SmashTech

FlowerCo uses extensions which start with an 8 (well, technically they have 3 digit extensions internally and use 8 as a prefix on incoming calls). Switching them over to an NBX will be easy, except for the fact that by default, 8 prefixes are for the 8 pool, and extensions start at 1000.

Open up your dialplan and delete any TableEntrys which reference your 8 pool route, then update your ExtensionRange to include 8000 series extensions. If you want to maintain the functionality of the 8 pool, you can change it to use a 7 as the prefix by deleting references to the Diagnostics route in your initial tables, and replacing that TableEntry to be Local pointing to your 8 route

ExtensionRange Telephone 8000 8099
TableEntry Create 1 30 8 4 4 Internal  0 8
TableEntry Create 1 10 7 8 8 Local  0 1

Don’t forget to update your auto-discover settings to start assigning phones at 8000 (System-Wide Settings -> Enable Features System-Wide). If you want to remove the 8 pool entirely, just remove any of its entries in Table 1 and Table 2 of your dialplan.

This will allow you to add a 2nd extension to a phone on your NBX system.  For example, you could have an operator setup (who normally does not have voicemail), and add a 2nd extension to the phone that is voicemail enabled.  This will still ring the phone as normal, unlike using phantom extensions with line appearance buttons.  To do this, you will need 2 licenses – a Group 1 license for a phantom device we will be creating, and the appropriate license for whatever ‘real’ phone you will be using.

In this example, I will add a 2nd extension (1101) to an existing operator phone at ext 1000.

To create the phantom device, go into the Devices portion of NetSet, and click Add. Set the phone type to ’3101 Basic’, and enter a MAC address that does not conflict on the system.  The MAC must start with ’00:e0:bb’.  You can also assign the extension number here.  This will be the 2nd extension on the main phone.

Open the Button Mapping screen for ext 1000, and set a button to Bridged Ext, and enter 1101 in the field.  Set Ring to True.  Now, open the Button Mapping for ext 1101, and set the first 2 line buttons to Bridged Ext, and enter 1101 in the fields.  This will bridge the phone back to itself, and complete the process.

Now, dialing ext 1000 will ring the operator as normal, and follow whatever call coverage you have set on 1000.  Dialing 1101 will also ring the operator at 1000, but will follow call coverage for ext 1101.  You can edit coverage for 1101 thru the User Configuration screen.  If you enable VM on the 2nd line, you may want to add a MWI light in the button mappings for ext 1000.

I have passed the 3Com NBX Expert exam with blazing mediocrity!

You can use the 8 Pool extension list (*0008) as an easy way to do debugging and stopgap routing on NBX systems.  The 8 Pool is accessed by prefixing outgoing numbers with 8 instead of 9, and you can manage it from Dial Plan > Extension Lists in the NetSet.

If you are having call audio issues with a particular digital line span, you can remove that span from a regular line extension list, and then add it to your 8 Pool.  This will prevent the span from being used for outgoing calls, unless they are prefixed with an 8.  You can then modify any settings related to that board or span, and it will not affect any other calls on the system, and allow you to make test calls on only that circuit.  Note that this will not prevent incoming calls from avoiding that circuit (you will need remove those extensions from your incoming pretranslator list first).

If you have multiple phone providers, and for whatever reason, you need to route a certain number over a certain provider, you can add only a few channels from that provider to *0008, and then update Table 2 in the dialplan to route that number to the 8 Pool only.  In this case, even dialing a 9 to get an outside line would still route over the 8 pool:

TableEntry Create 1 1 5551212 7 7 Local 0 1
DestinationRoute Create 1 Alt Provider for 5551212
DestinationRouteEntry Create 1 1 *0008