Auto Attendants¶
Auto Attendants are the IVR routing workhorses of most PBX systems, greeting users, routing calls etc.
How Auto Attendants work¶
All auto attendants have an Extension, one or more schedules, and one or more menus.
Schedules¶
Schedules are matched from top to bottom. The first matching schedule will get the call. Make sure to order them in the order you want them checked.
A schedule contains
An array of criteria, ALL of which must be matched for that schedule to apply.
A target Menu
Optionally a destination to try BEFORE sending the call to the target menu
Important
An empty schedule is always active you can use this to easily create a default schedule
Important
Always move your empty, always on, schedule, to the bottom or no schedules AFTER them will ever be reached
Auto Attendant Call Flow¶
When a call comes to an attendant
First we will begin matching schedules, from top to bottom.
The first schedule where ALL of the schedule criteria is matched gets the call
IF the schedule has it configured we will ring the defined extension for the defined number of seconds before sending the call to a menu
The call is now dropped into the menu specified on the schedule.
We will play that menus greeting and accept user input.
At some point the call will either be routed to a service or the caller will hang up.
Manual Overrides (night mode)¶
Frequently an Auto Attendant will need to have behavior toggled manually by staff, to play an open or closed menu when the staff is ready as opposed to by pre-determined schedule. In this case the administrator can setup a pre-determined manual-override menu that can be switched on or off by staff.
First the IVR must be override enabled by enabling manual override and setting what menu we will use for manual override (often a after hours menu)
Next we can optionally pin protect the switch requiring the user to enter a pen. Not doing this will allow anyone on the system to toggle the IVR
To make the switch, dial *487 (it spells *IVR) and follow the instructions
Auto Attendant Parameters¶
When creating a new attendant you MUST first build a schedule that defines when the attendant is active.
Manual Override Parameters¶
These are parameters on the whole IVR that govern the manual override toggle feature
IVR Manual Override¶
This enables or disables the manual override
Override PIN¶
The PIN for activating or de-activating manual overrides
Override Notify¶
A comma separated list of emails to notify when override is activated or de-activated
Schedule Parameters¶
Schedules can be very simple or incredibly complex depending on the needs.
Start and End time¶
When using simple configuration, what times the schedule should be active between.
From and To year¶
What years the schedule can apply to. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that year
From and To Month¶
What months the schedule can apply to. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that month
From and To Month Week¶
What weeks of the month the schedule will apply to. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that week
- Example
Using Month Week 4 and Thursday and November will give you Thanksgiving
From and To Week¶
This is the week of the year where 1 = the week containing January 1. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that week
Other valid input are
- Even
Even is evenly numbered weeks of the year
- Odd
Odd is Oddly numbered weeks of the year
- Other
Every other week as defined as evenly numbered weeks counting from 1-1-1970
From and To Hour¶
This is the hour of the day. 0-23. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that hour
From and To Minute¶
This is the minute of the hour. 0-60. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that minute
DateTime range¶
You can specify a From datetime and a to datetime, between which the schedule will match.
- Example
From 12/31/2018 05:00pm To 1/6/2019 08:00am will make this schedule from 5pm on new years eve 2018 until 8am January 6th 2019
From to Year Day¶
This is the day of the year. 1-365. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that day
From to Minute of Day¶
This is the minute of the day 1-1440. IF only FROM is populated it is only valid during that minute
Script Examples¶
Menus can do many things, including:
Transfer to extensions
Dial by extension number
Transfer to mailbox
Transfer to an external 10-digit phone number
Play recorded information
Transfer to another menu
Here are some typical examples of menu scripts to help you get started. Feel free to modify as you see fit. Just keep in mind, menus can only do what they can do. The examples below are fair game and there are lots of possibilities.
After Hours Example¶
- Example 1
“Thank you for calling the office of Dr. John Smith. If this is a life-threatening emergency, please hang up and dial 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. Our office is presently closed. Our office hours are 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. To leave a message for the appointment desk, please press 1. For medical records please press two. For billing, please press three. For the nurse, please press 4. For general office information, including office hours, our fax number, directions, and our email address, please press 5. If you have an urgent matter and need to speak to the on-call physician, please press 9. For all other issues, please stay on the line and you will be connected to the general voicemail box. Once again, thank you for calling the office of Dr John Smith”
OnCall Greeting Example¶
- Example 1
“You have reached the after hours on call service for Dr John Smith. This line is for urgent calls only. Please listen closely to the instructions. When done leaving your information, press pound and stay on the line for further instructions.”