Dialing an Asterisks (*) on a Norstar Maridian phone

[spastickyle]

Our company hired an answering service for the evening and weekends so that our clients have a live human when they call outside of business hours. Our phone provider (Comcast) lets us forward our calls to the answering service with a simple *72 and then the answering service number. The problem we are facing is that our phone gives us a busy signal when we type * or 9*.

I vaguely remember my predecessor talking about having to lock down the phone system after we had some hackers called East Timor all weekend long on our dime. Could he have disabled the * function or do Norstar systems not allow * ? If it's the former, can someone please teach me how to manage this feature? If it's the latter, is there a way within the Norstar system to forward our main line to an external number?

Thanks in advance!

 

[curlycord]

If a tech restricted the phone system you would here a tone and also see "Restricted" on the display, it does not give a busy signal.
A busy signal when using a * code usually means that option is not activated.

I am guessing the carrier is in error and need to program their end correctly.....for once the first time.

lol


________________________________________

Add me to LinkedIN

=----(((((((((()----=

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto, CAN

 

[exsmogger]

Agree with curlycord. If * was restricted in the restriction filters you would hear an error tone, not a busy signal. Comcast needs to program their end correctly.

Brian Cox
Georgia Telephone

http://Georgia-Telephone.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/briancox1952

 

[spastickyle]

I get the same tone whether I dial * or 9 *. If it was Comcast's fault I would think that dialing * internally would be fine and I would only see an issue if I dialed 9*. I do see an "Invalid number" displayed on the meridian screen. this photo was when i just dialed *, not 9* but it's the same display regardless.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[curlycord]

Well that is different, please include all info when posting issues.
Also you first say a busy signal but now you say an error tone.

So do you have Line 1, 2 , 3 etc on your phones are do you need to Intercom, 9 to get a line out?




________________________________________

Add me to LinkedIN

=----(((((((((()----=

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto, CAN

 

[spastickyle]

Sorry about the lack of information. I listened to the tone and it "sounds" like a busy tone but I'm not a musical person, I can't hum a tune to save my life. We need to intercom then dial 9 to get an outside line. Internal and outside dialing of * creates the same display and tone.

 

[spastickyle]

in the spirit of giving you "all" information, The restrictions we have set for filter 1 are:

01 "0"
02 "1"
03 "911"
04 "411"
05 "976"
06 "1976"
07 "1 <all> <all> <all>..."
08 "1900"
09 "1 <all> <all> <all>..."
10 ""5551..."

Filter 03
01 "0

 

[spastickyle]

I called Comcast and they said that I have a PRI system so they cannot call forward for us and that it needs to be through our PBX system (we obviously have Nortel Norstar). The issue with the "*" is no longer valid since the *71 does not apply to us. All information that I find from searching is only how to forward extensions, not our main trunk (or main number that our auto-attendant picks up if I'm using the term "trunk" incorrectly). If you think that this should be a a separate post since my initial inquiries have evolved, please let me know and I can create a new post.

Thanks again!

 

[curlycord]

I was starting to think PRI but the carrier said they had the * service on the line.

There is "Line Redirect" you could use in Capabilities programming.
At reception set you could use the Line Redirect Feature 84 and use Intercom/9 as the line out.
It will tie up two PRI channels for duration of call (conference) but after hours it shouldn't matter.

A tech may need to allow it as well put an appearance on the reception set of the said Target Line.


________________________________________

Add me to LinkedIN

=----(((((((((()----=

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto, CAN

 

[allworxguy]

The PRI also needs to have trunk to trunk transfer enabled at the provider.

Marv ccna

 

[spastickyle]

Thanks everyone. We ended up taking the less convenient choice for our clients. We added an external transfer CCR to our auto-attendant that directed them to the call center. Our clients now have to dial 8 after calling us but the upside is that it we won't have to worry about our administrator assistant forgetting to activate the forward in the evening and deactivating it in the morning.

 

[curlycord]

Another option which would be better...
Setup a small phone in the phone room and Call Forward it to an external number 24/7
Then Add that set to Night Service and set it to Auto with your times to turn on and off.


________________________________________

Add me to LinkedIN

=----(((((((((()----=

http://www.curlycord.com

Toronto, CAN