List Hunt Pilots in CUC Directory Handlers CUC 12.5

[bennyb11]

Hello, I orininaly posted this as a reply to a an older post  

https://community.cisco.com/t5/ip-telephony-and-phones/add-hunt-pilots-to-corporate-directory-cucm-10-6/td-p/2632389

I am currently working through a similar situation as described in this older post. I would appreciate any suggestions that could help me work through this situation.

I have a combination of Hunt Pilots and DNs configured to forward all calls to CUC System Call Handlers, which provide menu options and caller inputs. The System Call Handlers share the same extension as the Hunt Pilots and DNs.

I would like to list the Hunt Pilots and DNs in the CUC Directory so that I can make use of a main Directory Handler to offer callers the option to dial by name and reach these Hunt pilots and DNs. Currently, I haven't configured the Hunt Pilots or DNs as users in CUCM because the System Call Handlers use the same extension.

I have considered removing the extension from the Call Handlers and relying on CUC Forwarding Rules to directly route the calls to the Call Handlers. However, I would like to avoid consuming Voicemail licenses for these users.

Thank you for your assistance.

[Maren Mahoney · Accepted solution]

You can't add Call Handlers to a Directory Handler, but you can add both Users with a Mailbox and Contacts.

I can't test this in my environment at the moment, but I think what you could do is create a contact with the same extension as the Call Handler, but in a different Partition in CUC. Then rely on the PT/CSS behavior of CUC to find the Call Handler.

Try this and see if it works. (Again...I can't test so no guarantees here...)

• In CUC create a Partition called Contacts_PT
• Then create a DirHand_CSS that has your regular partition (that the Call Handlers are in) listed first and the Contacts_PT second.
• Create a contact with the same extension as your Call Handler (and record a Spoken Name) in the Contacts_PT
• Set the Directory Handler with the DirHand_CSS

CUC uses Extensions as the anchor for its objects. By selecting the Contact when using the Directory Handler I *think* that CUC will transfer to that extension and find the Call Handler instead of the Contact because the CSS has the PT of the Call Handlers listed first.

Let us know how this goes. I'm interested to see if it works.

Maren

[bennyb11]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I created the contacts as you suggested, and now the procedure is working properly. The Directory Handler understands the spoken name of the contact and then transfers the call to the call handlers. Would you please explain your suggestion to create a Contacts_PT and DirHand_CSS? Also, are Hunt Pilots and Call Handlers used by our departments a common industry practice? I am new to CUCM/CUC, so thank you very much for your time.

[Maren Mahoney]

The first thing to know is that Partitions and Calling Search Spaces in CUCM (called Partitions and Search Scopes in CUC) work the same way in both systems. You'll want to do some reading on this and there are any number of white papers and YouTube videos on the subject. The short answer is that when a number is presented to CUCM (or CUC) for processing, the 'best/closest match' is used. If two objects have the same amount of match (such as two objects having the exact same number - but this can only happen if different Partitions are associated with the two numbers) then whichever Partition is listed higher up in the CSS is the one chosen.

So, you created a Contact with an extension associated with the Contacts_PT (which would be written like:  8675309/Contacts_PT) and a Call Handler with the exact same extension associated with the standard partition for your system (like: 8675309/CUC14_PT), you have two different objects that would match with the same number. In order to prioritize which one should 'get' the call when that number is dialed, you put the two partitions in a Search Scope in the order desired - namely the CUC14_PT and then the Contacts_PT). When a call request is made for 8675309 there are two equal matches, so the tiebreaker is the partition order in the DirHand_CSS and the number associated with the Call Handler is chosen.

And, yes, Hunt Pilots and Call Handlers are VERY much common practice in the industry, along with any number of other features in both systems. I suppose the features are there for a reason, eh?

I'm glad it worked!

Maren