Dial by Name

You can set the IVR Keypress to Dial by Name, and uses together with the IVR prompt to guide callers to search the desired extension by name.

Prerequisites

The PBX system only supports query of English letters, so the Dial By Name feature can only search the extension users whose caller ID name is composed of English letters or Mandarin phonetic symbols.

Configure 'Dial By Name' feature

If there is an extension name matched, the system will only play the letters. You can record the extension name by yourself to optimize the feature experience.
  1. Configure the extension name.
    Note: Dial By Name only supports extension caller ID names composed of English letters or Mandarin phonetic symbols.
    1. Log in to the PBX web interface, go to Settings > PBX > Extensions, double click to edit the desired extension.
    2. On the Basic page, configure the Caller ID name.

    3. Click Save and Apply.
  2. Record the voice of the extension name.
    1. Dial the voicemail feature code (default *2) on the IP phone where the extensions are registered, enter the password.
    2. Press 0 to enter the Mailbox options.
    3. Press 3 to record the extension name. Record after the beep tone and press the pound key (#) when done.
    4. Select whether to save the recording.
      • Press 1 to save the recording.
      • Press 2 to listen to the recording.
      • Press 3 to re-record.
  3. Configure an IVR key event destination to Dial by Name.
    1. Go to Settings > PBX > Call Features > IVR to edit the desired IVR.
    2. On the Basic page, enable the Dial By Name feature by selecting any of the following options.
      • Allow All Extensions: All the extensions are allowed to be dialed by name via the IVR.
      • Allowed Extensions: Only the extensions in the Selected box can be dialed by name via the IVR.
      • Restricted Extensions: The extensions in the Selected box can NOT be dialed by name via the IVR.

    3. On the Key Press Event page, set a key event to Dial by Name.
      Note: You also need to configure the IVR prompt, so it can guide users to press the relevant keys to enter the Dial By Name feature.
    4. Click Save and Apply.

How to dial by name

  1. When an external user calls to the PBX system and then accesses to an IVR, he can enter the Dial By Name feature by pressing the relevant keys according to the IVR prompt.
  2. The system prompt will guide users to enter the first 3 letters of extensions' caller ID name.

    For example, to search an extension user with the name "Carol", you need to press 227 (indicating 'C' 'A' 'R') on your phone.

Results

  • If there is a matched extension, the system will play the extension caller ID name and extension number, and ask the external users to press 1 if the result is the desired extension, or press * if it is not.
  • If the extension is not allowed to dial by name, the system will play a prompt: "This extension doesn't enable dialing by name" and then hang up the call.