# Creating a Network Dialing Plan

When you initially configure NP Net software on your server, you must set the dialing plans so that users can send network messages. You must set the dialing plan of every line group (NuPoint Voice, NP Receptionist, and so on) from which users will be allowed to send network messages. If any line group has more than one application, such as NP Receptionist and an integration, remember to change all of the dialing plans. Do not change PBX dialing plans for Enhanced SMDI line groups.

If the dialing plan for a particular application is not changed, a user who calls in on the line group dedicated to that application will be unable to make messages for remote mailboxes. For example, Message Delivery uses the dialing plan specified for the Pager Application. When Message Delivery calls a user at a pre-programmed telephone number because there is an unplayed message in the mailbox, the user enters the mailbox passcode and is logged into the mailbox.

If the Pager Application dialing plan is not changed to match the Network Dialing Plan, the user will be unable to make messages to remote mailboxes. To communicate with remote mailboxes, the user must call the standard NuPoint Voice number, where he or she will log in under the NuPoint Voice application.

When you configure the dialing plans for NP Net messaging, you must choose to use a network prefix digit, direct network addressing digits, or a star-prefix dialing plan.

## Using a Network Prefix Digit

A network prefix dialing plan uses one number to indicate that the mailbox address that follows is a network address. For example, if 9 is the network prefix digit, users must press 9 and then the network mailbox address to send network messages.

You specify a network prefix digit in the dialing plan with the letter P, followed by the number of allowable digits in a network mailbox address (including the prefix digit). For example, if 9 is the network prefix digit and network mailbox addresses have 6 digits, the dialing plan might look like:

0,0,0,4,4,4,0,0,P7

Notice that the P is in the 9s position, and it allows for seven digits: the network prefix digit plus a six-digit network mailbox address. The system strips off the prefix digit before comparing the mailbox address to the Digits Translation Table. In other words, if a user addresses a message to 9234567, the system compares 234567 against the Digit Translation Table.

In this example, if the sender attempts to address a message by pressing 9 and five digits (or any number other than six), the system says that the address is not valid. Local mailbox numbers cannot begin with the same digit as the prefix digit.

The P character can make dialing plans very flexible, especially when adding NP Net to a server that has an established mailbox dialing plan. For example, if both the local node and remote nodes have mailboxes that begin with 6 and 7, the administrator can tell users to press 9 plus the mailbox number to make a message for a remote mailbox. The 6 and 7 positions in the dialing plan can still be used by local mailboxes, and the previously unused dialing plan position 9 is reserved for remote mailboxes. The system handles the mailbox 678123 differently than 9678123.

## Using Variable-Length Network Addresses

It is not uncommon for different nodes on a network to have mailboxes that do not have the same number of digits. For example, node 1 may have 4-digit mailboxes and node 2 may have 5-digit mailboxes. There are two ways to accommodate this situation in network addressing.

If you want users to always enter the same number of digits for all network addresses, you can use the Digits to Absorb feature in the Digits Translation Table to "pad out" the shorter mailbox numbers. See Digits Translation Table for more information on this technique.

The other alternative is to use the P and V characters together in the dialing plan. (The V character indicates a variable-length mailbox number; see About Dialing Plans for more information on the V character.) This combination allows users to address messages by entering a network prefix digit followed by the minimum number of digits required to uniquely identify a remote node and mailbox. For example, if node 3 uses 5-digit mailbox numbers and node 4 uses 4-digit mailbox numbers, the following dialing plan on node 1 would allow addressing to mailboxes on both nodes:

0,0,0,4,4,4,0,0,PV

If the prefixes in the Digits Translation Table matched the node numbers, then a user could address a message to mailbox 44564 on node 3 by entering 9344564, and to mailbox 3445 on node 4 by entering 943445.

## Addressing by Area Code and Phone Number

You can also use the P character to allow addressing messages by area code and phone number. This type of dialing plan is useful when users have DID or Centrex-type service and callers are used to reaching them by dialing 7 or 10 digits (without going through an operator). It can alleviate conflicts between telephone/mailbox numbers on different nodes that share the same telephone number prefix (the first three digits of a seven digit telephone number).

For example, two nodes may have telephone numbers that begin with 257. A dialing plan with P11 in the 1s position would allow users to address network messages by entering 1 + the area code + the mailbox number, just as though they were dialing long-distance calls. The P in the dialing plan means that the 1 is dropped. The Digits Translation Table is configured to match the area codes and route messages to the correct remote nodes. When a message reaches a remote node, the three area code digits are deleted, and the message is delivered to the local seven digit mailbox number.

## Using Direct Network Addressing Digits

If you do not want to use a prefix digit for network addressing, or if you want to use fully integrated local and remote mailbox numbers, you can use direct network addressing digits. The N character in a dialing plan position indicates that mailbox addresses that begin with that digit are network mailboxes, and should be processed by the NP Net software. The N is always followed by the number of valid digits in the network mailbox address. For example, the following dialing plan indicates that addresses that start with 7 or 8 are 6-digit network addresses.

0,0,0,4,4,4,N6,N6,0

In this example, when a message is addressed to a mailbox number that begins with 7 or 8, the NP Net software finds the destination node by comparing the leading digits of the mailbox number with the prefixes stored in the Digits Translation Table. Those prefixes would start with 7 or 8; the first digit is not stripped off when you use the N character.

Note that local mailbox numbers can also begin with 7 or 8, but they must have 6 digits, and the Digits Translation Table must contain prefixes that match the local mailboxes with the local node number. If the node number in the table matches the local node number, the message is sent immediately to the local mailbox (local messages sent through a network dialing plan are not queued). Senders do not need a Network Class of Service to send local messages, even though the dialing plan position indicates a network mailbox destination. Billing and statistics are the same as for local messages sent through a conventional dialing plan.

You can use this strategy is to create a same-length dialing plan for every node on the network, such as N7,N7,N7,N7,N7,N7,N7,N7,N7. This means that every time a message is made for a mailbox, the address is checked against the Digits Translation Table to find the destination node. The main advantage of this type of dialing plan is that a user enters the same number of digits to reach a mailbox on any node.

## Creating a Uniform Network Dialing Plan

You can use a uniform dialing plan if the mailbox numbers on each node have unique ranges (for example, mailbox numbers on node 2 are in the range of 3000 to 3500 and no other nodes have mailbox numbers in that range). The advantage of a uniform dialing plan is that users can simply dial the mailbox number to access remote mailboxes. The disadvantage is that you must take local mailboxes into account in the Digits Translation Table. Mailbox number distribution takes careful planning, since local mailbox numbers cannot conflict with mailbox numbers on any remote node. You can resolve conflicts by adding access codes to remote mailbox numbers, then using the digits to absorb feature to tell the receiving system to delete the access code to find the true mailbox number. The digits to absorb feature is described earlier in this section.

## Using a Star Prefix Dialing Plan

NuPoint Unified Messaging servers that do not have any open positions in the dialing plan may need to use a star prefix dialing plan for network addressing. The star prefix dialing plan provides the functionality of both the N and P characters, although the functions have different names. If the P function were assigned to the 9 position in a star prefix dialing plan, a user would press 9* and then the network mailbox address to send a network message.

See About Dialing Plans for more information about star prefix dialing plans.