MERLIN LEGEND Communications System Release 5.0
System Manager’s Guide
555-650-118
Issue 1
June 1997
New Features and Enhancements
Page xviiiRelease 5.0 Enhancements
Any type of inside or outside line that is normally available to a single-line
telephone can be assigned to a HotLine extension. Generally, the HotLine
telephone does not receive calls, and its lines should be set to No Ring.
SECURITYlALERT:
!
If a HotLine extension accesses a loop-start line, that line should provide
reliable disconnect and be programmed for reliable disconnect. Otherwise,
a user at the extension may be able to stay on the line after a call is
completed and then make a toll call.
Group Calling Enhancements 0
Release 5.0 and later systems include Group Calling features that enhance group
calling operations.
Most Idle Hunt Type 0
In addition to the Circular (factory setting) and Linear hunt types supported in
earlier releases, a third hunt type distributes calling group calls in an order based
on which agent has waited the longest since transferring or hanging up on an
incoming calling group call. For some applications, this hunt type is more efficient
than the circular type because it takes into account the varying duration of calls.
The system distributes calls based on when an agent last completed a call, not on
when he or she last received one. This hunting method ignores non-calling group
calls. For example, if an agent transfers a call that arrived on a line not assigned
to the calling group, the calling group member’s most-idle status is unaffected.
Delay Announcement Devices 0
The system manager can designate as many as ten primary delay announcement
devices per group rather than the single device for each group that is available in
Release 4.2 and earlier systems. Furthermore, an additional secondary delay
announcement device can be specified, for a total of ten primary device
extensions and one secondary device extension per group.
A primary delay announcement device operates in the same fashion as a single
delay announcement device, playing once, as soon as it is available, for the caller
who has waited the longest for a calling group agent and has not heard a primary
delay announcement. If a secondary announcement device is used, it can use the
factory setting, which plays the announcement once, or it can be set to repeat the
announcement after a certain amount of time. The system manager programs the
time (0–900 seconds) between announcements. This setting controls both the
interval between primary and secondary announcements and the interval
between repetitions of the secondary announcement if it is set to repeat.
The primary and secondary announcement options, when used together, allow an
initial message to play for callers, followed by a repeating announcement that, for
example, urges callers to stay on the line and wait for a calling group member.