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From: Peter Smithson on 23 Jul 2010 03:48
Hi,

I volunteer for a charity (www.servobn.org.uk) that's looking for a
solution to a problem we have. Each night a controller has a number
directed to their phone to take urgent calls. These calls should be
answered - an answer message is no good due to the urgent nature. We
use Flextel for our number and they have a facility to re-direct to a
backup number if the call isn't answered.

That works OK but what if the controllers phone is out of network
range or has been turned off? We think all networks will generate some
sort of message for the caller "this phone is turned off" etc. That
will fool the Flextel system into thinking the phone has been answered
and the re-direction won't cut in.

So - are there any networks that don't produce a message when the
phone is off our out of signal?

Or any other system we could use to solve this issue?

Cheers.

Peter.
From: Chris Davies on 23 Jul 2010 05:20
Peter Smithson <Peter_Smithson(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
> I volunteer for a charity [...] that's looking for a solution to a
> problem we have. [...]

> We use Flextel for our number and they have a facility to re-direct
> to a backup number if the call isn't answered.

> [...] what if the controllers phone is out of network range or has been
> turned off? We think all networks will generate some sort of message
> [...] that will fool the Flextel system into thinking the phone has
> been answered [...]

I'm slightly puzzled. You say there /is/ a problem. But then you go on
to say that you /think/ that Flextel will get fooled. Have you actually
tried this scenario, yet? Can you not do so?

Cheers,
Chris
From: Gordon Henderson on 23 Jul 2010 07:10
In article <1e671125-6e18-4c2d-b75b-f6b46fad95c9(a)d8g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>,
Peter Smithson <Peter_Smithson(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I volunteer for a charity (www.servobn.org.uk) that's looking for a
>solution to a problem we have. Each night a controller has a number
>directed to their phone to take urgent calls. These calls should be
>answered - an answer message is no good due to the urgent nature. We
>use Flextel for our number and they have a facility to re-direct to a
>backup number if the call isn't answered.
>
>That works OK but what if the controllers phone is out of network
>range or has been turned off? We think all networks will generate some
>sort of message for the caller "this phone is turned off" etc. That
>will fool the Flextel system into thinking the phone has been answered
>and the re-direction won't cut in.

Except that the redirection will cut-in and the caller will hear the
message rather than getting through to the human...

>So - are there any networks that don't produce a message when the
>phone is off our out of signal?
>
>Or any other system we could use to solve this issue?

You want to solve it at the level above the mobile network. So the switch
that takes the call, answer it, then puts the caller on-hold (actually,
it doesn't need to answer, but if it does, it can play a message to the
effect that it's trying to connect... No big issue if it's an 01/02/03
number...)

Then it calls through a list of numbers - and when it answers, plays
a message to the effect: "Press 1 to accept the call", and waits for
the person to press 1. When they do, it bridges the calls together,
or if nothing pressed for 5 seconds, hangs up the call and moves to the
next number... lather, rinse, repeat...

Or you could just point it at a 24/7 call centre and let them handle
the calls. Potentially more expensive though.

Gordon
From: Peter Smithson on 23 Jul 2010 08:18
On Jul 23, 10:20 am, Chris Davies <chris-use...(a)roaima.co.uk> wrote:
> Peter Smithson <Peter_Smith...(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
> > [...] that will fool the Flextel system into thinking the phone has
> > been answered [...]
>
> I'm slightly puzzled. You say there /is/ a problem. But then you go on
> to say that you /think/ that Flextel will get fooled. Have you actually
> tried this scenario, yet? Can you not do so?

Good point Chris - I tried it out and Flextel wasn't fooled by the
message. There must be some out of band data somewhere here!

It did wait for the configured 30 seconds rather than diverting
immediately but still - not bad.
From: Peter Smithson on 23 Jul 2010 08:22
On Jul 23, 12:10 pm, Gordon Henderson <gordon+use...(a)drogon.net>
wrote:
> In article <1e671125-6e18-4c2d-b75b-f6b46fad9...(a)d8g2000yqf.googlegroups.com>,
>
> Then it calls through a list of numbers - and when it answers,...

Wouldn't that just put us back at square one. This intelligent switch
would probably do what Flextel does when an answer machine cuts in -
it'd think the phone call had been answered. The caller would hit "1"
to be connected to someones personal answer service.

> Or you could just point it at a 24/7 call centre and let them handle
> the calls. Potentially more expensive though.

In a way that'd be ideal but as you say - costs more and there's a
bigger problem. They wouldn't have our rota of riders so wouldn't be
able to tell the caller what the situation was - could we do the
delivery or not. They'd have to take a message, call us and then get
back to the hospital. It's not easy getting hold of people in
hospitals (emergencies & no direct line).

Thanks anyway. Looks like the "this phone is turned off" type message
didn't fool Flextel after all - very clever.

Cheers.

Peter.

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