NEC DS 1000/2000 series questions about call forwarding

[JJAATT]

Hi everyone. I've been having trouble with some phone issues lately. We have 4 lines at our business. When 1 is busy, the call rolls to 2, and that continues all the way to 4. However, if all 4 lines are in use, the incoming call gets a busy signal or, if we have call waiting on, it keeps ringing. Is is possible to have a call roll to voicemail if all 4 lines are already in use? I would surely appreciate the help. Thanks in advance.

 

[belevedere]

If you are using call forwarding to chain to additional extensions, then, Extension users can chain their Call Forwarding (e.g., 304 forwards to 306, who then forwards to 310).
The system prevents the chain from looping back to the first extension (e.g., 304).
Check the last extension's forward status.

If you are not using call forward chaining for incoming calls, then indicate what your incoming call method is. See MB 1003 for trunk options.

 

[JJAATT]

I'm a bit new to phone systems, so excuse me if I don't get something simple. If someone calls and no one answers on any line, it goes to the 300 extension I believe which is the operator. So if all lines are currently in use, the call just keeps ringing. It never actually gets to any extension. I think I'm making this a little more confusing to myself than it should be. I appreciate you commenting and trying to help me though. I'm new to the company and these phones have been installed since 2006, and ever since we recently switched service providers, we have been having the issue where when all lines are busy, we can't get the call to go to voicemail.

 

[belevedere]

Since there are several ways to accomplish the same thing, it would be difficult to point you in the right direction. However, since your problem started with a new carrier, I suggest you contact them and verify you have your lines set up in a central office hunt, so when the first line is busy it rolls the next one. As for the system set up, if it worked with the old carrier and no program changes were made, it is most likely their issue.

 

[JJAATT]

Our current provider already has the central office hunt set up. I know that if Line 1 is busy, the call will to Line 2 and so on and so forth. But it is possible to have all 4 lines being used and have an incoming call still go to voicemail? An outside guy who helped hook up our phone lines told us that if all the lines were busy, the incoming call had no line to go to in order to be able to go to voicemail. That's why I'm confused. My boss told me a long time ago, she knows it worked. But now this guy is telling me it's not possible to leave a voicemail if all lines are currently in use.

 

[belevedere]

That cannot work in the phone system. It can however, work if your CO lines are forwarded to a central office voice mail. You may not get an indication that you have a message. You might get a stutter dial tone on an outside line. Typically in situations like this, the users get confused as to where to go to collect the messages. If your business is that busy I suggest ordering another CO line from your provider.

 

[JJAATT]

Thank you for your help. My boss was just positive that it used to work before so I've been researching all kinds of things to see if it was possible.