ARS and more on a couple of Mitel 5000 Nodes...

[LearningMitel]

Hello All,

Forgive the following basic questions, I am total noob with serious brain freeze:

Deployed ( 2 ) Mitel 5000 nodes, serving less than a handful locations through VPN.

- Node A, connected to a PRI, is handling Incoming and Outgoing and serving a Pool A of Extensions. (V.5.1 SP4)

- Node B is only serving Pool B of Extensions. (V5.0 SP2)

Internally, all Extensions can communicate regardless if they are on Pool A or Pool B.

Problems:

1 - Incoming calls to the IVR on Node A can't reach Extensions in Pool B on the second controller ( Message: The number entered is not Valid ). The Same extensions in Pool B can be reached directly through their DIDs.

2 - Pool B Extensions are not able to make outgoing calls either, I know ARS will solve this issue and let Pool B extensions use the resources of controller A, but can't locate a step by step guide to do it. I've set on one of the Extensions, "Outgoing Extension to 92000", I get ARS dial tone and then "ARS IS UNAVAILABLE".

Questions:

- What should I do to get Pool B Extensions to become VALID at the IVR of controller A, please?

- How can I please complete the ARS setup so that all Pool B Extensions can communicate with the outside world?

Any step by step help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[acejavelin]

These are two distinct issues... first off, are the controllers in sync? Have you done a recent Import/Export?

In order for the calls to be directed to extensions, they either need to have a valid mailbox on the system the CRA is located, or an extension ID... For controller B, where do the mailboxes reside, in A or B?

For the outbound calling, you would have to build the appropriate number plan, in the various call types you add the extension for Node A as an off-node trunk group, once ARS is all built and tested (you can dial 92000 from a phone to test it) then switch the phones to use ARS. ARS routing can get quite complicated, you may want to bring your vendor in to handle that part of it.

[LearningMitel]

Thanks acejavelin!

Yes, controllers are in sync, did Import/Export several times, can see all extensions, local and off-node on both sides, But, can't see properties of the off-node extensions at either side.

Extensions of Controller B have mailboxes on Controller B.

Sorry what do you mean by Extension ID? Is that Extension #?

3rd section: you mean under     Facility Groups > P1500 >  Trunk Groups/Nodes  in my case I have added a remote node  "97001" extension of node A.

Thank you for your help.

[LearningMitel]

Thanks acejavelin for the hint!

Update : Added mailbox for an off-node extension  on node A and it solved issue number 1.

Thanks for that again.

[dwayneg]

Extension IDs are in VOICE PROCESSOR/DEVICES, and are basically stripped-down mailboxes (can't accept messages)  If you have B users' mailboxes on B, you definitely want to use only EXTENSION IDs on A.  Otherwise some day they'll get a message in the A mailbox, light will light, and they'll get frustrated because password doesn't work.

[acejavelin]

Thanks acejavelin for the hint!

Update : Added mailbox for an off-node extension  on node A and it solved issue number 1.

Thanks for that again.

Oh, I didn't realize what you had done until I read @dwayneg's reply... You definitely do NOT want to setup a mailbox on system A for phones that have mailboxes on system B, delete those as soon as possible and instead go to Voice Processor - Devices - Extension ID and add off-node extensions there. I would also recommend turning off the Auto Attendant Transfer Prompt on each one but you can do them in bulk, once you set them all up, select the first one and make the change, then right-click and copy it, highlight all the rest of the Ext IDs and right-click and past, Clear All and select only AA Transfer Prompt, and paste.

[LearningMitel]

Dwayneg   &   Acejavelin,

Thank you so much   for all the detailed explanations and help!




Can anyone else help with ARS, please?

Thanks

[acejavelin]

What calls do you want to route out the other controller? Local, LD, everything, specific exchanges or area codes? Do you want it to the be the first or second choice, meaning do you want the phone to attempt to use local trunks first then remote resources, or remote resources unless they are unavailable? Also remember that 911 calls should go out a local trunk to maintain Enhanced 911 location.

[LearningMitel]

Hi Acejavelin,

Many thanks again for these very specific questions!

AS of now EVERYTHING and the Trunk on the A node side as the primary choice.

Down the road, when things are stable, we can look into better dial plans and rearranging priority of trunks.

We are using other means to dial 911.

Thank you for your time.

[dwayneg]

If you're routing everything out of A, programming B is pretty simple.  In site B, SYSTEM/NUMBERING PLAN/FACILITY GROUPS open each group, go to TRUNK GROUPS/NODES, remove default 92001 and replace with the REMOTE NODE of A.  That should fix it all.  Later you can go back into NUMBERING PLAN and write special rules for any exceptions.

[LearningMitel]

Many Thanks Dwayneg for the help!

Greatly Appreciated.