Time-of-Day Routing Overview

Time-of-day routing, introduced in Release 4.1 of Cisco CallManager, routes calls to different locations based on the time of day when a call is made. For example, during business hours, calls can route to a pilot number (linked to a hunt group), and after hours, calls can go directly to a voice-messaging system. Time-of-day routing also provides the ability to route calls based on the time-of-day or based on a specific day, such as December 25. The following are practical applications of how you could use time-of-day calling restrictions:

• Allow international calls only during office hours.
• Block international calls based on local caller's time zone.
• Block international calls on holidays.
• Allow international calls only during office hours of the caller's time zone.
• Implement a least-cost routing system by choosing the cheapest provider for a specific time of day.
• Route calls after hours to a home number or voice mail.
• Any application where you want to control the calling search space based on the time of the day.

Time-of-day settings are assigned to partitions. After the administrator has configured the time-of-day settings and assigned them to partitions, the time-of-day feature filters the calling search space through time-of-day settings that are defined for each partition in the calling search space.

The time-of-day feature is applied when a called number is validated. Cisco CallManager filters the partitions contained in the calling search space of the originating device, and the called number is validated against this filtered calling search space. Keep in mind that you can assign a calling search space to a voice gateway. This could, as an example, allow you to reroute all incoming calls from the PSTN to the IP telephony network based on time-of-day restrictions.

To implement time-of-day routing in Cisco CallManager, you must understand the concept of time periods and time schedules.

Time Periods

A time period comprises a start time and end time. The available start times and end times are 15-minute intervals on a 24-hour clock, from 00:00 to 24:00. In addition, a time period requires definition of a repetition interval. Repetition intervals are the days of the week (for example, Monday through Friday) or a day of the calendar year (for example, June 9).

The following are examples of four time periods:

• Time period weekdayhrs_TP as 08:00 to 17:00 from Monday to Friday.
• Time period weekendhrs_TP as 08:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and Sunday.
• Time period newyears_TP as 00:00 to 24:00 on January 1.
• Time period noofficehours_TP as no hours on Saturday and Sunday. For this time period, the associated partition is not active on Saturday and Sunday.

Time Schedule

A time schedule consists of a group of defined time periods that the administrator associates with a partition.

After the administrator selects a time period for association with a time schedule, the time period remains available for association with other time schedules.

Figure 13-5 shows an example of a time period RegEmployees_TS with time periods weekdayhrs_TP, newyears_TP and noofficehours_TP associated with it.

Figure 13-5. Time Schedule Example

The administrator associates time schedules with a partition. Partitions contained within the calling search space are available based on time-of-day settings. Cisco CallManager filters the calling search space through the time-of-day settings defined for each of the partitions in the calling search space.

Time-of-Day Routing Effect on Users

If time-of-day routing is enforced, users cannot set certain Call Forward All (CFA) numbers at certain times. For example, the user A calling search space for forwarding includes a time-of-day-configured partition that allows international calls from 8:00 to 17:00 (5:00 p.m.). User A wants to configure his CFA number to an international number. User A can set this number only during the 8:00 to 17:00 time period because, outside these hours, the system does not find the international number in the partition that is used to validate the CFA number.

If the user sets the CFA during office hours when it is allowed, and the user receives a call outside office hours, the caller hears a fast busy signal.

In addition, users cannot reach DNs in some partitions that are configured for time-of-day routing and that are not active during the time of the call, depending upon the configuration of partitions. Users will not be able to reach the route or translation patterns in partitions configured with time-of-day routing that are not active at the time of the call.