New Install and a few questions/enhancements?

[chidcp999]

I've just taken delivery of a new UC320W for my small office. It replaces an aging BT Micro box (I'm in the UK), that did a lot of the same things the UC320 does (plus a few extras), but which was not the most stable product and it seemed time for a change!

Anyhow, I have the basic setup all working, but there are a few things that I either miss or cannot figure out. I think a lot of these could be future enhancements, but if anyone can tell me if/how they are currently possible, then I'd be grateful.

1. There seems no way to dial an outside number, without entering the steering digit first. Is there any way to force direct dialling? For example, in the UK, pretty much every phone number starts with a zero. On my old system, I could configure it, so dialing zero as the first digit, selected an available outside line AND presented the zero to the outside line. On the UC320W, while I can see that I can make zero select an external line (I would have to reassign the AA from '0'), it does not present the zero on the line, so zero just becomes the steering digit, so I would have to dial 001580123456 - I only want to dial 01580123456! Possible?

2. On my FXO exchange line, I have services available that require * and # keys to be sent as the first key press. eg enter code *21*, but this does not work. I have a steering digit '8' assigned to the FXO external trunk. If I dial '8' to force the FXO line, then it will not accept * or # keys as the next press - it just gives me an engaged tone. Is there a way to send non-numeric digits down the FXO line?

3. I have a couple of SPA504G phones attached. Is it possible to map the line buttons to the different external trunks, so I can see when a trunk is in use and/or select it?  I have 2 SIP trunks and 1 FXO trunk and I'd like to assign each to a separate button, so I can use the button to either select the line (instead of dialing a steering digit) or have it lit, when in use?

4. Caller ID is working in as much as the incoming number is presented to the SPA504G's and to the DECT phones attached via the FXS port. But on my previous system, the incoming callerid got matched with the system directory entries and if found, the callerid presented to the phones was changed to the directory entry name - this was great, as I knew instantly who the call was from, rather than having to know their number.

I'm sure I will have some more queries/thoughts in the future, but in ther meantime I'd be grateful for some feedback on the above.

Thanks

Clive

[David Trad]

Hi Clive,

I have only done so far one live production deployment of this system, the rest has been internal testing, so I hope my responses are not too far of the mark.

1. There seems no way to dial an outside number, without entering the 
steering digit first. Is there any way to force direct dialling? For 
example, in the UK, pretty much every phone number starts with a zero. 
On my old system, I could configure it, so dialing zero as the first 
digit, selected an available outside line AND presented the zero to the 
outside line. On the UC320W, while I can see that I can make zero select
 an external line (I would have to reassign the AA from '0'), it does 
not present the zero on the line, so zero just becomes the steering 
digit, so I would have to dial 001580123456 - I only want to dial 
01580123456! Possible?

When you first provision the system, it asks you if you are provisioning it as a KTS system or an PBX system or Hybrid, I have learnt so far that Hybrid is the best method, it gives you the best of both worlds without diminishing the PBX functionality that would happen if you chose KTS mode. So under Hybrid mode you can assign all 4 FXO trunk lines to a line key (A button on the phone) and you can use these to dial-out imediatly without a steering digit, however though if a user presses "0" the system will auto assign an available line.

I think this is what you want, and is very much achievable

2. On my FXO exchange line, I have services available that require * and
 # keys to be sent as the first key press. eg enter code *21*, but this 
does not work. I have a steering digit '8' assigned to the FXO external 
trunk. If I dial '8' to force the FXO line, then it will not accept * or
 # keys as the next press - it just gives me an engaged tone. Is there a
 way to send non-numeric digits down the FXO line?

Just tried a quick test on this with a client, it was setup as shown above, she pressed line 1 key and did *21* (This is the carriers call-forward feature) and it seemed to have worked, although I will see if I can reproduce this on our LAB system... When I get it back, had to issue it out to one of our installers today so they can learn how to program and install them.

3. I have a couple of SPA504G phones attached. Is it possible to map the
 line buttons to the different external trunks, so I can see when a 
trunk is in use and/or select it?  I have 2 SIP trunks and 1 FXO trunk 
and I'd like to assign each to a separate button, so I can use the 
button to either select the line (instead of dialing a steering digit) 
or have it lit, when in use?

Yes... As pointed out above you need to configure the system as a Hybrid or straight KTS system, and then you need to assign the shared line (FXO Line) to a Key, the install wizard should easily guide you through this, the guide is well thought out and quite simple to follow on this

4. Caller ID is working in as much as the incoming number is presented 
to the SPA504G's and to the DECT phones attached via the FXS port. But 
on my previous system, the incoming callerid got matched with the system
 directory entries and if found, the callerid presented to the phones 
was changed to the directory entry name - this was great, as I knew 
instantly who the call was from, rather than having to know their 
number. 

Haven't found this feature yet so I am going to assume it is not in the current releases

The UC-500 series system has this, so I would like to imagine or think that this will be ported over to the UC-300 series as well, well I hope it does anyway

OK so here is the issue, if you set the system up as a PBX you will have to change it, I am fairly certain that I seen somewhere you can do it without having to reset to factory defaults, I am not aware of the ramifications of this so I strongly suggest before making the change you backup your current configuration on a USB stick.

I hope the above feedback helps you out

Cheers,

David.

[chidcp999]

Hi David,

Thanks for your comments, but I'm afraid I don't agree that what I want is achievable, with the current firmware (I have installed the latest RC firmware by the way).

I had already played around with PBX and hybrid mode, but neither give me the functionality I mentioned. Yes, in hybrid mode, I can define a shared FXO line and that maps to one of the phone keys, but you cannot then add the FXS phone to the shared FXO line. If I make the FXO line a shared line, then incoming calls on the FXO line never ring on the FXS phone and this is simply no good in my setup.

Also, while a shared FXO line adds a shared line button to the phone, it is only possible for FXO lines - what about SIP lines? I have 1 FXO line and 2 SIP lines. Why can't I just have three buttons assigned to SIP1, SIP2 and FXO1, then have them lit when in use by any extension?

There really does seem no way to simply pick up the receiver and dial an external number immediately and have it routed via an outbound trunk assignment (which would be SIP1, SIP2 and as a last resort FXO1).

The *21* (carriers call forward over here too) definitely does not work for me. I press key 8 which selects the FXO outside trunk, but then pressing any key other than a numeric key, gives me an engaged tone. I wonder if there is a problem with the settings for the UK?

Overall, I think I'm reasonably happy with the system, but I'm missing some basic funcionality that was available on my four year old previous system and which I find a little frustrating!

Thanks

Clive

[David Trad]

Hi Clive,

I take your point and it looks like you have canvassed everything on the system.

I have not done much with SIP trunking on the UC-320W so I could not give any advice on it, for me though I would normally get 1 SIP trunk with 5 or 10 channels on it, but your request is geared to having more than one ITSP and it makes sense to have the system behave that way and I see the logic to it.

Maybe they will see your request and see the benefits in having that capabilities, I know from a UC-500 perspective it would be good as well

Cheers,

David.