I will soon be migrating my last location off of a Siemens ROLM 9751 legacy system and onto FreePBX and am having issues coming up with options for our switchboard operator.
Currently she has a “switchboard” phone where calls will come in on multiple lines that she can answer/transfer and I’m trying to replicate this same functionality as much as possible for her.
I am using FreePBX 2.11.0.38 with Digium D40/D50 phones. This will be my 4th location that I have brought onto FreePBX. Each individual location has it’s own dedicated server and they are interconnected via IAX2 trunks.
For my proof of concept I have mimicked our main number IVR and have 0 going to a call queue where her extension is a member of the queue. When someone presses 0 to be transferred to the operator her phone will ring and she will answer.
My problem areas are:
Multiple calls at once - the screen is good sized, but can be overwhelming when juggling 3-5 calls. Do you have an recommendations about what to do for this? I’ve messed with FOP2, but unless she’s transferring calls in/out of the queue it’s not really manageable, and even then when a call is transferred into the queue, it starts going through the call list.
Connecting two calls - if a call comes in where she needs to page the a person, she would generally have them call the operator and then connect the two calls. I’ve not found a way to make this work in FreePBX. The only workaround I’ve found is having the person paged, call and then hang up so she can transfer to the extension.
I would probably run with an Aastra + side car. It depends how many lines she needs.
The D70 has 10 keys with pages so it could encompass quite a bit but may be more effort than desired paging through. The Aastra with add on would give you a more traditional all in your face method.
Alternatively you could use an operator panel like iSymphony with a standard phone.
Is there any way for her to connect two calls? Currently she can take a call to the switchboard, make a page for Greg to call the operator. When I would dial 0 she could then connect the two calls. I’ve not found a clean way to do this.
That has been discussed, the only issue is parking calls on remote systems. By the end of they year I’ll have 5 individual servers ranging from 40 extensions to 300 with a grand total of around 600 extensions. I don’t think I’m going to find an end all solution. I’m just trying to not give her shell shock with all the changes, plus I’ve still got the business needs/functionality to keep in mind.
Connect Two Calls sounds like Screened/Attended Transfer to me - is that what you are looking for? Call comes in, I answer it, and say “Just A Minute” initiate a second call to the recipient, ask if they want the call and if they say yes, complete the connection of the first caller to the second?
Polycom’s can start a Three-Way Conference and then drop out if that is the level of hand-holding you are looking for.
Operator stations should usually get the biggest phone with the most buttons - it’s makes automation much easier.
Our receptionist (not a business your size) runs Grandstream GXP2140 with the GXP2200 sidecars but also use FOP2 (I think it with a touchscreen would be amazing for a switchboard), the GXP2140 supports up to 4 sidecars. If you want more lines and less worried about speed dial keys we use GXP2160 has 6 lines keys.
I just tested using FreePBX, I can dial my DID, put myself on hold or just hit a line key and page. At this point original inbound call is on hold still, I receive a call from an extension and answer it, I press transfer then the line key of the call on hold and the two are connected; blind transfer is default on my phones.
I was able to get this working with the Digium D40 phones. I made the extension part of a call queue and was able to figure out how to transfer multiple inbound calls. Thank you everyone that replied.