Extension dialing

Phone systems answered by an auto-attendant normally prompt the caller to manually dial an extension, enter a code, or provide some touch-tone input to direct the call. With CIC, you can optionally add these extra digits directly to the dialed phone number so CIC dials the digits for you after the auto-attendant answers your call. For example, if you know a company uses auto-attendant answering and the person you need to speak to is at extension 113, you could dial:

8723000/113

In this example, CIC would dial 8723000 and wait for the auto-attendant to answer. When the call is connected, it automatically sends the DTMF tones for 113 to dial that extension. Using this scheme, you can even dial multiple numbers separated by / and automatically dial your way through an entire IVR script (for example, 8723000/3/1/8235). CIC detects the auto-attendant response for each / in the number. Of course, if a person answered the phone instead of an auto-attendant, the person would hear these tones played in his or her ear.

CIC automatically sends the DTMF digits because the default setting of the Extension Dialing Analysis Type server parameter (in Interaction Administrator) is Voice. If you change the value of this server parameter from Voice to Answering Machine, CIC first attempts to detect an IVR or automated voice when the call is connected (it does this by sensing the length of the greeting). If it does not detect an automated voice, it assumes a human voice answered and does not send the DTMF extension digits. This kind of detection is less reliable than voice mode, but it attempts to be more sensitive to how each call is answered.

In some cases, you may want to store a user's extension with the company phone number but not use CIC's automatic extension dialing because the primary phone number uses a live operator instead of an auto-attendant. Instead of storing the number with a slash (/) in front of the extension, you can use a ^ before the extension to tell CIC to not dial the extension. For example,

8723000^113

If you use both the / and the ^, in either order, CIC sends the DTMF tones when the call is connected. For example:

8723000/^113