Direct Pickup Outside Line

[saexpress]

Hello again,

I would like to be able to set certain extensions so that they immediately pickup an outside line when the handset is picked up (ie: not need to dial '9' to get out).

I've looked in the help manual, and I've tried everything I can think of using User Shortcodes of both ? and ?D. I think part of the problem is that according to the manual:

; – Receive sending complete. This must be the last character in the short code string. It indicates wait for the number to be fully dialed (based on the Dial Delay Time) before acting on the short code.

· In the United States, this MUST be used when the line group for the short code contains PRI lines or T1 lines emulating analog lines.

I am in the US and we do have a PRI. When I use the following User Shortcode:

Short Code: ?N
Number: 9N
Feature: Dial

It does give me an outside line when I pick up, but after pressing one number, I get the "You call couldn't be completed as dialed." message from the phone company. It doesn't matter if I add a semicolon to the end of the Number field.

It seems to be an issue with the phone company interpreting the number before it's all been dialed in.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[IPGuru]

I think you are thinking of Short Code ?D

short code ?D is realy inmtended for hot line usage when lifting the handset dials a predetermined number (emergency phones)

with the telephone number set to 9N you will be inserting a 9 in front of the digits sent to line. this will cause an invalid number.

the telephone number field should be . <dot>

this can cause problems in the us however.
you could also try - Short Code ?; Number .

This would also alow the users to call internal numbers when req.

 

[saexpress]

I was trying all sorts of combinations with ? and ?D, but nothing seems to work.

Using:

?;
.
Dial/SecondaryDialTone

didn't work either, but I did just find something that did:

?D
9
SecondaryDialTone

That will give me an outside line, but will NOT allow access to internal extensions. I think it works because it's actually calling the shortcode we have that let's people get an outside line by pressing 9.

This is what I want for the most part, but it would be nice if the phone can call internal extensions as well.

Any more ideas how I might do this?

Thanks!

 

[Morrack]

You mentioned trying ?;/./Dial (forget using SecondaryDialTone for that one), that should be it but I'm wondering if you put N or 9N for the telephone number? You would want just N. And naturally ensure you're setting the line group to your PRI.

Peter

 

[saexpress]

Just tried ?;/./Dial and had the same problems as before. The only one I've gotten to work is the ?D/9/SecondaryDialTone I mentioned above.

I've tried just about every combination I can think of, but I almost always get the same "call cannot be completed as dialed" error from Qwest after dialing only a single digit. I'm still guessing that it's releated to not sending some sort of terminating message (as in a ';') like the manual says is required for US PRI lines.

Any other ideas or suggestions to try?

Thanks!

 

[Morrack]

Try xxxxxxx;/N/Dial and see if a 7 digit local call works.

Peter

 

[saexpress]

That particular shortcode did work. Thinking along those same lines, I tried N;/N/Dial and it worked as well, but it also works for more than 7 digit calls.

And... that answers another question I had. By using this as a shortcode, I am able to specify extension-specific outgoing CID information (because our fax machines have special numbers that don't match the rest of our DIDs). Sweet!

Just FYI, here's what I'm using:

Shortcode: N;
Number: Ns14061234567
Feature: Dial

It allows for both internal extension calls as well as external calls without dialing '9'.

Thanks!

 

[Morrack]

Good stuff - the xxxxxx;/N/Dial was a test, glad to see you followed it to it's logical conclusion. You should now be able to dial internal extensions also, yes?

FYI you have rediscovered the standard approach to custom outgoing CLI on IPO. To do the same without murdering the poor 9 (as our friends on that dreary little island across the deep cold waters are fond of doing *grin*) you would simply put the following in the user shortcodes:

SC: [9]N;
TN: Ns14061234567
F: Dial

And you're good to go.

Peter Sherwood