I have a customer with a Vodavi TRIAD1 and a Digital Dispatch Voice mail who would like to have an option on their auto attendant that, when selected, will route the caller off premise to a local phone number.

My first thought was to have the auto attendant selection go to an unused extension that is Call Forwarded to a speed dial bin with the off premise phone number. I haven't tried this but assume it will work. I've advised the customer that it will "tie up" one (or two?) of their lines while the conversation is going on.

Is there another way of doing this? Thanks for any input.

The best way is to create a command file. You can either download an existing file from the dispatch or create a new one. Then you upload it to the dispatch. You are best served if you have the installation manual. One CF that would work for you is:

Dial=&
sleep=2
Dial=9
Sleep=2
dial=(whatever the phone number is)
Sleep=5
OnHook
Quit

There are slight variations if you are using Centrex or have TelCo Call Transfer. We have also developed one that uses the DialMailboxWhere field from the notify option. Dispatch prefers numerical names such as 123.cf

I'd stick with "plan A" and use an extension, like the one in the break room, etc., that is off-net forwarded to handle this. That way, it is easy for the customer to change the dialed number if necessary.

Yes, it will tie up two lines and the voice quality won't be great due to the fact that it is a POTS-POTS unsupervised conference call. Centrex lines and a few modifications would improve that if necessary. My experience has been that we set these up and find that two months later, they aren't using them anymore.

Depending on the version of software "plan A" may not work as the older software would not follow the offnet forwarding on a call transferred from the voice mail. You may need to transfer the call to an unused phone the is forwarded to to phone that is offnet forwarded to make this work. And if that is the case then using a command file such as the one listed above would be the better option. If you are using the command file option and it is on a Digital VM the the first line needs to be.

Dial=660
Sleep=2
Dial=&
Sleep=2
Dial=9
Sleep=2
Dial=(whatever the phone number is)
Sleep=5
OnHook
Quit

This is a case sensitive entry and must be entered as it shows here.

Thanks for you input. I'm not real up on the "command file stuff" so I think I'll just forward an unused phone to a speed dial 1st and see if the customer can live with their lines being tied up. We'll see if they can live with that. Thanks again. LP