Camp-On timer for ACD

[dhumes0524]

Hello all, I am trying to setup my first ACD for our receptionist.  I have the basics setup, but need help with this camp on tone.  When the receptionist is on the phone, and another caller comes in, that new caller is hearing a busy tone for 3 seconds, then going to our MoH for approximately 15 seconds, before then hearing our greeting to tell them they are on hold, etc. 

Is there a way to 1. remove the busy tone that they hear for 3 seconds?  and 2. make it so they immediately hear our recording for Announcement before hearing any MoH?

Thank you!

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

Why are you setting up ACD with only one person in it?

What is the call flow of the inbound caller?

Does it go directly to the Hunt Group or is routed prior to that?

How are you Trunks setup for MoH?

Thanks,

TE

[dhumes0524]

Well - I guess maybe ACD is overkill in this case?  I want our inbound calls to our receptionist to stack up while holding on her to be available.  Our calls ring inbound directly to her and she answers, no auto attendant.  I would like them to hear our announcement when the receptionist is already on a call, which relays options to dial any extension or press 0 to leave a message, or continue to hold.  Then hold music for ~30 sec, then play the message again with options, and loop that process for as long as they decide to sit in the queue waiting on her to be available.

I had thought ACD was required for this but will a normal hunt group perform this functionality as well?  I do have just one phone that the calls will be directed to.  The other thing - I would like her to have a visual representation of the incoming calls.  With this setup as ACD she has that in her Mitel Attendant Console, it seems to show the calls stacked up.  With a normal hunt group it doesn't seem to show them in the Attendant Console while they are holding for her to be available. 

It seems to mostly be working setup as ACD right now, except that they hear a busy tone for 3 seconds when the call is picked up by the system, then 15 seconds of hold music, then the announcement message.  I would prefer to eliminate the busy tone for 3 seconds, and have the announcement pick it up immediately when she is on the phone already. 

[DND ON]

The proper way to do this is answer the call with a Call Routing Announcement that times out to the hunt group, even if there are no options presented other than remaining on the line for assistance. The call is answered on the first ring every time, then the caller hears music while waiting for the receptionist. You can increase the length of time before an announcement greeting is played, which will increase the number of calls the receptionist is able to answer, which means fewer voice mail messages and less phone tag.

There is never a scenario that live answer is more efficient than an auto attendant.

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

Since DND ON already gave you the first piece of the puzzle I will explain the remaining. However Pressing F1 while in the Hunt Group will provide you with more detailed information this will be more general information.

I want our inbound calls to our receptionist to stack up while holding on her to be available

-  Both ACD and UCD Hunt Group can do this.

I would like them to hear our announcement when the receptionist is already on a call

- There are two options for this:
--Announcement is a single instance and can be used to go to a recording as soon as they enter the Hunt Group (ACD or UCD)
--Overflow is a repeating instance that can be use to go to a recording with options and will repeat on its timer; set its timer to 30 seconds. IF there is an Announcement then the first time will be longer as its timer won't start until after the Announcement is over.

Then hold music for ~30 sec

- MoH is dependent on how it is setup in the system, but when looking at the Hunt Group you have 3 options for callers.
--Audio for Calls Camped onto this Device: This is what users will hear in between going to the Announcement or Overflow
--Audio for Calls Ringing this Device: This is the initial audio hear when call first get to the Hunt Group while waiting for Camp-On. I would set this to Silence.
--Audio for Camped-On Announcement Calls: This is the audio they will hear as they go back and forth between Announcements.

It seems to mostly be working setup as ACD right now, except that they hear a busy tone for 3 seconds when the call is picked up by the system, then 15 seconds of hold music, then the announcement message.  I would prefer to eliminate the busy tone for 3 seconds, and have the announcement pick it up immediately when she is on the phone already.

Alright, so what I would do for initial testing is to send the caller to a Call Routing Announcement that has no messages playing and times out to your Hunt Group Extension.
I would set the Announcement timer of the Hunt Group to 1 second and set the Announcement destination to a Call Routing Announcement that plays a hold message and times out to Hang-Up
I would then set the Overflow timer to 30 seconds and set the Overflow Destination to a Call Routing Destination that plays the Hold or Press 0 message and times out to Hang-Up; obviously set 0 to go to the Mailbox you want it to go to.

Thanks,

TE

[dhumes0524]

Thanks for the replies both DND ON and TE.  I am diving deeper into them right now and testing/configuring and will let you know with how it goes.

[dhumes0524]

OK TE here is what I got based on your last suggestions. 

I have setup Call Routing announcement 2518 with no messages and transfer to HG 2400.  HG 2400 has an announcement timer of 1 second and announcement set to CRA 2517.  2517 is set to "hang up".  Overflow is then also set to the same 2517 CRA. 

What is happening when I call 2518 - it sends me into 2400 without playing the busy tone (good) - then after 1 sec hold it is playing the announcement (good) - then 4-5 seconds later it is playing the overflow (not so good, would prefer 30 seconds here) then after overflow greeting plays it goes 30 seconds of hold time, then plays overflow again, and so on.

I am guessing that the first initial 30 second overflow timer STARTS when the call is answered by the HG.  Thus why my announcement is playing for approximately 25 seconds after the call is first picked up, then I get hold music for 4-5 seconds until the 30 second mark is reached, then it plays overflow.  Is there a way for the overflow timer to not start until AFTER my announcement has finished?

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

Unless there is a new system flag that I am unaware of then that should not be the case.

If you press the F1 Key while in the Hunt Group and then look at the Timers descriptions. Is there anything else in there that would elude to a flag or timer that would adjust that?

IF you can't find anything in there then you will need to contact your dealer and have them contact Mitel to see why it is doing that.

Thanks,

TE

[dhumes0524]

From the Help section:

Overflow
This determines the amount of time a call will circulate through the hunt group (unanswered) before being picked up by the hunt group’s overflow phone. This timer is started when the Announcement timer expires (or, if there is no announcement phone, when the call is received by the hunt group) and it is restarted each time the call leaves the overflow phone. The valid range is 1–255 seconds; the default value is 72 seconds.

I highlighted the important part.  So this behavior is by design - which is fine.  This is an acceptable solution for now and I can continue to fine tune it to get to where I need to be.

Thank you!

[Tech Electronics]

dhumes0524,

I see where the confusion is now.

Yes, that is how the Overflow timer and Announcement timer work together.

Since you Announcement isn't really an announcement, but an audio track, then there are two things you can do to get around this issue.

Play that message during the initial CRA before sending them to the HG.

OR; and I don't recommend this one.

Set the Recall Timer of the first Hunt Group to 1 second. Send that call to a CRA that times out to the second HG after it plays your Announcement. Set the second HGs Overflow timer to 30 seconds and send it to the CRA with a 25 second message and options.

Thanks,

TE