Complex Merlin Auto Attendant

[bigbobbyc718]

I have a Merlin Magix and Merlin Magix voicemail system.

How should I program this?

A client wants an auto attendant built for ext.XXX, They want to have all twelve people in their company on this auto att.
Press 1 joe
Press 2 mary
...
Press 12 bob

Can this be done and how?

Thanks,

 

[merlinman]

I would just use the BUILT IN FEATURE of "Dial by name".

The way we set them up is when we build a mail box, (or with the latest Magix & Messaging, when we let the VOICE MAIL be configured by the MAGIX) we label the extensions/mailboxes with FIRST NAMES.

Then, in the AA greeting, we state "...to find someone by their first name dial STAR 2".

That will walk the caller finding the person, without trying to program all that messy stuff.

You can also say: "For Joe dial 123, for Mary dial 121....".

However, that gets to be quite a long winded announcement with 12 people.

PLUS, every time you add or delete someone, you have to change that announcement.

Not good!

 

[bigbobbyc718]

Merlinman,

We told them about name dialing and the long winded message but they still insist about the auto att.

 

[tdaugirdas]

Is the voicemail set up at all? Have you created an integrated voicemail group? Have you set up a Cover Group? There are a number of basic steps you need to go through for setup - before you program the Autoattendant. All of the steps are in the manual that you can download from Avaya.com

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[TouchToneTommy]

You're asking for "Selector Code" transfers, and the problem you have is there are only 10 digits on a dial pad (1-9 and 0) - so how do you distinguish between 1 and 11, or 1 and 12? You can't! And if you want to be able to dial the actual extension numbers, you need to reserve the leading digit (if the extensions are numbered from 100 to 199, you must reserve 1 as the 1st digit of an extension number.)

So, either dial the full extension number, or limit the number of selector codes, or nest the submenus - for Fred press 2, for George, press 3.....for the next group of extensions, press 9..... or by department, then by individual.

 

[tdaugirdas]

If you want to offer all 12 options in the autoattendant menu - you need to have extentions numbered - at a minimum - starting with 3-digits at 100 0r 200 or whatever the customer wants. That way - as TouchToneTommy indicated - you only need to assign Selector Code 1,2 or 3 in the Autoattendant for direct extention transfer. You could also break your initial Autoattendant menu into a submenu. Saying in the main menu: "Welcome to xyx Company. If you know your party's extention, you may dial it at any time or Press 2 to hear more options. Then create a submenu 2 where Option 1 is transefer to Billy, Option 2 is transfer to George, etc.

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com