Virtual PBX added a voicemail enhancement feature for its technology-leading VirtualPBX Service. The new Voicemail Interrupt feature is designed to give clients more control over voice messaging than is possible with standard business phone systems by allowing users to listen to messages as they are being left by the caller.

Voicemail Interrupt lets users listen to voicemail messages in real time as they are being left on the system. If desired, the user can then interrupt the voicemail message and speak with the caller directly without losing control of the call until they hang up. With a typical business phone system, once a call is sent to voicemail it is inaccessible to the user. The only way for the user to know what the call was about is to play back the message that was left. This is true for cell phones, PBX equipment both hosted and hardware-based -- and virtually all business phone systems, including VoIP. The new release is available immediately to all Virtual PBX clients, at no additional cost.

Voicemail Interrupt, coupled with Virtual PBX's SmartID capability, provides a wide variety of ways that users can know what a call is about before they connect with the caller. SmartID tells users who the call is from, what department in the company is being called, and whether a call is business or personal in nature -- all before the user actually takes the call. With the addition of Voicemail Interrupt, users can now also listen to the voice message to learn the identity of the caller, determine the sense urgency and decide whether or not to take the call.

Virtual PBX's target markets for the new feature are small companies and firms with distributed workers, such as telecommuters. Incoming calls are answered by the Virtual PBX system and then routed, per caller selection, to an employee or department in any location. This original "virtual office" phone system does not require employees to work in the same office together -- adding flexibility to staffing and enabling client businesses to reduce office expenses. No hardware or software is needed at client sites, reducing capital and maintenance costs and IT staffing.