If several subscribers share a single telephone extension, a simple method is required for a caller to leave a message for any of the subscribers or for a specific individual. An automated attendant can handle this task by providing callers with options to leave a message for the extension or any of the individuals who share it. The attendant extension is administered at the switch. Nonresident subscriber extensions in the messaging system, that is, extensions that are not administered at the switch, are used for each of the sharing subscribers. The automated attendant can transfer callers directly to these mailboxes to leave messages.
Note Because message waiting indicators (MWIs) are associated with individual telephone sets and not with the messaging software mailboxes, the MWI for a shared extension is be activated when a new message is in the mailbox for the extension number that is shared, but not when new messages are in the mailboxes of the individual subscribers only. If you administer your system to use shared extensions in this way, inform your subscribers to check their mailboxes periodically, whether or not the MWI is active.
For example, a company sets up an information desk with a single telephone to provide callers with any necessary information or assistance as described in Example: Setting Up an Automated Attendant for Shared Extensions. Two people answer the telephone during the day. They do not have individual telephones and can be reached only through the information desk. They are administered as messaging software subscribers and are associated with extensions in the messaging software that are not administered on the switch.
If someone calls the information desk and the telephone is not answered or is busy, the call is routed to the automated attendant. The automated attendant in this example prompts callers to leave a message for the information desk or for one of the individuals who staff the desk.
If the caller selects an individual (button 2 or 3 in this example), the caller goes directly to the subscriber's messaging mailbox to hear the individual's call answer greeting and then leaves a message. If the caller does not respond to the automated attendant prompt within 5 seconds, the messaging software plays the system guest password greeting, "Please leave a message for <name>." The voiced name in this example is whatever name is recorded for the subscriber with extension 37001. This name is probably "information desk," since that is the name of the extension.
In this example, a message left in the mailbox of the information desk extension activates the extension's message waiting indicator (MWI). A message left in the mailbox of one of the sharing individuals does not. These individuals must call into the messaging software to check for messages or use the Outcalling feature.