Last week, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had a very candid phone conversation with right-wing billionaire David Koch – or so he thought. The journalist responsible for the prank call shared a recording of the chat and pundits didn’t hesitate to scrutinize Walker’s every word.

Lucky for Walker’s press team, the Governor seemed to share the same opinions in private as he had in public regarding the state budget, unions and the legislature. But they are politicians – masters of public relations. But for everyone who has ever hired someone to answer the phone – how do you train your sales and support staff to stay ‘on message’?

Read on…

Q: I have selected “Rings before voicemail picks up”, but I really need to be able to set extensions to forward only (without ever going to Halloo voicemail). Is this possible?

A: Simply set the “Maximum incoming voicemail length” setting to “0″ for the extension(s) that don’t want voice mail. Note that if you record a greeting for that extension, it will still play, which will allow you to record a brief message before the script hangs up. In addition, if you check the “For further assistance” option, the caller will be given the chance to jump to another extension, including back to the auto attendant by pressing 9.