Use the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature to preserve dial plan uniqueness for extensions and attendants when you migrate to a single duplex system distributed network. Without this feature, dial plan uniqueness is not preserved when you migrate from multiple QSIG or distributed communication system (DCS) networks.
Migrating to a single distributed network reduces the number of systems you must maintain. With a single network, you administer one system and one dial plan. However, with a single distributed network, some features no longer work transparently across multiple locations as before the migration.
For example, in multiple QSIG or DCS networks, each location of a department store might have its own system. Therefore, the same telephone extension might represent a unique department in all stores. Extension 4321 might be the luggage department in all stores. Store employees at any location can dial 4321 and get the luggage department in the store.
If you migrate to a single distributed network, store employees can no longer dial 4321 to reach the local luggage department. The system cannot correctly analyze the digits and route the call to the correct store. Store employees now have to dial a complete telephone extension to reach the luggage department in the store.
This problem is solved with the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature. With the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature, Communication Manager adds the location prefix digits to the front of the dialed number. The software then analyzes the entire dialed string and routes the call based on the administration on the Dial Plan Parameters screen.
With the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature, a user can dial a shortened version of an extension instead of having to dial a complete extension. For example, the store employee can continue to dial 4321 instead of having to dial 765-4321 to reach the luggage department.
Note:
Beginning with Communication Manager Release 5.0, you can use different length short number extensions for different locations.
Without the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature in a single distributed network, a call that is routed to an attendant might not terminate at the local attendant. For example, if a school district migrates to a single distributed network, dialing the attendant access code may not route the call to the local school attendant. With the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature, the system can route an attendant-seeking call to a local centralized answering point (LCAP), such as a local station or an attendant console. However, the normal attendant features like system attendant queues are unavailable in such instances.
The Multi-Location Dial Plan feature provides dial plan capabilities that are similar to those of QSIG networks or DCS networks. These capabilities include:
On Linux platforms only, the Multi-Location Dial Plan feature also enhances the dial plan and the Uniform Dial Plan Table screen so that users can:
Dial a shortened version of a telephone extension, and reach the same destination as before the migration
Dial and reach a centralized local answering point
Dial a local attendant Feature Access Code (FAC) or ARS FAC, and access the same feature as before the migration
On Linux platforms only, you can also play administered announcements in a language that is based on location.
