Night Service - Need Expert Assistance

[iamlegend]

I need expert assistance with the Night Service function. Here are my scenarios:

Daytime Hours:
1)Ring to receptionist
2)After four (4) rings, go to Auto Attendant (AA)
3)AA presents Open for Business message
Dial employee extension, open employee directory, or press 0 to ring the operator again.
Ring appropriate extension, go to personal voicemail

Night Service Hours (Night Service "ON" at the operator console)
1)Ring directly to AA
2)AA presents Office Closed message
Dial employee extension, open employee directory, or press 0 to reach general mailbox.
Ring appropriate extension, go to personal voicemail

I have read the documentation at length, but still am not clear. I have a single operator console, and want to control the Night Service function with a dedicated button, which is already programmed. Currently, it appears that when Night Service is activated, the AA picks up the line immediately, but plays the daytime message. Clearly there are required changes. To be clear, when Night Service is activated, no extensions should ring, but the AA should pick up calls immedisately with the Night Message. Also, all outgoing messages have been set up and are in place.

Any info or walkthough of functionality would be wonderful.
Thanks in advance.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

This is pretty standard, but probably need to also know which Voice Mail you are using. I'm most familiar with Merlin Mail and Merlin Messaging, not Audix.

Basically, the lines are assigned to an unused calling group, that has no members, assign the lines to it, and use time-based overflow to go to Voice Mail. In voice mail, you create a mailbox with the same extension number of that calling group and point it to the auto attendant. This way, the calls ring at the operator's phone for a certain number of seconds (not number of rings, but figuring about 5 seconds per ring cycle, set it for 20 to 25 seconds), and then are answered by the auto attendant. Put a Night Service button on the operator phone, assign it to go to voice mail, and assign the lines.

You can use switch mode or business schedule for the auto attendant; In switch mode, the message that answers depends on if the Night Service button is on. Following the business schedule can have the Day message answer during business hours immediatly if it is in Night Service (lunch time or if the receptionist is away temporarily)

If you need more detailed, step-by-step instructions, please post back.

 

[iamlegend]

TTT-

Thanks for the post. We are dealing with Merlin Mail (pretty old version, 1.0 or 2.0) with Merlin Legend 7 system.

Truthfully, I could use detailed instructions on getting it fully set up. In the meantime since my post, I went through the Night Service menus, assigned all extensions to a Night Service group at attendant 10 (this is also the operator extension, a 20L phone), and set up a dedicated button for Night Service. Looks like it is working, but I am not sure if it is all correct. Primarily, I am concerned that I don't know what the NS Attendant number should be--I just chose the extension that the 20L resides on and that the receptionist uses.

My main concern now is that the Daytime Autoattendant does not appear to work. With the Night Service button off, the lines (three in a hunt) ring about 4 or 5 times, and one of the office extensions actually picks up the call. No auto attendant at all. Again, this is only for the daytime menu. Is there some kind of config menu for the daytime, as well?

Thanks again for your insight.

Dylan

 

[TouchToneTommy]

If the lines are not assigned to anyone as a principal user, or in a calling group, they will go to the mailbox of the lowest-numbered Logical ID that receives incoming ring for the lines.

OK, here's what you want to do. Take an unused calling group. I use 791. Why? I don't know, but that is the last 3-digit calling group. Assign the lines or pools to it. Set it to overflow to the Voice Mail calling group. Set the Number Based overflow to 99, so that doesn't come into play. Set the Time-Based overflow to 20 or 25 seconds or so. Create a mailbox number 791 with a "class-of-service" of 15.

Step-by-Step:

Menu
System Programming
Exit
Extensions
More
Grp Calling
Line/Pool
791 (the unused "delayed-call handling" group)
Enter
[Enter each line number, or the pool number that they are in]
Enter after each entry
Back
Back
Grp Calling
Overflow
791 (the unused "delayed-call handling" group)
Enter
770 (or whatever the Voice Mail calling group is)
Enter
Number Based Overflow
Backspace out the current number
99
Enter
Time Based Overflow
Backspace out the current number
[the number of seconds before the AA should answer]
Enter


Now create a mailbox by logging into the system administrator's mailbox. Press 4 for mailboxes, press 4 to create a mailbox, dial 791#, answer 15# for the class-of-service, I think you still have to give it a name (this part is from memory, just follow the prompts)


Sounds like you have the Night Service button set up right, but here is the sequence:

System Program
Exit
Night Service
Group Assign
Calling Grp
[extension number of the Night Service Operator]
Enter
770 (or whatever the Voice Mail calling group is)
Enter

 

[iamlegend]

I understand you 100%, but I have a question:

How does the new mailbox, #791, relate to the "Daytime Attendant" that is already set up in the system? I have already gone through the procedure of setting up the Daytime Attendant, but now it seems like box 791 will pick up the call after 20 seconds instead. Cna you elaborate on this?

Thanks again for taking time out of your day.

DR

 

[TouchToneTommy]

791 is just another mailbox, but with its class-of-service set to 15, instead of it being a mailbox that answers with a personal greeting and taking a message, it instead points back to the auto attendant. Since the lines are no longer assigned to the Voice Mail calling group (if they were, they would be answered immediatly; oh, and I guess I forgot to mention above to remove them from the VM calling group before you assign them to the delayed call handling group), they come in as a "cover" to voice mail from "extension" 791. By setting the cos of 791 to 15, they end up at the auto attendant.

 

[iamlegend]

Looks like everything is working now. I have tested pretty extensively and it looks OK. I have a couple of other questions for you if you don't mind.

Is it normal for calls that come in to the voicemail system to tie up the line that they came in on for 30-45 seconds at a time? It looks like if calls are answered by the system, then are transferred to a VM extension by the AA, the voicemail answers and takes the message, the line is not being immediately released when the caller hangs up. I think I have read about this elsewhere, but I figured you knew.

Also--if Night Service is ON and the caller chooses to hit a particular extension, can I adjust the system to go directly to VM and not ring the normal 4 times?

Last one--If Night Service is ON and the caller goes to a particular voice mail and leaves a message, they have the option of pressing "1" for more options. One of those options is to press "0" to go back to the operator. Obviously, there is no operator after hours, so the extension will just ring away. Is there a way to get the Night Service "press zero" function to apply here as well? That is, if zero is pressed after hours within a voicemail box, the caller will be transferred to the general mailbox instead of the operator extension.

I have one last one for you, but I will wait till next time so that you aren't too bombarded.

Thanks again.
DR

 

[TouchToneTommy]

The line will remain in use until the caller has finished leaving their message and hung-up. If the Merlin remains off hook beyond that, check to see if you have your lines set a "reliable disconnect" in the Lines/Trunks menu. (also, your telephone company need to be sending you an indication that the calling party has disconnected; some still don't do this)

If your voice mail users put their phones in DND before leaving, calls will go directly to VM instead of ringing (unless someone else has a "cover" button for their extension; then the calls will ring at the coverage button first, then cover to voice mail)

You could give your operator a mailbox also, so the 0-outs from individual maiboxes will cover to the operator's personal mailbox, or possibly (you would need to try this) you could set the mailbox's "personal operator" to 9991, but this would affect day time too. You could also make an adjunct extension, put it in coverage, make it a mailbox that again points to the auto attendant, and 0-outs (day OR night) will go back to the auto-attendant.

 

[iamlegend]

Turns out that the "LS Reliable Disconnect" feature was set to "OFF". Made that change, so hopefully that problem is solved.

Thanks as well for the additional information. These are not critical issues, so I can deal with them as users get more comfortable with the system. I think that the number of occurrances in a month would be very small.

One last question for you--in the current setup, users that hit the Daytime Main menu can press "0" to ring back the operator, who sits at extension 10. I need to program a coverage button that, when activated, will also ring extensions 11, 17, and 13, just to make sure that someone picks up the return from the AA. How difficult is this?

Thanks again,
DR

 

[TouchToneTommy]

The usual way is to put a primary coverage button for 10 on 11, 17, and 13, however they will ring any time a call comes to 10; perhaps not what you want.

10 could also forward to one of the other extensions.

You could also make a "phantom" extension out of an adjunct extension, have it covered on the backup positions, and have the operator forward to the phantom when away from the desk.

 

[iamlegend]

Sounds like option 2 or 3 is what I am looking for. I am looking to put a button on the operator console only that, when activated, forwards direct calls to the "10" extension to 11, 17, and 13.

I am not familiar with adjunct extensions, so I am trying to find the easiest way to do this.

Thanks again