MERMAIL - Messages Lost - or Delayed before going into Voice Mailbox? 1

[x11dude]

Hi again all! Oddball Meridian Mail question for ya!

Help!, how can this be!? Manager for our retail store says that messages are being delayed (up to a day!) before being delivered into a couple of her voice mailboxes!

(I did make a couple of test calls and had no problems.)

She says that the only way she's aware of this problem is that a couple of persistent (sometimes angry) callers have re-tried.

We're also afraid some VMs have been lost altogether. She says they're getting way fewer messages than she expects.

Anyone ever run into this? Many thanks in advance!
-x11dude

 

[trvlr1]

Are the messages delayed or just the indicator on the phones? Indicators are low priority, so do get delayed at busy times. Is this a small stand alone system or part of a larger centralized system?

 

[x11dude]

Good morning trvlr,

Manager claims the messages themselves are delayed; e.g., Thursday's messages might show up in VM on Saturday. (There are no TOD controls on this AA.) And it won't happen consistently. (I'm trying to have manager replicate it for me, too)

It is part of a larger system. There are between 50 and 60 sets total; the store makes up about 7 of them. I'm not aware of this issue happening elsewhere in the system.

If it is the indicator - could it possibly be delayed that long (24 - 36 hours)?

Thanks for your help - I greatly appreciate your insights!

-x11dude

 

[trvlr1]

Typically they are delayed in this scenario for a few hours, but I have seen them delayed up to 24 hours, but on very few occasions. In each instance though, the message was in the mailbox, but the user would have no way of knowing that unless they dialled in to their mailbox on a regular basis, and you know, not many do that.
The other thing to look at is how many ports are set up on your voice mail to send out the message indicators. I am guessing that you only have a handfull of ports in and out of your voice mail, with possibly only one set up for message indicators. You might want to allow another and see if that helps the situation.

 

[x11dude]

Wow, interesting (and likely!) that the issue could be in the notification - not the actual delivery. Until I get this figured out, I'll have the manager (frequently) call VM and doublecheck this.

I need to get into MerMail and see how it's defined - but I believe there are 6 SL1 MARPs defined for VM. Are the ports you describe assigned within Mermail - or through one of the Meridian LD (Loads)?

Many thanks for your help!
-x11dude

 

[trvlr1]

Its been a long time since I messed with this and I do not have a system to play with right now, but I think you can go to the channel allocation table and see what your channels are set for. I think this is opt 5 then opt 4 off the main menu, then you enter your node (1-5) to see what is set up. I think the last column shows outbound (yes/no/all ??) To make changes to this, you might have to disable the node, make changes and bring it back up in to service, but as I said, it has been many years, so you may need to talk to someone with some more recent experience, or a vendor to get the correct information. I would suggest a good back up before you go in to make any changes though.