Using the Mitel 3300 Callback Feature

I recently had a discussion with two managers within a VAR telecom team regarding callbacks vs. busy tones. The position these managers took was that no one should hear a busy tone. His solution was to always answer the call by interrupting his current call or allowing the second call to go to voicemail. I might agree with them if we were talking strictly about external calls, but in this case we were talking about internal or “network” calls.

This is my position regarding busy tones for internal calls:

1. A busy tone is a piece of information about the person being called: he or she is in the office talking on the phone.
2. The caller wants to talk to you. There is no other reason to call. If they want to leave a message, they can sign in to voicemail and send one to you, or use one of the other tools at their disposal, like email or instant messaging.
3. If you allow a person to go to voice mail, depending on the voice mail box set, the caller may not know you are in the office but you are busy on another line. There is simply no way of knowing if you will be available to call them back.
4. If the caller hears a busy tone, they have the option of using the phone system’s “camp out” or “call back” features so they can be alerted when you’re off the phone.

What is a Camp-on?

A Came-on blocks the caller on the busy phone, allowing the caller to ring once the called party is available. Typically, the caller will hear music on hold and the person you are calling will hear a short alert tone and see a message on their phone screen to let them know who is waiting. The called party can answer the call or just ignore it until it ends. Once the original call from the called party is complete, the waiting call automatically begins ringing on the phone.

What is a callback?

A callback is another tool that lets you know when the person you’ve called is available. On a Nortel system, this feature is known as “Ring Again.” You use it when you call someone internally or over the voice network and hear a busy tone or while listening for a ring. The busy tone means that they are already busy on a call. While listening to the busy tone, press the callback button or it can be a single digit like “1”. Your phone will return to dial tone and you can now make or receive other calls. When the person you’ve applied the callback feature to hangs up their phone, your phone starts ringing to let you know it’s now available. If you are busy on another call, the system will wait for both of you to be free and then alert you. When your phone alerts you, simply pick up the handset and your call will ring.

How to program your phone to use callback and hold features

Configuring your phone so that the callback feature can be used depends on the manufacturer and model of the business phone system you are using. Usually there can be at least two and possibly three methods to program your system. Using a Mitel 3300 PBX as an example, it can be programmed via a web browser in the programming interface, by entering feature codes on your phone, or by using the blue Super key and the phone’s own menu system. In either case, it only forwards your phone to voicemail in the Ring No Answer condition. Note that changes made apply to the called phone, not the calling extension, and only apply when making internal or network calls. Once complete, anyone who calls your phone while on your line will receive a busy tone. The caller can press the Call Back button or the Call Again button. Once the busy extension becomes idle, the caller will receive an alert that the person being called is now available.