Lucent Technologies 5 manual Options, see ‘Changing‘ Coverage Delay Options’’ on

MERLIN LEGEND Communications System Release 5.0	Issue 1
System Manager’s Guide 555-650-118	June 1997

4Features and Applications

Features Page 4-35

Generally, it is best for callers to receive individual attention. If a sender has Individual Coverage, the receiver can answer with the sender’s name. When someone is receiving calls for a coverage group, however, he or she does not know, when the call rings, who the caller is trying to reach. For this reason, Group Coverage is often used as a backup for Individual Coverage.

Group Coverage by a calling group is used to provide voice mail coverage. Coverage by a voice mail system can be combined with other types of coverage,

as described in ‘Direct‘ Voice Mail’’ on page 4-36. If a calling group of agents covers calls for a coverage group, the person who answers for the sender cannot distinguish the call from any other that he or she receives.

Unless the receiver is a Queued Call Console (QCC, Hybrid/PBX only) operator or a calling group, his or her phone is assigned Cover buttons; each should be labeled with the name of the group or individual he or she is covering for (for example, Cover Sales or Cover Juan). Covered calls come in on these buttons, so the receiver knows whose call he or she is answering.

Depending upon the needs of the business, a sender can have immediate coverage (called Primary Coverage) or delayed coverage (called Secondary Coverage), where the call rings at the sender’s phone and goes to the receiver’s phone only when the sender does not answer.

The ringing for covered calls depends upon whether Primary (immediate) or Secondary (delayed) Coverage is provided, as well as upon any ring timing options that may be assigned to a receiver’s programmed Cover button. System programming determines settings for these timers, and calls that are covered by calling groups or operators may be further delayed as they wait for someone to answer. Beginning in Release 4.1, the system manager programs coverage ringing delays for each sender’s extension, instead of programming delays for all coverage calls of a given type. This way, the number of rings before a call goes to coverage can be customized for each individual. To learn more about these

options, see ‘Changing‘ Coverage Delay Options’’ on page 6-50.

Coverage senders can use programmed buttons on their phones to turn voice mail coverage on or off, coverage of inside calls on or off, or all Individual Coverage on or off.

Beginning in Release 4.1 the system manager can coordinate voice mail coverage and Night Service. When an operator turns on Night Service for a Night Service group, Night Service with Coverage Control automatically deactivates the programmed Coverage VMS Off buttons at members’ extensions. When the operator turns Night Service Off, the Coverage VMS Off buttons are activated, and the voice messaging system stops taking messages. The user at an extension can manually override this system setting by pressing the button on his or her telephone. When Night Service status changes, the button is again set centrally; the most recent action, whether a change in Night Service status or a user pressing the button, determines the button’s setting. For example, a person might leave work early and forget to press his or her lit Coverage VMS Off button. When Night Service goes on, his or her extension is covered by voice mail. If the