What is Response Point?

Easy to use and manage, Microsoft Response Point is innovative new phone system software that can help small businesses reduce communication costs and increase communication effectiveness with a radically simplified phone experience. You can access the phone and its features using just your voice. The intuitive Response Point Administrator software allows you to complete phone moves, additions, or changes with a few mouse clicks. And there is no special phone training or telephony networking expertise required. For a small business owner, Response Point offers a complete phone system—at an affordable price—that grows with your business.  

What makes Response Point different from PBX systems?

Response Point is an advanced phone system that radically streamlines the total phone configuration process for an enhanced user experience for small businesses. Response Point supports both cost-effective Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and traditional analog telephone lines, comes with built-in voicemail, and includes a breakthrough voice-activated user interface designed to give small businesses all the phone capabilities they need—in a single, easy-to-install box. Response Point easy to manage phone system enables a small business to make routine staffing-related moves, additions, or changes quickly and easily.

How can Response Point save my small business time and money?

Response Point can save small businesses time and money in three ways:

1.     It reduces phone system management costs by empowering average PC users to complete moves, additions, and changes reducing expensive onsite support.

2.     It lets small businesses slash their phone bills by using VoIP to cut long-distance bills and eliminate unnecessary local lines without forcing them to abandon their traditional phone service.

3.     It eliminates many expensive phone system extras—expansion packs, hours of employee training, etc.—that typically add thousands of dollars to the cost of a small business phone system.

What size of small business benefits most from Response Point?

Response Point can benefit small businesses with as few as one employee and can grow with your business up to as many as 50 employees... Response Point is optimized for small businesses and organizations that need powerful telephony features, but aren’t large enough to justify a dedicated IT staff. Businesses with more than 50 employees and a full-time IT staff are likely to consider additional features.

What features does Response Point offer that go beyond a standard phone system?

Response Point transforms phone system management and user experience from end to end.

·         Response Point brings high-quality speech recognition to the phone experience, allowing users to embrace phone features that were previously cumbersome or complicated to use. Just say, “Transfer my call to Joe,” instead of memorizing the right call-transfer keystrokes and Joe’s extension number. Call anyone in the company, or any of your Microsoft Office Outlook contacts, just by saying a name.

·         Response Point offers a helpful, automated receptionist that is fully customizable (you can record your own voice and company message), and includes the ability to add FAQs about your business (e.g., your hours, location, etc.). Callers need only speak their desired party’s name and they will be transferred to that extension.

·         Administrators can easily complete moves, additions, and changes with a few simple mouse clicks. The whole system can be managed by an average PC user, rather than a phone networking specialist.

Is the speech recognition feature truly reliable? Is there a workaround in case I don’t want to use voice?

Response Point’s high-quality speech-recognition capability is the result of long-term investment by Microsoft in speech-recognition research and development. Microsoft is deeply committed to its vision of delivering a rich voice communication experience. Response Point represents the best small business phone system Microsoft has produced yet. There are traditional keystroke sequences for Response Point features as well, so customers who prefer not to use voice commands can still take advantage of the product’s other benefits.

How does Response Point benefit mobile information workers?

Response Point benefits mobile workers in several ways. First, it allows users to easily forward their office extensions to external lines, so callers get the same professional, seamless service from mobile workers in and out of the office. Second, Response Point lets users retrieve and archive voicemail messages in e-mail. Windows Mobile users have found this particularly useful, since they can get instant notification of new voicemails and easily retrieve any message—new or archived—from nearly any location. Third, Response Point gives users access to all their Office Outlook contacts from almost any phone, via voice commands. And these calls can be connected over a VoIP line. To enable VoIP service, customers should obtain an integrated access device from their internet service provider (ITSP), plug it into the Response Point base unit, then configure the service through the Administrator program in the Add Voice Service Wizard*.

*While customers can use most VoIP service providers, we recommend choosing services from Response Point Preferred ITSP, listed in this wizard for optimal configuration information download rather than manually obtaining and entering configuration information into the “What information did your service provider give you?” page.

How much will Response Point systems cost?

Customers can purchase a starter pack, featuring one base unit, a four-port ATA, and four to five phones for between $2,500 and $2,999. Additional phones will cost $149–$159 each. A typical, complete 20-phone system will cost less than $5,500 at manufacturer’s suggested retail price.