Voice Mail for Faculty/Staff
Voice mail is used in nearly every environment at Stanford, from enhanced multi-mailbox systems serving large clinics and academic departments to temporary private mailboxes for conference attendees. Information Technology Services (IT Services) has developed Stanford's voice mail services far beyond message-taking — especially in administrative and clinical environments. The department has designed and now supports more than 200 Enhanced Call Processing applications (message/routing trees) that overlay the daily maintenance of a 17,000-mailbox system.
Mailbox Types Available to Faculty and Staff
Standard Mailbox — The standard voice mailbox is appropriate where messages only need to be received for one telephone number. Standard mailboxes have the following parameters:
- store up to 25 messages at any one time
- the personal greeting may be up to 1 minute in length
- each received message can be up to 3 minutes in length
- archived messages are automatically deleted after 24 days
- create up to 15 group distribution lists of up to 25 mailboxes each
Standard Mailbox with Associated Transfer Mailboxes — Transfer mailboxes are necessary where messages need to be received for more than one telephone number. Standard mailboxes with associated transfer mailboxes have the same parameters as standard mailboxes without associated transfer mailboxes.
Expanded Mailbox — The expanded voice mailbox features a larger storage capacity than the standard mailbox, can accommodate any number of transfer mailboxes, and, for Medical Center users, supports out-call notification to pager (i.e., you must have an expanded mailbox in order to use out-call-notification to pager and return for assistance for a local off campus number). Expanded mailboxes have the following parameters:
- store a total of 100 messages
- the personal greeting can be up to 5 minutes in length
- each received message can be up to 5 minutes in length
- archived messages are automatically deleted after 24 days
- create up to 15 group distribution lists of up to 25 mailboxes each
Listen Only Mailbox — Listen Only mailboxes are used to provide information to callers but do not allow them to leave a message as in a standard mailbox. Listen Only mailboxes can include routine/repetitive information that departments may want to provide their clients, such as:
- driving and parking directions
- hours of operation
- event or special program information
- updates on activities where a single recorded announcement can replace a live conversation with department staff
Listen Only mailboxes are typically used in specialized applications such Automated Call Distribution (ACD) and Caller Menu / Phone Trees also known as Enhanced Call Processing (ECP) applications.
To inquire about using Listen Only mailboxes have your authorized Department IT Contact call the IT Services Help Desk at 5-HELP (5-4357) and request that a Consulting Referral be opened for a Service Consultant to contact you.
