The Automated Attendant can automatically answer your Aspire system’s incoming calls, play greeting to the caller, and then announce their dialing options. There are 3 major parts of the Automated Attendant.

• Answering Table
  The Answering Table determines how the Automated Attendant answers outside calls on each line according to the time of the day and day of the week that the call is ringing.
• Call Routing Mailbox
  Associated with each Answering Table, the Call Routing Mailbox provides two announcements to callers: the Welcome Message (which greets callers) and the Instruction Menu (which describes the caller’s dialing options).
• Dial Action Table
  Assigned to the Call Routing Mailbox, provides the dialing options to callers. Each digit a caller can dial can be assigned a specific action (such as transferring to a department).

More Advanced Call Handling Options are Built Right In

• Answer Schedule Override
  Used to provide holiday and bad weather closing enactments, for example, Answer Schedule Override provides alternate answering for Automated Attendant calls. Enable override when you want callers to hear the special announcements; disable override to have the Automated Attendant answer normally.
• Call Announcing
  When an Automated Attendant caller dials your extension, Call Announcing can broadcast their name - giving you the option to discretely accept or reject their call. This is another way to screen your calls prior to answering.
• Call Blocking
  Your extension can be set up to block Automated Attendant callers from reaching your phone. They are sent back to the Automated Attendant instead. It would prevent a caller that has obtained a list of company extensions, for example, from directly dialing your extension through the Automated Attendant.
• Call Park and Page
  Your Automated Attendant can automatically Park call at your extension and then Page with a prerecorded Paging Message announcing your call. You can then use your telephone system's features to pick up the parked call. With Call Park and Page, you won't need an operator or receptionist to manually answer your call, park it, and then try to locate you.
• Call Waiting
  An Automated Attendant caller can wait in line (without hanging up) for you to become free. If you don't want waiting callers to automatically go to your voice mailbox, use Call Waiting instead.
• Caller ID (with Make Call)
  If your system has Caller ID enabled, Make Call lets you listen to a voice message and dial MC to return the call without knowing your caller’s phone number. This is a real time-saver when returning calls.
• Day, Night, and Holiday Greetings
  One of the strong points of the Aspire Mail Automated Attendant is its extensive answer scheduling. The Automated Attendant handle calls according to the schedules you set up. For example, call answering can be different in the day, at night, on weekends, or on holidays. Aspire Mail provides up to 16 schedules, while Aspire Mail DMS gives you up to 50.
• Flexible Answering (Multiple Company Greetings)
  Your Aspire Mail Automated Attendant can answer each outside call with a unique greeting and unique set of dialing options. This allows several companies or departments to share a single Aspire Mail. Callers to each company hear that company’s greeting and can dial options that may be available only to that specific company.
• Individual Line (Trunk) Greetings
  To further customize your routing, you can have specific outside lines answered in a certain way. If you have a DIL for your Sales Department, Aspire Mail can answer each call with a customized Sales Department greeting and set of dialing options.
• Single-Digit Transfer
  With Single-Digit Transfer, your Automated Attendant callers can press a single key to route to one of your co-workers, access another destination, or use a voice mail feature. This simplifies the Automated Attendant since the caller just dials a single digit to reach an extension or use an option.