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Tutorial for setting up Auto Attendant for Obi Phones

Started by Michaeldaquila, March 28, 2017, 07:13:13 PM

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Michaeldaquila

The auto attendant is designed to be used to allow you to make calls from your Obi when away from it. However, although ObiHai did not intend for it to be used as a literal auto attendant, there is a work around to use it for your business, family, etc. as a fully functioning auto attendant (Press 2 for Jim, Press 3 for John, etc.). Despite the fact that you can use it as such, I can't guarantee that it will work 100% of the time. The following caveats exist:

1. The phone will shut off and restart after the caller hangs up if they enter an invalid number, disabling the auto attendant for around 45 seconds and sending calls to voicemail during that time.
2. Extensions need to have 2 as a prefix and # as a suffix (20#, 23#, 24# and so on).
3. This is a relatively technical process and involves using ObiExpert. If something goes wrong in the future you might not be able to fix it immediately. Although my guide is mostly idiot proof, having your IT person handle this process will most likely make it a breeze.
4. The auto attendant can only handle two callers at once. If a third caller dials the number the auto attendant is set up on, you will hear a busy signal.

On the plus side, it is free and can be used with Google Voice. Your options for dialing are relatively big. Since you need to use the pound sign (#) when using an extension, you can allow for a near unlimited amount of extensions (starting with 20#, skipping 21 and 22, and beginning again at 23# and going beyond 29999#). Options for dialing minus adding extensions are pre-set and can not be changed. Dialing 1 will forward your call to the phone number associated with the Obi Device you set auto attendant up with. This is useful if your business has an operator phone. Setting up Auto attendant on the operator/reception phone will allow callers to dial 1 to be directed straight to that phone. Dialing two allows for the extensions as mentioned above. The message you record will play three times and then, if there is no action from the caller, the auto attendant will act as if the caller dialed 1 and transfer to the Operator phone (Or phone you set up auto attendant with).

The following is my tutorial for setting up auto attendant to work:

1. Make sure your Obi Device is turned on, connected to the internet and connected to the Service Provider. Make sure you have ObiTalk and SP1 (in my case Google Voice) working properly. Check for a dial tone and check to see if you can call other Obi devices using their nine digit Obi number (600-XXX-XXX).

2. Log into ObiTalk. Click on the phone you want to use for auto attendant. Scroll down and click on "Obi Expert Configuration". Click on "Enter Obi Expert".

3. On the left hand side click on "Voice Services" and then "SP1 Service". Navigate to "X_InboundCallRoute" and uncheck "OBiTALK Settings" and "Device Default". You will have to uncheck these two things for most settings we edit in the future so make sure to do so. Remove "ph" from the Value bar and input "aa". Scroll down and hit Submit.

4. On the left hand side click on "Auto Attendant" and check Enable (Remember to uncheck ObiTalk Settings and Device Default). Choose the drop down menu for "PrimaryLine". If you are only using the Auto Attendant for Obi devices, choose "ObiTALK Service". If you want to use US, Canada or International numbers, choose "SP1 Service".

5. Under "Auto Attendant 1 Prompts" below, input "&pause()" into the value boxes of Welcome, MenuTitle, PleaseWait, and EnterNumber. In the Menu value box, enter "%User1%". Hit submit at the bottom.

6. "%User1%" is the voice recording. Unless you have changed the auto attendant with ObiExpert in the past, this file will likely not exist. To create it, dial *** on your Obi Device. Hit zero and when asked for a value, dial 1001#. Dial 1 and then hit 5. Right after you hit 5 the phone will start recording. Wait two seconds before speaking and then record. Your recording must be less than 135 seconds. When you are finished wait two seconds before hitting the pound key (#) to end the recording. Press 1 to save the recording. Wait a few seconds for it to save and then hang up. If you don't know what you want the recording to say yet (especially in regards to what extensions you will have), skip this step and come back later. You can record this at any time after Step 5. An example recording might sound like:

"You have reached [Company]. For general calls or to speak with the operator, dial 1. For Matt, dial 20#. For Dave, dial 23#, For Mark, dial 24#. For Susan, dial 25#."

7. You will have to modify the digit map to only accept "1" and your extensions beginning with "2". Staying on the auto attendant page, navigate to "DigitMap". Copy the entire value of the DigitMap box and paste it into a word processing document (Notepad/Textedit is the best for looking at plain text). Pay attention as this part is complicated.

You should see the following:
(([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**8(Mbt)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli))

You will need to add to the ending right before the last parenthese. For each extension, you will need to use the formula "<0:600XXXXXX>". The 0 should be replaced by a number. For example, if I put in 5 the real extension will be 27# (Since all extensions begin with 2, have the middle number two higher than inputted (excluding 0 which translates to 20#), and end with a pound sign (#)). There is a colon and to the right of it is an Obi or phone number. In Step 4, if you chose "ObiTALK Service", the number needs to be a nine digit Obi number (Ex: 600-555-8920). If you chose "SP1 Service", the number can be any number accepted by your service provider. Add a vertical bar between each "<X:600XXXXXX>". Since my business has five employees with Obi1062's, I set up my line of code as the following:

(([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**8(Mbt)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|<0:600XXXXXX>)|<1:600XXXXXX>|<2:600XXXXXX>|<3:600XXXXXX>|<4:600XXXXXX>)

Those are Obi numbers, with the X's obviously being replaced with real numbers. Notice that 1-4 are actually translated to 3-6, while 0 remains 0. The extensions for my auto attendant are respectively 20#, 23#, 24#, 25#, 26# with this setup. As a result, when I linked me devices I set the extensions to 20, 23-36 for consistency. Employees both send a receive calls from the same extension in this case. Remember to have a parenthese at the beginning and end to close the entire line of code. You can theoretically have many extensions as long as your line of code remains clean. When you are done adding extensions, copy and paste it back into the DigitMap value box under Auto Attendant. Hit submit at the bottom.

8. If you haven't already, go ahead and record the auto attendant prompt from Step 6 using the steps provided.

OPTIONAL: If you want to link the devices up with the same extension for dialing within your Obi network (phones listed under "My Dashboard"), go to link devices and set the extension to whatever you set up with the auto attendant. You Obi Phones will now be able to call each other using the two digit extension and receive incoming calls from that extension you set up. You can theoretically set up one Google Voice number to multiple Obi Phones and link them up by extension, allowing them to make Obi-to-Obi calls to one another by dialing the extension of another linked phone. All calls from them will dial out with the caller ID of that one phone number. Using this with the auto attendant is a good way to get around the limitations of Google Voice without purchasing expensive service provider plans from Vonage, BroadVoice, etc.

You should be all set at this point. Remember to keep the Obi phone you are using powered on and connected to the service provider and ObiTALK network at all times in order to keep Auto Attendant working. Best of luck and PM me or post below if you have any questions or problems.

Risk

Thanks Michaeldaquila for this excellent post.  I had a few followup questions for you:

In Step 3:  Under "X_InboundCallRoute", it originally had "ph,ph2" as the value, do we change this to "aa,ph2" or just "aa"?

In Step 7:  Upon adding the <0:600XXXXXX> values for each extension, do we need to re-enable Device Default and OBiTALK Settings via the checkmark boxes?

Thanks!

drgeoff

The tutorial was written by someone with an OBi10x2 phone so may not apply to an OBi ATA without some minor tweaks.

The 9 digit Obi number does not always begin with 600 - mine begins with 610 - or even a 6.  The ATAs often have a number beginning with a 2 or a 3.

Only the OBi202 and 302 models have 2 phone jacks.  On all other models, having ph2 is an InboundCallRoute makes no sense.  To answer the question by Risk, set to aa.

Michaeldaquila

Quote from: Risk on May 25, 2017, 12:53:28 AM
Thanks Michaeldaquila for this excellent post.  I had a few followup questions for you:

In Step 3:  Under "X_InboundCallRoute", it originally had "ph,ph2" as the value, do we change this to "aa,ph2" or just "aa"?

In Step 7:  Upon adding the <0:600XXXXXX> values for each extension, do we need to re-enable Device Default and OBiTALK Settings via the checkmark boxes?

Thanks!
Sorry for the late reply.
1. Just "aa". This will ensure every caller to the designated Service Provider # goes to auto attendant and not straight to the phone or voicemail.
2. You can leave them unchecked, as checking them will revert them to the default or previous settings.

oak949

I be able to call the auto attendant using these instructions.
https://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=12567.0
Step 7
But how do I get an to dial an non-obi number. What is the syntax for the outgoing map?:

For example: when user dial 25# -> 14155551212 and 26# -> 14155551213

([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|[0-8]|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**71(Mli)|**72(Mli2)|**73(Mli3)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|<5:1415551213>|<6:1415551212>)



Please advice

oak949

To answer my own question:
If you selected in step 4 "SP1 Service". You can use in step 7 digitmap. (that is the digit map under 'Auto Attendant 1' by the way)

(<04:415555704>|<06:4155550706>|<23:4155551623>)

<04:415555704> means substitude '04' with '4155555704'.

The user can now dial 204# 206# or 223# which will dial resp. 415555704, 4155550706, 4155551623 on my obi508. 

I hope that this will help someone.

==== optional ===

You can put this digit map under User Settings > User Defined DigiMaps

Leave 'User Defined Digit Map1' alone
Put your new digit map under 'User Defined Digit Map2"
label it (for example) 'aaa'. (no quotes)

Now go back to Voice services > auto attendant > Auto Attendant 1 > DigitMap
put '(Maaa)' (no quotes, the 'M' indicated a user defined digit map)

Vincent

I was using this tutorial for my Obi202 to setup aa for use in an SMB environment.

Per above, when using an external number to dial (instead of obi to obi), the only extensions I've found to work are 201-209. All other numbers tried don't ring anything or will ring my ph. My digit map looks like this (our area code is 610):

([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|<01:610XXXXXXX>|<02:610XXXXXXX>|<08:610XXXXXXX>)


Also for the outboundcallroute in aa1, I changed {0:ph,ph2} to {0:ph}. I have ph2 setup for fax and pressing "1" would ring both ph and ph2, having my fax machine answer.


Two questions I have:

1. For outboundcallroute in aa1, can I have something like {0:ph, 610XXXXXXX} or {0:ph,sp1} to dial both my ph and outbound phone?
2. Similarly, for the digitmap above, is it possible to ring both an external number and the obi ph as well? (e.g. - <08:610XXXXXXX, Msp1>)


azrobert

#7
1. The correct syntax is: {0:ph,sp1(610xxxxxxx)}

2. I'm a little confused on what you want.
You select 2 for make a new call then do you enter 2 or 3 digits?
I don't see a problem with your DigitMap for 01, 02 and 08.
When you enter 01 do you want to call a 610 number and ring the phone port?
Do you have the AA Primary Line set correctly?

You can do this:
([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|01|02|08)

Then:
{01:ph,sp1(6101111111)},{02:ph,sp1(6102222222)},{08:ph,sp1(6103333333)}

1-9 and 10-99 are speed dials, so you can't use these with the above method.

If you want to use speed dials to call a number, define speed dial 1 as sp1(6101111111) then dial 1.
I don't think speed dials can ring the phone port and call a number.

Edit:
What is you Primary Line DigitMap?
What service provider are you using?
Do they accept 10 digit outbound numbers?

Vincent

Thanks AZRobert for the hints. In terms of your questions:

My primary phone port for phone 1 DigitMap looks is the default:

([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]S9|[1-9][0-9]S9|911|**0|***|#|##|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli))

Service Provider is google voice.

They do accept 10 digit outbound numbers.


Initially with the tutorial above, I was trying to use 2 followed by 0,2-9# to dial out but for whatever reason it wasn't working (due to them being speed dials?). (Yes, I'm relatively new). I then switched to 2 followed by 00 and on up and found that only 01-09 work. 00 and 10 and above weren't working (again, following the tutorial above).

The solution you provided to ring sp1 and ph simultaneously will work perfectly. I'll give that a try. Where are speed dials defined in the expert config?

azrobert

#9
Speed Dials are updated from the Dashboard, not OBi Expert. It's found on the left column. There is only 1 set of speed dials used for all the OBi's added to your OBiTalk account.

00 is reserved. See Rule "<00:$1>" in the AA digit map. I believe this is obsolete and can be removed to make "00" work.

[1-9] and [1-9][0-9] are the rules to validate speed dials.

The digit map validate the dialed number.

Then if it's a speed dial it is processed.

Now the outbound route is processed.

Vincent

#10
First, thank you so much for you help. The {0:ph,sp1(6101111111)} for outboundcallroute worked perfectly.

I have the AA digitmap set to:
([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|01|02|08)

Per your instructions above, where would I place the translation code? I tried adding to the end of the outboundcallroute for the AA, but that's clearly not the correct spot.
{01:ph,sp1(6101111111)},{02:ph,sp1(6102222222)},{08:ph,sp1(6103333333)}

azrobert

Put the code at the beginning of the outbound call route. "{(Mpli):pli}" will route the call to the Primary Line, so the code must be placed before it.

Vincent

#12
This worked beautifully. Thanks for your help again.

For those reading through this thread, here was my final configuration:

AA1:

AA DigitMap:
([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|01|02|08)

OutboundCallRoute:
{01:ph,sp1(6105551111)},{02:ph,sp1(6105552222)},{08:ph,sp1(6105553333)},{([1-9]x?*(Mpli)):pp},{0:ph,sp1(6105554444)},{(<**1:>(Msp1)):sp1},{(<**2:>(Msp2)):sp2},{(<**3:>(Msp3)):sp3},{(<**4:>(Msp4)):sp4},{(<**70:>(Mli)):li},{(<**82:>(Mbt2)):bt2},{(<**81:>(Mbt)):bt},{(<**8:>(Mbt)):bt},{(<**9:>(Mpp)):pp},{(Mpli):pli}

PrimaryLine: SP1 Service
AnswerDelay: 3000


AA1 Prompts:
Welcome: &pause()
MenuTitle: &pause()
Menu: %User1%
PleaseWait: &pause()
EnterNumber: &puase()

Any extension you use must avoid the built in speed dials (1-9 and 10-99) and the reserved 00 (which can possibly be used if removed from validation). If you are looking to have AA ring a single phone number then just use the speed-dials. Mine was more complex because I wanted it to also ring the main office phone line as well as an external number.  

One caveat that I found is that if no one picks up after about 15 seconds from when the AA rings the destination number, the call will drop. I'm not sure if there is a setting to extend this time.


(edit: added commas as suggested)


azrobert

You should have a comma after each rule in the outbound call route. Apparently it works without the commas.

You can use 2 digit speed dial numbers by changing them to 3 digits in the digit map then check for the transformed number in the outbound route.

AA DigitMap:
([1-9]x?*(Mpli)|[1-9]|[1-9][0-9]|<00:$1>|0|**1(Msp1)|**2(Msp2)|**3(Msp3)|**4(Msp4)|**70(Mli)|**8(Mbt)|**81(Mbt)|**82(Mbt2)|**9(Mpp)|(Mpli)|01|02|08|<1>10)

OutboundCallRoute:
{01:ph,sp1(6105551111)},{02:ph,sp1(6105552222)},{08:ph,sp1(6105553333)},{110:ph,sp1(6105554444)},

Mcarlomagno

Hello, everyone.  I do apologize that there are many posts like this, however, something odd has happened to our Auto Attendant feature and am unsure why.

When we have someone call in the auto attendant picks up as expected, plays the recording as expected, however when the extension has been entered (for mine it would be 210#) it seems to go to the correct phone however it goes to an Obi prompt where the user now has to dial 1 to continue the call (which the call does go through), 2 for main menu, etc. etc.

What feature/option do I need to modify to force the call to go through instead of this second prompt?

dreh1115

I'm not sure this will get answered. I've gone thru all the steps in the tutorial. When I dial my GV number, it gets picked up by the GV message not the auto attendant. Is there something I need to do on the Google side to make it only go to the Obi200?

drgeoff

#16
Quote from: dreh1115 on December 23, 2020, 08:41:04 AM
I'm not sure this will get answered. I've gone thru all the steps in the tutorial. When I dial my GV number, it gets picked up by the GV message not the auto attendant. Is there something I need to do on the Google side to make it only go to the Obi200?
There is nothing you can do on the settings at voice.google.com to defeat GV voicemail.  The GV voicemail will always pick up if the call is not answered within about 25 seconds.  If you want the OBi's AA to take the call you must ensure that it does so before that GV timeout occurs.

Return the InboundCallRoute to just ph and check that the phone on the OBi200 rings when your GV number is called.

If it does not, you first need to find why and fix it before there is any chance of the AA working.

If it does ring then the problem is with the OBi configuration - the InboundCallRoute and/or the AA configuration page.

themartinn

I'm still struggling with making this work.  I have a total of 13 Obi2182 phones.  1 of them is mu "Front Desk" phone.  I want to be able to dial my Google voice number and then be able to dial an extension (2 or 3 digits is fine) and connect to any of my phones.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J Latimer

SteveInWA

Quote from: themartinn on November 24, 2021, 10:56:59 AM
I'm still struggling with making this work.  I have a total of 13 Obi2182 phones.  1 of them is mu "Front Desk" phone.  I want to be able to dial my Google voice number and then be able to dial an extension (2 or 3 digits is fine) and connect to any of my phones.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J Latimer

Consumer Google Voice is neither designed nor supported for business use.  If you want to use IVR/ACD functions, use a business-class SIP ITSP that offers those features.

drgeoff

#19
Quote from: themartinn on November 24, 2021, 10:56:59 AM
I'm still struggling with making this work.  I have a total of 13 Obi2182 phones.  1 of them is mu "Front Desk" phone.  I want to be able to dial my Google voice number and then be able to dial an extension (2 or 3 digits is fine) and connect to any of my phones.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

J Latimer
Try this.  All below on Front Desk 2182.  Nothing to be done on other 2182s

1.  AA Digit Map.  Use the 9 digit OBi numbers to expand your choices of 2 or 3 digit extension numbers. For example

(0|01:600100001|02:600200002|03:600300003|      |12:600120012|13:600130013)

I have used 01 to 13 as the arbitrary extension numbers. Substitute the 600xxxxxx numbers with your actual OBi numbers. The initial single 0 is needed to make "Press 1" (see later) work.

2.  AA OutboundCallRoute

{0:ph},{(xxxxxxxxx):pp}

3.  InboundCallRoute of whichever SP your GV number is on

{(+12113114111|+12213314411):aa},{ph}

where 211-311-4111 and 221-331-4411 are the designated numbers you call in from.  You can have more numbers there if you wish.  Put a | as separator.  GV adds +1 to the front of the CallerID.

Calling in to the GV number from any of your designated numbers will route you to the AA.  You will be prompted with choices: (Page 124 of https://www.obitalk.com/info/documents/admin_guide/OBiDeviceAdminGuide.pdf. Yes the AA in the IP phones works the same as in the ATAs.)

Press 1 to continue the call.  Ie ring the phone.
Press 2 to make a new call.  Dial whichever of 01 to 13 you wish to ring
Press 3 to enter a callback number.  You can optionally use that to have the 2182 phone you back using your GV account instead of eg cellphone minutes.  Enter the number or 00# to use the number you are calling from.  This 'Press 3' probably needs some additions to the Digit Map and OutboundCallRoute - ask again if you want that.

Calling in from other numbers will just ring the phone as normal.

Edit 29 Nov.:  Inserted missing colon after 02 in AA Digit Map.

Edit #2, 29 Nov: Added ( and ) around xxxxxxxxx in AA OutboundCallRoute. (Thanks to azrobert's post below.)