Busy Hunt Group in Call Manager

[nwerner23]

I know that we can busy the Hunt Group on the phone using *18. Is there a way to do this in Call Manager or via a programmed button? I am trying to setup our receptionist using this as a Nite Mode feature.

Thanks!

[BLenarcik]

It can't be done. We recently implemented a system where the receptionist had to use night mode to forward calls after hours to an answering service. Hunt groups made the most sense, but there is no way to set up a single button in PCM or the Phone to toggle the busy state of a Hunt Group. The client didn't want to use * codes.

We ended up using a WG and setting the Logout destination as the "Night Mode" routing option. We programmed 2 buttons on the Operator's phone: "Agent Login" as the "Day button and "Agent Logout" as the "Night" button. The day routing was set to Call Forward Always to the Hunt Group to allow more than one call to ring through to the Operators extension. Night mode would call forward always to the Answering Service's external number.

We have since used this technique for 2 clients and it works very well.

[JasonC]

BLenarcik, your way didn't require any workgroup license's did it?

I have a couple hunt groups that needed to manually change the night destination occasionally. I configured a separate extension in front of the hunt group so they could use the call handling mode to change the destination. Unfortunately, this requires an extension and mailbox license (they wanted to be able to change the Call Handling mode through the web interface and by dialing into the voicemail system).

[BLenarcik]

BLenarcik, your way didn't require any workgroup license's did it?

I have a couple hunt groups that needed to manually change the night destination occasionally. I configured a separate extension in front of the hunt group so they could use the call handling mode to change the destination. Unfortunately, this requires an extension and mailbox license (they wanted to be able to change the Call Handling mode through the web interface and by dialing into the voicemail system).

To allow login/logout for Workgroups on the phone, you need to have a WG Agent or better license for PCM. In our case, the receptionist positions had Operator PCM licenses which supports WG agent/supervisor functions.

You can use a Route Point for the CHM change. The Web interface isn't an option since that requires a Client ID and password to log in and the RP page doesn't provide it. You can access the RP voicemail box from a phone and use the mailbox options menu to chance the mode manually. There is no licensing required for the Route Point. I've used it many times as a manual "routing switch" to allow manual remote access to alternate call paths.

[ABidlen]

Yes, it's true that you'd need a WG Agent or better license for PCM if you want WG-related choices in PCM.
We've configured this "Night Mode WG scenerio" at a place that doesn't use PCM. They just have login/logout (day/night) buttons on their 212K phones.

Just wanted to give another angle to the answer to your question about licenses. You don't "have" to buy any additional licenses to achieve this option unless you want to manage the WG functions through PCM.