Reception Phone single DN vs multiple DN's

Chadster766 · ‎07-20-2016

For a reception phone which is better for incoming outside calls?

1. Have the reception phone configured with one DN and the phone configured to handle multiple calls

OR

2. Have the reception phone configured with multiple DN's in a Hunt Group

Jaime Valencia · ‎07-20-2016

Most of the times they want to have a lot of lines, so they use sidecars, or specialized phones that can handle a lot of lines.

HTH

java

if this helps, please rate

Chadster766 · ‎07-20-2016

The reception phone has is a 7861 with 16 buttons tied to the reception DN's.

Chadster766 · ‎07-20-2016

So in your mind for a typical reception phone using a Hunt Group with multiple lines configured for the reception phone's buttons is best?

Jitender Bhandari · ‎07-20-2016

Hi,

it really depends what you are trying to achieve.

You can also send you company DID to unity and then play a prompt and then let the external person dial-by-extension on Unity.

Both of above config you have mentioned are possible and dont have any known issues.

HTH

JB

Chadster766 · ‎07-20-2016

We don't have DID.

The incoming calls do go to a Call Handler that routes the calls. When a call is routed to reception it is sent to the reception Hunt Group Lines in longest idle rotation.

Jitender Bhandari · ‎07-20-2016

If you can explain a specific scenario you are trying to achieve, we can help.

JB

Chris Deren · ‎07-20-2016

My view on this is that if the receptionist receives more calls on the phone that she/he can handle then perhaps looking into attendant console application might be a better option.

As far as single line vs. multiple lines on a phone, it really does not matter as you can stack many calls on single line, and having the same phone's multiple DNs in a hunt group does not solve the issue, unless your plan is to distribute these calls among other users.

Chadster766 · ‎07-20-2016

Yes the plan for reception was to distribute calls that didn't get routed to users.

I felt that having those calls go to a hunt group whose lines were tied to the reception phone (7861) buttons would be easiest and the most familiar for the receptionist to manage the calls.

Rob Huffman · ‎07-20-2016

Hi Chad,

+5 each to my friends Java, JB & Chris here for their great thoughts on this topic. I thought I might add one more idea here as well :)

If you are running this only for a single Reception position, then, yes the Hunt/Line Group method may be overkill. The use of Hunt Group configs is generally for multiple members. One thing that some of our people who answer multiple calls like is the "older" Multiple line config shown in this excellent Tech Note as it mimics the setup that may be familiar to them from standard PBX call routing;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps556/products_tech_note09186a008009409c.shtml

This "old school" method (from the link above) gives a easy to use visual line config. And allows Call Forward All to completely control to re-routing of calls if that is any help in your scenario.

Cheers!

Rob