The Direct Voice Call feature allows a caller to establish a two-way handsfree call at the called party set whether or not Handsfree Answerback or Auto-Answer is enabled. One second of paging tone announces the call, which is presented either at the current volume level of the receiving telephone or at maximum volume if configured as such in the telephone's Class of Service. At the end of a maximum volume call, the telephone reverts to its previous volume setting.
Only MiNET telephones with handsfree capability can receive calls using this feature (see Feature Availability for telephone models).
Calls placed using this feature can only be made to the prime line of a telephone.
The originator of Direct Voice Call may be any telephone (SIP or MiNET) or console.
Use of the Direct Voice Call feature is controlled by Class of Service options, one for originating telephones and one for terminating telephones.
Behaviors at the terminating telephone for different telephone states (idle, off hook with no call, busy, call forwarded, etc.) follow the behaviors for Off-Hook Voice Announce and Direct Page.
The direct voice call feature overrides auto-answer.
Call Block and Interconnect Restrictions can prevent direct voice calls from being set up. Call Block must not be set against the sets that will be invoking the new feature. There must be no interconnect restrictions between the sets invoking the feature and the sets to be called using it.
Direct voice calls will not be forwarded, they are always terminated on the number specified. For example if A places a direct voice call to B and B is forwarded always to C, the call will be terminated to B if it is capable of receiving the call at that time. Similarly, direct voice calls will not forward on busy.
Direct voice calls are not capable of being picked up because they never pass through the ringing state.
Direct voice calls are not rerouted.
Direct Page and Off-hook Voice Announce block one another. If a direct voice call is in progress to a target set, that set cannot be paged using direct page or off-hook voice announce and vice versa.
Direct voice calls override DND.
If a set is listening to a conversation using the group listen feature and is called using the direct voice call, busy will be returned to the party that invoked the direct voice call.
A direct voice call can only be made to the prime line of a set. Such a call will not be made to any non-prime line. Therefore, only prime members of prime broadcast groups can receive direct voice calls.
The direct voice call feature overrides hands-free answerback. If the called set does not have the hands-free answerback COS option or if hands-free answerback is turned off, the set will be answered automatically and set up as a bi-directional call anyway.
Direct voice calls are not allowed to a hunt group pilot number.
Normal mute key operation is overridden at the called set when direct voice call is invoked. The handsfree microphone will be turned on whether or not mute has been selected. The state of the handset microphone is not changed when a direct voice call is received on the handsfree components while a handset call is already in progress.
A direct voice call can be made to a ring group if the “Ring All” option is selected on the group. In other cases, for example, Cascade Ringing the call will be rejected with reorder tone and “Not Allowed” will be displayed on calling MiNET display sets. When the Ring All option is selected, an attempt will be made to place the call to the first programmed member of the group. No attempt will be made to call other members of the group whether the call to the first member is successful or not.
When a direct voice call is placed to a set, the current volume setting at the called set will be increased to maximum volume if the new COS option “Direct Voice Call: Maximize Volume” is enabled. Normal volume will be restored at the end of the call.
Direct Voice Calls to groups (except Call Pickup and Hunt groups) is supported. The behavior depends on the type of group:
for suites, the call is presented to the prime member of the suite only.
for Key System and Multicall groups, only the prime members of the groups can receive Direct Call Answer calls since non-prime lines are not supported
for Ring Groups, only the Ring All-type groups can receive Direct Voice Calls. The call is placed to the first programmed member of the group. No attempt is made to call other group members.
Direct Voice Calls do not override a Direct Page or Off-hook Voice Announce in progress at the terminating telephone.
Direct Voice Call is supported in a network or cluster over DPNSS Digital Private Network Signalling System; it allows for communication between PBXs, even of different makes. It supports a limited set of inter-networking facilities based on the ISDN protocol. See also: QSIG trunks (IP, XNET, or TDM) only.
Both the originating and terminating telephones in a Direct Voice Call must be hosted by a 3300 ICP running Release 9.0 UR1 or later. Transit nodes in a network or cluster are exempt from this requirement.
ACD agents cannot receive Direct Voice Calls made by calling the ACD agent ID. Direct Voice Calls to the prime line of ACD agent host extension are allowed provided the extension has the required COS option.
Set the following options in the Class of Service of the originating and terminating devices:
Direct Voice Call Allowed - set to Yes to allow a telephone or console to initiate a call using the Direct Voice Call feature.
Direct Voice Call: Accept - set to Yes to allow a telephone to receive a Direct Voice Call.
Direct Voice Call: Maximize Volume - set to Yes to present Direct Voice Call at maximum volume or No to use current volume setting at the receiving telephone.
Program a feature access code for Direct Voice Call in the Feature Access Codes form.
See the Feature-Phone Matrix (PDF or Microsoft Excel version) for a list of phones that can use this feature.
All telephones
To initiate a Direct Voice Call:
Lift handset.
Dial the Direct Voice Call feature access code.
Dial the extension you want.
Speak to called party.
To respond to a Direct Voice Call:
Speak towards the handsfree microphone.