In my organization I have some extensions which can be called directly by external parties (customers/suppliers/etc).
For these extensions I have set up an inbound route with a configured DID number and Extension destination.
When the inbound call from an external party remains unanswered at the configured extension, I’d like to have the call forwarded to an operator queue.
That is; the call should only be forwarded to the operator queue if an external party is calling using a DID inbound route. Internal extension->extension calls should remain unanswered or go to voicemail.
This way I aim to reduce workload for the operator while maximizing human response factor for whatever number is called.
You’re going to have to write a custom context that looks at the Source Connection (Caller-ID, etc.) to see if you are talking to a local connection or an inbound. Once you know that, you can route the call to the appropriate destination.
If the phone has a spare line appearance, route the DID to a new extension on the new line button, enabling call forward on no answer to the queue. Calls to the regular extension number will go to voicemail (if enabled) as usual.
Thanks. I think that’s the solution I’ll implement.
Some extra configuration work in creating the ring groups, but (a) works for all phones, also single line extensions and (b) better supported than a custom context, which is good in case we need paid ad-hoc support from e.g. Sangoma in the future.