Using VM Coverage with existing Group Coverage

[stillusingmerlin]

Our office is small with about 12 primary users/extensions. Policy is to have any ringing phone during business hours answered by a human.

Most users have MLX-10DPs, the 3 people who answer most of the calls have MLX-28Ds. Currently, we group extensions into 3 groups and put 3 group coverage buttons plus a primary coverage button for the main business extension on most of the phones.

We are integrating an MLM 007 VM soution and want the VM to answer immediately at night right and during the day after some excessive number of rings without an answer (yes, I know this means the "policy" has failed...)

It seems like I have to remove the existing coverage groups to put the extensions into the VM coverage group. But I can't go to individual coverage buttons for each extension b/c I hit the 8 coverage button limit.

Any suggestions for how to do this?

 

[tdaugirdas]

You need to create overflow from each of your three existing groups to the voicemail calling group (usually 770). Set number-based to 99 and time-based to like 30 seconds or so (about 6 rings). Then in voicemail admin either create a mailbox for each of the original three groups or create an autoattendant mailbox (depending on what you want). If you create group mailboxes - program a specific extention to be the message receiver for the group(s). This way - if noone answers an original call to one of the three groups - after 30 seconds - the call will go to the group mailbox and the message lamp will lite at the "message receiver's" extention. You can create a greeting like: "We apologize, all of our agents are busy serving other customers, please leave a message and we will get back to you ASAP".

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

Thanks Tom.

These are all DID extensions, sorry for leaving that out.

I had tried that before, but I need the group cover overflow go to the mailbox of the original extension that was called. It didn't seem like that type of routing after being in a group cover was possible.

I was also thinking of trying to simulate that routing by creating a phantom extension with secondary coverage/delayed ring for each of the extensions. And then set the phantom extension to be covered by VM and leave the normal extension in the original group.

But then I the mailbox numbering wouldn't match the DID digits, and that seemed like just a different headache.

 

[tdaugirdas]

OK - if they are DID's - are they T1/PRI or comming in on analog DID trunks? Are the DIDs for the group? or for individual extentions? I need more info to help

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

5 Analog DID lines, 2 blocks of 20 DIDs. One DID per individual extension. 4 digit extensions and getting 4 digits on the DID trunks. All the phones in the system (at least those I want covered by VM) are MLX.

The main business number is also a DID number, but that rings on primary cover buttons on various phones, it's not a group DID destination. Not worrying about that with VM right now anyway, just thought I should mention.

 

[tdaugirdas]

OK - so what is it you want to do - actually? That is, how do you want the call flows to work - and which calls need to be covered by voicemail. Are your three groups - real groups - or jsu extentions with different cover buttons on them?

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

The three groups are 3 actual coverage groups: 01 (developers), 02 (researchers) and 05 (big fish). Each group has at least 3 individual extensions in it.

desired daytime behavior:

DID call rings at developer extension 5131 in group 01. If user not there after a few rings, the call should begin to ring on researcher's phones. (They currently get this functionality by having all researcher phones have a "cover group 01" button.)

If after a few more rings still no answer by researchers, VM picks up and plays the personal 5131 mailbox greeting.


desired nighttime behavior:

DID call rings at developer extension 5131 in group 01. If user not there after a few rings, VM should pick up and plays the personal 5131 mailbox greeting.

 

[tdaugirdas]

Not sure why you have the three groups - since the calls are really going to a single extention - not a group. I would simply put an (individual) cover button for ext 5131 on each of the researchers phone. Do the same for the rest and kill the groups. Then under Auxiliary Equipement, VMS/AA - change the transfer return to 6 rings and under Options change the transfer return time to 6 rings. Assuming - in your example - 5131 has a mailbox - and incomming call would ring twice at his phone - if unanswered - ring the three researchers twice - if unanswered ring back at 5131 twice - and then go to 5131's voicemail. You can setup the other phones the same way. If you want to use groups - then renumber a group to a real DID number - so that the DID rings the group - and not an individual extention within the group.

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

Sorry if I'm not being clear.

The three groups each have 3 or more extensions as senders. Researchers need to also need to be coverage receivers for their own group (02) and group 05 too.

There aren't enough coverage buttons allowed to go to individual extension coverage.

How does this work in a bigger shop? Say a bunch of sales people are in a coverage group and you can dial any one of them with a DID. They are in a coverage group so they can answer for eachother. How do you give those sales people VM coverage too?

 

[tdaugirdas]

Well - they may be in a group - but no calls are comming to the "group" - because the calls are being routed via DIDs to an individual extention - and not to a group - so the groups you have setup are kind of meaningless.

If you want to use group coverage effectively - you need to route the call to the group itself - not to an individual extention within the group.

And if you route calls to a group - you need to think through what kind of group it will be in terms of Hunt Type and Group Type.

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

These are coverage groups, not calling groups.

 

[tdaugirdas]

Then have the "cover" group cover the extention in question - but leave the DID called extention out of the group. That way a call to 5131 (an individual extention) - would be first covered by calling group 01 with the other two phones in it. You could make the research group (02) a support group to cover group 01 (in case noone was available in group 01). If no one answers in either cover group - the call would should ring back to 5131 and eventually go to 5131's voicemail - if you made the system transfer return times long enough (probably 9 rings).

Tom Daugirdas,
President
STCG, Inc.
stcg.com

 

[stillusingmerlin]

Thanks for all the suggestions Tom.

I'm going to go back to the manuals to re-familiarize myself with group coverage, ugh.

All of my extensions that I want to have VM coverage are also accesible with a DID number. And they all need to be in group coverage too.

I'll let you know if I figure out any brilliant solution.