Time Profile & Call Forwarding

[beal14]

Our company thrives on a "live person" answering the phone during work hours so we do not use the auto-attendant. We have 24 call paths through PRI's into our AVAYA system. Our office hours are 7:30 - 4:30 and after that I have a short code to "Set the Hunt Group out of service" and it re-directs the calls to an after hours dispatch service phone number. It's never been tested, but by doing so, is it only one call path for those that call? Or only limited by ATT our service provider?



Do any other business operate in this manner? We do not use Time Profiles but I was considering it, but was concerned about holidays, etc. and remembering to have that updated. I'm the only one with access and worried it wouldn't get updated regularly as it's not a routine task. Is there a short code to disable the time profile easily for others to use just in case?



Our other option is to use the ATT Enhanced Features and forward the calls there which would provide a multitude of call paths from what I was told? My problem with that is the EF website has been unreachable for me quite often.


Thanks for any info provided.

[thiel2]

The incoming call takes up one channel on the PRI, and is forwarded back out on a second channel on the PRI. So you could have 11 simultaneous incoming / outgoing calls taking up 22 channels of your 23 channel PRI (the 24th channel is the Delta channel, communicating what is happening on the other 23 channels, and does not carry any Voice on it)

Yes, this is an option we implement on a regular basis, typically a Doctor's office that wants to send calls to a live answering service after hours. Rather then a short code, we use a Set Hunt Group Night Service button (or Set Hunt Group Out of Service button) so there is a visual indication that calls are being sent elsewhere. Responsible person at end of day pushes button, light comes on, calls are forwarding. Next morning push the button again, light goes off, calls will ring into the office again.