Voicemail confusion - can anyone clarify, please ?? 1

[vtsnaab]

I am setting up an Avaya Partner ACS R6 for a friend.

It has a module labeled Partner Mail VS R 4.1 with a card labeled Partner Mail VS 4 ports/20 mailboxes.

I am a bit unclear as to several ideas in this system and will appreciate some clarification, please.

- Is the card just an add-on that adds more ports & mailboxes to the VM module ??
- Are there moving parts inside the VM module (it makes noise when the system is running) ??
- Is the VM module needed in order to have a single mailbox VM function for all lines & extensions with this system ??

2nd to the above, I have asked, but it seems that nobody knows=>
Is it possible to use an Amanda VM unit for this single mailbox instead of the module & card ??
(Their docs indicate that it can be used, but do not instruct how to set the ACS for it.)

If anyone who sees this knows how this may be done I will be very grateful if you will educate me, please.

Thanks.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

By itself, without the PCMCIA card installed, the Partner Mail VS R4 has 2 ports and 10 mailboxes. PCMCIA cards expand the number of mailboxes and ports available

the hard drive is spinning 24x7

The VM module can be configured for a single mailbox up to the max available

You could use the Amanda instead, it would interface to a spare extension port.

When a call isn't answered by the target extension, the call them forwards to the voicemail hunt group. When a voicemail port answers, the Partner sends "Mode Codes" to indicate how to handle the call. Then the voicemail system can answer with the correct mailbox, or the auto attendant, or the login prompt, or whatever is needed

 

[vtsnaab]

Thanks for replying TouchToneTommy !!
As it turns out, the other thread I posted sort of branched out into this just after I'd posted.
(

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1759957)

Dexman has clarified some of this for me and I have been fortunate to get some new info as well.

I hope you will see this reply - and if possible, would you be kind enough as to re-post and refine what you'd posted earlier (in light of my needing to eliminate the dying VM module from the system) ??

Most likely it will be best to slim this system down to just the processor and a single 308 module with the Amanda for VM.

Thanks, and Best Wishes.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

I posted in the other thread, but to recap. The Amanda connects to extension ports on the ACS, if you are downsizing to just the ACS and one 308 module, pick the last 4 port on the 308, which are 22-23-24-25

Assign those to Hunt Group 7 (#505-7-XX-1, where XX is 22-23-24-25)

Assign Auto VMS Coverage to the extension(s) that will have mailboxes created for them in the Amanda (#310-XX-1 where XX is the extension number). I'm thinking that only Ext. 10 will have a mailbox in your situation?

Assign the lines that will be answered by Ext. 10's mailbox (#208-LL-10 where LL is the line number)

In the Amanda, tell it that the phone system talking to it is a Partner ACS, which is code 112 from here

Dial Intercom 777 to reach the voicemail system.

 

[vtsnaab]

Excellent TouchToneTommy - got it.
I posted to the other thread as well - and thanks for your terrific reply there too.

At some later date I will need to gain more comprehension of the backup/restore card's functions - but for now I think this is all coming together very nicely.

Thank You.

 

[vtsnaab]

Please forgive my ignorance here as I want to make sure I get things right.

I have posted to the thread I made about strangenesses and have yet another with regards to how this ACS is numbering the extensions - which is not in keeping with what I've been told or with the manual.

As things stand now, extensions 10 & 11 are excluded from daily usage, 12 will be the 'operator' extension, and the others will occupy up to extension 18 all on the 509.

The 308 has somehow numbered its extensions 27-34, and as such I've got the Amanda connected to 31-34 and it seems to be working flawlessly.
(I have assigned those extensions to Hunt Group 7 as instructed.)
Extensions 27 - 30 are unused at present.

That having been said, here is what I desire to have clarified, please:

When an outside call comes in - all phones ring & any can answer.
There is just a single VM box, which should be be for X 12, yes ??
If extension 12 transfers a call to another with no answer, it needs to ring back to X 12.
If there's no answer at all, incoming calls must go right to the single VM box.

Now I'll try to frame my query coherently - are these steps correct for the above, please ??:
#310-12-1

#208-01-10
#208-02-10
#208-03-10
#208-04-10
#208-05-10

I am very uncertain about the following:
#306-31-12
#306-32-12
#306-33-12
#306-34-12

Finally I am thinking that I either do not need to set #310, or do not know the correct way to do it ?? (#310-12 ??)

Thanks for helping me to get this right !!

 

[TouchToneTommy]

Start with the extension numbering.
The ACS R8 is 5 lines and 9 extensions. It goes in the center slot, and always starts with Ext. 10. So of course it is Ext. 10 through 18

The next slot that you should put a module in is the LEFT-most slot, number 1, and the extension numbering will pick up there. A 308 in that slot would give you 19 through 26, a 206 in that slot would give you 19 through 25.

After using slot 1, use slot 2. It picks up where slot 1 left off, so if you have a 509 in the center slot, a 308 in slot 1, slot 2 is going to start with 27 and go for 6 or 8 extension, depending on what you put in slot 2.

Did you skip putting anything in slot 1, because the hardware looked prettier with the modules side by side? The ACS is assuming that there would have been a 308 in slot 1 and is assigning 27 through 34. If you then powered down, put a 206 in the empty slot 1, BOOM, the extension numbers on the 308 in slot 2 would change to 25 through 32

#310-12-1

- Yes, you need Automatic VMS Coverage for Ext. 12

#208-01-10
#208-02-10
#208-03-10
#208-04-10
#208-05-10

- No, you've told the ACS that Ext. 10 is going to cover the lines, you want that to be 12

I am very uncertain about the following:
#306-31-12
#306-32-12
#306-33-12
#306-34-12

- This says that if Ext. 31 transfers a call to an extension, and that target extension does not answer, AND that target extension does not have Automatic VMS Coverage turned on, then instead of returning the call to Ext. 31, send it to Ext. 12 instead. (and the same for 32, 33, and 34) This is fine, but it really has to do with the Automated Attendant, that you say you are not going to be using. Once one of the VM ports has a call, it is not going to transfer it anywhere, since you are only going to use a mailbox.

The last setting you might need to look at is #206-7, and then the line number, and possibly set it to 3-Line Ownership. By the book, it should be set to 2-Not Assigned since you're using #208 for Line Coverage instead, but in a few stubborn cases, I've found it necessary to set #206-7 to 3.

Your programming and call flow are correct. Set all phones to Immediate Ring. Anyone can answer. If no one answers, the ACS sends the call to voicemail, and the mode codes that the ACS sends tell the voicemail to answer with mailbox 12. If anyone transfers a call to any extension other than 12, and the target extension does not answer, the call will return to the extension that initiated the transfer. If anyone transfers a call to 12, and 12 doesn't answer, the call will cover to 12's mailbox, because of the Automatic VMS Coverage.

 

[vtsnaab]

Thanks Again & Again TouchToneTommy !!
I hope you do not mind my asking for further clarification, please ??

I see how you've explained the positioning of the modules in your reply and I thank you very much for that.
I was confused by your earlier reply in another thread - sorry about that.

In that earlier reply you said:
"You will see that the slots are marked 1-2-P-3-4 - ALWAYS start with slot 1, and don't skip any slots"

This confused me as putting the 308 in slot 1 will leave an empty slot 2 - which seems like skipping a slot to me, which is also what I was told NOT to do ?!?
(The manual also seems to show the 308 modules to the right & left of the processor in the 5 slot box, or to the right of it in the 2 slot box...?)

Is it obvious what confused me (or perhaps that I am too easily confused ?!?) ??

My current queries (while still digesting the other fantastically helpful you've so generously provided !!), please:

Since I have removed all but the 509 & a single 308 to the left of it in slot 2, all appears well - but for the extension numbering.

- Is there any harm in having things stay that way ??
(I am just curious is all & quite easily change things as needed.)

- I messed up in saying #208-01-10 and see that those entries needed to be
#208-01-12, etc., sorry about that !!

- I see where I had the entries backwards - my bad - sorry !!
So, having said that, should I even use these at all ??:
#306-12-31
#306-12-32
#306-12-33
#306-12-34

Or is it best to just skip that setting altogether, please ??

Thanks Again.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

If you notice, the 3rd slot isn't really called slot 3, it's slot P, for Processor. And the connector is different, so only a processor module will fit there.

That leaves you with 4 empty slots, 2 on each side of the processor. 1 and 2 to the left of the processor, and 3 and 4 to the right side of the processor.

I don't know where you got your schooling, but I usually start counting at 1, so that's where I'd put the first expansion module.

If it's working, and you're happy with it, you aren't going to expand the number of phones making it weird that you jump from phone extension 18 to phone extension 27, leave it where it is.

Your #306's were right the first time: #306-31-12, #306-32-12, #306-33-12, and #306-34-12
It really won't matter, because will a call ever transfer from the voicemail system to an extension? Not in the scenario you've outlined. It's a mailbox answering, that plays a greeting and records a message, not an auto attendant that invites the caller to dial an extension number.

Hope that helps!

 

[vtsnaab]

Thanks Again TouchToneTommy (especially for putting up with my endless questions !!).

Yes - I understood the numbering on the carrier, and also read and re-read the ACS manual & saw the pictures in it - and still did not make sense of it. Sorry.

Bottom line is that their house/office is only so big and with the stations already laid out as described, there will be phones everywhere but the bathrooms so its all good, number-wise & I'll just leave the modules as-is.
(Likely it would be smart to just get a 2 slot carrier for this and I may yet do that too.)

The #306's have become a total no-go as explained, and again I say:
Thank You !!