ShoreTel Route a Call based on Area Code or Mood

Maybe we could use ShoreTel “Call handling modes” to get the job done? Features like “Personal Operator” and “Find/Follow Me” are offered to callers once they are in your Voice message box and they can be very useful by offering callers options beyond leaving a message at the beep! Call handling modes, however, can only be applied after the call is answered! What is required in the application described above, is the ability to manipulate a “ringing” telephone call and redirect that call before the call is answered. So how would you route a call based on the callers Area Code?

ShoreTel has a new feature entitled “personalized call handling”. This is a powerful feature that can be used to manipulate a phone call before it is answered. You can route a call based on a number of conditions including a “phone number match”, the fact that you are already on the phone, based on the number the caller dialed or DNIS and even by the time of day or day of week. Based on the condition you specify, actions can be executed that include forwarding the call to a specific number or play a different ring tone. If you select the condition “Phone number match”, for example, you can further define a specific internal or external number, and off-premise extension, a number marked as “private? or an “any external number starting with” and fill in the blank.

Imagine sending all incoming “private” numbers to “Dial a Prayer”! You could really have some fun with this feature, but let us see if we can solve the above application. Set this user up to forward calls to the NY Sales Work group, but looking at the Area Code of the calling number. You can actually do this! To make this work as in the above application you will have to dedicate a USER to the application. After you create the user and setup the “personal call handling” conditions and actions, you will need to change the DESTINATION of the incoming Trunk Group, to be this user. Make sure you set the Call Stack for this user sufficiently high enough to handle the anticipated call volume.

DrVoIP is a full service VoIP and ShoreTel IP PBX installation, support and training telephony company. In addition, we offer many free services to support VoIP community to enable business people to make vital decisions when it comes to the installation and support of VoIP telephone systems. DrVoIP represents a team of Cisco, ShoreTel and Microsoft certified engineers led by a recognized industry leader with 40 years of telecommunications experience.