Solving Vertical TeleVantage Error 27506

When upgrading from version 7 to 7.5, one of the procedures is to upgrade the TeleVantage Services :Upgrade  TVrecording Archive Service to the matching version. The install may fail with the following error message:

TeleVantage Services Setup Information
Error 27506. Error executing SQL Script TvArchive.sql. Line 328 [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint ‘PK_Users’. Cannot insert duplicate key in object ‘Users’.(2627)

This error seems to stem from the script trying to create a user in the local MSDE instance used to catalog the recordings, but the user already exists.

To fix this issue and allow the upgrade to proceed, run setup again, this time deselecting the Archive Service. This will remove of the service, but will not harm the database. Now, rerun the setup script and add the archive component again. Setup should now complete normally.

Solving Vertical TeleVantage Error 7595 Database Unknown

During a client install, the following error is displayed:

Error 7595 Database Unknown

This seems to be related to a MDAC problem. Grab a copy of the MDAC from the NetSetup folder. Extract the MDAC using WinZip. Browse the contents of the sqloledb.cab file. Extract the files to
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OleDB

Run the following to reregister the dll file.
regsvr32 “C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\OleDB\sqloledb.dll”

Reboot, and attempt to restart TeleVantage.

Solving Vertical TeleVantage Error 91

Object variable or With block variable not set- Error 91

When Starting the TeleVantage admin console or device manager,the message
“Error 91 (Object variable or With block variable not set) has occurred, If this problem persists, contact your systems administrator.”
is displayed

This message can be related to the account that TeleVantage runs as not being available or has been changed.

A quick fix is to navigating to the TeleVantage server directory and running the TVAccUtl.exe utility to reset the server account.

Toshiba Digital Phone Support in Vertical TeleVantage

Vertical TeleVantage can support a number of different digital phone manufacturers, such as Avaya, Nortel, and NEC. Toshiba digital phones are included in the list of supported devices, and TeleVantage supports this manufacturer very well, with a long list of supported models. A special board, the Toshiba Strata DKTU, is inserted in the server and the configuration allows the addition of up to 16 Toshiba stations per board. Because of this support, upgrading from a traditional PBX to Vertical TeleVantage can reduce costs for both hardware and training.

The Toshiba board is easy to configure, with drivers being added during the initial install of the specialized dialogic drivers included with the TeleVantage software. Once this is performed, there is no additional configuration. The device does not show up in the Dialogic DCM, rather it appears under Device Manager as a CTS:PCDKSC card.

Once the card is installed and the phones are plugged in, the individual phones will be identified as DKT devices in TeleVantage Administrator’s device manager. By configuring users, features may be mapped to each of the phone’s buttons. A template may be created to mass apply a standard button layout, or be used to selectively rollout certain configurations to specific users. Voice First answering is also supported, a feature older Toshiba PBX system use to intercom to an extension instead of ringing during an internal phone call.

Vertical TeleVantage Viewpoint Instant Messsaging

TeleVantage version 7 now supports real-time instant messaging naitive to the Viewpoint client. This feature allows agents to instant message by right clicking a username in Viewpoint and selecting Send An Instant Message. This client is limited to local LAN access only and does not support file transfer. The IM feature is not logged, and is not HIPPA compliant, so administrators may want to make policies regarding its use if they choose to deploy the feature.

Installing TeleVantage Viewpoint automatically installs the IM client during setup, but an administrator can disable the functionality on a per user or per machine basis. This is acheived by choosing Tools>Add-In Manager from the Viewpoint menu bar, selecting the TeleVantage Instant Messaging add-in and unchecking enabled.

Agents can have multiple conversations at the same time, with each in a seperate window. The application assumes that a user is logged on, at their desk, and has the Viewpoint client installed and enabled. If these assumations are not true, the IM will not be received. The app also has no “I am typing” functioanlity, as many popular IM cleints do. Agents can close the conversation window when they are done conversing, or minimize the window during idle points in the conversation.

Vertical TeleVantage SMDR Collection And Reporting Using Tapit Over Serial Ports

Tapit is a popular call accounting package with a large install base. With a load of features including built-in reports and a web server for distributing call detail queries, it can make managing call records easy. TeleVantage also has reporting built in, but this is hampered by the sheer amount of data that must be retained. By using the SMDR (Station Message Detail Recording) protocol to send data to Tapit, long term reporting can be offloaded to Tapit and leave Vertical TeleVantage to manage short term reporting and call statistics. The CDR (Call Detail Records) format can be put out by TeleVantage in multiple available formats. Selection of the correct format on both end of the pipe is important, the details will need to go in the correct database fields.

Hook up to Tapit can be acheived over IP or over a serial cable- The serial cable keeps this traffic out of band. Using the Lucent/Avaya Definity format is the most compatible choice for Tapit. Continue reading “Vertical TeleVantage SMDR Collection And Reporting Using Tapit Over Serial Ports”

How To Monitor Queue Performance In Vertical Televantage

How to monitor a queue using a phone

Dial *55 when logged onto the system using an account that has the “monitor queue” permission. Statisitics will be announced using the system IVR and prompts.

Callers Waiting – How many calls are waiting in the queue
Expected Wait Time – Results of a formula indicating how long of a wait there currently is
Active Agents – Number of available agents
Total Calls – Number of calls received in the current period
Abandon Rate – Abandon calls in percentage of total calls

How to monitor a queue using Viewpoint

Open the Queue Monitor folder in Viewpoint, when logged on as a user with Queue Monitorpermissions. Each individual queue the user has monitor permissions for will appear as a tab. Agent State shows the status of each agent in real time. The Queue Statistics pane shows tallied stats for the whole queue. Clicking the buttons for Inbound, Outbound, and Combined Stats breaks out the numbers by category.

Overall queue statistics are reset at midnight. Shifts and periods can be defined as well, and may be helpful for monitoring performance in a multiple shift environment.

Vertical TeleVantage Password Security

Easy to guess passwords are the Achilles heel of all phone systems. Vertical TeleVantage combats this by offering the administrator the ability to enforce the use of strong passwords for system users. Other options, such as lockout and password expiration make the job of guessing a password much harder.

Requiring Password Complexity
Options for strong passwords include minimum password length, prevent passwords that contain the account’s extension, and a list item entitled ‘Prevent passwords from the following list’. This final option includes a long group of strings such as ‘000’, ‘123’ etc built in, and also allows the administrator to add to, edit, and delete entries from this list.

Passwords Automatically Expire Option
An option to expire passwords after x amount of days is available as a global setting. This option can be overridden for users on an individual basis. Additionally, the user’s properties screen in TeleVantage Administrator has a ‘user must change password on next logon’ option, which allows the forced expiration at any time.

Account Lockout Options
TeleVantage has an “Automatically lock out accounts after X failed logon attempts” option. After the threshold for failed attempts is exceeded, the user may not log in until the account is unlocked. The option to have this account unlocked after X minutes is available, or alternately, the user must wait for an Administrator unlocks the account.

Hang Up On Failed Login Attempts
After an account is locked, the TeleVantage system can be configured to hang up on a caller who fails to log in after X attempts.

Tools>System Security
TeleVantage has a scanning tool built in that looks for common weaknesses in the system. Running Tools>System Security will create a report of users with weak or default passwords. By clicking on individual items in the report, the administrator can address these vulnerable accounts directly.

Vertical TeleVantage License File Types Explained

Televantage license files are text files that contain information about purchased licenses, and are unique to each purchase. A reseller delivers the file (or files) to be imported into a server. These licenses then need to be activated to tie the purchase to a hardware system. The license files may also be exported, which is a good practice for disaster recovery.

The license file contains types of licences and unique keys for each item. The types laid out in the below key can help decipher the actual counts of each product in the license file.

  • Type 0 – Server
  • Type 1 – Station
  • Type 2 – Trunk
  • Type 3 – Client
  • Type 4 – IP Trunk
  • Type 5 – Call Center Agent
  • Type 6 – Reporter
  • Type 7 – Enterprise Manager
  • Type 8 – Conference Manager

TeleVantage Hardening and Attack Response

Vertical Televantage offers some options to defend against remote phone abuse. All PBX phone systems will be abused at some point, whether internally or externally. If you suspect an attack is taking place, Vertical Televantage offers some features that can give evidence of the attacker’s strategy, and some tools to lessen the attack profile.

Watch Logs
Batches of off-hour calls should stand out easily -individual calls should be harder to spot in normal traffic. Make sure you have logging enabled for external calls. Internal calls can also be logged, but the volume of traffic may create issues.

Tools-> System Settings-> Call Log and Trunk Log – make sure at a minimum the call history log and the trunk log settings are checked. Continue reading “TeleVantage Hardening and Attack Response”