Premier NEC Voice Support and Maintenance


ProAction Networks is the United Kingdom's leading support vendor for the NEC 2000 IPS business telephone system, the NEC IPS DM branch telephone system, the NEC SV8100 business telephone system and the accompanying Zeacom Communications Centre application server. Based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire and supporting, maintaining and serving 2000 IPS and SV8100 owners, administrators and users worldwide, ProAction Networks provide both ad-hoc support services and 24 hour, 365-day contractual support, warranty and maintenance. ProAction Networks, as a Cisco Certified Organisation with over a decade hands-on experience with the NEC 2000 IPS and SV8100 can also perform complete rebuild, restore and clean installation services for the NEC 2000 IPS, DM, SV8100 and Zeacom Server.


We are a fully accredited Cisco and Microsoft Partner - fully able to help with your Network, Server, Computer, Phone System and Web Presence. We partner with various other business to combine the complete range of business technology services. This includes datacentres for everything cloud-based, service providers for physical connectivity and hardware distributors to bring down costs.


Key Values


  • Collaboration - We believe everyone has something to contribute, no matter what their expertise - and we will try to harness your ideas to help you in the best possible way! Maybe you need just a nudge in the right direction, an entire solution or a little bit of both. We are here to help!
  • Professional Delivery - We strive to bring the best service delivery, from what you would expect from the infrastructure and experience of a large enterprise organisation, but with the personal touch of a small, young enterprise.
  • Innovation - We aim to think out of the box. We help you identify the alternatives, add our best opinion and help you move forward. With a wide array of backgrounds - in internet, business telecommunications, information technology and design - we can throw it all into the pot! When you have been told 'it cannot be done', ProAction Networks can do it!
  • Openness - We will tell you when we don't know, when we are wrong and when we believe we are right.
  • Mutual Dependancy - Hey! We would not be here if it not for happy customers! We like to reflect that in our work and make all our customers feel that could not live without them!

The Right Support Contract For You


ProAction Networks offer 2 types of NEC & Zeacom support contract.


Our 'traditional' contract is similar to that of most telephone companies. It is based on 12% of the original cost of the hardware. This contract is sold in 6-month segments with no minimum term to limit your exposure and assure you, the customer that we are serious about keeping you happy. If we do not perform, you do not have to remain a customer!


Within that 12% annual cost, you get a full warranty on all audited equipment. Should you experience a malfunction or some equipment fails, we will deliver, replace and reprogram - free of charge. We carry all equipment in stock and available immediately.

Alongside the warranty, we provide 24 hour, 365 day-a-year support. Your account manager is your engineer and you will have constant direct access to him or her via email, mobile and support desk.


Alternatively, we offer a Per Seat maintenance contract.


Many NEC 2000 IPS and Zeacom owners invested heavily in their systems many years ago, and in many cases their staff and premises have changed along the way. We do not insist you pay to maintain the 50% of a system which is not in use! You may have a system that is architectually over-powered but is still worth utilising and maintaining. For this reason, we offer this per-seat maintenance contact.


You get to choose which contract is right for you - which may simply be whichever is cheapest

Zeacom Communications Centre for Unified Voice Messaging


Most NEC NEAX 2000 IPS or IVS telephone systems will also have an accompanying application server in some shape or form to add lots of bells and whistles to the entire telephony system. At it's most basic, it may provide a voicemail system or operator console. However, an accompanying application server can scale upwards to include a huge array of services.


The NEC 2000 IPS is regarded by many as a fairly old-school enterprise phone system - and as a result, rather than try to utilise any of the NEC functions for Voicemail, Uniform Call Distribution (UCD) or Computer Integration (CTI), most customers in the UK, and indeed throughout New Zealand, Australia and the USA aquired a Zeacom Communications Center as well.


In the UK there were only really three options if you wanted voicemail for the NEC IPS - that was to either by an AD8 voicemail card, which was essentially a linux-based PC on a card, with a 2.5" hard drive - very unreliable (spinning hard drive without any form of redundancy) and not very management-friendly. Secondly there was the option of NEC or Philips' own voicemail and CTI applications, and lastly you could use the Zeacom.


Zeacom products were originally called Corus (for voicemail) and Q-Master (for call/contact centre) - and somewhere in the middle was CTI and it's associated applications. More recently, Zeacom rebranded their extensive product portfolio as the Zeacom Communication Center (sic) - which encompasses everything they provide in one neat portfolio. The most popular parts that make up any Zeacom installation include Console, Desktop, Voicemail, Reports and Wallboard.


Zeacom applications reside on a seperate Windows-based server and controlled the PBX using an NEC feature called OAI (Open Application Interface) - essentially a closed developer protocol to control the phone system. This OAI protocol could either be sent via RS232 or more commonly via a TCP/IP network. There would also sometimes be analogue connections between the Zeacom server and the PBX to send and recieve voice recordings, although more recently this is done via VoIP.


A Call Center is possibly the 2nd most likely component of an appication server - many providing full multimedia, networked call center solution with comprehensive management, reporting, live statistics, IVR, Auto Attendants, Callback, Web and Chat modules - the list is almost endless.


The OAI interface is probably Zeacom's greatest weapon, as it allows full control and oversight of the phone system - the server can report everything that is going on back to the end user, control devices and fully manage the NEC 2000 IPS live. This enables certain software programs, like Desktop for the standard user and Console for the operator to show a huge array of live information - such as who is at their desks, who is out of the office, who is on the phone, what calls are in the queue, how many people are on hold and so on.


If you have any specific problems with your Zeacom solve which you simply cannot resolve, then please get in touch.


Zeacom Communications Centre for Contact Centre


Most NEC NEAX 2000 IPS or IVS telephone systems will also have an accompanying application server in some shape or form to add lots of bells and whistles to the entire telephony system. At it's most basic, it may provide a voicemail system or operator console. However, an accompanying application server can scale upwards to include a huge array of services.


The NEC 2000 IPS is regarded by many as a fairly old-school enterprise phone system - and as a result, rather than try to utilise any of the NEC functions for Voicemail, Uniform Call Distribution (UCD) or Computer Integration (CTI), most customers in the UK, and indeed throughout New Zealand, Australia and the USA aquired a Zeacom Communications Center as well.


In the UK there were only really three options if you wanted voicemail for the NEC IPS - that was to either by an AD8 voicemail card, which was essentially a linux-based PC on a card, with a 2.5" hard drive - very unreliable (spinning hard drive without any form of redundancy) and not very management-friendly. Secondly there was the option of NEC or Philips' own voicemail and CTI applications, and lastly you could use the Zeacom.


Zeacom products were originally called Corus (for voicemail) and Q-Master (for call/contact centre) - and somewhere in the middle was CTI and it's associated applications. More recently, Zeacom rebranded their extensive product portfolio as the Zeacom Communication Center (sic) - which encompasses everything they provide in one neat portfolio. The most popular parts that make up any Zeacom installation include Console, Desktop, Voicemail, Reports and Wallboard.


Zeacom applications reside on a seperate Windows-based server and controlled the PBX using an NEC feature called OAI (Open Application Interface) - essentially a closed developer protocol to control the phone system. This OAI protocol could either be sent via RS232 or more commonly via a TCP/IP network. There would also sometimes be analogue connections between the Zeacom server and the PBX to send and recieve voice recordings, although more recently this is done via VoIP.


A Call Center is possibly the 2nd most likely component of an appication server - many providing full multimedia, networked call center solution with comprehensive management, reporting, live statistics, IVR, Auto Attendants, Callback, Web and Chat modules - the list is almost endless.


The OAI interface is probably Zeacom's greatest weapon, as it allows full control and oversight of the phone system - the server can report everything that is going on back to the end user, control devices and fully manage the NEC 2000 IPS live. This enables certain software programs, like Desktop for the standard user and Console for the operator to show a huge array of live information - such as who is at their desks, who is out of the office, who is on the phone, what calls are in the queue, how many people are on hold and so on.


If you have any specific problems with your Zeacom solve which you simply cannot resolve, then please get in touch.


The Rich Presence functionality in Zeacom Communications Center (ZCC) provides employees with a bird's eye view of the whereabouts of their colleagues –providing real-time information on staff availability, regardless of their location. Rich Presence is one of five key functionality sets that are part of the ZCC Unified Communications solution. ZCC will enable your organization to become more efficient and productive, by improving communications with customers, colleagues, suppliers and business partners.


Make First-Call Resolution a Reality It's frustrating for your customers if their calls can't be resolved straight away, and they need to leave a message or are informed that somebody will be in touch shortly. But delayed responses affect your organization even more – in terms of double-handling, additional costs and possibly even lost business. So wouldn't it be handy if when a call comes in – and it requires a transfer – it is always re-directed to staff who are actually available, at their desk or on their mobile? Your ability to quickly link a customer to the company 'expert', to close a sales call or resolve an inquiry, can make all the difference between a satisfied customer and a disgruntled one. ZCC Rich Presence makes first-call resolution a reality, not only for external interactions but also for internal calls. It will enable your employees to make direct contact when they call one of their colleagues, every time. Introduce Rich Presence and you'll eliminate voice mail jail, reduce frustrations, and save time across the entire enterprise – whenever a phone call successfully connects to a real person.


Key Benefits


With Rich Presence, you have instant access to information about your colleagues' availability, allowing you to make contact the first time you call. Need to find someone urgently? Presence can tell you where they are, what meeting they are in and when they are due back. If somebody walks away from their desk, their icon will show that they are no longer there. In that case you can be notified immediately upon their return, making voice mail jail a thing of the past.

You'll also find that Presence is an integral part of other key Unified Communications functionality. For example, your console operator or receptionist needs to easily and quickly transfer calls, and will appreciate the fact that their intuitive application is combined with the visibility of everybody's whereabouts.


If knowledge workers wish to organize an ad hoc conference call with colleagues in other parts of the world, they will only click on icons of co-workers who are actually at their desk.


Executives will only need a single phone number to always be contactable. ZCC will transfer calls to the office phone automatically to their mobile, as soon as they're away from their desk. And when they're traveling, they can use Presence to see on the mobile which of their 'buddies' is active at their desk, before they call the office.


Check whether colleagues are at their desk, and see when they are due back.


The entire organization will benefit:


  • Make quicker business decisions
  • Eliminate the frustration of delayed communications
  • Become more responsive through real-time communications and first-call resolution
  • Reduce voice mail jail and avoid wasting time
  • Improve efficiency and productivity
  • Features


  • View the status of all other users within the organization (eg 'In the Office')
  • Show users' availability (eg 'At my Desk')
  • See the subject of users' Calendar appointments (eg 'Weekly Sales Meeting')
  • See the 'Expected Time of Return'
  • See at a glance if someone is on an inbound, outbound, or conference call
  • Request a screenpop return notification, when a user gets off the phone / returns to the desk
  • See if users are online for IM (eg Skype)
  • Dial with a click of the mouse
  • Monitor levels of staff activity through Presence Reporting
  • Cheats, Guides and Quick Tips!

    Archive

    Posts Tagged ‘E Series’

    NEC DTERM Telephones

    November 21st, 2008 alexanders No comments

    The NEC IPS had a variety of handset ranges, each with loads of different terminals, some specific to certain territories, and some making their way across borders mysteriously! All terminals are generally considered very ‘american’ for some reason – chunky but strong and rarely had any inherant design flaws.

    Nearly all handsets had a 2-way full-duplex speakerphone, a range of useful feature keys and a headset jack port. Most terminals sold in the UK were display models, with a set of programmable buttons which lit up when used for certain features. Some people referred to these buttons as ‘jelly keys’ because they looked a bit like clear Jelly!

    Most people in the early days had an E Series handset, which came in white or grey, and was very sturdy – but very square!

    Later, along came the I Series handset, which came in black and silver only. An extra MIC key was added, along with Directory and Phonebook buttons, which rarely were made to do anything useful.

    For more information on the NEC handset ranges, click here!