Technical information

Issue 7 June 2001 7-1

Automated Attendant

DEFINITY ECS, DEFINITY

Communications Systems, System 75,

and System 85

Automated attendant is a service that connects to the PBX/communications

system to help route calls to the appropriate extension. A menu of options allows

callers to choose a predefined destination, such as a department, announcement,

or an attendant, or a user-defined destination, such as an extension number.

Many automated attendant systems are vulnerable to toll fraud and are easy

targets for toll hackers. Although there are some steps you can take to tighten the

security of the automated attendant itself,

additional steps must be taken on

the switch side to reduce the risk of toll fraud

Security Tips

 Never allow a menu choice to transfer to an outgoing trunk without a

specific destination.

 When a digit (1 through 9) is not a menu option, program it to transfer to an

attendant, an announcement, a disconnect, or other intercept treatment.

 This tip does not apply to the AUDIX Voice Mail System:

When 8 or 9 are Feature Access Codes for the switch, make sure the same

numbers on the automated attendant menu are either translated to an

extension or, if not a menu option, are programmed to transfer to an

attendant, an announcement, a disconnect, or other intercept treatment.

 AUDIX Voice Mail System owners: use Enhanced Call Transfer. Apply the

appropriate security measures described in Chapter 6.