[VoiceOps] Switching dial out using "8" instead of "9"

[Jay Hennigan]

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