Implemented Able to Set Mobile Number as "SP1"/2/3/4

[chris.eakland]

With Version 14 and under i was able to create a dummy extensions, lets call them 401/402/403/404. Then i would set the mobile number to be "SP1"/"SP2"/"SP3"/"SP4" and configure it so that when the extension was not registered it would forward to the mobile number. I would be then able to Dial 401 to pull a call out of SP1 or blind transfer a call to 401 to put the call into SP1. This was great for Yealink W52/56 phones and other phones that do not have the buttons to be able to configure a BLF key for Shared Park lines. this functionality was removed with V15 and i get an error saying that SP1 is not a supported Mobile Number format. Please bring this functionality back as it is very useful.

 

[JasonNadeau]

+1 ... we used this ALL THE TIME. Please, either let us assign virtual numbers to the shared parking zones or release the validation a little so that this old hack works again ...

 

[jbryant84]

Up until now I was able to use external number under forwarding rules for shared parks. I tried it on a fully up-to-date version 15 install this morning and received an error message. I think they removed this functionality as well

 

[craigreilly]

you can put it in the Phonebook instead ... an option.
Not a fix per se - but might help.

 

[chris.eakland]

you can put it in the Phonebook instead ... an option.
Not a fix per se - but might help.

I just tried to add it and got the same error.

 

[craigreilly]

You are right. v14 could. I put them in when I was still on v14. Not on v15 I can not.

 

[Sopock]

Perhaps we will have more luck in upcoming SP5 with this shared park hack?

 

[Vali_3CX]

Craig, Sopock - have you tried to add it to the Company Phonebook via a 3CX client? I cannot check right now, but for sure in iOS client vs V15 PBX you can add an SP as a contact (Personal for sure, I don't remember if for Company too)

 

[craigreilly]

iOS client seems to work.

Saw interesting issue here.
1) Accidentally added to personal, because the "Add to company" was covered by the Keyboard. Perhaps put this check at the top of the ADD RECORD.
2) When I deleted an entry from personal - it still showed up in the phonebook on my personal device. I had to Kill the iOS App and reopen before the contact was removed.

 

[chris.eakland]

Craig, Sopock - have you tried to add it to the Company Phonebook via a 3CX client? I cannot check right now, but for sure in iOS client vs V15 PBX you can add an SP as a contact (Personal for sure, I don't remember if for Company too)

your are correct. i was able to add a SP2 to my company phone book, and it works from my desk phones (Yealink T46g) but when i tried it from the Yealink W56 (the main reason i need to be able to dial 401/402/403......) it does not work. it tries to dial "S" then Pause, then Dial 2.

 

[itranger]

+1 All 3CX would need to do is to re-allow the use of SP1, 2, 3, etc. as external or mobile numbers. We used to do this all the time and it worked beautifully with the ability to transfer to park from the mobile app and cordless phones and pick up on a desk phone and vice versa. This even worked in earlier versions of 15, but as of at least service pack 4 it is broken.

This is really critical for us as we have several agents in the field and all they use are mobile apps.

 

[Nathan Boyd]

Agreed with the above, We used the External number trick for cordless/3CXPhone access to the shared park functionality for most clients as well. This is a showstopper in the migration to V15.

 

[JasonNadeau]

As Vali_3cx and others pointed out, the hack just changed, it's not gone. You can add SPXX via the 3cx softphone. I didn't try via the company phonebook, I just sent myself the welcome email of the fake extension I was using for SPXX, and changed the forwarding settings to SPXX like we used to do in the management console. Everything worked fine.

 

[craigreilly]

iOS has the ability to dial SP1 in newest beta - but it has to be uppercase.

 

[craigreilly]

As Vali_3cx and others pointed out, the hack just changed, it's not gone. You can add SPXX via the 3cx softphone. I didn't try via the company phonebook, I just sent myself the welcome email of the fake extension I was using for SPXX, and changed the forwarding settings to SPXX like we used to do in the management console. Everything worked fine.

That is a LOT of work. Just allow the Management Console to do it - or the iPhone can create a contact in the PhoneBook.
I called mine "_Shared Park x" so it shows up at the top of the phone book.
I guess if you wanted an extension - then your way works. Just a lot more steps than it used to be.

 

[chris.eakland]

iOS works with the beta, but i still have W56H phones that i need to pull calls from park. I even tried to create a remote address book, called Shared Parks with SP1/2/3/4 but the handset still sees it as trying to dial S (pause) 1... i need to be able to dial 401/402/403 etc from the handset.

 

[JasonNadeau]

Did you try my method (above) of programming the forwards of a dummy extension via 3cxphone instead of using a directory entry?

 

[jbryant84]

I spoke with the support department on this. The official response is this was removed on purpose, as there were (user error) instances where if the forwarding extension is used while someone is already parked, the two calls would be merged. The 'correct' way to do it is with the *0/*1 dial codes. (I still want it back, we've had instances where users transferred a caller to the paging group instead of park, but paging hasn't been removed.)

 

[CentrexJ]

v15 SP5 re-added the ability to set SP1, etc as a "Forward to External Number". So you can now do this feature again where you set the extension to forward to a shared park and use that for park/unpark from phones without BLF.

This is the line in the v15SP5 changelog: "Returned back ability to specify shared parking in Forward to Number field in forwarding rules."

 

[Roy Pitchford]

...and we thank them for putting this back!

Roy