MAS - CA - Example 3: Automated Fax Attendant

This example has been created to illustrate how you can use a caller application to act as an auto attendant for relaying faxes to a subscriber’s fax-enabled extension.

Considerations

The advantage of this arrangement is that you can provide fax delivery for your subscribers without paying for additional Direct Inward Dialing (DID) lines or personal trunks for fax extensions. The disadvantage is that incoming calls cannot be automatically dialed, because the caller must enter touch tones to select from the caller application menu and then press the start key on the fax machine to begin transmitting the fax.

Essentially, when you set up an automated fax attendant, you are simply transferring the caller to a fax-enabled mailbox (which is set up using the Subscriber Admin page). To send the fax, the caller needs to know only the pilot number of the Avaya Modular Messaging system and the fax-enabled mailbox number. Upon reaching the caller application (or application node) that will transfer them to the fax-enabled mailbox, callers hear a prompt instructing them to press the extension number and then press the start button on their fax machines after they hear the mailbox greeting to start or the fax tone (if no greeting is being used in the mailbox).

The subscriber must provide fax senders the system number to call (in this case, it might be xx3-7001) and the subscriber's fax-enabled mailbox number (in this case, 51234).

The Caller Application Design

The following is a possible call flow for this caller application. Note that this need not necessarily be an entire application by itself. In fact, it will more likely be used to best effect by simply creating an application node within an application (for instance, it could be used as an additional option in MAS - CA - Example 1: Alternative “Auto Attendant” Main Menu).

Also, the prompt does not need to be contained within the caller application; it could just as easily be created within the fax-enabled mailbox, as a greeting. If the target mailbox is dedicated for fax only, then it might be better to place the instruction prompt within the mailbox. However, if the mailbox is also used for voice mail, as it will in most cases, then it might be better to place the instruction prompt within the caller application, as planned here.

Building the Application

The following procedure assumes that you have already started the Caller Applications Editor. It presents a step-by-step method for building the Example 3 caller application.

Create the caller application base node. Name it Auto fax attendant. Provide a brief Description and select the Language. See MAS - CA - New Caller Application Dialog Box.

Modify the caller application base node properties. See MAS - CA - Properties Dialog Box.

Select Menu with extension as the Action type.

Select Play entry prompt and then select Application prompt (Prompt tab).

Add a prompt and enter “Enter extension or fax machine number” under Comments.

Note: You will not actually record the prompt at this point, you are merely creating a placeholder for it.

Verify that the Application tab is set to use the Default operator, <Parent node> as the Default cancel setting, and the * key as the Default cancel key.

Save the application, if you have not already done so.