Unintended behaviour in Application Builder Thru-Dial block 1

[apridham]

Hey everyone.

I've been working on some menu modifications for one of our offices for about a week, and I ran into a pretty large snag today.

The old menu/application had a thru-dial block at the start of the menu with a greeting and prompt to enter the extension, then if it didn't receive a response it would go to a language selection, and then to a menu that would allow the caller to access our directory (Please press 1 to access our directory). The thru-dial didn't repeat the greeting, it just went through to the next block.

For some reason, when the thru-dial block is not at the start of the menu, it replays the greeting message twice, and then asks the user if they want help by pressing *. This is unfortunate, because even though it's not at the start anymore, it's still supposed to silently pass the caller onto the next block (which is a prompt asking them if they'd like to access the name directory).

Is there any way to force this thru-dial block to always forward to the next block without replaying the greeting? There's nothing in the block itself or the menu, and I couldn't find anything on the SDN either :/. The language selection needs to be first (this is a business requirement), and ideally the thru-dial would come next, and the name dialing would come third...

 

[oceanSD]

I don't have a system in front of me, but the first block in all applications will have a Rotary option. One guess would be your old application used this to route calls to the next block?

Optionally, If all your extensions begin with the same number, you could use the language selection, then connect to a Menu. Set it up with a Thru Dial on the option that begins with the same digits as your extension number. For example 3xxx would be option 3 on the menu, connected to a Thru-Dial block with a left pad of 3. The greeting on the menu could say dial your extension now or press 1 to Dial by name, which would connect to a Thru Dial Block that allowed Dial by Name.

 

[apridham]

Yes, the issue was that the rotary block was being used to route calls to the next part of the menu. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a way to override the default behaviour of the thru-dial block on no response, and have it not replay the message/prompt for help.

My resolution was to have the language selection menu, and then have that route to a second menu that asked the caller if they knew the extension press 1, or if they want to access the directory (dial by name) press 2. No response on that second menu correctly routes the caller to the next portion of the menu. It works, but it's a little frustrating that I can't change the default behaviour of the thru-dial block!

 

[oceanSD]

If that's the only options you are using, then you could utilize the menu option I referred to. Then, your callers would just dial the extension without having to press anything else. Only the Dial by Name Users would have to press an option. You could also go one step further, and set the Menu block to prompt the caller only once, and then on a No Response, connect to your Dial by Name Thru Dial block.

 

[apridham]

Well, the primary purpose of the menu is routing calls to different ACD queues (this autoattendant functionality has been tacked on to the front of it) - most callers are just going to choose language, hear the options to reach an employee (and not press anything), and move on to the 'real' menu.

Re: moving to several thru-dials with a left pad, if the user dials the extension quickly (i.e x4567), is the next block always going to catch the 567, or is there a delay between switching blocks?

 

[oceanSD]

I've not run into an issue with any delays and the next block catching the extensions... the main thing is that you set it at a fixed number of digits and add the left pad, or else the user will have to enter # to indicate they are finished dialing.

 

[apridham]

Many thanks.. this solution works great. Callers can enter the extension right away, and the message does not get replayed!