual bill if you go online to someone similar to Abbey Telecom.
Switchboard phone systems are realistically a defunct term. Yet where organisations have a dedicated telephonist it is not unusual for them to refer to them like this. It all harks back to the golden age of silent movies when exchanged based operators would connect your call for you on an old switchboard with cords. These were actually the central exchange operated by the telephone company and were a distant relative of current phone systems.
When customers were able to be dialling themselves, these big things became obsolete because we all had our own dial to use. But this wasn’t true of businesses as they adopted a smaller variation on the theme of switchboard phone systems. For whatever reason the name, switchboards, seems to have stuck with those of that era.
More recently the switchboard has been replaced by the operator console. Whilst the original variants were hardware orientated consoles they are commonly deployed as a Microsoft Windows application. At least one telecommunications manufacturer has christened their offering as a WOC.
Running the switchboard on phone systems is about appearing professional by being in complete and relaxed control. In this respect, information is king. If you know who’s on to whom it brings efficiencies to a busy firm. On Samsung’s latest OfficeServ phone systems the switchboard software is called OfficeServ-Operator. It will present a screen that instantly shows the status of users. Whether they are engaged, idle or in do not disturb (DND).
When an inbound person is presented it replaces caller ID with their identity. It will display the previous 3 extensions that they have historically gone through to. This enables the answering party to quickly suggest alternatives lest their intended handset be occupied.
Controlling traffic on contemporary switchboard phone systems can be via your PC mouse. Everything is drag and drop today and touch screens are the next step. The price of all this jiggery pokery is minimal because it’s all solid state and highly competitive. Expect to pay not terrifically more than you annual bill if you go online to someone similar to Abbey Telecom.
About the Author
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Danny S Danny Smith is the author of this article on Switchboard Phone Systems. Find more information on Switchboard Phone Systems here |
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