Blind Transfer Caller ID

[ksweeney]

We're just testing out the new Digium handsets on our office system and have found that there is no longer a BLIND transfer option on the handsets. With the Polycom handsets, the blind transfer was the only way we found that pushed through the caller ID of the caller to the person whom you're transferring the call to. With this feature removed, caller ID info is not being pushed through on a transferred call.

I hope I'm just overlooking a setting or something because if this in fact is the case, this is a huge issue for many customers who use live attendants.

Any else experiencing this?

[tristand]

We're just testing out the new Digium handsets on our office system and have found that there is no longer a BLIND transfer option on the handsets.

Blind Transfer is supported on all of the new Digium phones. To perform a blind transfer, during a call, press the Transfer button. Enter a number or press the Contacts softkey to find a number. Press the Transfer softkey, and the transfer is completed.

Does this help?

Also, you may find the new user guides to be helpful, if you haven't seen them already. There's one for each phone:
http://www1.digium.com/en/products/switchvox/support/switchvox-5-dot-5-and-digium-phones

[ksweeney]

It doesn't help. Caller ID is not being pushed through. It's still being sent through when the call is transferred using Trasnfer/blind/extension/transfer on a Polycom, but not using the method you described below on a Digium phone.

[ksweeney]

OK, after speaking to support we've got this figured out. To get the caller ID to push through you have to use the hard transfer key, then the extension, then the SOFTKEY transfer key. Now that I reread tristand's post, I see now that she did say Softkey, however I read right past that when he first replied.

Transfer/Extension/SOFTKEY Transfer and we're all set.

Thanks!

[barrangatan]

Just to add to that: you can use both the Transfer Softkey and Hardkey when pressing Transfer a second time.

So: Transfer/Extension/SOFTKEY works, but so does Transfer/Extension/HARDKEY

[jprichard]

Sorry, I haven't tried yet, but from the discussion should it be presumed that screened transfers also work, and perhaps or more specifically should be implemented by Softkey Transfer/Extension/Announce Caller/Softkey Transfer?

Anyway, thanks all for defining the implementation of the Blind Transfer!

[JoeBlowSwitchvox]

To my knowledge screened transfers do NOT send the caller ID. Has anyone successfully tried this and have caller ID sent? It works on blinds, but if you press transfer, dial an extension and ask if they can take a call, then press transfer again, it doesn't send caller ID that I can find.

joe

[david55]

Blind Transfer is supported on all of the new Digium phones. To perform a blind transfer, during a call, press the Transfer button. Enter a number or press the Contacts softkey to find a number. Press the Transfer softkey, and the transfer is completed.

That sounds like a logical blind transfer being imlemented as a physical attended transfer, i.e. REFER/Replaces. A number of SIP phones actually do that.

WIth such a transfer, the call to party C is made before the transfer is initiated, so appears to come from party B, whereas a true blind transfer tries to instruct party A to make a call to party C, without party B ever having made one.

I thought Asterisk 1.8 introduced a feature whereby the From and To information for party C was updated. For various reasons I'm locked into an earlier version, so can't test that. It does assume that party A and C support such updating.

[tcounts]

Has anyone found a workaround to this issue. Transfer works just fine but when my admin answers the phone and then transfers the call to me, I lose Caller ID...hence I have no log of who called, no number I can use to return calls, and if I don't speak to my admin, no way to screen the calls myself. This is a pain if it can't be made to work.

[hiltonmw]

I just confirmed the following:

BLIND transfer via TRANSFER button > extension > TRANSFER (soft or hard key), CallerID of the outside caller comes through

ASSISTED transfer via TRANSFER button > extension > "dial" soft key > (talk/announce call) > TRANSFER (soft or hard key), CallerID of the other HANDSET is transferred, even after the transfer has been completed.

This is operating as even the old polycom's did. The call log (in my web user panel) does show both calls correctly and it shows the call flow correctly as well.

[mwdiers]

On the latest firmware, you can indeed do a blind transfer as described here UNLESS you try to use one of your phonebook softkeys.

So, in other words, if you do this, it works:

Transfer->dial extension or select extension in Contacts->Transfer

But this does NOT work:

Transfer->press phonebook softkey->Transfer