How to Enable or Disable Operator Transfers After Business Hours on a Unified Messaging Auto Attendant

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Management Shell to enable users to transfer calls to an operator during non-business hours in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging (UM). It also explains how to disable operator transfers during non-business hours. You enable users to transfer calls during non-business hours by configuring an operator extension number on a UM auto attendant and selecting the Allow transfer to operator after business hours setting.

By default, operator transfers are disabled for non-business hours. However, you can enable operator transfers for non-business hours to allow callers to be transferred to an operator. Operator transfers for non-business hours occur according to the business hours that you have defined on the Times tab on the properties of the UM auto attendant. For more information about how to configure business and non-business hours for your organization, see How to Configure Business Hours for a Unified Messaging Auto Attendant.

When you configure an operator extension number on a UM auto attendant and enable non-business hours operator transfers, a caller can connect to the auto attendant operator by doing one of the following:

• Pressing the zero (0) key.

• Saying "Reception".

• Saying "Operator".

  Note

  If the caller exceeds the maximum number of touchtone or voice input retries, they are also transferred to the operator extension number, if you have defined an operator extension number and enabled non-business hours operator transfers.

If no operator extension number is configured on a speech-enabled auto attendant, an auto attendant that is not speech-enabled, or a DTMF fallback auto attendant, and the caller says "Operator" or "Reception" or presses the zero (0) key, the system will call the operator extension that is configured on the dial plan that is associated with the auto attendant. If neither of the auto attendants or the dial plan is configured to have an operator extension, the system will respond by saying, "Sorry. Neither the operator or the touchtone service are available." and the caller will be politely disconnected. By default, an operator extension number is not configured on a dial plan.

At a minimum, we recommended that you configure either the UM auto attendant or the UM dial plan that is associated with the auto attendant to have an operator extension number. This will help callers to find the user they are trying to reach or to navigate the menu system. For more information about how to configure an operator extension on a UM auto attendant, see How to Configure an Operator Extension on a Unified Messaging Auto Attendant. For more information about how to configure an operator extension on a UM dial plan, see How to Configure an Operator Extension on a Unified Messaging Dial Plan.

Before You Begin

To perform the following procedures, the account you use must be delegated the Exchange Organization Administrator role.

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Also, before you perform these procedures, confirm the following:

• A UM dial plan has been created.

• A UM auto attendant has been created.

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Console to enable callers to transfer calls to an operator after business hours

1. In the console tree of the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization Configuration node.

2. Click Unified Messaging.

3. In the work pane, click the UM Auto Attendants tab.

4. Select the UM auto attendant that you want to modify, and then, in the action pane, click Properties.

5. On the Features tab, next to Operator extension, enter a number for your auto attendant operator.

6. Select the check box next to Allow transfer to operator after business hours.

7. Click OK to save your changes.

To use the Exchange Management Console to prevent callers from transferring calls to an operator after business hours

1. In the console tree of the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization Configuration node.

2. Click Unified Messaging.

3. In the work pane, click the UM Auto Attendants tab.

4. Select the UM auto attendant that you want to modify, and then, in the action pane, click Properties.

5. Clear the check box next to Allow transfer to operator after business hours.

6. Click OK to save your changes.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to enable callers to transfer calls to an operator after business hours

• Run the following command:

  Set-UMAutoAttendant -Identity MySpeechEnabledAA -OperatorExtension 50100 -AfterHoursTransferToOperatorEnabled $true
  

To use the Exchange Management Shell to prevent callers from transferring calls to an operator after business hours

• Run the following command:

  Set-UMAutoAttendant -Identity MySpeechEnabledAA -AfterHoursTransferToOperatorEnabled $false
  

For more information about syntax and parameters, see Set-UMAutoAttendant.

For More Information

• For more information about UM auto attendants, see Understanding Unified Messaging Auto Attendants.

• For more information about UM dial plans, see Understanding Unified Messaging Dial Plans.