How to choose a specific extention to park a call on

[woods]

I have the following scenario and wonder if this is possible an how would one go about implement this.

Quadro 4x and Snom 300 handsets

With our current (very very old) PABX/key system when a call comes in it ring on all (3) handset in that location / department. Someone (usually the admin girl) answers the call then place it on hold (using the hold button), one of the 'Function Key' button (label line1, line2 etc) will lit up indicating the call is parked / on hold on on that line (or if line1 already has a hold call it put it on line2 etc..) on all 3 handsets in that office / department. The person then go into the workshop and get the person who the caller wants to speak to and tell them caller is on hold / parked on line 1 etc. This person then simply press the blinking button (labeled line 1) to pick up the call. The blinking button is a good reminder someone is on hold! After a few minutes if caller is still on all handsets will ring with distinct tone to alert everyone that someone is still waiting on hold...

My current understanding with the Quadro is that to park a call on the snom handsets you need to dial '*5' (this I can program one of the button to do), the system then tell you using voice prompt which extension the call is being parked on (which is the next available park extension...). Person then comes in and have to dial that park extension to pickup the call. They will obviously needs to remember the extension to dial to pickup the call (this unfortunately can be a problem with our people). Currently only 1 call is on hold most of the time.

We plan to setup the Quadro with a 4 digit extension (we've got many department / locations) therefore it can be a bit hard to remember a 4 digit extension of one of many possible parked extension (possibly up to 20 calls can be on hold at any time..). Getting the user to type in the parked extension is not desirable as they could dial the wrong one and pick up calls from another department. It would be better if they just press the blinking button to pick up the call (as explained below).

Is it possible to replicate the same arrangement like how our current PBX works. i.e I want to have all handsets in a particular department only park calls on 3 of the park extension I allocate for them. I will then set 3 of the buttons on the handsets to monitor each of those 3 parked extension and blink whenever there is a call on hold on that extension. Basically when user when to pick up the call and want to put it on hold they only have to press press a single button to place the call on park and then tell who ever the call is for it on line x (determine by the labeling on the handset). The button that is monitoring the park extension will blink while there is call on hold on that park extension. User then press this blinking button to pick up the parked call.

We need this because we will have one person picking up the phone (in a ring group) while others roam around and only come into the office when needed. Also we have many such department with similar arrangements. They will all be connected to the same Quadro unit. People are so used to the above arrangement therefore we want to keep it the same as much as possible. All we want them to do is pickup calls and if they need to transfer it to another handset just put the call on park then tell the other person to pick it up on line x (i.e they will press the blinking button labeled line x)

Hopefully I've explain it clear enough. Thanks in advance for any hints or suggestions.

[KSComs]

Well,

Splitting the Park Function over extension ranges isnt possible currently.

Now the SNOM 300 is not the best solution for your fit but it is possible with constraints. The problems with the SNOM 300 is that you dont have enough keys to support a multitude of park positions, but having said that, you can allocate 4 park keys maximum on the telephones period. You need to leave 2 line keys for being able to hold and transfer calls, this I would suggest is a mandatory thing so you do not end up in a position where your SNOM 300 telephones are ringing and you are trying to transfer another call which you can not do if you have 2 line appearances on the telephone.

3 x Line Appearance Keys = 1 x active call, 1 x call notifying you of a new call ringing your telephone and the capability of transfering a call on the 3rd line appearance.

2 x Line Appearance Keys = 1 x active call and the capability of transfering a call on the 2nd line appearance or 1 x call notifying you of a new call ringing your telephone.

1 x Line Appearance Key = 1 x active call only, you can place that call on hold but not park it because you need a 2nd line appearance to do it.

The above is the way SNOM's behave unless I am mistaken.

Regards

Kevin

[davrays]

Yep, currently the parking functionality is not flexible enough neither to split the park function over extension ranges, not to be able to park on specific extension..
We could consider implementing this, but that'll take time (most probably will not fit even in 5.1, because the 5.1 featureset is mostly fixed already).

So the only thing I can suggest for now to make the life of users a little bit easier, is to use two-digit extensions for parking (you can still use 4-digit for everything else). Sure this doesn't solve yor problems, but just will make it easier for your people to remember/dial 2-digits..

Best regards,
David

[woods]

Thanks for the replies

Looks like we will have to think about this one further. Please consider adding this in your next firmware release.

[Harutyun]

You might also want to evaluate the Quadro 6L functionality, which has Key System Emulation feature in it. It has notion of shared lines, that works exactly as you described. You can put on hold active call, and then all other users that has configured the same shared line can see it and pick-up by pressing the blinking button. But there are also limitations regarding your scenario:
1. You can only have 6 Shared Lines per phone (system has max 8 Shared Lines). Phones should be at least Snom320
2. Calls are coming directly to lines, so, if you want to separate them by department, you should have different numbers (PSTN or SIP) for each department.

[woods]

You might also want to evaluate the Quadro 6L functionality, which has Key System Emulation feature in it...

We will be using a M32x for the actual roll out. I am doing a proof of concept on the 4x. We will be having something like 80 handsets all together so will need an M32x.

Each of our "department" will have a direct external traditional number (which must stay) which will be routed to the particular group of handset. There are more than 6 shared number so we will hit the 6L limitation.

[woods]

I can't seem to locate the instruction for direct parking (using SNOM & yealink phone) to a specific extension, using the latest firmware