Delayed Call Handling

With Delayed Call Handling, incoming calls first ring at the receptionist’s telephone or at other telephones. If the call is not answered by the time the VMS Hunt Delay ring value is reached, the call is answered by the appropriate PARTNER Messaging Automated Attendant.

The following PARTNER communications system programming is required for Delayed Call Handling:

• Use Group Call Distribution (#206, Option 1) to assign the lines that you want answered by Automated Attendant to the system receptionist extension.
• Set these lines to Immediate Ring.
• Set the VMS Hunt Delay (#506) for these lines for Delayed Ringing. (In PARTNER ACS Release 3.0 or later, Delayed Ringing should be three rings or more.)
• Set the VMS Hunt Schedule (#507). You can set the VMS Hunt Schedule for Always, Day, or Night.
• Make sure a Night Service Button (#503) is assigned at extension 10.

Programming the VMS Hunt Delay varies depending on the communications system. For PARTNER ACS Release 3.0 or later, you set the mode (Day or Night) and can set the VMS Hunt Delay for each line. For PARTNER ACS prior to Release 3.0 and for PARTNER Plus and PARTNER II systems, you do not have a mode option, and you set the number of rings for delay for all lines at the same time.

Similarly, for PARTNER Plus, PARTNER II, and PARTNER ACS prior to Release 3.0, you set the VMS Hunt Schedule for all lines. For PARTNER ACS Release 3.0 or later, you can set the VMS Hunt Schedule individually for the lines.

If you want the Automated Attendant to answer calls only at night, you must set the VMS Hunt Schedule (#507) for Night Only. With this setting of Night Only, the Automated Attendant answers calls only when Night Service has been activated by the system operator pressing the programmed Night Service button.

For PARTNER Plus, PARTNER II, and PARTNER ACS (prior to Release 3.0), you can have both Immediate and Delayed Ring lines, even though the VMS Hunt Delay is set for all lines. See Immediate and Delayed Ringing on PARTNER Plus, PARTNER II, and PARTNER ACS (Prior to Release 3.0).