VSR's Bravo! Deserves a Standing Ovation

March 1999 Issue, Page 42-44

By Richard "Zippy" Grigonis (rgrigonis@computertelephony.com) BraVo!, from Voice Systems Research (Rocklin, CA - 916-624-6300), is an extraordinary little turnkey voicemail system for SOHOs. It's not a PC but a small, stylish, light beige unit loaded with solid-state technology such as flash memory and DSPs. It can be mounted on an office wall or can sit on a desk. This little box, delivered fully assembled, will give a small business the kind of functions and services usually found only on expensive PC systems, such as voicemail, automated attendant, fax detection and multilingual prompts. BraVo can notify you of new messages by dialing your extension, external phone number, pager number or mobile cellular number (if allowed by your system administrator). The standard BraVo model comes with two analog ports (4-pin RJ-14 jacks), supports up to 128 voice mailboxes and it's memory chips can hold an initial two hours and 40 minutes of recording time. The system can be upgraded by adding a two-port expansion card to increase the system to four ports, and you can insert a memory card with two hours and 40 minutes of storage space to increase recording time to five hours and 20 minutes, or you can insert a memory card with five hours and 20 minutes of space to increase total recording time capacity to eight hours. BraVo normally integrates with most types of PBXs through the analog ports - much like any small adjunct CT processor. Each of the unit's 4-pin RJ-14 jacks can support up to two analog phone lines. The first jack connects to Lines 1 and 3, and the second jack connects to Lines 2 and 4. BraVo also provides digital integration to Norstar and Mitel PBXs. Since this little solid-state wonder has no moving parts, installation and maintenance is a no-brainer. The system can be programmed either in-band through touchtones from a handset or a PC via a proprietary Windows-based GUI called the Voicemail Utility Program (VUP). BraVo doesn't process calls when it's in the programming mode. To program with touchtones, you ring in on one of the CT PBX ports, wait until BraVo answers and plays an introductory greeting, enter *900, then enter the system administrator's password (the default password is 1234); you'll hear a confirmation tone. Congrats, you're now in programming mode. To exit programming mode you just enter *900 or, after one minute, BraVo will exit automatically. Using either programming method, as a system manager, you can customize the automated attendant and voicemail apps, configuring options such as: · Valid extension range; · Automated attendant menu prompts and customized "busy," "no answer" and "do not disturb" menus in up to three different languages; and · Voicemail functions, including the number of voice mailboxes, number of distribution lists, and type of new message notification for each mailbox. After configuration, each mailbox owner can then set up his or her own mailbox options. To set up and personalize your voice mailbox, you must first log into the mailbox and record a greeting, name, and new password. To log into your box, you input the voicemail access number (or press a voicemail function key), enter your mailbox number immediately followed by a "9" to identify you as the mailbox owner, then enter your password (the default is "1234"). To finish setting up your personal mailbox, you just follow the voice prompts of the Main User Menu to record your greeting and name, and enter a new password. When you log into your mailbox, BraVo will announce how many new messages you have and then offer the options such as Retrieve Messages (press "1"), Change Password (press "2"), Record Greeting ("3"), Record Name (press "4"), Change Transfer Mode where you can activate the "Do Not Disturb" function that transfers your calls directly to your voice mailbox without ringing your phone extension ("5"), Change Notification ("6"), Change Pager Notification ("7"), Send a Message ("8"), and Return to Main Menu ("9"). When retrieving messages, BraVo will replay your messages and optionally announce the time and date each message was sent. After each message, BraVo will let you Skip the current message (press "1"), replay ("2"), save ("3"), copy ("4"), delete ("8"), or return to the Main Menu ("9"). Depending on the time and system schedules defined by the system administrator, BraVo will answer calls with one of four greetings: day, night, holiday or "break" modes. No, the latter doesn't mean that anything is broken! What it does mean is that your system administrator can program BraVo to answer calls during office breaks. During these break times, BraVo will play your recorded greeting that enables the caller to leave a message in a specific mailbox or in the operator's mailbox. This mode can be used as a back-up to live answer for lunch or other breaks. If a power surge happens to come along and wipe out a BraVo's memory, a backup floppy disk can reload the full configuration back into the system in a few seconds, as opposed to completely reprogramming the system. Unlike systems that use AA or AAA batteries for power backup (which expire after about six months), the BraVo has a special battery sitting right on the system board that supplies enough current to retain all prompts, programming and messages even if you pull the unit off the wall and keep it away from a power source for over a year.