Hunt List to voice mail at the end of the business day

[Bwallman1]

Currently running in production:

CUCM - 8.6.2.22900-9

Unity - 8.6.2.22900-9

Issue #1:

Background:  We just finished working through numerous issues related to our migration from CM 5.1.2 to 8.6.  Prior to the migration to 8.6, the receptionist was using the Cisco Attendant Console (CAC) application.  I'm not that familiar with the app but what she told me was at the beginning of her work day, she would log into CAC and set the application to "Online" mode which meant she was at her desk and able to answer the phone.  At the end of the work day, she would set the applicatioin to "Offline" mode and all incoming calls would then go to a "night line" recorded message indicating the business hours and then hangup on the caller (no ability to leave a message).

Here is an overview of how her phone is set up:

• 7960 with 6 lines (1500-1505)
• These 6 lines are members of a line group + hunt list with a hunt pilot of 7600

Problem:

Since the version of CAC is no longer supported and the replacement Cisco product being quite expensive, the company decided to try one of the third party replacement products.  We are currenlty in trial mode with the Fidelus Console Operator.  This application does not have the "Online/Offline" mode that CAC had.  So right now when she leaves for the day the phone keeps ringing and the "night line" message is never heard.

I have done some testing with the Forward Hunt No Answer and Busy options within the Hunt Pilot to get the caller to hear a recorded message.  To do this I:

• Created a voicemail box for the last line in the line group (1505).
• Added an alternate extension of 7600 (hunt pilot) to the 1505 voicemail box.
• Enabled an alternate greeting that will hangup after the message is played.

This appears to work but I have to wait for the hunting process to go through all 6 lines before I hear the message.

Question:  Is there a way to get the recorded message to play instantly outside of business hours instead of having to wait for it to ring through 6 lines?  Most callers would probably hang up after 3-5 rings.

Issue #2:

Background:  If the receptionist had to leave her desk for a certain amount of time, within the Cisco Attendant Console (CAC) she would set it to "Offline" mode and then call forward her phone to another receptionist.  I understand that all call forwarding settings are ignored when a phone is a member of a hunt list.

The only way I can call forward her phone to the other one is to:

• I created a new softkey template to include the HLog softkey and applied it to her phone.
• Within the Hunt Pilot (7600) I added the other receptionists DN in the Forward Hunt No Answer and Forward Hunt Busy boxes.
• You have to log out of the Hunt List and then all incoming calls will be forwarded to the other receptionist.

Question:  Is there another way to manually forward her phone when needed to the other receptionists phone?

Ideally the solution would allow her phone to be configured to work for both issues above.  It used to work that way but things have definitely changed. Any help or suggestions would be most welcomed.

Thanks in advance.

[Jonathan Schulenberg · Accepted solution]

The short answer is you need to remove the hunt pilot/list/line group from the mix and just put 7600 on the receptionist's phone directly as the prime line. While CUAC had what looked like a hunt configuration it was separate and unique to the CUAC software daemon. Additionally, the six contiguous DNs with CFB set to the next number and the busy trigger set to one (1) was a workaround people used with the old CUAC. The multiple buttons was to let people have "one call per button" (a key system mindset) and the call forwarding was a byproduct of people avoiding the Broadcast feature. It's a long story.

You should be able to solve both issues with Call Forward All. For issue one, just have the receptionist CFA to voicemail at the end of their day. Since 7600 is the prime line on the phone this will work without the need to create new mailboxes or alternate extensions. For issue two the receptionist can just CFA to another DN in the office. As long as Unity is left at it's default configuration (First Redirecting Number) an unanswered call by the temporary person would still match against the 7600 mailbox if it CFNA to voicemail.

So, delete the hunt config and DNs 1500-1505. Add 7600 as the prime line DN, and increase the busy trigger to however many calls the receptionist wants to juggle. Ensure that the max calls is two higher than that. Confirm that the mailbox for 7600 exists and Fidelus is set to CTI control the 7600 DN.

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify helpful or correct answers.

[Bwallman1]

Thanks for the info Jonathan.  I will try this in my test lab to see  how it works.  This configuration sounds a lot simpler than what we  currently have.

In regards to having the receptionist CFA to voicemail at the end of her day, how would she go about doing that? Would she have to log into the CM User Options web gui for her phone?

I'll be away from the office for a week but will report my results after that.

Thanks again

[Jonathan Schulenberg · Accepted solution]

If 7600 is the prime DN of the phone he/she can simply press CFwdAll, then the Messages button. If it appears a secondary DN then you must use the CCMUser webpage.

Please remember to rate helpful responses and identify helpful or correct answers.

[Bwallman1]

I actually just figured that out.  :-)  I've just recently taken over the administration of the phone system and I'm learning as I go.

Thanks for the quick response.