Mitel 3300 - Main greeting trying operator in night mode

[orion3311]

HELP...at my wits end, and this has been going on for 2+ years now. Vendor has been no help although they tried. Done letting them experiment and learn on our dime and time.

System is a Mitel 3300 MXe with all 5340 phones, and integrated VM. All we want is the ability to have a normal, very basic night mode VM...

Call comes in...plays greeting...offers callers a directory, or press a number to leave a message in a general mailbox. Thats it!

For some reason, as it sits now, call comes in, plays greeting, then falls through to the operator, with of course the "transferring to operator" prompt. What does it take to get rid of this??? If the system is in night mode why is it trying the operator anyway?

I think one main holdup was due to supervised transfers on the VM system...having it off breaks one thing but fixes the greeting behavior, having it on fixes the other thing but breaks the main greetings.

I'm pretty proficient with this but its been messed with so many times and its such a huge frustration with our owners that I really just want someone to explain how it should be done, like how Mitel intended it work (or did they??), so I can just follow that and move on. If SIP trunk licenses weren't so crazy expensive I'd have built an Asterisk box for VM by now. Help!

 

[kwbMitel]

Part of the problem is with the limited functionality of the embedded email. The embedded mail is designed to be a simple and cheap alternative to more fully featured voicemails.

Does your site use Dial by Name when in night mode? If so, you must use the embedded AutoAtt to answer calls. The Embedded AA automatic behaviour when no action is taken by the caller is to transfer the call to the Operator. This cannot be changed. The call to the operator can be routed to a mailbox that will take a message however but this will not not remove the "transfering to operator" prompt that appears to be your main issue.

If your site does not use Dial by name, there are other options such as sending the call directly into a mailbox when the caller still has the ability to dial an extension or leave a message (But no Dial by Name)

If your site does not require Dial by name or Dail an extension in night mode then there are even more options that I won't discuss as yet.

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What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[orion3311]

We use the dial-by-name a lot I think, so we do need that. At one point I thought I got rid of the operator transfer prompt so I'll have to dig up my notes again.

What do most companies do that use the embedded VM? Even though its meant to be super basic, I would still think this is a HUGE operational issue.

 

[kwbMitel]

It is not an operational issue. The call transfers to zero and zero is routed to a voicemail which tells the caller you are not in and takes a message. Operationally it accomplishes the task. It's only that we need to transfer to zero instead of going directly to the mailbox that is different.

There is always the option of going directly to a mailbox that will take a message by default and offer the callers the option to dial a digit to access the main AutoAtt where they can access Dial by name. Which option is required more defines which method you implement.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[orion3311]

The thing is though, a rudimentary vm system (I'm talkin one step above a Walmart answering machine) should be able to have a call come into voicemail, and be processed or terminated right in VM, especially since thats how 99% of them work. I cant say I've ever called a company and had it repeatedly try to call an extension I didn't want. This wouldn't be an issue if all our customers and especially the owners constantly complain about this over and over again. To them it sounds like a programming error. They know its wrong, I know its wrong, but every Mitel person I talk to thinks this is perfectly acceptable.

In fact, now that I think about it, I prob could use an answering machine attached to an analog port and accomplish the goal. That would sort of negate the purpose of buying a new phone system to begin with though..

 

[kwbMitel]

I've suggested several things that would accomplish the goal with various limitations.

An answering machine would not have Dial by name or dial an extension capability. If you are now saying these are not required then go with one of my alternate suggestions.

One thing jumps out at me in your last post.

"I cant say I've ever called a company and had it repeatedly try to call an extension I didn't want. "

What do you me by repeatedly?


**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[orion3311]

When you call us...it plays the main greeting. If you don't press any buttons (rare but it happens), it says "transferring to the operator"...then repeats...and repeats...and repeats.

I have to re-read the solutions...I apologize I'm not trying to be combative or anything of that sort, just very frustrated. We had big promises from the vendor that installed this system.

 

[orion3311]

Re-read the solutions and having it go to a VM box by default that can go out to the auto att may be an option. I think I started (or did) do that at some point as I made the operator extension 1000 instead of 0.

I *think* I did that so that calls coming in would go to mailbox 1000, which would have a blank (1 second) greeting attached or something like that.

If they could just make a mailbox NOT fall through, that would fix everything. Again the goal is...play greeting, present user with 2 options - dial by name or leave a message. If they press nothing...then repeat greeting and/or just hang up.

I'll have to see how it works now...its been messed with so much.

 

[kwbMitel]

When the call transfers to zero at night the call should be routed to a voicemailbox that can answer with "No one is available..." This appears to be the missing piece in your design. This is why I focused on the word "repeatedly".

Here is how the call flow can/should work.

Call answered by AA
Caller does nothing
Call transfered to zero
Call follows Zero routing in Night mode to mailbox XXX
Mailbox XXX answers and takes message.

You need to tell us where the call is going currently when the system is in night mode and the voicemail dials zero.


**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.