Call forwarding and caller ID link?

[ScoTTeL]

I have a client that would like to branch out and start becoming an answering service after hours for his customers. He has several hundred that already use his office for information services. How would you need to set up for being able to identify how to answer the phone for the hundreds of different businesses.

My thoughts are once the business closes for the evening, they call forward to a number on my clients switch. Based on the caller id tag that comes in from the forwarded call, the call center would be able to correctly answer for the business. Is this possible? It would be impossible to have a dedicated trunk for each customer, when he may have several hundred.

Can you follow what I am looking for? Help!!

 

[Pepperz]

If you are to stick with a Legend you have line and endpoint limitations that may be reached if you are talking about "hundreds" of businesses. Since you aren't going to be able to talk of Hundreds of lines or DID endpoints, here is the only way I can see. First, caller ID will have to be used, and your client's clients will have to call forward a specific number to the Legend. The Legend will have to be set up with an appropriate number of caller id capable trunks, or better yet, a PRI. There will have to be a CTI app running on the Legend which links the Caller ID to a Customer database that shows the receptionists how to answer the phone. Te key question would be with "hundreds" of customers, how many calls are anticipated at peak volume time, and how much personnel/trunk capacity would be needed. If this is high, you may be looking at the necessity of a larger switch.

 

[gshaheen]

Watch out for this. The CO (at least where we are) does not send the caller ID of the line that is forwarded, it sends the caller ID of the original caller, which does you no good!