Seniors they love the sound of Dial Tone.

[jojoDbear]

I have a MICS 7.0 installed in a seniors complex, The complex resells local access to resident using DID'S and ASM's

The local service is a PRI

We have the MICS programmed so the resident just picks up the phone and can start to dial with the leading 9 already programmed, this in turn prevents the system from returning DT to the resident and they think that the phone is dead despite explaining this to them. The problem is this. Because they are Seniors they love the sound of Dial Tone.

So if we remove the leading 9, they can pick up the phone get DT but have to dial 9 get DT again and then dial the 7 digit phone number. Again the problem with this is that alot of these people just do not understand why they have to dial 9 so begin to dial a local number and if it start with say 222 it goes to ext 222.

Is there something I am missing in the programming that will allow me to program in the leading 9 and the resident will still get dial tone back from the system?

do I need to add some pauses etc?

Your help is greatly appreciated

 

[hawks]

Do you have 2nd dial tone turned on in the system?

 

[CBasicAsslember]

Try 'Second Dial Tone' under routing services.

 

[jojoDbear]

Well if I do not program the leading 9 and they enter 9 then they get a second DT but if i program 9 then the system does not return DT?

 

[bwtc]

Do the residents call other extensions, or just outside numbers?

If strictly the latter, try programming an extension with an external hotline of 9 (try this with 1 extension to make sure it works properly). This should allow the 2nd dialtone to properly function.

 

[jojoDbear]

Thank you I will try these, if anyone has other oppinions please submit.

thanks again

 

[hawks]

Hot Dial should work, but I thought that is how you had it set up before.

 

[DDionne]

Allow me to add to jojo’s question above. Jojo is a co-worker.

The asm ports are programmed to hotline to an outside line already thus allowing the seniors to just pick up the handset, listen for dial tone (dt) and dial the number. This application works great with analog trunks as the CO returns dial when the line is seized. PRI’s do not return dt thus creating our problem. Without dt, the seniors pick up the phone, hear nothing and complain that their phone is broken.

2nd dt is enabled for the route destination code. If you pick up the handset and manually dial ‘9’ (or rte dest code), the system returns the 2nd dt providing the illusion of analog trunks. You can then proceed to dial your number. However, if I program the system to dial the ‘9’ for me either by way of an external autodial key or a hotline application, the system does NOT return dt. As I see it, the system does not need to be fooled with 2nd dt therefore none is provided. Now, our seniors are holding the handset thinking that this thing is broken cause there is no dt.

I suspect only Nortel can fix this. If someone knows or has heard of a work-around, please let us know.



DD

 

[bwtc]

Hmmm... well, here is a suggestion that MIGHT work, IF the staff at the Complex are ok with it. It will be a lot of work to renumber EVERY DN in the system...

First, do they have DID's, and if so, do they correspond with the extension?

Does anyone there ever use park function?

Are there any direct-dial phones (ie. press 0 to get a receptionist)?

If they are willing to renumber their extensions, why not renumber EVERY DN to start with a zero. So, instead of extension 221, they have extension 021. 0 DOES work as the first digit of an extension, provided that it isn't in use for anything else.

Next, setup a dest code for EVERY OTHER digit in the system, that points to your PRI route. So, no matter what they dial (outside of 0), they'll access the PRI, and hear dialtone first, since there is no hotline.

As I mentioned, this will be a lot of work, and will hinder other functionality (paging, etc).

Or, you could simply tell them that they need to dial 1 to place a call... and make 1 be your dest code to PRI, instead of 9. Of course the problem with this is local vs long-distance...

 

[Bob3470]

We had exactly the same setup here even before nortel had the 2nd dial tone feature. If you go changing it again they will be even more confused. Just leave it the way it is and they will get used to it sooner or later. Or go back to loop trunks but that would be more expensive. Some here couldnt handle it so they just went and got a line from the local telco.

 

[DDionne]

Thanks Bob, I like your way of thinking. We will likely have to add some loop trunks to make this customer happy.

Thanks to all for your posts.


DD

 

[polarbear85]

Another thought, depending on the public dialing plan at your location: IF you are in a mandatory 10-digit dialing area, you could program destination codes for the area codes, in lieu of dialing 9, and eliminate the hotline. There are typically just 2 or 3 area codes, and everything else is dial 1 or 0.

But alas, I just reread the first post, and you refer to 7-digit dialing. The same thing could work, but you would have to have a destination code for each local exchange, and come back any time one is added. In a lot of places, that could be an absolute nightmare. There's also a risk of a new exchange conflicting with your extension numbering, etc, so you could find yourself painted in a corner.

(I'm in Columbus, Ohio... 7 digit, optional 10 digit, and EVERY call in the area code is local, i.e. several hundred exchanges! So I wouldn't even think about it.)

Happy dialing,
emk

 

[tsplusone]

Have you checked with the carrier to see if they can provide dialtone over the T1? I've had it done in the Boston area for some of our customers.