v20 Shared or departement voicemail?

[Connexium Partner]

Hello,

I was wondering what would be the best way to address this use case:

Imagine a dental clinic with five receptionists.

Current setup (v18):

1. We assigned the same extension on every desk phone (Yealink T57w). (ext 100)
2. They share the same mailbox

What we need (better setup on v20:

1. We would love to have 5 extensions (one per desk phone, so they could transfer calls between receptionists)
2. They would share the same voicemail and if one receptionist calls back a customer, that voicemail message will be deleted from the system to avoid the scenario where another receptionist gets the same voicemail and calls the customer again)

Limitations:

1. They dont want voicemails to email (no speakers on their computers; not good for patient privacy if their other patients in the waiting room hears all the voicemail messages on the receptionist' speakers anyway)
2. We can't use the current "shared mailbox," as I understand it; it only sends a copy of the message to every extension. If one receptionist deletes the voicemail, it will stay in all voicemails (or inbox).

I would appreciate suggestions on how you would set that up. Maybe something with Departments? Maybe something on the roadmap?

Thank you

 

[Evolute IT]

If they won't use voicemail 2 email, then there's nothing you can do.

3CX doesn't support shared voicemails, and the group voicemail feature only works by email and you cannot edit the prompt.

@VoIPTools has their Voicemail Manager for this. If self-hosted or on-prem.

 

[Connexium Partner]

@ConceptsWeb thanks for the reply.

That's what I thought.
I wasn't sure if something was announced about the way "Departments" work or would work with v20 that I could have missed. It's certainly not a big deal but I thought I would ask before making changes. Hard to accommodate every possible use cases.

My only "cheat" would be to edit the voicemail button code (999) in the template, or add a custom BLF that dials the codes to access another voicemail in the system. So all receptionists would dial the same extension's voicemail.

I wait and see if someone has another suggestion.

 

[VoIPTools]

In the past it was possible to manually configure a 2nd extension on each phone. Last time I tried it on a Yealink phone, the MWI would turn on if a voicemail was left in either accounts on the phone. When you press the voicemail button, the display shows both accounts and the number of voicemails in each box. Listening to the voicemail in the "shared" voicemail box naturally turns off the MWI for all the phones. While this is not a supported approach, if you were looking at editing templates, this would probably be a better approach than tinkering with templates.

As @ConceptsWeb mentioned, we do offer enhanced group voicemail features that addresses all of your concerns. We make it possible to record user-specified prompts, we turn on the MWI for each group member, and if anyone in the group listens to the voicemail it turns off the MWI for everyone. See 3CX Voicemail Manager for more features / details

 

[SteveITS]

We would love to have 5 extensions (one per desk phone, so they could transfer calls between receptionists)

You're looking for a ring group. Or queue.

Re: notifications, consider a shared email mailbox where they can all see a voicemail was left, mark that email read when they log in to listen to it, etc. (also there ought to be many fewer voicemails left if they can now handle 5 calls via the ring group...)

 

[Nick - SPN Co]

@ConceptsWeb thanks for the reply.

That's what I thought.
I wasn't sure if something was announced about the way "Departments" work or would work with v20 that I could have missed. It's certainly not a big deal but I thought I would ask before making changes. Hard to accommodate every possible use cases.

My only "cheat" would be to edit the voicemail button code (999) in the template, or add a custom BLF that dials the codes to access another voicemail in the system. So all receptionists would dial the same extension's voicemail.

I wait and see if someone has another suggestion.

Did this solution end up working for you? We have so many customers that move from on prem phone systems that had shared voicemail keys and are frustrated that they can't continue to have this. It seems like an easy fix for 3CX to just offer a BLF key that can be set to the voicemail box of any user..

 

[SteveITS]

BLF key that can be set to the voicemail box of any user

If you're looking to call voicemail you can set a speed dial to 999 but the person needs the extension number and PIN to log in. (press # when initially prompted just for a PIN)

There isn't a way in 3CX to show a voicemail light though. One can send the notification email to a shared mailbox. I want to say VOIP Tools has something for group voicemail.