Rod.Dossouvi.CTR at dot.gov wrote:
Hi,
What needs to take place in order to change dial out from ?9? to ?8??
On what platform? Usually it is a change in the PBX dialplan changing the access code for the trunk group used for outside calls. This is specific to each PBX or switch platform. Some less sophisticated systems (Panasonic, etc.) may not be configurable. One consideration is emergency access. In the NANP, 9-1-1 is used for emergency calls. Many times a PBX will be programmed to accept both 9,9-1-1 and 9,1-1[timeout] so that someone in a panic situation who doesn't realize that the leading 9 is needed for an outside line can still reach the emergency operator. If you change the outside trunk access code to 8, then 8,9-1-1 would be the "normal" dialplan for emergency access, but 9,1-1[timeout] isn't likely to work if the leading digit 9 is being used for something else. Many VoIP providers are doing away with trunk access codes and using digit matching and timeouts or a "Send" button similar to cellular phones to allow internal, local, and long distance calls to be routed without access codes. SIP as well as cell phones use en-bloc dialing where the entire digit string regardless of length is sent as a single datagram which lends itself well to the elimination of access codes. The old-school landline network where digits are sent sequentially one-at-a-time usess access codes to differentiate between a local extension and the leading portion of a PSTN number. Alternatively, a timeout or the "#" as an end-of-string indicator (which doesn't work on pulse-dial phones) can be used. This is the case for international calls where the length of the dialed digit string is variable. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay at impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV