Line Scheduling

Description

Use Line Scheduling to set up how you want the system to handle incoming calls. Line Scheduling is easy to understand and intuitive to set up, but has the power and flexibility to satisfy even complex call answering scenarios. There are eight Line Schedules with 20 Schedule Entries in each Schedule. Here are the basics on how to set this up:
  1. Assign a line to one of the eight available Schedules.
  2. Create an "Always" schedule that covers how you want calls handled most of the time.
    • For example, calls could Key Ring co-workers and then overflow to voice mail if they are not answered.
  3. Set up more specific entries for certain times of the day, days of the week, or dates (like Christmas and company holidays).
    • You can have lunch time calls go to the Automated Attendant, evening calls go to a group mailbox, and weekend calls leave a message for an emergency service.
  4. Add some "override" entries, each one activated by pressing a Manual Activation Mode Feature Key, for reoccurring events like closing early and opening late.
  5. Additionally, create entries that automatically put the associated line into the night mode and activate the night time routing you have set in other features.

The power of Line Scheduling also comes from the myriad of combinations you can set up. Each line can use one of the eight schedules in combination with its per-line routing options. The 20 entries in each schedule can also work together with the per-line options to create even more routing possibilities. Add the Feature Key modes and Automatic Night Mode and you can benefit from complex answering scenarios that are easy to set up and understand.

Line Schedule selections are also available for each entry in the DID Translation Table. Incomplete DID calls can follow the routing set up in the schedule or the options programmed for the line.

Skip Ahead

Skip Ahead is part of Line Scheduling and allows an extension user to press a uniquely programmed Skip Ahead Feature to skip ahead to the next schedule entry. This key is called the Skip Ahead key and allows the extension user to advance from the current schedule entry to the next schedule entry. Each Skip Ahead key is assigned to a specific schedule. An extension can have multiple Skip Ahead keys assigned to different schedules.

The following example illustrates how Skip Ahead helps even in sites using basic scheduling.
  • The installation site has a schedule programmed as follows:
    • The Morning schedule entry runs every week day from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
    • The Noon schedule entry runs every week day from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM.
    • The Afternoon schedule entry runs from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
    • The Evening schedule entry runs from 5:00 PM to 8:00 AM the following morning.
  • Here are a few of the possible applications of Skip Ahead at this site.
    • If an employee comes in early (before 8:00 AM), they can press Skip Ahead to activate the normal morning schedule entry.
    • If the company has to close mid-afternoon (before 5:00 PM) because of inclement weather, an employee can press Skip Ahead to activate the evening schedule entry.

Using the System Administrator to Test Line Schedules

The System Administrator Lines: Schedules page highlights the currently active Line Schedule entry. Each time you reconnect, the System Administrator updates the page. You can, for example:
  • Go to the Schedules page and check the currently highlighted entry.
  • Press a Skip Ahead key.
  • Reconnect with the System Administrator and verify that the schedule has advanced.