Limiting calls to a single DID

[Ian Stewart]

I'm interested in options to limit the amount of inbound calls to a single DID. We are currently on ShoreTel 7.5 and have a trunk group from Qwest with two PRIs (46 Channels). Under normal circumstances, we are fine. As of late, we are taking a huge amount of calls to a single DID which causes busy signals for my other DIDs in the same trunk group. I would like to limit the amount of callers to say 4 and provide busy signals for the rest, to this single DID.

Normally this DID is an Auto Attendant with options to get to a Workgroup, I understand there is no Call Stack Depth setting for AA or Workgroup. I'm open to any ideas to accomplish what I have outlined above.

Thanks in advance.

[Telman2010]

Front end it with a route point and set the call stack depth there.

[Ian Stewart]

Front end it with a route point and set the call stack depth there.

I tried that, but once the call is forwarded from the Route Point, the Call Stack is reduced for the Route Point and additional calls are able to get through. I tested this and was not able to make it work.

[Palitto Consulting]

That is because a call must be on the route point in order for it to be affected by the call stack depth. Once you've redirected it elsewhere, the route point is free to accept more calls.

I cannot think of a good way to do this unless you wanted to use hunt groups instead of workgroups. Hunt groups do have a call stack depth. Can your telco provider do anything on their end? Another potential way would be to track the number of calls via the SDK and do something when the limit is reached.

[Contractor]

Can you solve this with a Telco routing change. Maybe have the one DID only come in on 4 of the B channels on your PRI or move it off completely to a different/analog path?

[Jason_C]

You could have the carrier telebranch the number to another DID on that PRI... Which would just allow 1 call at a time... If you needed more then 1 call at a time, you could add additional paths.

It think it's about $20 a month to telebranch a number, plus about $15 per path...

[CBall]

The calls will probably have to be restricted by the carrier. There are probably a few options depending on your needs, budget and what your carrier allows. Essentially once a call is answered (hits the aa) it is on the ShoreTel. You could try something like route excess calls to an auto-attendent with a busy signal or quick message stating that alls lines are busy and hang-up, but I am not sure that would handle the volume quickly enough or be acceptable for your application.