# About Mailboxes

Think of a system mailbox as a post office box where voice messages, instead of written memos, are collected. Company employees become "system users" when they are assigned personal mailboxes.

To "open" their mailboxes, users call the system number, log in (press the star (*) key plus the mailbox number on the telephone keypad), and enter personal passcodes. From NuPoint Receptionist, users press the star key (*) plus the mailbox number, again press the star key (*), and enter their passcodes. In an integrated system, users are taken directly to the passcode prompt.

A range of software tools are available to customize your system.

- After login, the functions that users can choose depend on the classes of service assigned to the mailbox when it was created:

- - Feature bits, grouped into a Feature Class of Service (FCOS), allow users to perform functions or control how the server can be used. One FCOS is assigned to each mailbox.

  - Limits Class of Service (LCOS) control features such as the number and length of messages stored in a mailbox. One LCOS is assigned to each mailbox.

  - Group Class of Service (GCOS) is the group management resource that keeps track of large systems with many groups. GCOS determines which users can send messages or respond to messages from other users. One GCOS is assigned to each mailbox.

  - Network Class of Service (NCOS) controls users’ network access; it is part of the NuPoint Net Digital Network optional feature.

  - Restriction Class of Service (RCOS) is an element of NPA/NXX call screening that restricts mailbox outdials to certain area codes or prefixes within an area code. One RCOS is assigned to each mailbox.

  - Tenant Class of Service (TCOS) is used with the ESMDI "Multi-Tenant" application to govern mailbox interaction between user communities. (See "Creating or Modifying a Tenant COS" in the NuPoint Unified Optional Integrations Guide.)

- Message Waiting Types specify how users are notified of unplayed messages in mailboxes.

- Attendant Extension Numbers are called when assistance is requested by a caller leaving a message in a mailbox or when outside callers request assistance through NuPoint Receptionist. (See Required and Optional Mailbox Information.)

- NuPoint Receptionist processes calls according to individual users’ requests.

- - Treatment Types assigned to mailboxes contain most instructions. (See Treatment Types.)

  - Mailbox Extension Numbers are checked when callers input an extension number; this is the actual number that the system dials; it can be programmed when the "extension" is outside the PBX network (see Programming NuPoint Receptionist to Dial an Outside "Mailbox’s Extension.)

Note: You can configure and manage mailboxes, using either the Text Console or the Web Console (see Related Topics).

### Outside Callers versus System Users

- An "outside caller" dials the system number, enters a mailbox number, listens to the mailbox greeting (or to the prompt, "Please leave a message for <name>"), and then leaves a message.

- A "system user" logs in to his or her own mailbox and uses the make, give, or answer command to leave a message.

### Variable Length Mailbox Numbers

The variable length mailbox number capability allows the server administrator greater flexibility when assigning mailbox numbers. You can configure a dialing plan to allow variable length mailbox numbers. Code a V in the desired digit position in the dialing plan, as described in the NuPoint Voice Application section under “Mailbox Dialing Plan.”

Without this capability, all mailboxes in the same line group that begin with the same digit must be the same length. If, for example, you specify “3” as the mailbox number length for mailboxes beginning with 1, then all 1-series mailboxes must be three digits long: 100, 101, 102-199, etc. This means you have only 100 mailboxes available beginning with 1.

When you specify that mailboxes beginning with a certain digit can be variable length, those mailboxes can be as short as one digit (9), or as long as 11 (99999999999). This allows you over 11 billion different mailboxes beginning with 9! (You cannot, of course, configure 11 billion mailboxes, since that would exceed the storage capacity of the disk.)

Hotel installations can make good use of variable length mailboxes. It is convenient for a guest’s mailbox number, telephone number, and room number to be the same, but this is impossible to achieve with fixed length mailbox numbers and a single line group. To understand why, realize that most hotel dialing plans assign three-digit numbers to rooms on floors one through nine, and four-digit numbers to rooms on floor 10 and above. If the mailbox for room 111 matched the phone number, the mailbox for room 1111 could not.

Variable length mailboxes allow you to keep all mailboxes in a single line group and still assign mailboxes that match room and telephone numbers.

Configuration Considerations

If you configure variable length mailboxes, mailbox owners must modify their interactions in these ways:

- When addressing a message to multiple recipients, they must enter a pound sign (#) after each mailbox number that is variable length, or wait for the server to prompt for the next recipient’s mailbox number.

Note: If mailbox owners enter a pound sign after a mailbox number that is not variable length, the server interprets it to mean that message addressing is complete. This can be confusing to mailbox owners, who find that pressing a pound sign at “the same time” elicits differing prompts. To avoid this confusion, it is recommended that you make either all mailboxes variable length, or none.

After entering the final mailbox number and pound sign, they must do one of the following:

- Enter an additional pound sign to get the “Begin recording . . .” prompt.

- Wait for the “Begin recording . . .” prompt.

### The System Time/Date Stamp for Messages

The system adds the time/date stamp to every message to tell the recipient when the message was recorded.

- If the user plays the message on the same day that it arrives, only the time is given
  (for example: 2:00 p.m.).

- If the user plays the message on a later day within the same week, the day of the week and the time are given (for example: Monday, 2:00 p.m.).

- If the user plays a message more than a week after it was received, the day of the week, the date, and the time are given (for example: Monday, May 22, 2:00 p.m.).

- Managing Mailboxes