Call forwarding to voicemail extension

[tdmalone]

Hi there,

Tearing hair out here over something which might turn out to be really simple...

I didn't set up the system, I'm just administering it and learning as I go, so it's basically a bit of trial and error, and a bit of 'those-settings-work-so-I'll-copy-them'. I'll try my best to explain our setup:

- We're running a Mitel 3300 MXe, with two inbound 10 line ISDN services
- One of those services is on the 67xx real number range, the other on 88xx
- Two inbound numbers on the 67xx range are set to reroute to a hunt group which calls up to 10 SIP lines (external system)
- We have mailboxes set up on the 88xx range - eg. 8866, 8895, 8897 - which are occasionally diverted to from the 67xx numbers when we want to take messages
- In order for this diversion to work, the 88xx mailboxes are set up as hunt groups, with a second hunt group called *88xx (which I understand means 'enter voicemail as this extension') - with no members in either of these hunt groups. Next, the calls are rerouted to the asterisk-marked-huntgroup (i.e. *88xx) using an entry in Call Rerouting Always Alternative.

Here's the issue.. 6701 is redirected to 8897, which is rerouted to *8897, which successfully loads the 8897 voicemail box when 6701 is called.

However, 6777 is redirected to 8895, which is rerouted to *8895, which displays 'OUT OF SERVICE' when called.

I've painstakingly gone through the settings for each 8895 and 8897 - and completely recreated 8895 from scratch - but cannot figure out what I'm missing to make 8895 work.

It's worth noting that I've also tested changing 8895's reroute to *8897 which works successfully, so that removes any potential problems with the set up for 6777 or 8895... so the configuration issue must be somewhere in the *8895 hunt group (or voicemail box?).

Here's my *8897 hunt group settings (working group):

Hunt Group   *8897
Local-only DN   False
Hunt Group Mode   Circular
Hunt Group Name    <blank>
Class of Service - Day    <blank>
Class of Service - Night1    <blank>
Class of Service - Night2    <blank>
Home Element   LFMMXe
Secondary Element   Not Assigned
First RAD    <blank>
Second RAD    <blank>
Night Answer RAD    <blank>
Hunt Group Priority   64
Hunt Group Type   NameTag
Phase Timer Ring   <blank>

And here's my *8895 hunt group settings (non-working group):

Hunt Group   *8895
Local-only DN   False
Hunt Group Mode   Circular
Hunt Group Name    <blank>
Class of Service - Day    <blank>
Class of Service - Night1    <blank>
Class of Service - Night2    <blank>
Home Element   LFMMXe
Secondary Element   Not Assigned
First RAD    <blank>
Second RAD    <blank>
Night Answer RAD    <blank>
Hunt Group Priority   64
Hunt Group Type   NameTag
Phase Timer Ring   <blank>

The settings for the 8897 and 8895 (without asterisks) hunt groups are identical to each other.
The voicemail box settings (MessageOnly boxes) are identical to each other.

Interestingly, I can call 8895 from my handset and voicemail works fine. But I can't call 6777 which is call forwarded to 8895 (OUT OF SERVICE). The rerouting functionality works - because if I reroute 8895 to *8897 it is fine - but I just can't get it working with 8895 rerouted to *8895, even though 8897 is successfully rerouted to *8897.

Also, if I call forward my handset (which is 8846) to 8895, it works. It just won't work when forwarded from 6777...

Does that all make sense? Is there something I'm missing?

[sarond]

What happens when you call *8895? I would assume "Out of Service"
Is *8895 rerouted the same as *8897?
Is *8895 forwarded anywhere?

[tdmalone]

Hi sarond,

Yes calling *8895 gives 'OUT OF SERVICE'. Calling *8897 successfully goes to the 8897 mailbox.

That's the key issue here... I probably didn't need to give the huge background rundown that I did, thanks for deciphering it!

Yes, from everything I can see, *8895 is routed the same as *8897. That is, 8895 is rerouted to *8895, and *8895 is a NameTag hunt group with no members. 8895 is a hunt group with no members (with CoS of 1,1,1), and 8895 has a voicemail box. That's exactly how it is configured with 8897... but there *must* be something else that tells *8895 to enter the voicemail system as 8895?? I just can't find where that might be.

*8895 is not forwarded anywhere.

[tdmalone]

DONE IT!!!

Thanks so much sarond, you helped me think through this and find the only thing I was missing. I got thinking, did some searches with different terms to what I'd used before (it's very hard searching for 'asterisk' and getting articles about using * rather than integrating Mitel with Asterisk )

Anyway, I came across this which is exactly what I was trying to do:
http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1550647

Turns out I hadn't thought to look at Call Re-routing for *8895. I had only replicated routing for 8895, thinking the asterisk was some internal feature that said 'go to voicemail'. *8895 needed to be routed to 2,2,2 (enter voicemail), which is what I found *8897 was routed to. That thread above explains how the process actually works and why the NameTag hunt group is needed in this instance.

Thanks again for your help! Turned out to be simple but I've just learnt a lot.

[johnp]

I'm pretty certain *8897 is rerouted always to vm while *8895 isn't. Check call rerouting again.

[johnp]

FWIW, I think 8897 and 8895 are setup this way so that there can be a vm message indicator. *EXT ends up in the same box as non * extension.

[tdmalone]

I think it's so that there's not a number conflict - i.e. you couldn't have 8895 redirecting to itself, so you've gotta use *8895 so it seems like a different number. But as you say the asterisk is ignored so voicemail essentially sees it as the same number anyway.

And then, this all has to be done because without the NameTag hunt group (*8895), you'd presumably end up at the voicemail for 6777.

I guess it could have been set up as a voicemail box on 6777 (I assume that would work)... but we sometimes call forward to an ACD queue during special events, and sometimes remove forwarding completely and let the call be re-routed to a hunt group which hunts 10 SIP lines (an external specialised phone system). And to add complexity, non-system admins often control this through an analogue unit. So it was most likely set up this way for a very good reason!