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Making
Calls
Overview
To make calls,
sign in as an operator, manager, or owner, and open the Shopfront page.
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The status of the booths is
displayed in the left pane. The colour of the booth number button
indicates the status of the booth. Click the Legend link in the bottom
left corner of the Shopfront page to display the status legend.
Clicking the
booth number button opens the booth details in the right pane. The booth
is activated and deactivated from this pane. At the end of the
call, the call details are displayed, and a receipt may be printed.
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Operator's
procedure
With
PIN
In the
operation with PIN, the customer must give a deposit and must dial a PIN before
dialing the destination number. The customer's calling time is limited by the
deposit amount.
The procedure
for serving a new customer is as follows:
In the left
pane, click the booth number button of an idle booth.
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In the booth details in the
right pane, enter the deposit received from the customer.
Click the Activate button.
This creates a new random PIN.
If desired, click the Print Ticket button to print
the booth number and PIN to give to the customer. Or just tell the
customer the booth number and PIN.
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Watch the
progress of the call in the left pane.
After the booth
is activated, the booth status changes to Activated.
After the
customer dials the PIN, the booth status changes to Online. The Return
Code (RC) is 0 if the PIN is valid or 1 if the PIN is invalid.
After the
customer dials the destination number, the booth status displays the
destination number and the time the destination number was accepted. The Return
Code (RC) is 0 if the destination number is valid or 9 if the destination
number is invalid (has no rate).
When the call
ends, the booth status changes to Over. The booth status displays the
destination number, start (answer) time of the call, and the duration.
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Open the booth details (click
the booth number button in the left pane) to see the charge of the call and the
refund (if any) of the unused money.
Give the customer the unused
money, and if desired, click the Print Invoice button to print a receipt for
the customer.
Set the booth to Idle state by
clicking the Free button. Then the PIN of that booth cannot be used
anymore.
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Other operations
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The PIN must be used at the
assigned booth only. If the booth and PIN have already been assigned but
the customer wants to use a different booth, you can transfer the PIN from the
original booth. Open the booth details of the new booth (click the booth
number button in the left pane) and in the Transfer from another Booth field,
select the old booth number, and click Transfer.
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To disable a booth, click the
Disable button in the booth details. This makes the booth unable to be
set to Activated status.
Without
PIN
In the operation without PIN, the
customer may give a deposit or not and does not dial a PIN before dialing the
destination number. The customer's calling time is limited by the deposit
amount if given; otherwise it is limited by the initial balance set in the Call
Shop Setup page.
To have better control over the
booths, it is recommended to disable the booths when they are not in use. No
calls may be made from disabled booths. To disable a booth: In the left pane,
click the booth number button of an idle booth. In the booth details in the
right pane, click the Disable button.
The procedure for serving a new
customer is as follows:
In the left pane, click the booth
number button of a disabled booth.
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In the booth details in the
right pane, click the Enable button.
If the customer gives a deposit,
enter the deposit in the Deposit field, and click the Start Service button. The
Start Service button changes the Service Start Time (for the service log) and
sets the deposit if the customer gives a deposit (the initial balance will be
set as the value of the deposit). If the customer does not give a deposit, do
not do anything in the right pane.
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Tell the customer which booth to
use.
Watch the progress of the call in
the left pane.
After the
customer dials the destination number, the booth status changes to
Online. The Return Code (RC) is 0 if the call is allowed or 1 if the call
is disallowed. (You might not see this, depending on the screen refresh
rate, because the status changes very quickly.)
Next the booth
status displays the destination number and the time the destination number was
accepted. The Return Code (RC) is 0 if the destination number is valid or 9 if
the destination number is invalid (has no rate).
When the call
ends, the booth status changes to Over. The booth status displays the
destination number, start (answer) time of the call, and the duration.
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Open the booth details (click
the booth number button in the left pane) to see the charge of the call and the
refund of the unused deposit (if any).
Give the customer the unused
money, and if desired, click the Print Invoice button to print a receipt for
the customer.
Set the booth to Idle state by
clicking the Reset button and disable the booth by clicking the Disable button.
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The Reset
button sets the booth to idle status, moves the booth's CDRs to the logs,
resets the initial balance of the booth to the default value (the value set in
the Call Shop Setup page), and sets the Service Start Time to the Service End
Time of the previous service; this makes the booth ready for another customer.
If the customer
does not give a deposit, and since the Service Start Time is not an important
time stamp, you do not need to use the Start Service button. Just click the
Reset button when the customer is finished calling, and this will make the
booth ready for the next customer.
Note: The
duration in the status message in the left pane is the real duration of the
call. The duration in the call record in the booth details in the right pane is
the real duration rounded up to the next full increment. This is why the two
durations often will not match.
Other
operations
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If you want
to allow customers go directly to a booth and start calling (without going to
the operator first), leave the booths always enabled. Do not disable the booth
when the customer is finished, and you will not need to enable it when a new
customer comes in.
Rates
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The Toolbox may be used to find
the rate for a particular destination. The Toolbox may be accessed from the
bottom of the left pane.
Enter the destination number or the country code or the country code + city
code in the By Phone Number or Area Code field and click Go. Or
select the country in the By Destination Country field and the city in
the Select Destination Area field and click Go. This displays the
following the rate fields:
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Initial Increment - This is the
initial increment in seconds of the call duration, which means that it is the
minimum call duration.
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Initial Amount – This is the charge for the entire
initial increment. For example, if the initial increment is 2 minutes, and if
the charge for the first 2 minutes is $1.00 per minute, the initial amount must
be 2.00.
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Additional Increment - This is the additional
(subsequent) increments in seconds. The duration of the call is rounded up to
the next increment and is calculated as [initial increment] + (n x [additional
increment]), where n is a whole number greater than or equal to zero. For
example, if you set the initial increment to 60 seconds and the subsequent
increment to 15 seconds, a call of 61 seconds would be considered to have a
call duration of 1 minute and 15 seconds.
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Additional Rate per Minute – This is the charge per
minute after the initial increment has elapsed.
The Toolbox may
be used to calculate the deposit required for a given call duration and
calculate the maximum duration available for a given deposit amount. First
ensure that there is a rate (either type the rate parameters in the rate fields
or enter/select a destination for the Rate Finder to look up). Enter the
deposit in the By Deposit field and click Get Max. Time to get the
maximum available call duration. Or enter the call duration in the By Max.
Time field and click Get Deposit to get the required deposit amount.
The View Rates
page displays all the rates. The View Rates page may be accessed either
from the main menu or from the Rate List link in the Toolbox.
Operators and
managers may see only the rate table of the call shop where they work. Owners
may see the rate tables of all their call shops and may select the call shop
in the Select a Call Shop field and click Go.
All the rates
of the selected call shop are displayed by default. To display the rates of
only one country, select the country in the Search by Country field
and click Go. To display the rates of a particular country code or country code
+ city code or complete telephone number, enter it in the Search by Phone
Number or Area Code field and click Go. To display the rates of all
the countries whose name begins with a particular letter of the alphabet, click
that letter.
Customer's
calling procedure
With
PIN
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Give a deposit to the operator and
get a booth assignment and PIN from the operator.
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Go to the assigned booth and take the telephone
off-hook
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Hear a prompt for language selection, such as "For
English, press 1. Francais, appuyez sur le 2. ...".
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Dial the language option.
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Hear "Please enter your card number" in the selected
language.
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Dial the PIN.
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Hear "You have x dollars. Please enter your
destination number followed by the pound key."
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Dial the destination number in any of these formats
011 + country code + city code + local number
00 + country code + city code + local number
country code + city code + local number
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Hear "You have x minutes," which is the maximum
duration of the call based on the deposit amount and the rate for the
destination number.
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Have a conversation.
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Make another call by hanging up and going to step 2
or by dialing ## at the end of the first call and going to step 8.
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When finished, go back to the operator to get a
receipt and a refund of the unused deposit if any.
Note: The
PIN must be used at the assigned booth only. If you want to use a
different booth, you must ask the operator to transfer the PIN to the other
booth.
Without
PIN
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Give a deposit to the operator and get a booth
assignment from the operator if necessary.
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Go to the booth and take the telephone off-hook.
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Dial the destination number in one or more of these
formats, depending on the configuration of the VoIP gateway
011 + country code + city code + local number
00 + country code + city code + local number
country code + city code + local number
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Hear "Thank you. Please hold."
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Have a conversation.
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Make another call by hanging up and going to step
2.
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When finished, go back to the operator to get a
receipt and a refund of the unused deposit if any.
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