911 Intercept

[MikeTomasko]

I tried setting up a 911 intercept using Unity and it doesn't seem to fully work like I want it to. I setup a route pattern to set 911 calls to go to the voice mail pilot and the router pattern is set to use the Calling Parties External Mask. I then setup Call Routing in Unity to take any calling number that is 814555XXXX and send it to a Call Handler with a 911 message. After the greeting, the call is sent to a 2nd Call Handler that will place the 911 call. The problem is the voice mail port number is the number that is sent. If I send the call to a IP phone, the correct name and number is displayed at the top of the phone, but at the bottom of the display it shows the voice mail port number. Is there any way to make this work? Thanks!

[Ginger Dillon]

Hi -

I'm going to apologize in advance for asking why you want to do this? By putting Unity in the mix, you add complexity to getting the call to emergency services in a timely manner. Our CallManager routes 911 and 9911 calls immediately out to the PSTN and use E911 to report the correct location of the caller to the Public Safety Answering Point. Maybe you could specify here why you want Unity involved here.

Ginger

[Tommer Catlin]

Actually, we are thinking of going this road also.. It would only delay it by a few seconds... the problem, which has been huge for whatever reason, the entire office will not fess up to who is accidently dialing 911 on their phones, then hanging up once they realize what they did. We have a client tell us that they police have showed up so many times, it's not even funny anymore. CallManager CDR can not track down who it is because the call never connects fast enough to have it logged in. Probably a third party software would be able to.

Unity will at least play the Call Handler greeting, "If this is an emergency press 1 now" (1 would then dial out to 911).

I'm boggled why 9, to get out is so confussing for some people, but I guess it happens.

[MikeTomasko]

We want to delay the calls because of the mis-dials to 911. We're leaving 9911 in, but want to intercept 911 and give people a chance to hang up. With all the long distance dialing we have, we were having 60 - 70 911 calls a month.

[travis-dennis_2]

Just my 2 cents here but I can smell a lawsuit after a crisis if you put any sort of delay on processing a 911 call. What if the disgruntled ex-employee happens to shoot me before I can respond to "Press 1 if this is an emergency"? 911 calls should never be diverted. What I am doing for a lot of my customers that have this complaint is to change the digit to access an outside line to 5 (or whatever) instead of 9. This has virtually eliminated false 91 calls after the culture change has kicked in. There is usually very little resistance once we hit them with "this will help save lives since first responders are not being tied up on false calls blah blah blah yada yada yada"

Hope this helps.

Please remember to rate all replies

[bji]

Is changing the outbound digit really as simple as just doing it? Are there any "gotchas" I need to look for? Sorry this is so elementary...

[travis-dennis_2]

Sorry for the dealy in response. It probably more simple than you think. You just need to make sure you change your route patterns and gateways accordingly. Depends on if where you are strpping the leadinh digit. Could be on CM or the gateway.

Hope this helps.

Please remember to rate all replies

[loevans]

Probably the issue you are having here is that you are using a second call handler. What I would do if I were you, is transfer the call direct to a route pattern (i.e. 9911 or *911, something like that) that goes direct to PSAP. Therefore you would get Unity answering, play a greeting saying "you are now calling emergency services 911", delay about 2 secs, then blind transfer to the internal route pattern for 911. This should retain original ani information.

Make sure, however, on your route point that you have a CFNA/CFB/CFonFail to the route pattern that goes direct to the PSAP.

Just my $.02. Rate if OKie dokie.

Loy

[MikeTomasko]

You lost me. Could you please detail the call flow that you are describing. How does the call get the Unity Greeting, how does it go back out to be sent to the PSAP, what translations patterns and route points are needed....etc. Thanks!

[LARRY KELLEY]

I solved it this way: I use a translation pattern to change 911 to 801 which is forwarded to a Unity call handler via a line appearance on a 'dummy' 7960 with an expansion module. [A CTI Route Point would also work, but I have 19 offices so found it easier to use the 7960 device.] The call handler greeting plays: "You have dialed 911. If this is not an emergency, hang up now. Otherwise stay on the line to complete the call." After the greeting plays, Unity is set to "ring the phone" for the call handler [blind transfer it back to Call Manager] using a route pattern 90801. [This pattern does not interfere in Call Manager with long distance calls to area codes that start with '8'.] On the route pattern, I use a Calling Party Transformation to pass the correct caller ID to the PSAP, ex. 303255XXXX, and a Called Party Transformation of '911' to send the call to the PSTN. I send 9.911 directly to the PSTN because it usually isn't mis-dialed. The law enforcement officers in my organization have assured me that there is no lawsuit liability by using this brief delay method to avoid false dispatches -- and keeps the sheriff's office from thinking we are crying 'wolf' when the call actually does complete to the PSAP.

[Jerri3613]

We changed the outside line request from 9 to 8 here. Hasn't stopped the misdialed 911 calls and of course no one will admit to it. I really don't think they realize that they dialed the 911 - just that they dialed 9 instead of 8 to get out and then hung up. This method may just be the answer to the problem. Thanks.

[loevans]

Sure, well, I'll try... If you have more specific questions that don't get covered, we can trade emails. I've been busy with some cutover work, so I apologize for the delayed response.

This can get a bit complex, make sure you know your PTNs and CSSs well.

Create a PTN of "911RP-PTN"

Create a CSS of "911RP-CSS", which can see only 911RP-PTN.

Create a PTN of "911Calls-PTN"

Create a CSS of "911Calls-CSS" which can see only 911Calls-CSS.

Create a xlate pattern of "911" in the regular phone PTN and a CSS of the new 911RPCSS. In the xlate, set the called party transform mask of "911". This points 911 calls to the 911 Route Point we will create in a second.

Now create a CTI Route Point with a CSS and other settings like your typical phones. Call it "911_RP_Dummy" or something witty like that. When you get finished and it has you add the Line 1, set the DN to 911, PTN to "911RP-PTN". Set this to CallForwardAll to VoiceMail - it's a check box in CCM admin UI. Set CallFWDBusy, CallFWDNA, CallFWDUnreg, and CallForwardOnFailure (I'm not sure what version CFOF this first became available, so your mileage may vary) to 911 with a FWD CSS of "911Calls-CSS".

Create a callhandler called "911xfer". Under "Call Transfer" settings for the handler, tell it to "Yes, Ring a subscriber at this extension:" and enter a non-public facing 911 pattern, like 01.911 or 811 or something like that. Check the setting "Do not play the 'Wait while I transfer your call' prompt".

Now in Unity, create a call handler called "E911" with an extension of 911. Record the greeting "Now calling 911" or whatever. Under the Greetings section for that handler, the rest of the settings should look like this:

Profile:

Active Schedule: All Hours All Days

Greetings:

During Greeting: Uncheck allow caller input

After Greeting: Send Caller to Call Handler: Attemtp transfer for "911xfer" (this is the cH we created just above)

HTH...

[LARRY KELLEY]

In this solution, I don't see how the call gets back to CallManager from the Call Transfer field in the second call handler. CallManager would need to have a route pattern that matched the dial string in the Unity call handler in order to route that string out to the PSTN, would it not? Could you clarify?

Also, it is possible for one call handler to play a greeting and then transfer the call back to the switch. Is there an advantage to building two call handlers to handle this process?

Finally, rather than posting questions to the forum, how does one send email to a specific poster?

[loevans]

I'm sorry, you are correct. Let me repost the note, with the last step. Thank you for prompting...

As far as specific emails, typically people don't give them out, so as to keep spammers away, but if you have a specific request, you can post something like me at you dot com and the person you are requesting can send an email direct.

Now, I'm not a moderator, so I don't know what Cisco's stance is, but.....

[loevans]

*** Repost - items left out ***

Sure, well, I'll try... If you have more specific questions that don't get covered, we can trade emails.

This can get a bit complex, make sure you know your PTNs and CSSs well.

In CCM:

1. Create a PTN of "911RP-PTN"

2. Create a CSS of "911RP-CSS", which can see only 911RP-PTN.

3. Create a PTN of "911Calls-PTN"

4. Create a CSS of "911Calls-CSS" which can see only 911Calls-CSS.

5. Create a xlate pattern of "911" in the regular phone PTN and a CSS of the new 911RPCSS. In the xlate, set the called party transform mask of "911". This points 911 calls to the 911 Route Point we will create in a second.

6. Now create a CTI Route Point with a CSS and other settings like your typical phones. Call it "911_RP_Dummy" or something witty like that. When you get finished and it has you add the Line 1, set the DN to 911, PTN to "911RP-PTN". Set this to CallForwardAll to VoiceMail - it's a check box in CCM admin UI. Set CallFWDBusy, CallFWDNA, CallFWDUnreg, and CallForwardOnFailure (I'm not sure what version CFOF this first became available, so your mileage may vary) to 911 with a FWD CSS of "911Calls-CSS".

7. Now create a route pattern of 01.911 or 811 or something like that. Set the partition as 911Calls-PTN. The CSS of the Unity VM ports will need to be able to see 911Calls-PTN.

In Unity:

8. Create a callhandler called "911xfer". Under "Call Transfer" settings for the handler, tell it to "Yes, Ring a subscriber at this extension:" and enter a non-public facing 911 pattern, like 01.911 or 811 or something like that. Check the setting "Do not play the 'Wait while I transfer your call' prompt".

9. Now in Unity, create a call handler called "E911" with an extension of 911. Record the greeting "Now calling 911" or whatever. Under the Greetings section for that handler, the rest of the settings should look like this:

Profile:

Active Schedule: All Hours All Days

Greetings:

During Greeting: Uncheck allow caller input

After Greeting: Send Caller to Call Handler: Attemtp transfer for "911xfer" (this is the cH we created just above)

OK...sorry I missed it the first time. Hope this helps. Also, I hope I didn't leave something out THIS time...