Managing your Contacts on the Web Portal

The number of contacts that can be accessed by phone is limited (the maximum is usually 500) but you can ask your service provider or account administrator to increase your limit. Once the maximum is reached, you will not be able to add nor import additional contacts.

Click on Contacts to open the Contacts page where you can create and manage your contacts directly on the Web. You can use functions such as add, import, edit and delete contacts. All changes are saved automatically after each operation.

Format your Contacts Phone Numbers

When creating or editing a contact on the Web Portal, you can enter its phone number directly in the phone number dialog box or click on the phone icon to open a Phone Properties window showing the different fields to fill.
Select the phone type and format the numbers as follows:

Type of Phone Numbers

Select one of the following phone number types:
  • Phone for traditional PSTN phone numbers
  • Extension for PBX Extensions
  • SIP for SIP phone numbers

Traditional PSTN Phone Numbers in Universal Format

Traditional PSTN phone numbers must be formatted in the following universal standard (E.164 or TAPI):
    +[Country Code]  ( [Area Code]) [Local Number] [Extension]
    Example: +1-(514)-555-1212  x201
  • Country/Region: Select the country
  • City/Area Code: Enter the area code
  • Local Number The local number
  • PBX Extension (if applicable): PBX extensions can specified at the end of any phone number. Simply add a space followed by 'x' as the extension prefix, then enter the extension number.

Example: +1-(514)-555-1212, +33-(1)-4331-1212 and +44-(3456)-6789 x224 are all valid telephone numbers.

PBX Extensions

PBX Extensions can be used to forward calls directly to an extension if the PBX allows SIP dialing of extensions.  If this is the case, you can define the phone number type as an Extensionand specify the Extension without the company phone number:
  • Enter the prefix 'x' to specify that the number is an extension
  • Enter the extension number
As an example, x224 is used for extension 224.

SIP Phone Numbers

SIP phone numbers are entered in the standard SIP format as follows:
  • "sip:" the SIP prefix
  • Phone number:Enter your SIP username or phone number
  • The "@" sign
  • SIP Gateway address: The name or IP address of the SIP telephony provider (SIP gateway or Softswitch)
If the IP telephony provider requires authentication, enter your account credentials to be authenticated in the fields below:
  • User Name: Enter your account's user name
  • Password: Enter the account password
As an example, "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." or "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." or "sip:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.") are valid SIP phone numbers for John Smith.

NOTE: Do not specify SIP phones if they are not registered with your current telephony provider.

Enter your New Contacts Manually

You can enter a new contact as follows:
  • Press the Add New Contact button. A New Contact form opens.
  • Fill the contact fields: first and last name, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, category, etc.
  • Enter the phonetic pronunciation of the contact name if needed. The virtual assistant uses the phonetic names if entered.
Make sure that the telephone numbers are formatted correctly. Click on the icon to help you Format your Telephone Numbers correctly.
  • Click Submit when finished. The new contact is added to your voice directory.

Import your Contacts from CSV Files

You can import contacts from Comma Separated Values (.CSV) files into your voice directory. The CSV file is generated when you export the personal contacts from Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, etc.

Click on Contacts to open the Contacts page.
  • Click on Import link
  • Select how you want duplicate contacts to be treated: Reject Duplicates or Overwrite existing contactsin your voice directory.
  • Select My Contacts are on my CSV file
  • Click Browse to select the file that contains the contacts you want to import then click OK. Make sure you select the CSVfile type.
  • Click Import. A dialog box appears showing your contacts update results.
  • Click OK.

The list of your updated contacts is displayed.

Select the Contacts View

You can display your Evatel Contacts in one of three views: Contact List, Address Cards or Detailed Address Cards. Here is how you can select the Contacts View:
  • Select Contact List from the pull-down list of views on the Contact Management page. The display changes to a Contact List View.
  • Select Address Cards from the pull-down list of views to display the contacts in a list in a business card format.
  • Select Detailed Address Cards from the pull-down list of views on the Contact Management page. Each contact is now displayed in detailed business card view.

Edit Contacts

To edit a contact in your voice directory, you must first open the contact item as follows:
  • From the Contact List view, click on the name of the contact to modify.
    The contact details are displayed.
  • Edit the contact fields as needed: first and last name, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, phonetic name, etc.
  • Click Submit when finished. The modified contact is saved into your voice directory.

The list of your updated contacts is displayed.

Delete Contacts

You can delete one or many contacts from your voice directory as follows:
  • Select each contact to delete by setting its checkbox.
  • Click Delete then click Yes to confirm the contact deletion.
The contact is deleted and removed from your voice directory and the updated list of contacts is displayed.

 

Switch to Using Contacts on your Mail Server Mode

At anytime, you can go to your Web Portal  to switch the location of your contacts to specify that they can be retrieved from your mail server. Here is how:
  • Click on My Contacts in the Web Portal Toolbar to display the Contact Management page.
  • Click on "I want to Store and Manage my Contacts on the Mail Server"

The display changes to Contacts on Mail Server offering you the options to select the location and category of your contacts, and to synchronize them with the ones on your mail server.

Prepare your Contacts for Export to web portal

You can use Web Portal to import contacts from your existing mail account (Outlook, Yahoo, Google, etc.) into your local Evatel Contacts Folder.

Web Portal can access and import contacts from CSV files. Therefore, you need to export your contacts to a CSV file and save it on your computer.

Save your contacts in CSV file

Once your contacts are saved on your computer, click on My Contacts button in the Web Portal left toolbar. A My Contacts page opens.
  • Click Import Contacts. A window opens, asking you to select the file to import.
  • Click Browse to select the file that contains the contacts you want to import then click OK. Make sure you select the CSV file type.
  • Click Submit to launch the import.

How to Export Outlook Contacts into a CSV File?

To import your Outlook Contacts in your voice directory on the Web Portal, you must first export them into a CSV file as follows:
  • From Outlook XP or 2003, open the Contacts folder containing the contacts you want to export;
  • Click on the File button and select Import and Export.... An Import and Export Wizard pops up.
  • Choose Export to a file as the "Action to perform", then click Next
  • For the "Create file type", select Comma Separated Values (Windows), then click Next
  • Select the Contacts folder to export, then click Next
  • Browse to specify the file name and folder where you want to save the contacts in CSV format.
  • Click Finish to export the data.