dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
2277
JoeSchmoe007
Premium Member
join:2003-01-19
Brooklyn, NY

3 edits

JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

[Anveo] Importance of "Do not answer the line"

Just wanted to share something I learned about "Do not answer the line:" option in "Start" flow control (it is under "Advanced options").

By default it was unchecked. What that caused was that for the party that called my Anveo # the call was considered answered immediately even if I didn't pick up the phone and they hung up while my phone was still ringing. And calling party would be charged even though from their point of view call was never connected (neither voicemail nor IVR picked up on my end).

I found that out when I placed test calls from my CWU account to my Anveo #. CWU call records would show 1 minute charge even though I hung up after 2 rings. Same if I placed a call from my prepaid cell phone.

I contacted Anveo support and this is their response:

Depending on the call flow configuration incoming calls might be answered automatically by Anveo Call Flow. You can open/edit a call flow assigned to your Anveo phone number and then edit START call flow item. On the Advanced Options tab you can check/uncheck 'do not answer the line' check box. There are also a few call flow items which always answer a call in order to operate (Voicemail, Goodies, Detect FAX, Receive FAX, Record and Call Recorder).

That makes perfect sense.

I then decided to check "Do not answer the line:" checkbox and see if it makes any difference. It did - if caller hung up while the my phone was still ringing they were no charged anymore. And my call flow worked just the same it was before.

I then asked Anveo about possible implications for using it and this is their response:

There are no implications for a typical use case. However, that option can have an impact in some scenarios; if for example you have START -> PLAYBACK -> HANGUP call flow and configure START to 'Not Answer the line' option then you will hear Playback when call your number from most landlines and cell phones, however, you might NOT hear playback when called from some Voip providers (like Google Voice etc).

Just something I wanted to share. Your results will depend on you call flow. Test all branches again if you decide to change that option.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

Re: [Anveo] Importance of "Do not answer the line" in

IMHO it's very good that I as a customer can decide if I want the "Do not answer the line" enabled or not.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

3 edits

Davesnothere to JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

to JoeSchmoe007

Re: [Anveo] Importance of "Do not answer the line"

 
Hmmmm....

Sounds like a POLITICIAN/LAWYER wrote that module of the Call Flow.

But anyway, let's look at it from another perspective :

Whether or not to tick that option would seem to depend upon whether or not we wish to play any audio recording to an incoming caller, such as a VM outbound greeting, right ?

Therefive, if I decide to never use VoiceMail, I could feel OK to ask it to 'Do Not Answer the Line', right ?

But which way would I want to set it if I still wanted to play a SIT for 'Number Out of Service' in a 'Call Treatment' for discouraging Telemarketers, etc ?

= = = = = = =

It seems that something similar came up (or maybe just the scenarios) in regard to configuring my CallCentric DID, and IIRC, I was told that 'SOME' kinds of audio, such as SIT messages, still CAN be played without CC's equipment formally picking up a line, hence no time charges to any party.

Though using VM would still involve picking up the call in their case.

= = = = = = =

If the caller could be identified BEFORE it is decided what to do with the call, would THAT be of any help in deciding how to set the setting mentioned by the OP ?

And might it be possible to rearrange the modules of the Call Flow in order to do this ?
Davesnothere

1 edit

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Davesnothere:

 
....If the caller could be identified BEFORE it is decided what to do with the call, would THAT be of any help in deciding how to set the setting mentioned by the OP ?

And might it be possible to rearrange the modules of the Call Flow in order to do this ?

 
I just looked inside of my Call Flow, and both functions seem to be available independent of each other, in different tabs of the 'START' module - and BTW, I had already set mine (or ARNE, from whom I got my module - had set it) to NOT pick up the line.

So far I have not had problems, though I have not tried VM nor Call FWD.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen to Davesnothere

Premium Member

to Davesnothere
said by Davesnothere:

But which way would I want to set it if I still wanted to play a SIT for 'Number Out of Service' in a 'Call Treatment' for discouraging Telemarketers, etc ?

It doesn't matter. You just treat Telemarketers with the following:


JoeSchmoe007
Premium Member
join:2003-01-19
Brooklyn, NY

JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

said by Arne Bolen:

said by Davesnothere:

But which way would I want to set it if I still wanted to play a SIT for 'Number Out of Service' in a 'Call Treatment' for discouraging Telemarketers, etc ?

It doesn't matter. You just treat Telemarketers with the following:

[att=1]

I am finding blacklist less and less effective. More often than not it is new number. I am thinking of white-listing known contacts, everyone else has to dial one digit to be connected, another - to leave a message. The only concern is how many legitimate calls I will lose if I decide to do that.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere to Arne Bolen

Premium Member

to Arne Bolen
said by Arne Bolen:

said by Davesnothere:

But which way would I want to set it if I still wanted to play a SIT for 'Number Out of Service' in a 'Call Treatment' for discouraging Telemarketers, etc ?

It doesn't matter. You just treat Telemarketers with the following:

[screenshot]

 
Thanks - It seems that I had already covered that earlier.

I discovered so when I reviewed just now - and Yes, it DOES work for that, according to my earlier tests, even with 'Do Not Answer the Line' ticked.
Davesnothere

Davesnothere to JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

to JoeSchmoe007
said by JoeSchmoe007:

I am finding blacklist less and less effective. More often than not it is new number. I am thinking of white-listing known contacts, everyone else has to dial one digit to be connected, another - to leave a message. The only concern is how many legitimate calls I will lose if I decide to do that.

 
They only get to pester me once per number, and lucky for me, one's my limit.

Besides, I don't pick up calls which I do not recognise anyway - instead I look up the numbers online, and decide their portal fate fifthwith.

Though I DO see a value in whitelisting.

Mayhaps use BOTH ?
JoeSchmoe007
Premium Member
join:2003-01-19
Brooklyn, NY

JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

said by Davesnothere:

said by JoeSchmoe007:

I am finding blacklist less and less effective. More often than not it is new number. I am thinking of white-listing known contacts, everyone else has to dial one digit to be connected, another - to leave a message. The only concern is how many legitimate calls I will lose if I decide to do that.

 
They only get to pester me once per number, and lucky for me, one's my limit.

Besides, I don't pick up calls which I do not recognise anyway - instead I look up the numbers online, and decide their portal fate fifthwith.

Though I DO see a value in whitelisting.

Mayhaps use BOTH ?

I don't see a point to use both.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen to JoeSchmoe007

Premium Member

to JoeSchmoe007
said by JoeSchmoe007:

I am finding blacklist less and less effective. More often than not it is new number. I am thinking of white-listing known contacts, everyone else has to dial one digit to be connected, another - to leave a message. The only concern is how many legitimate calls I will lose if I decide to do that.

Start by adding all your legit phone contacts to the Contacts. Remember to set Contact Type to Business, Friend or Family. Do this for every caller, even if you don't except to receive more calls from the caller.

Next step is to use both White Listing and Black Listing. This is my Call Flow taking care of robocalls, telemarketer calls and other unwanted calls.




Calls from numbers marked as Business, Friend or Family will go to my SIP device (or my cellphone).

Calls from other numbers will go to a simple IVR asking the caller to press 1 to ring my phone or press 2 to leave a voicemail. If you want it more personal you can upload a recording.




Anonymous calls are routed to an extension with an IVR which just say that anonymous calls are not accepted.

You just need to add a contact with the phone number zero. It doesn't matter what you set the country to, that one single contact record takes care of all anonymous calls.




It's very unlikely you will lose legitimate calls with this Call Flow. If you route anonymous calls (SPAM) to the Press Key Control there is no risk of losing legitimate calls.
JJ_GTA
Premium Member
join:2009-04-01
Ontario

JJ_GTA

Premium Member

I follow a similar IVR for this as well. The only thing I add is IRoute to allow my local area code to have calls ring the phone. Eventually when I know I have have my address book set then I might use whitelist only.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

said by JJ_GTA:

I follow a similar IVR for this as well. The only thing I add is IRoute to allow my local area code to have calls ring the phone. Eventually when I know I have have my address book set then I might use whitelist only.

Yes, the IRoute control is very good when you need to whitelist a number range.

Anveo Call Flow feature makes it possible for each customer to get a tailor made VoIP provider.
JJ_GTA
Premium Member
join:2009-04-01
Ontario

JJ_GTA

Premium Member

I just don't have room for the hangup. I'm already at 10! Time to upgrade.

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

said by JJ_GTA:

I just don't have room for the hangup. I'm already at 10! Time to upgrade.

Upgrade is a good idea. However, if you want to save flow items you can use extensions.

The limit for the Free subscription plan is 10 items per Call Flow. So by using several Call Flows you may be able to keep it at no more than 10 items per Call Flow.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

1 edit

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Arne Bolen:

....However, if you want to save flow items, you can use extensions.

The limit for the Free subscription plan is 10 items per Call Flow.

So by using several Call Flows you may be able to keep it at no more than 10 items per Call Flow.

 
And LINK/NEST the Call Flows ?

I thought Trix wuz fer Kidz ! (Silly Wabbit = Me)

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

said by Davesnothere:

And LINK/NEST the Call Flows ?

Very easy. Using extensions is very powerful.

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Arne Bolen:

Very easy. Using extensions is very powerful.

 
So it's like using GOSUB or GOTO in Basic ?

Arne Bolen
User of Anveo Direct, 3CX and Qubes OS.
Premium Member
join:2009-06-21
Utopia

Arne Bolen

Premium Member

said by Davesnothere:

So it's like using GOSUB or GOTO in Basic ?

Is BASIC still used?

Davesnothere
Change is NOT Necessarily Progress
Premium Member
join:2009-06-15
Canada

Davesnothere

Premium Member

said by Arne Bolen:

said by Davesnothere:

So it's like using GOSUB or GOTO in BASIC ?

Is BASIC still used?

 
I believe that even COBOL still is, in certain data centres.

(Don't ask me which ones.)
JoeSchmoe007
Premium Member
join:2003-01-19
Brooklyn, NY

1 edit

JoeSchmoe007 to Arne Bolen

Premium Member

to Arne Bolen
said by Arne Bolen:

said by JoeSchmoe007:

I am finding blacklist less and less effective. More often than not it is new number. I am thinking of white-listing known contacts, everyone else has to dial one digit to be connected, another - to leave a message. The only concern is how many legitimate calls I will lose if I decide to do that.

Start by adding all your legit phone contacts to the Contacts. Remember to set Contact Type to Business, Friend or Family. Do this for every caller, even if you don't except to receive more calls from the caller.

Next step is to use both White Listing and Black Listing. This is my Call Flow taking care of robocalls, telemarketer calls and other unwanted calls.

[att=1]

Calls from numbers marked as Business, Friend or Family will go to my SIP device (or my cellphone).

Calls from other numbers will go to a simple IVR asking the caller to press 1 to ring my phone or press 2 to leave a voicemail. If you want it more personal you can upload a recording.

[att=3]

Anonymous calls are routed to an extension with an IVR which just say that anonymous calls are not accepted.

You just need to add a contact with the phone number zero. It doesn't matter what you set the country to, that one single contact record takes care of all anonymous calls.

[att=2]

It's very unlikely you will lose legitimate calls with this Call Flow. If you route anonymous calls (SPAM) to the Press Key Control there is no risk of losing legitimate calls.

I created a workflow similar to this.

Please note that in order for "PRESS KEY" control to work "Do not answer the line" should be unchecked. If it is checked "PRESS KEY" doesn't play any messages (maybe it still executes but I can't tell).

I wish I could edit my original post to reflect this.