How to call the WCF service from silverlight application?

Need enhanced alpha-page answering service call center

• Howdy, I'm a mental health professional. I don't have the revenue or the office space to support a secretary. I'm usually unable to answer the telephone, because I need uninterrupted time with patients, but every caller must get excellent service, from a human being when necessary, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. A crummy answering machine or numeric pager just won't do! I've looked at telephone autoattendant systems with PBX, but they are expensive and difficult to maintain. I have a local alpha-page answering service now, but their quality of service is uneven and it's very difficult to modify my outgoing message. Their service is pretty much one-size-fits-all. What I hope to find is an alpha-page answering service (probably national, with an 800 number) that allows me to alter my outgoing messages at will by logging onto a user-friendly web site. The operator would read from the screen I have currently provided via the web site. Ideally, the service would also provide various call handling options (e.g., hold my calls for later retrieval, send my messages to my alpha pager, fax my messages to a number I provide, email my messages to an email address I provide, and so on. Also, patch certain callers through to my cell phone or back line.) Ideally, the service would also offer at least one level of autoattendant (i.e., press 1 if you're a new patient seeking treatment, press 2 if you need directions to the office, press 3 to reach a human being right away, etc.) This would keep my costs down by diverting many calls to a pre-recorded message instead of a more expensive human operator. (I'd be able to alter my menu and pre-recorded messages conveniently, as well.) Ideally, the service might offer the option of automatic switching from one menu and outoing message to another, depending on time of day and day of week. Like I said, all of this would be easily configurable by me, by logging onto my private page on the company's web site. I'm not asking an answering service to develop a web site just for me, to meet my specifications. That would cost thousands, maybe millions. I'm looking for an answering service that was designed from the ground up to operate in the manner I've described. I'm not certain that such an organization exists at all, but it seems likely that at least one does, maybe several. I am a cost-sensitive shopper. I'm willing to pay generously for an answer to my question, but I can't afford to pay a lot of money in long distance fees or a large sum per message. That would really add up over the months! I'm definitely looking for companies that are willing and able to provide the above-described services for a reasonable fee. I don't need research on every detail. On the other hand, I can get a list of hundreds of possible URLs for free on Google. What I am asking for is a pre-screened list of strong-candidate URLs. I'd like the candidate URLs to be close matches of my requirements. They don't need to be exact matches. I'll make the final inquiries myself. Thanks, Timothy Miller, Ph.D.

• Answer:

  Dr. Miller, Thanks for your question. It is obvious that as a professional, the image provided to your patients must not only be professional, but it must also be effective and reliable. You are looking for a lot of features in an answering service that not many companies offer, as you pointed out in your question. In researching your question, I came across several services that offer some of your requirements, but not all of them. The listings below are the few that I think will provide the majority of the services you are looking for. I have taken the information about the respective services directly from their website so that you can "pre-screen" and determine which will best fit your needs. The one feature you mentioned, management through a web interface, doesn't appear to be available. All of the services below, however, are highly customizable and the comapnies will work with you to determine the best fit for your needs. Professional Communications Messaging Service http://www.pcmsi.com/888-776-2661 [email protected] From their website: "FEATURES: 24 - HOUR SERVICE : Our service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call forward your calls to us all the time, after hours, on an as needed basis, when your phone lines are busy, or ring more than a pre-determined amount of times. This insures you always stay in touch with your customers. PERSONALIZED ACCOUNTS: All of your calls are answered in your company name. Once the operator answers your call, all of the information you have supplied to us is shown on the computer screen, telling the operator how you want each call handled, and what actions they are to take. FLEXIBILITY: Our customer service representatives can make changes and update your account as your requirements dictate. OPTIONAL TELEPHONE ANSWERING SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS - PRE OPERATOR ANNOUNCEMENT Customized greeting that is played prior to an operator answering your line indicating office hours, etc. (Screens calls and saves time prior to the operator answering.) Announcements can be based on the time of day and the day of the week. Announcements that give the caller the option to choose which department they wish to be connected to. VOICE MAIL (Unified Messaging) Calls taken by the operator are recorded into a voice mail box. Voice Messages can be sent to an email address and played over the speakers of your personal computer. Voice and Fax Message can be sent to one or multiple email addresses. Callers can call your voice mail and leave a recorded message press 0 and talk to an operator or be routed to an office, home or cellular telephone. Time dependent greetings that change based on the time of the day and day of the week. Gives you the ability to bypass the operator and access your new messages immediately. Will page a pager at pre-set time intervals, to notify you of new messages. If a new message is not picked up, the voice mail will page another pager, or call the operator indicating the message has not been accessed. FAX AND EMAIL MESSAGE DELIVERY Fully computerized faxing and emailing of all messages. Faxes and email can be sent at pre-determined times and days of the week, or immediately after taking a call. Receive hard copies of all of your messages via fax or email. Email to one or multiple addresses. Saves time, by not having to call in to check for messages. ALPHANUMERIC TEXT MESSAGE DELIVERY Detailed messages are sent directly to pagers, cellular phones and various wireless devices, showing the caller's name, phone number, and message. The device carrier can immediately respond or hold the call in the pager memory for later action. Enables the wireless device carrier to be almost anywhere and immediately receive messages from the service. Text Messages are numbered and time stamped in sequence and can be faxed emailed as a backup." The Answer System, Inc. http://www.theanswersystem.com/tas.html [email protected] 800-564 1995 Another service that appears to offer the majority of what you are looking for. Again, no web interface options, however, they have a great variety of services, including various voice mail options that they can combine with their answering services. From their webpage: "Message Management All of the Call Connection/Response services are offered on a United States and Canada basis with the following options: 800 numbers - We will provide an 800 number (or use your number) to cover the United States and Canada. Pre-Screening - By using a voicemail "front-end" to provide the caller with various options, only time sensitive and/or important calls can be selected for operator processing - a money saving feature. You can also collect both routine and urgent messages in one call. Quick Retrieval - Have your messages stored in a voicemail box. You can get them at any time with no delay. Patching of emergency/time sensitive calls - Our operator/technicians will call the designated ("on-call") person and connect the caller directly. Fax your messages at a prearranged time E-mail your messages Nationwide paging. Delivery of messages to residence, mobile phone, office, or voicemail." MessagePlex http://www.messageplex.com/ 1 877 447 7555 Nice combination of voice mail and live answering. Their services are listed on their website with demos, so placing the information here is difficult. They have demos online of their options so I would recommend you visit the site and look the demonstrations. AI Business Services http://www.successfuloffice.com/ They offer some other services that you aren't looking for such as mail forwarding and address services, but they also offer answering services: From their website: "Private Phone Number answered in the manner in which you choose. You will be issued a local NYC number, and a toll free number. The numbers issued to you are exclusively yours. You may use your numbers on business cards, stationery, advertisements, etc. (for as long as you are our client). You will not be charged extra for usage of the toll free number, it is included in your service. Customized Call Answering. We will answer all calls with the greeting that you provide us with. Callers will be given answers to basic questions, and messages will be taken according to your instruction. We will represent ourselves as your full time staff. If you would like different callers to receive different responses, just let us know. You may be in a meeting, with a client, on another call, or we can patch the call directly to you - it's all up to you! Fax Number to be used on advertisements, stationery etc. Or any other way you need it! All faxes will be scanned and emailed to you. Messages will be sent to you at intervals of your choice. You can be notified immediately, hourly, or all at the end of the day. Messages will be sent to you via fax, alpha page to a pager/cell phone, or e-mail. You may also call in for them, or have them all placed in your voicemail box for you to check at your leisure 24 hours a day 7 days a week.... It's all up to you - it's your office! Private and Personalized Voicemail Box. You may access your password protected voicemail box 24/7 from anywhere on earth. You will also have the flexibility to customize and change your voicemail greeting whenever you choose." Thank you for your question. If you need additional clarification, please let me know and I will do my best to meet your needs. If none of the above services meet your needs, please let me know and I will continue to research for additional resources. Regards, -THV Search Strategty: answering services