Integrating a 3rd-party automated attendant with ACD - PBX Info :: Your Free PBX, PABX and Telephone Information Resource

11-04-2004, 05:12 PM

Hi, I'm a newbie here, so bear with me (I don't even know if this is the right forum...)

We are developing a sort of automated attendant to work in conjunction with an ACD... The AA would take and process customer orders. If the customer needs to speak to a live calltaker, the AA would transfer the call to the ACD queue.

My understanding is that incoming calls would be routed by priority (through a hunt group?) to the automated attendant lines first. If all lines are busy, calls would spill over to the ACD. If a customer needs to speak to a live calltaker, the automated attendant would route the call to the ACD queue using TAPI.

Which Nortel products support such an arrangement? Norstar? BCM? Meridian? And would they have to be used in conjunction with another product, such as CallPilot? (I understand ACD is an integral part of Meridian 1, for example.) ...I am guessing we need a single extension number with which to identify the ACD queue. I recall that in one of my old workplaces (I don't remember what system it was), live calltakers had extension numbers 401 and up, and we could transfer a call to 400, which would place the call into the queue.

If anyone could help me out, I would very much appreciate it!

**Chas2002** · 11-04-2004, 07:17 PM

Welcome to the site:

Auto Attendant (sometimes called Receptionist Software) is usually integrated with or an additional module to Voice Mail Systems.

Some VoiceMail Systems (Meridian Mail as an example) use High Speed Links to communicate Call State, CLID, Acknowledgement, Supervision etc.

Systems that don't use HSL can integrate with a Third Party app by Hunt Groups, Digital Sets with Merician Communication Adapters, or ACD lines.
Not sure - but many Voice Mail systems have become Server Based and may communicate via Ethernet.

Having said all that:

Analog Example:: Your system integrated with a Meridian System ::

You could route all incoming calls to the ports on your system by placing them in a hunt group (linear). All incoming calls are routed to the main AA line.

Say you have an 8 port line card in your AA chassis.

L1: 7000 Hunt to 7001
L2: 7001 Hunt to 7002
L3: 7002 Hunt to 7003
L4: 7003 Hunt to 7004
L5: 7004 Hunt to 7005
L6: 7005 Hunt to 7006
L7: 7006 Hunt to 7007
L8: 7007 Hunt to ACD Line or Live Attendant

That should give you a general idea..

Chas2002

11-04-2004, 07:51 PM

So...bear with me... ACD would have a number like, say, 7008, that the AA could redirect calls to through a TAPI interface? And will this work on basically any PBX, or would some entry-level ones not support such a setup?

I guess the best analogy is the automated switchboard for any large call center - banks, customer support lines, etc. - where the AA fields all incoming calls, then the customer can press 0 (or whatever sequence of digits) to speak to a live operator... That's the sort of setup we're envisioning...

11-04-2004, 07:53 PM

Sorry...that was me on the last post...forgot to log in...!
:wink:

**Chas2002** · 11-05-2004, 07:19 AM

Correct - the example would work for most PBX systems. Key Systems would be about the same except L8: would be an extension number on the system.

For an AA system that would be the likely 'standard' setup. ACD is really not required for your AA to pass the call - it would just need an extension on the system to route calls to when all ports are busy or if the caller selected a 'software prompt' to speak with a live attendant. That pass-thru could be another Hunt Group, ACD, or an extension of a Telephone Set.

Chas2002

**Chas2002** · 11-05-2004, 07:28 AM

Big Picture:

Say Company ABC has toll free number 1-888-555-7777. That toll free number will be delivered to the switch as 7777.

7777 is L1 to your AA system. with hunt to the other ports on busy.

When caller dials 888-555-7777 they are delivered to your AA L1 port.

AA: "Thanks for calling company ABC.something.. something else.......Press 1 to speak with a Live Agent"

If caller presses 1, he/she is routed to extension 8000 (An ACD number for a small call center in house or a basic extension).

Extension 8000 appears on 6 sets and the switch software takes ownership/supervision of the call. If agents are busy the ACD software will stack the calls in queue until the next agent is available- if an agent is idle the call is presented.

Or Extension 8000 could be a in-house extension with roll-up lines and appears on 6 sets. The call from the AA would be delivered to all 6 sets at once and an avaiable agent would take the call.

Chas2002

11-05-2004, 01:57 PM

Thanks...it all seems to make sense. I'm glad to see that it looks like I had the right basic idea! But to get down to specifics, does any off-the-shelf key system or PBX support this? The reason I ask is that we actually tried this out at an alpha site with a very basic key system, and the technician said the system would not accept a TAPI request from our AA to transfer to the ACD queue...only to a specific extension. But that seems to be unacceptable if the extension is busy or an attendant is not logged in, unless the extension could automatically bounce the call back into the queue...

11-09-2004, 03:20 PM

Thanks again for your help. I've learned more about ACD, and understand now that we don't really need hunt groups at all...in CallPilot, we can program all the Auto Attendant (IVR) lines to be in one skillset, and all the live calltaker lines to be in another skillset, then program the CallPilot ACD to direct calls to the IVR skillset first, then spill over to the calltaker skillset. Is this right?

Also, another issue has come up. Our IVR runs on a Windows server with a Dialogic card, and requires an analog connection (via an ATA) to the PBX. But we have a separate Caller ID server that needs to get caller ID information through a separate TAPI connection to the PBX. If the IVR transfers an open call to the live calltakers, our Caller ID server will send a TAPI command back to the PBX, with the CDN number for the calltaker skillset. The problem is this: even if the PBX recognizes the TAPI command (and it's not clear yet if Norstar CICS or MICS can do this), we've got the physical call - the open line - on our analog IVR box...does the IVR have to do something with the call in order to make it physically transferrable?

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