One of the little known features of Office Communicator is the ability to make consultative transfers. Very often we’ve been asked to include this feature, however it’s already included!
As background, a consultative transfer is a common scenario where before transferring a call to someone you want to contact the person you’re transferring to first to ensure they are able to take the call. Let’s walk through this scenario to show how this is accomplished using Office Communicator.
Marc Boyer, a client of mine, has called me and is inquiring about the project we are working on.
As I don’t have the experience in this specific project, I start a new phone call with Steve Chang from the Contact List, the project manager for this specific project. When I start the new call to Steve, Marc’s call is automatically put on hold.
Steve has indicated that he is free to take the call, so I return to Marc’s conversation window and click on the Transfer Button. The transfer menu automatically includes people I’m currently talking to, so I’m able to select Steve Chang from here.
While the call is transferred I can see the status from both Marc’s and Steve’s conversation window. After the transfer has completed both windows are closed :)
The beautiful part about Office Communicator is that you are not just limited to consulting using a phone call. Next time you want to consult someone before transferring, try using an IM.
As you can see from this simple scenario, the ability to consult with someone before sending a phone call to them can be quite useful in ensuring that the person is available, and has the background required to help the caller.
- Jason Tuck
Program Manager