Dialing an extension at anytime during the message (IPCC)

sienz.sienz · ‎12-02-2009

Is there a way to make a menu so the caller can dial an extension at anytime during the message at IPCC?

I know that we can do this at Unity but when the caller call in our main number, it will hit the greeting at IPCC not in the unity. Do we have options at IPCC?

I can probably setup one option to be transfer to Unity and have the caller dial ext. after press that opiton but seems to be not practical.

We setup dialing by name (directory) and put the option to be transferred to Unity and Unity is handling the dialing by name.

Thank you

sienz7

Jonathan Schulenberg · ‎12-02-2009

This has been asked on the forum MANY TIMES! Please run a search before opening a new thread.

Example with 15 seconds of searching:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/message/1054629#1054629

sienz.sienz · ‎12-02-2009

Please correct me if I am wrong, I am new to the IPCC and still learning every bit of it

The link answer that you provide is for caller that is dialing the option menu when the prompt is playing or when the caller is on hold.

I am asking if there is a script to have the caller enter 4-digit extension during the IPCC Menu prompt

For example: “Thank you for calling XYZ, please dial anextension during this message, for A press 1, for B press 2….”

and then when the caller dial 2345 during the IPCC menu prompt, it will be transferred to ext. 2345.

One the way that I am thinking is transferred the caller to Unity We setup an extension at Unity that will announcement that the caller can dial an extension at anytime.

Thanks,

sienz

Jonathan Schulenberg · ‎12-02-2009

You are asking two different questions it appears.

1. Can a contact provide DTMF input to a step prior to the prompt being finished?

Yes. This is called the Barge In parameter on the step. If it is set to Yes/True, the step will accept input from the contact any time during the prompt.

2. The Menu step only allows single-digit DTMF entries. How can a contact provide multi-digit entries such as a four-digit extension.

You need to use the Get Digit String step instead of a Menu step. You can follow that with a Switch step to catch the single digit entries similar to the Menu step branches. The Switch step also has a Default branch where you can add a Call Redirect or other logic to attempt a transfer.

geoff · ‎12-03-2009

Although the mixing of choosing menu options and entering extension numbers at the one prompt is common with the traditional PBX/IVR, I actually feel that this is an outdated user interface design and lacks clarity.

I prefer to have options that are specific, and handle the entering of the extension in a different part of the application, or by handing it off to a function within Unity.

So a menu like ....

For Dial By Extension, press 1.
For Service A, press 2.
For Service B, press 3 etc

is clearer to the caller and is easier for you to program, and easier for you to handle timeouts and invalid entries.

If they choose 1, in IPIVR you can then use a modified version of AA.aef.

In CVP, you can build one (I've done that) but it's non-trivial to maintain and you are better handing it off to Unity to execute its integrated application.

I know that customers will often want the old system reproduced, but it may be possible to introduce a better way. With IPIVR and CVP you can preserve type-ahead, so power users can get through the system fast.

You can program many cell phones to insert a pause and send down DTMF after connection so that callers can add speed dials to reach extensions behind the Call Manager that don't have DIDs.

Regards,

Geoff