Instruction manual
System Features
INTER-TEL
®
5000 ADMINISTRATOR GUIDE – Issue 2.3, September 2007
Network and Local Primary Attendants
Page 115
Network and Local Primary Attendants
One attendant can be designated as the primary attendant who can receive unsupervised out-
side call recalls, hunt group recalls, and calls that cannot be matched to patterns in call routing
tables.
When the Inter-Tel 5000 Network Communications Solutions platform is installed in a net-
work, two types of primary attendants are possible:
• Node Attendants: There can be a primary attendant for each node.
• Network Primary Attendant: A network primary attendant can be programmed on
each node. Typically, one network primary attendant is shared by all of the nodes.
When the network needs to direct a call to an attendant, it attempts to direct the call to
the network primary attendant first. If the network primary attendant is unavailable, it
directs the call to the attendant on the node where the call originated.
If there is not a network or local primary attendant, calls that would normally go to the primary
attendant (as described above) are handled as follows:
• If the system has seized the call, but it has not been sent to an endpoint, it is discon-
nected.
• If the call has been sent to an endpoint, it remains at the endpoint and rings until
answered.
• If the call is not seized and not sent to an endpoint, the caller will hear ringing until he
or she hangs up. The call will not ring at any endpoint.
One-Attendant or Multiple-Attendant Operation
Each node can be set up with one attendant or several attendants, as follows:
• One Attendant: One attendant provides all of the attendant services described in
“Attendant Endpoints” on page 114. All trunks (except private trunks) are usually pro-
grammed to ring in at this attendant’s endpoint.
• Multiple Attendants: Any or all endpoints can be programmed as attendants. For
example, one or more attendants may serve each department in a business. Trunks are
programmed to ring at any or all attendant endpoints. Multiple attendants can be
arranged in a hierarchy. That is, one attendant may be the attendant for another. In this
case, the “serving” attendant is reached by dialing 0 at the “served” attendant.