Only forward to mobile or external if unregistered | Not ring mobile simultaneous

[it145]

Dear All,

v18 Build 418 (Update 5) Oct 2022 - Self hosted - Cloud

RE the above, I've been searching the Forum for a solution when I was very pleased to come across these 2 articles... Looks like Queue agent extension forwarding when unregistered doesn't work and Forwarding when extension is not registered. Unfortunately the later article isn't really relevant here because we can get the extension to forward to an external number if it's unregistered and called either directly or as part of a ring group.

The problem we have is when an extension is unregistered and part of a call queue and to keep things simple, let's just say it's the only agent assigned to that queue. The status of the extension is "Available" and logged in but the extension has been purposely unregistered. The forwarding rules for the extension have been set to forward to external number (we've also tried forward to mobile, with mobile number set in correct format). What happens is the call queue goes straight to it's DNA(Destination if No Answer) rule, instead of ringing the extensions external number?

The earlier of the 2 referenced posts above seems to provide the closest answer, which is to use the "Ring my mobile simultaneously" which I've just tested and works. However, we want end users to make use of the 3CX mobile app always in the first instance and this should just be a backup if they have no data connection. It appears the feature exists "If I am busy or my phone is unregistered, forward calls to:" but this does not seem to work in a call queue scenario?.

My question is, is this expected behaviour and if so, is there ANY workaround, so that it will only ring the end users mobile if the 3CX app is unregistered? As is stands, they will confusingly receive a push message call and a mobile call at the same time if we enable the suggested option!

Thank you in advance for any help or enlightenment you can give

 

[Evolute IT]

You may need to enable "Allow external forwarding for queues and ring groups" under Settings > General.

Otherwise, yes, it is expected to consider unregistered as unavailable.

 

[it145]

Hi @ConceptsWeb,

Thank you for your reply, it's much appreciated.

Yes, the "Allow forwarding to external..." setting is setup under general settings.


If that is the case, whatever you want to call it "Unregistered" or "Unavailable", should the forwarding actions not come into effect when the agent is part of the queue? After all, this settings works exactly as expected if the agent is call directly (internal or external) or as part of a ring group? Why should it work differently in a queue?

In this real world scenario, we need to send calls to "Out of hours" responders and the majority will have good mobile data or WiFi connectivity. We just need to cover the situation of not missing a call (should someone be in a blackspot for mobile data) but don't want to enable "Ring mobile simultaneously" A, because it shouldn't be necessary; B because it will display 2 confusing call prompts on the phone for the majority of users; C because there is a feature that covers this scenario but doesn't seem to work when in a call queue for reasons I can't fathom.

It would be great if there was an official 3CX answer as to whether this is by design and if so why? It just feels like it's defeating the whole purpose of having 3CX mobile clients. There must be a LOT of scenarios where this option is required as a backup, should the 3CX app become disconnected due to travel, location, etc, etc.

If anyone from 3CX is listening it would be really useful to draw a line under this for the client and stop wasting time testing and looking for an solution that doesn't exist.

 

[Evolute IT]

Did you set the user forwarding rules to both unregistered and registered to be forward to mobile? All 4 dropdowns.

 

[it145]

No, only the last 2 i.e. for external calls....you just gave me hope! Unfortunately (after the screenshot was taken) I applied this to internal calls also and tested but the call queue still used the DNA rule, instead of attempting to ring the mobile. You'll notice, we're using a custom status but that doesn't seem to have any bearing.

 

[Charles_3CX]

Allow me to clarify this for you, with extensions in queues and unregistered, and the queue manager will not be able to poll the extension as it is unregistered. The same goes for ring groups. Unregistered extensions in queues and ring groups cause calls to go to the destination if no answer. From there, though, you may set calls to go to whichever mobile number is required (since there is only one user in the queue). Or even use a dummy extension set to ring my mobile simultaneously and set it to ring whichever mobile number is required, then set calls to route to the dummy extension from the relevant queue's destination of no answer, allowing for easy change of mobile number when required without management console access.

 

[it145]

Thank you both for your prompt and helpful replies.

@Charles_3CX that really does clear it up, thanks. It is a shame as the single extension scenario is not the reality and there maybe many extensions in the call queue (each configured with their own mobile number) and it is these numbers that need to be called if the 3CX app is unregistered for whatever reason, not something that can be set in the call queue, even if that is changeable outside the management console.

I appreciate the dummy extension solution that we are now contemplating using to handle other conditions or whether to use a CFD for more control. I can see this is a limitation of the system but understand why (to an extent) and that the "Ring mobile simultaneous" is now the only simple solution, albeit not ideal.

Please consider this post closed, unless anyone has anything else to comment.