Ever lost an important caller when you tried to transfer him? Need to consult the manual to change your voicemail greeting? So does everyone else.
This is partly because office telephones are really comprised of multiple systems: the hardware device that sits on your desk, the PBX that handles call functions and the voicemail system that handles messages. All three systems are probably designed by separate teams, but users have just one experience of their phones—and it’s usually a bad one.
In 2002, we decided to design an office phone as a single system. We deliberately constrained ourselves to a grayscale display (to keep our fictitious manufacturing costs lower) and a desktop set that wouldn’t do much more than existing phones—it would just do everything better.
Representing frustrated phone users everywhere is our persona, Scott, a project manager at a mid-size company. Scott handles a couple of dozen calls a day—he’d have fewer individual calls if he were comfortable setting up a conference. His goals are simple: stay on top of his communication and avoid hanging up on his boss.
Our Office Phone concept uses a touch screen to put controls and explanation in the context of each call, so there’s never any doubt about what pressing that button will do.
Conference Calls
Conferences aren’t always planned; they also happen spontaneously. A single button makes it easy to add new participants. To eliminate confusion, the call display lists all the callers present on the call. No more asking “Who else is there?” or “Who just hung up?”
Voicemail
With a list of messages including the caller's name and the time, Scott can be sure he handles important messages first. He can then call this person back, forward the message or delete it without remembering obscure numeric codes or listening to a list of options, since the buttons are shown on the call display.
Office Directory
Calling a coworker's extension doesn't require a paper phone list. Scott merely opens the directory and flips through it using a scroll wheel, then calls a coworker by simply touching his or her name.
Transferring Calls
The Office Phone always provides a final transfer confirmation that includes the name of the person who ultimately received the call. Scott never wonders if the call was dropped or lost.
Now Scott can focus on his conversation instead of on managing his phone—and he’ll never hang up on the boss! Judging by the number of people who ask us where to buy our phone, Scott’s not the only one with that goal. So, who wants to build it?