External Assignment via VM Menu?

[lylejones]

Need:
I need a way for the end user, with ONLY their landline, to be able to change the external assignment number for their extension. Can this be done through the voicemail menu?

Background:

Customer has a pool of ~30 external volunteers which are answering an important line in the 'Off-Hours'. The volunteers work in shifts in and do not always have the same shcedule.

During the day... incoming calls are routed to a normal hunt group. After hours... the call needs to go to whoever is 'On-Shift' from within that external pool.

I would like to be able to have the volunteer call in to the VM for one of several extensions... change the external assignment number so it points to their own phone number... and then when the next volunteer goes 'On-Shift' .. they can do the same extension... and forward the number to themselves... and so on... until the System goes back "On-Hours" at which point it returns to the normal hunt group.

All the problems in our scenario we've already solved ... except for the users being able to change the external assignment number themselves with ONLY their landline.

Can this be done? Is there some module or extension we can add to the system to enable this functionality?

[Palitto Consulting]

It is definitely possible to do with a custom. Have you considered some of the other ways to do it?

One option: 30 users with voicemail boxes, one for each volunteer. Program their home number as the Standard call handling mode. Configure the Off Hours CHM to forward to the next volunteer in the chain. The CHM can be changed from voice mail.

(I should mention: Use auto findme instead of external assignment for this to work)

[lylejones]

Have you considered some of the other ways to do it?

One option: 30 users with voicemail boxes, one for each volunteer. Program their home number as the Standard call Handling ...

Yes.. considered all of those. More background. These Volunteers are a different pool of people than those that handle the daytime queue. The volunteers do NOT have permenant extenstions... and we'd rather not spend the money on purchasing all those additional licenses.

The other problem is that due to the drop-of-a-hat scheduling, the numbers aren't something that can readily be pre-programmed into a group. Which is why we have the need for the users to do it themselves...

What do you mean when you say custom? Please elaborate.

[Palitto Consulting]

Is there only a single user at any one time? If so, I would recommend an interface as follows:

1. Volunteer calls in and in some way gets to an IVR (A hidden auto-attendent option, a dedicated DID, etc.)
2. Volunteer enters a password allowing them access
3. Volunteer enters a 10-digit phone number
4. System alters external assignment number to entered number

If you have multiple users, we could assign user IDs of some kind to allow them to specify which number to modify. If you're concerned about someone abusing this to make long-distance calls on your nickel, we could add a log of when the number is changed and what it is changed to.

If you want more details or a quote, please contact Bryon or Tim at 330-335-7271.

[lylejones]

I'm happy to hear that there is an answer. Likewise I'm now happy to know the contact information of someone willing to sell the answer. I commend your entrepreneurship.

That being said... I didn't get to where I am by paying others to solve my technical problems. This is something I need to understand how to create / implement on my own, and just need to be pointed in the right direction. I'll certainly pass on your offer to the higher ups... but working with non-profits doesn't often leave room in the budget for additional costs.

It's not that I'm cheap... I'm simply determined and already on a paper-thin budget.

[Palitto Consulting]

I understand. Here is how you would do this yourself: You would need to join ShoreTel's developer network to gain access to the SDKs they provide. You would likely want to use the COM object to perform the call handling, detecting the inbound call on a route point, answering it, playing back the prompt wave files, and collecting digits. Then you would use the scripthlp object to alter the external assignment settings. If I remember correctly, the officially released version of scripthlp does not have this ability, but a special beta version we have obtained from ShoreTel does.

[lylejones]

Thank you again for your reply. It's most appreciated. I'll look into this solution.

I'm fairly good about concluding threads once a solution has been implemented... so if anyone else wants to chime in with a suggestion... I'll be receptive to them until I've posted our implemented solution.

Thank you all for your time in reading this thread.