I have a bit of an issue which I would like to put out to the brains trust.
I'm fairly new to telephony, so there could be something very obvious that I am overlooking.
So we have a boss and her PA.
The PA want to monitor the boss phone and answer her calls on behalf of the boss. Seems like an obvious requirement.
The Mitel doco says use a DSS key, so we gave the PA a DSS key to monitor her boss.
Then we discover that the DSS key only allows the PA to answer the boss's calls if the boss is not on the phone. If the boss is on the phone, calls to the boss go straight to VM, the PA doesn't get them. This is obviously not at all how a PA wants to work, so we realise DSS keys just aren't fit for purpose.
To make boss calls available to the PA we changed the key to a Multicall key, and configure it to ring.
Now, whether the boss is on the phone or not on it, the Multicall key on the PA phone rings and she can take the call.
Then we discover the Multicall key doesn't show if the boss is on the phone or not - if the PA takes a call, she has to put the phone down, then walk to the boss's office to see if she's available before going back to her desk. This setup is obviously just as rubbish as the DSS key.
So....we give the PA 2 keys - a DSS key so she can see if her boss is on the phone, and a Multicall key so calls to the Boss, when the boss is on the phone, don't go straight to VM.
This works, although they think it's a bodge because we're using 2 keys for what they consider should be a very basic requirement built into one key.
OK, so now we have a pool of PAs, each responsible for her own boss.
The PAs are in a pickup group, because they want to be able to field each others' calls for non-boss-related work. They don't want to be picking up the Multicall key, only the other PAs' main extension.
However, when any PA's handset rings, the other PAs have no way to tell whether it's a call for the PA, or a call for her boss.
(For Example, a PA might be tasked with answering calls *only* if her boss is on the phone. The other PAs have no way of knowing if this is the case or not).
So the PAs are constantly using Call Pickup only to discover they have taken a call they shouldn't have and having to put it through to the other PA's boss anyway. That Boss gets cranky that she's had her phone ring twice for that call.
Ideally, the way to fix this would be to have Multicall keys use a different ringtone. This doesn't appear to be an option.
Have I missed something obvious here?
