Part III i: Caller ID/DNIS and Privilege by DNIS 

(If you are interested in the DNIS Pay-Per-Call Rates. See Part III :k)

The CallerID/DNIS Add-On module allows your system to utilize Caller ID information on analog lines and/or ANI and DNIS on T-1 trunks. ANI is the T-1 equivalent of the analog CallerID, meaning the phone number of the person calling your system. DNIS is the number the person called to reach your system, that is, YOUR phone number.

You must arrange for these options to be provided by your local telephone company. That is usually a nominal charge per phone line. It is important to note that if a caller has blocked their number, you will not be able to get his 'CallerID', unless you are operating on an 800 number.  If available, you can get the 10 digit phone number and the caller's name.

The  CallerID/DNIS information can be utilized in many different ways.

CallerID/ANI

* sent to database log files - the caller id number and name are sent to separate fields in the current.dbf.  You can then use any program that reads .dbf files to create any type of report you would like - see Chapter 24: Logging, Background Processing, Reports

* Access Boxes can route the caller based on their phone number - or part thereof - as in routing callers by their area code, for example - see Chapter 8: The Access Box (tweaks)

* Mailboxes can capture the phone number and automatically speak the caller's number to the mailbox owner as they listen to each of messages - see Chapter 13: The Mailbox

* Question Boxes can capture the number and send it to a text file, or a database file (provided you also purchased the IVR module) - see Chapter 15: The Question Box

* IVR Boxes (requires purchase of the IVR module) can match the number, or part(s) thereof and route the caller to hear special pre-recorded voice prompts (Thanks for calling us all the way from Florida, the Sunshine State!) Persistent callers who have may have abused your system can be eliminated immediately by routing them to a box that says "Calls will no longer be accepted from this number" and the system will disconnect. If callers have their number blocked, you can ask them to unblock their number and then call you back, stating you do not accept calls from blocked numbers. - see Part III d: IVR Box

DNIS INFORMATION (only applicable on T-1's):

* route by DNIS:

If you receive DNIS digits on your T-1, Access Boxes can route the caller based on the number they dialed - this is only applicable when using a T-1 trunk that is providing the DNIS digits. See Chapter 8: The Access Box (tweaks)

* Privilege by DNIS:

On most T-1 trunks, you cannot determine which line will receive which calls - with or without DNIS. With regular analog lines, you can set lines 1-4 for Privilege 1, lines 5-7 for Privilege 2, etc. T-1 trunks typically spread the incoming calls evenly over your lines - which means after the first 24 calls, it is impossible to guess on which line the next calls will arrive. If you can get your telco to provide DNIS, however, we can get that information and put a particular Privilege in force for that call.

To set up, click on Maintain, then Switch. You will see 2 buttons, Add and Delete DNIS. Click on Add to enter each of your DNIS numbers. Then, double click on each DNIS entry to setup the remaining information, such as which Privilege you want in force, the initial box to answer with, etc.