Telephoning with Microsoft Outlook

Simple handling of telephone functions with a tool-bar integrated in Microsoft Outlook enables a pop-up window showing customer data every time a caller calls

Clarity, the German voice and computer telephony specialist, has introduced a software which turns Microsoft Outlook into a full-fledged telephony interface. The user simply has to install a plug-in of about 900 kilobytes size that integrates itself as a small toolbar into the Outlook surface.

 

With this bar, all telephone functions such as "Accept Call", "Connect", "Brokering", "Start a Conference", "Divert Call" or "Activate Answering Machine" can be controlled with a mouse-click. In addition, the existing contacts in the Outlook address book can be called directly from the mail client.

In case of incoming calls, if the caller's number is known, a window with the caller’s details pops up. A journal function saves all notes made by the agent during the call together with the contact details. If the customer calls again, these notes are shown together with the contact data so that the whole customer relation history is immediately available to the agent.

The plug-in on the user's computer communicates with the "Clarity Communication Center

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