Automatic Route Selection ARS | AT&T Feature Model 5 specification

AUTOMATIC ROUTE SELECTION (ARS)

Would you like to be sure your employees place long distance calls through the most cost-efficient route?

Automatic Route Selection (ARS) allows you to specify which of your line pools pro- vide the lowest cost and which of your dialing methods is most efficient for particular types of calls. For example, you may have several WATS line pools that provide the most economical means of making calls to different areas of the country. For cer- tain types of long distance calls, you may also use an alternate long distance telephone company, whose lines are accessible through your main pool. When ARS is activated, the system automatically selects the available line pool that contains the lines preferred by the system administrator for a call to that area code or exchange. The caller does not have to dial the number of a pool to make an outside call. He or she just has to:

●Touch a Pool Access button.

●Lift the handset.

●Dial the outside number.

To get the maximum benefit from ARS, it is important to consider the calling patterns of people in your business and the relative costs of calls placed on different lines in your system. If people in your business place calls through different types of lines (e.g., local lines, in-state WATS lines, cross-country WATS lines, or an alternate long distance telephone company service) to different areas of the country, you can designate which type of line you want ARS to choose for different area codes and exchanges. For example, if you are located in Massachusetts (area code 612) and want employees to use the cross-country Band 5 WATS lines to call San Francisco, then you can program ARS to route all calls to area code 415 through the Band 5 WATS line pool. If you also want employees to be able to call San Francisco through an alternate long distance telephone company service when all Band 5 WATS lines are busy, then you can program the alternate service as your second choice for routing long distance calls to area code 415.

Note that ARS is flexible and allows you to accommodate the dialing habits of your employees. There are two dialing choices available with ARS:

●dialing an entire number (up to 11-digits)

●dialing a portion of a number (as few as 4-digits)

For example, in a company that uses Foreign Exchange (FX) lines to place calls and employees have become accustomed to dialing only 7 digits to place calls, you can choose this method of dialing using ARS. If employees do not use the 7-digit dialing method or new employees are unfamiliar with this method, digit absorption may be the preferred dialing method. When using digit absorption the complete 11 digit number (1 + area code + 7-digit number) is dialed. Using the ARS Table, your system places the call ignoring any unnecessary extra digits.

With ARS you can design the most efficient call routing system for your business. Once you program ARS, your MERLIN system will automatically place each call using the line pool that you have designated as the best one for that type of call.