Strange behaviour of Agent Group + anonymous caller id

[Silvio]

We use Snom One Win64 Version 4.2.1.4025 and Snom 370 phones.

 

We did set up an agent group with 4 phones.

 

Sometimes there is no one able to answer the phone immediately,

so the phones ring for a longer period.

 

We did test this and it does work properly for e.g. 5 minutes,

the caller hears music and information. Caller status in Queue

is Caller 1 ringing, Caller 2 and up waiting.

 

But there is a small problem when someone calls with an

anonymous caller id. In this case the phones ring about 1 - 2

minutes and then the queue starts also ringing the second

caller and puts the first caller with anonymous caller id back

in position.

 

This is really a strange behaviour because we accept anonymous

calls and there is no problem with anonmyous calls which are

incoming through DID, AA or Hunt group.

[Vodia PBX]

Having phones ringing for a longer time is a problem especially if you have the call on the trunk side not connected yet. Many carriers allow ringing only for 60 seconds. Maybe there is a problem in this area.

[Silvio]

We use the setting "Event for connecting the call" = Entering the agent group,

so the call is connected and the caller hears music and pays for the call.

 

We also use the same carrier for this test. Calls with caller id = no problems,

calls with anonymous caller id = problems.

[Vodia PBX]

Yes that should be okay. Maybe the phones get "nervous" after ringing for too long... although it would be really strange if that happens only for anonymous calls.

[Silvio]

Yes, it's really strange. The call is not lost, but it moves some positions back

in the queue but 1 phone is still ringing with the anonymous call.

 

We use 3x Snom 370 and 1x Snom 300 phone, with firmware 8.4.31

[Vodia PBX]

Hmm. Did you select "remember the agent" in the ACD? This is how non-anonymous numbers can advance in the queue.

 

 

On the snom phone side. 8.4.32 is out (at least as serious beta), but I dont think that can be the problem here.

[Silvio]

Hmm. Did you select "remember the agent" in the ACD? This is how non-anonymous numbers can advance in the queue.

 

No, this is not selected. We use Queue entry time for caller priority.

 

General idea / feature request:

 

Because phones ringing for a longer time are maybe a general problem in many cases,

Asterisk e.g. offers for the Queue config the option timeout in seconds

(it stops ringing the phones) and the option retry in seconds (it retries calling

the agents).

 

I don't know how easy this could be implemented in a future realase of Snom One but this

feature could solve some problems.

[Vodia PBX]

Absolutely. Having phones ring for several minutes cannot be the answer. My suggestion is to use another ACD as "escalation" ACD, and there I would include cell phone numbers or at least additional agents. You can set the event when the call should be redirected/escalated from the web interface.

[Silvio]

Absolutely. Having phones ring for several minutes cannot be the answer. My suggestion is to use another ACD as "escalation" ACD, and there I would include cell phone numbers or at least additional agents. You can set the event when the call should be redirected/escalated from the web interface.

 

Thank you for your fast replies!

 

In our case (support & small company!) there are unfortunately no additional agents. So the scenario is that people have

to wait in queue until an agent is available.

 

Where can I place my feature request?

[Vodia PBX]

Well, there is another workaround... in ACD A after ringing for 60 seconds, escalate to ACD B; then in B after ringing for 60 seconds, escalate to ACD A. And so on. If there are not too many people in the line, it is reasonlable.

[Silvio]

I'm not sure, but with this switching from ACD A to ACD B etc.,

wouldn't the caller be always at the end of the queue in some cases?

 

Where can I place my feature request?

[pbx support]

You can open a enhancement ticket on support.snom.com.

 

Meanwhile, if this is reproducible, can you set the "Log IVR events" with log level 8 and send us the log? It is interesting to know why this happens only to anonymous calls? You can PM this log as an attachment.

 

I want to see if the someone is disconnecting the call and then retrying (instead of moving back in the position as you mentioned)

[Silvio]

You can open a enhancement ticket on support.snom.com.

 

Meanwhile, if this is reproducible, can you set the "Log IVR events" with log level 8 and send us the log? It is interesting to know why this happens only to anonymous calls? You can PM this log as an attachment.

 

I want to see if the someone is disconnecting the call and then retrying (instead of moving back in the position as you mentioned)

 

This behaviour was detected with our own test calls.

 

I will send you the log file in the next few days.

 

Thank you again for your help!