Extending the Hunting time on a Hunt Group CUCM 8.5.1

Question

Good afternoon.  We are trying to implement a hunt group for our main switchboard.  The scenario would be all calls to the home office come into a hunt pilot and then hunt, top down, to the main switchboard extension and then to a choice of 3 other devices that would be logged in.  The problem is that we cannot get the hunt group to hunt longer than 1 minute.  I have changed the RNA Reversion Timeout and with all the devices logged it, the call will only hunt until the 60 seconds has expired and then the call drops; 15 seconds at the RNA Reversion Timeout will get to all 4 devices - anything longer and the call drops before finishing the hunting process.  From the information that I can find, a hunt group should "hunt" for up to 30 minutes (or so we read in the Hunt Pilot information).  We're using a "Top Down" algorithm since we want all calls to always start at the switchboard directory number, and all of the Hunt Options are set to "Try Next member; then, try next group in Hunt List".  The only place where we have indicated any time is on the Line Group - RNA Reversion Timeout.  There are times where only the switchboard device may be logged into the hunt and we need to have that ring time at 60 seconds minimum for the call to be handled appropriately.
Is this a simple overlook on our part or are we limited in what we want to do?
Thanks for any insight that you can give us.
Cinde

Answer 1

Hi Cinde,
I just wanted to add a note to the excellent tips from my friend Aaron here (+5 "A")
The Maximum Hunt Timer is only leveraged when considering it in conjunction with the Call Forward settings on the Hunt Pilot config as noted here;
Maximum Hunt Timer
Enter a value (in seconds) that specifies the maximum time for hunting. Valid values specify 1 to 3600. The default value specifies 1800 seconds (30 minutes).
This timer cancels if either a hunt member answers the call or if the hunt list gets exhausted before the timer expires. If you do not specify a value for this timer, hunting continues until a hunt member answers or hunting exhausts. If neither event takes place, hunting continues for 30 minutes, after which the call gets taken for final treatment.
Note If hunting exceeds the number of hops that the Forward Maximum Hop Count service parameter specifies, hunting expires before the 30-minute maximum hunt timer value, and the caller receives a reorder tone.
In addition, Cisco Unified CM only uses the configuration for the Maximum Hunt Timer setting if you configure the Hunt Forward settings in the Hunt Pilot Configuration window.
From;
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/admin/8_5_1/ccmcfg/bccm-851-cm/b03htpil.html
There is an old bug that describes this in better detail;
Maximum Hunt Timer (MHT) description is unclear
CSCsg93573
Description
Symptom:
In the Hunt Pilot form, under Hunt Forward Settings, there is a field
called Maximum Hunt Timer (MHT). The description in the online help is misleading.
Currently, it conveys that the setting will be used when calling the Hunt Pilot
directly, which is not true. This setting is only used if Hunt Forward Settings
are configured.
So, to accomplish what you want you'll need to set up and link multiple Line Groups that contain the same 4 member DN's via the "Try next member,then try next Group in Hunt List" setting.
Let's say in our example the members of the first Line Group Called Main#1 are 3333,4444,5555 and 6666 then you create a second Line group called Main#2 that contains 3333,4444,5555 and 6666 and Main#3 that contains 3333,4444,5555 and 6666.
Include Main#1,Main#2 and Main#3 in the Hunt List; and Switch the rule on the first Line Group
to, Try next Member;then try next Group in Hunt List and Switch the rule on the Second Line
Group to, Try next Member;then try next Group in Hunt List.
This will then cycle through the Members 3333,4444,5555 and 6666 three complete times.
Cheers!
Rob