Course11:Basic - PBX - Advanced Object Properties and Behaviour
This book explains more advanced properties and behaviour of the PBX user object as well as their related function keys. Most of them apply to many of the PBX object types.
To begin with
This will add a few users to your PBX on the IP305 and register your phones.
Call Forwardings
Btw: call diversion and call forwarding are often used as synonyms.
Calls to Objects with no Endpoint registered to
An innovaphone PBX has all the call forwarding types known from legacy PBX systems. A special case though is a call to an object where there is no endpoint registered at all for. This situation triggers the CFNR.
Rejecting Calls
Users can reject alerting calls on the phone (depending on the phone e.g. using the reject symbol or by pressing the disconnect key). This will trigger a CFB.
In your PBX, you will find a User object called Henry Jekyll, with no phone registered to it. Please configure a call forward for this user to John Doe as long as there is no phone registered with Henry Jekyll.
Forwarding Loops
Conditional Forwardings
CGPN
When an Only or Only Not rule is configured for a call forwarding, the call is only forwarded if the start of its source number matches the rule's No entry (or the calling name, which is the calling objects Name property value, entirely matches the rule's Name entry).
The calling number provided with the call as well as all the diverting numbers are matched against the rule's No.
Internal / External Calls
Although external calls could be matched as Only From 0, calling numbers are not always safe. External calls can be matched better using the Ext. / Int. switch.
Please configure a call forward unconditional for user John Doe that forwards calls from Richard Roe to Edward Hyde (and no other calls).
Dynamic Conditions
The call forward is triggered only if the condition described in the boolean object is met (or is not met, if the Not check mark is ticked too).
You will find a sample boolean object called if-Working hours in your start configuration on the
Please modify the CFU you created for John Doe before so that is executed out of working hours only.
Implicit Forwarding
This is a convenient way to configure the handling of standard call forwarding situations such as CFB (Busy) and CFNR (No Answer) globally. In addition, special situations like calls to incomplete (Incomplete), wrong (Invalid) extensions or calls which were rejected by the user after alert (Rejected) can be handled. If you use the Name field to specify the target here, it must correspond to the Name property of the target object.
Most of those implicit forwards are of course optional, the PBX works fine without setting those. However, one of them, Loopback, you will want to consider for sure! This setting handles external calls to an extension which is the access code for your trunk (most often 0). This is most often used to call the switchboard (e.g. +49 7031 73009 - 0). If you don't set this, external callers will be able to call in to your PBX and straight call out to the trunk again. This way, you will bear the cost!
Note that implicit forwarding settings apply to calls through (that is, from) the trunk object to local extensions whereas call forwarding set on the trunk apply to calls to the trunk!
In your configuration, you will see a Trunk Line PBX object called Trunk. Please configure this trunk so that incoming calls from extern through this trunk
- which are not answered
- as well as those which call out to an external number again
will be delivered to the user Edward Hyde.
Disabling Forwarding
Any call forwarding can be disabled explicitly by configuring a minus (-) as call forwarding destination No. This does make sense for CFNR and CFB only.
This will also disable implicit forwardings imposed by the Trunk line object.
This feature is essential on fax lines when you set Busy (CFB) or No Answer (CFNR) globally on the trunk line. If for example, such calls are forwarded to the switchboard, an incoming fax to a busy fax device will be forwarded to the switchboard too. This will probably not make the receptionist happy! You should then disable call forwards of both types for the fax line.
In you configuration, you will find a PBX object called Facsimile which is intended to be used as a fax device. Please make sure that calls to this extension are no forwarded when the fax is busy or does not answer).
Object Specific Handling of Call Forwarding
For example, a CFB set on a trunk will not trigger when the trunk already has an active call as a CFB on an user object would. Instead, it is triggered when the object called through the trunk (usually an external number) is busy. You should refer to the Call Diversions section for the respective objects for details (see
Setting Call Forwarding on the Phone
However, for end users, it is much more convenient to set them directly from the phone. As H.323/H.450 defines a standard to communicate call forwarding settings between an endpoint and the PBX, H.323 based devices can be used for this. innovaphone phones allow end-users to do this through the Call Settings page in the telephony app:
Setting call forwards on the phone
To configure a diversion, press long on the respective button. This opens the edit field. Once configured, you activate/deactivate this diversion with a short press.
Default forward destinations can be set in the Favorite Diversions properties of the phone's
However, only basic call forwarding settings can be set this way. Conditional forwarding properties can not. As they can't be set, they are not shown on the phone either. This is why such call forwarding settings are referred to as administrational call forwards sometimes. When set in the PBX, they are not shown on the phone and cannot be changed or deleted from the phone.
Users can also set non-conditional call forward types from within the UC client myPBX.
In SIP, there is no such protocol available and some SIP endpoints will instead perform limited call forwarding procedures autonomously. Setting the PBX's call forwarding settings from these phones is not possible thus.
This feature is not available when the phone is registered via SIP.
To add a Call Forwarding function key, you would open
You can define up to 4 independent forward settings of call forward destinations (CFU (Always), CFB (Busy) and CFNR (No Response)). The user can toggle through the defined combinations using the function key. The current state is shown to the user by labelling the function key with the respective Text value.
The current status of the call forward setting is retrieved from the PBX and matched to the defined sets. If none matches, the idle state is assumed.
To practice, define a Call Forwarding function key #8 on the IP111 with 2 call forward combinations as follows:
Text | Type | Target Number |
Out of Office | CFU | 14 |
Busy | CFNR | 13 |
When no call forward is active, No CF shall be displayed.
The CFNR Timeout
If not set, the timeout is set to 15 seconds. It can be overridden for each individual object in the Response Timeout field of the object's properties (e.g.
Limiting Call Forwarding
You will learn how to set up filter in one of the next chapters). The filter is evaluated on call forward time, not on call forwarding setup time.
This allows for example to disable costly call forwards to external recipients (such as mobile phones).
Call Transfers
Blind Transfer
A blind transfer can be initiated by one of the menu buttons which appear during an alerting call:
The first step can also be done by hitting the ''redial'' key on the phone.
The call is redirected to the new destination right away and thus disappears from the transferring phone.
Consultation Transfer
For a consultation transfer (which is available in alerting state only), the call is put on hold, a new call is placed to the intended destination. The 2 calls are then transferred by either putting the receiver on hook (transfer by on-hook can be disabled by setting the No Call Transfer on Hook-On property in the
When a consultation transfer is initiated while the consultation call is still in alerting state (called party has not yet picked up), it is sometimes referred to as semi-blind transfer.
The Redirect Function Key
By default, when there is an active (connected) call when the function key is pressed, the redirection is performed on the first waiting call. This is convenient to get rid of call waiting on a call-by-call basis (as opposed to setting a CFB).
If the Redirect Active Call property is set in the function key configuration, the active call is redirected instead.
The Recall Timer
To practice, configure your PBX so that blind transfers will re-call after 10 seconds.
Controlling external Transfers
This is because such transfers would create calls which impose costs on the owner of the external trunk line. At the same time, as they disappear from the transferrers phone, they cannot be controlled any further.
To allow external call transfers, you need to enable the Enable External Transfer check-mark on the PBX's
Filter
A filter defines a set of number prefixes which are matched against the called party number of a call. They can be made dependant on the current status of a boolean object at match time. If one of the numbers matches the head of the called number, the filter is applied to the call.
This can be used for restricting call destinations for PBX objects and to limit call forwards set for an object.
For example, you would define a filter that disallows calls to the local trunk line on non-business hours and apply it as Filter setting to individual PBX objects to make sure users need to place external calls through the switchboard then.
Another use of filters is for the prevention of call forwards. You would apply the same filter as Diversion Filter to make sure external call forwards are disallowed outside of business hours.
Filters are generally checked at execution time, not at configuration time.
We have an appropriate Boolean object already in our configuration. Please configure a filter that inhibits calls to the trunk line (0) off working hours and assign it to John Doe.
Multiple Filter Conditions
This can be done by specifying more than one condition. All conditions of a single filter are checked until one is found that matches and specifies nok or ok in the Next column. If no condition matches, the call is allowed.
To fix the problem, we can create a list of conditions where the most significant appears first and so forth.
We can fix our fire brigade problem by specifying a condition that allows the fire brigade (112 in Germany) before the more generic rule that inhibits 0. Please enhance our filter accordingly!
Chaining Filters
The idea is to specify another filter in the Next column instead of allowing (ok) or disallowing (nok) the call.If such a condition matches, the matching part of the number is removed (for the purpose of further checking) and the chained filter is applied on the remaining number.
See restricted external calls via different trunk numbers and different number formats in the wiki for an elaborate example.
Disallowing incoming external Calls
A common case of restricting incoming calls is to disallow direct calls to an extension from external. This can be achieved by simply setting the Reject ext. Calls check mark on the User object.
Note that in this case neither CFNR nor CFB are triggered, but CFU is honoured. Also the rejected call will trigger the Invalid destination property defined in the Trunk Line object.
Filters on Trunk Objects
As with other objects, it is possible to set a Filter for a Trunk object too. Although the tool tip suggests that this affects outgoing calls, it actually is applied on incoming calls. This is because from the PBX's perspective, an incoming call is an outgoing call from the trunk to another PBX object. So the filter works like for any other PBX oject in fact.
Manipulating the Number sent
Changing the CGPN
It is possible to change the CGPN by setting the Send Number property of the calling object.
In a help desk scenario, you may want to set the Send Number property to the help desk number for all agents to make sure individual extensions are not sent to called customers.
Suppressing the CGPN
As an alternative, a call can be initiated with the calling line id explicitly suppressed (CLIR). This must be done by the calling endpoint (i.e. the phone). There are several options to do this.
Setting the User Default
Users can set their CLIR preference in the telephony app:
Setting CLIR
The available options are Always (CLIR on), Never (CLIR off) and Once (CLIR on for next call).
This is also available in the
Using a Function Key
An equivalent setting can be done by configuring a Hide Own Number function key in the phone's
No CLIR on Internal calls
Sometimes you want to suppress the CGPN only for external calls. Internally however, the CGPN should be shown. This can be done by using CLIR (with one of the methods described above) and set the No CLIR on Internal calls property in
NB: it is possible to change CLIR on outgoing external calls from "unknown" to a fixed extension. This allows you to configure CLIR for certain users (with or without No CLIR on Internal calls property in the PBX) so that these users will signal a fixed extension (e.g. -0) externally. We will not do exercise it in this course, if you are interested, see Number In in
To practice, change the Hide own number setting on John Doe's phone to Always (when John is calling, "unknown" should be displayed as calling party at the receiving end).
Then configure the PBX so that John is shown as CGPN again when he calls internally.
Limit the Number of concurrent calls
This is useful to cope with devices that do not handle call waiting situations gracefully.
Please note that when Busy On ... Calls is set to 1, there will be no call waiting situation on the user's device, as the extraneous calls are never sent to the device. As a result, such calls will also not be listed in the devices call list (although they will be listed in the UC client (myPBX)'s call list)! It is thus generally not recommended to use this setting for users with innovaphone telephones. They should rather be handled using the phone's call waiting configuration (see next chapter).
Gateways and Trunks
If the object is of type Gateway or Trunk Line, then calls both from and to this object will be counted extraneous and rejected. This effectively limits the total number of calls at any point in time for the endpoints registered.
Call Waiting
The Call Waiting property in the phone's
The Call Waiting function key allows the user to turn call waiting on and off conveniently. Call waiting is turned off in idle state.
Twin Phones
To handle this scenario, set the Twin Phones property in the user's object properties. If so, additional calls are signalled to the currently busy phones only, leaving it to this phone to handle the call waiting situation.
Please note that Twin Phones and Busy On ... Calls cannot be combined!
Transfer between Twin Phones
When a twin phone calls its own extension, the call is not sent to the calling phone but to all others registered to the object. This allows a user to transfer a call from one of his twin phones to another (e.g. from the fixed line phone to the DECT leave the desk while keeping the call).
To practice, set the Twin Phones option for John Doe. We can not test the effect for now, but we will come back to this later.
Do not Disturb
In DnD mode, the phone will not ring on incoming calls. There are various modes available, either in the Action area of the Do not Disturb function key configuration or in the Do Not Disturb area of the phone's
The modes include the option to send an absent message to callers while the phone is in DnD mode. This message can also be defined via the phone's Menu / User Setup / Do not disturb / Out of Office Msg. menu.
Hiding an Object from the PBX Directory
Directories are used whenever an outgoing call is initiated with a name dialled instead of a number. Even more, the directories are searched for a matching number when an incoming call without name identification is received.
Sometimes however, the object information should rather be hidden to other users so that they cannot locate the object via the directory. In this case, set the Hide from LDAP object property in the PBX object you want to hide from the directory.
You have a PBX object in your configuration that is called Facsimile. The Facsimile has Number 9, so you will see it in the search result list when you simply press the 9 key on the phone.
You may consider it useless to call the fax from a phone, so let us exclude it from the phone's directory search result !
Applying basic Properties to a Number of Objects
A template can reference another template. Note that this cannot be nested (that is, the referenced template must not in turn reference a 3rd template).
If the Config Template should be valid on all of your PBXs (if you have more than one), leave PBX and Node empty.
To practice, please create a Config Template PBX object called template-Standard on your
From Richard Roe's phone, call 12 and wait 6 seconds. See what happens!
The call should be forwarded to Edward Hyde after exactly 5 seconds. Notice the display on Edward Hyde's phone, it indicates that Richard Roe originally called Jane Doe:
diverted call
Managing Phone Configurations
While this is easy and convenient, it turns out to be a problem when many phones need to be managed. Often, similar settings shall be applied to several phones, which is difficult and error prone to do. Also, when a phone is replaced, its configuration needs to be restored from a recent backup.
This is why the user-specific part of the phone configuration can be stored in the PBX. To enable this feature, tick the Store Phone Config check-mark in the user object's User configuration tab.
You will find a link in the Phone column of the PBX's
If you configure phone-related settings both in the PBX and on the phone directly, the settings on the phone will override the settings received from the PBX.
When you need to set these options for many users (which is very likely!), you can set them in a Config Template object rather and assign it to the users. We'll look at this in the next chapter.
Cleaning up existing Phone Configurations
When you set the Store Phone Config check-mark, normally, any existing configuration on a phone is retrieved and saved in the PBX's phone configuration. This ensures that existing configurations on the phone are not lost. The phone configuration is cleared then (so that all configuration is now stored on the phone).
However, it is possible to discard any configuration present on the phone. See the Store Phone Config and Discard Config on Phone properties for more details.
Using Templates for Phone Configurations
If the object itself has a phone configuration stored in the PBX, the template's and the object's configuration are merged and then applied to the actual phone.
We already have configured a Call Forwarding function key on the IP111. Now that we know about phone configurations in PBX Config Template objects, we want to remove this configuration from the phone and re-configure it in our template-Standard Config Template.
So please
- set the Store Phone Config and Discard Config on Phone check-mark in the template-Standard Config Template (so that phone configurations are stored on the PBX and existing configurations on the phones are discarded)
- Recreate the function key (same parameters) as part of the template-Standard Config Template this time
- assign the template to all users (Edward Hyde, Henry Jekyll, Jane Doe, John Doe and Richard Roe)
Have a look at Edward Hyde's home screen on the IP232 (you may need to switch to the home screen by touching the home symbol):
You see the the No CF function key on the screen's lower right, as we have assigned it to Key (that is, position) 8. Touch on the function key and see how the call forwarding state is indicated.
no function key at all This is because we only have 7 function keys next to the display on the IP240. Still, the 8th function key is functional. Press the topmost function key in the row on the right side of the phone. You will notice that the phone is indicating changing call forward settings on the display.
Utilizing the Hard-Key LEDs
This is done by selecting one of the LED states in the state definitions of the function key.
Change the No CF function key definition in the template and set LED to on for state Out off Office and to blink for state Busy. Press the function key on the IP240 and see how the LED relates to the call forward states.
Groups
What a group is
A group defines a set of PBX objects that in some way belong together. This is used a lot in the PBX, for example to define call pickup groups. The administrator would assign group membership to all team members and then allow pickup for this group.
Group membership alone does not do anything, neither passive nor active membership. However, groups are used to configure various other features.
A single object may belong to many groups.
Inner Group Relationships
Not all group members are the same, as group membership can be active or passive.
When a group member is active, it can somehow be viewed as a group leader. In our call pickup example, active members of the group can pick calls from passive members - but not the other way round.
There can be more than one active member in a group. In fact, all members of a group can be active. In our pickup example that would mean that all group members can pick calls from all other group members.
Objects can be active member in one group and passive member in another. Objects can also be active members of more than one group.
Limitations
Groups are limited to 2000 members. Groups are known to a single PBX only. If another PBX has a group even with the same name, it is a different group.
Group names can be chosen freely. However, for better manageability, we recommend to use group names that clearly indicate that the name is for a group (such as group-pickup-team1 for example).
While it is possible to use the Name of existing PBX objects as a group name, it is not recommended!
Group Pickup
There are several ways to do this.
Pickup using the DTMF Object
It is also possible to pickup a specific call if more than one are currently alerting. This is done by dialling the *0*<user># feature code, where <user> is the extension of the object the call is alerting on (note that those codes can be defined differently, these are the default values).
For innovaphone IP phone users, it is usually better to use the Pickup or Partner function key. The DTMF feature is useful for H.323 devices that do not support call pickup, for SIP devices and for non-IP devices, such as DECT or analogue phones.
- Create a DTMF Features object in your PBX (do not change the default settings in the Features tab)
- Create a group group-Team-1 and assign active Membership to John Doe and Richard Roe
- From Edward Hyde's IP232, call Richard Roe (13). Do not take the call
- From John Doe's IP111, call *0#. This connects you to Edward Hyde
- Hang up and call again
- From Jane Doe's IP240, call *0#. You will get a busy tone and the display says call rejected. This is because Jane Doe has no rights to pick up a call from Richard Roe
Asymmetric Pickup
This is implemented mixing active and passive group assignments. Active members can pick calls from other active or passive members, passive members can not.
We have seen that Jane Doe was not able to pick a call alerting at Richard Roe's phone. This was not particular surprising, as the two were not member of the same group. Let us see how to configure things so that Richard Roe can pick a call alerting at Jane Doe's phone, but not vice versa.
- add Jane Doe to group group-Team-1 as passive member
- From Edward Hyde's IP232, call Richard Roe (13). Do not take the call
- From Jane Doe's IP240, call *0#. You will still get a busy tone and the display says call rejected. This is because Jane Doe has no rights to pick up a call from Richard Roe as she now is in Richard Roe's group, but only as a passive member
- From Edward Hyde's IP232, call Jane Doe (12) this time. Do not take the call
- From Richard Roe's IP222, call *0#. You are connected to Edward Hyde. This is because Jane Doe is member of the same group where Richard Roe is an active member
Pickup using the Pickup Function Key
When in active state, the alerting call will be signalled to the user (there are several options available like turning on a LED, issuing an audible alert or hiding the involved party numbers). When the function key is used in active state, the PBX will send the call to be picked to the picking phone too. The user can then examine the detailed call info presented with the new call and decide whether to really pick the call or not. This is in contrast to how the DTMF object works, as this will connect the picked call right away.
For this to work, the picking phone must be aware of all pick-able calls of course. This is done by setting the Group Indications property in the picking users PBX object configuration. This property is set to the name of a group the picking user object is an active member of. The PBX will send call status information for all objects that share the same group memberships (active or passive) to all registered phones of this user.
Group Indications
Group memberships can become quite complex. It is a common configuration mistake to configure a Pickup function key but no appropriate group indications.
Let us implement the call pickup Scenario using function keys.
- configure a Pickup function key in the template-Standard template on position 6
- use No alerting team call as Text for the Idle State
- use Team call! as Text for the Active State
- set the LED to flicker for the Active State
- set Audible Signal after alerting [sec] to 5
- at the user object of Richard Roe, activate GroupIndications for the group group-Team-1
You will now see the Pickup function key on all the phones.
- From Edward Hyde's IP232, call Jane Doe (12) this time. Do not take the call
- You will see the alerting call indicated on Richard Roe's and John Doe's phone
- Let the call alert a few seconds. After 5 seconds of alerting, a short tone can be heard on the other phones (this is due to the Audible Signal after alerting [sec] configuration in the function key)
- On Richard Roe's IP222, hit the button next to the 14->12 label
- The call from Edward Hyde to Jane Doe will now alert at Richard Roe's phone too
Note that when
- Edward Hyde calls to Richard Roe, this call is indicated at John Doe's phone, but not on Jane Doe's (although she has the Pickup function key too)!
- John Doe can not pick the call as he's missing GroupIndications.
The Partner Function Key
Group Indications
Just like with the Pickup function key, the phone with the function key must receive the partner user's call state information in order to work properly.
One option to do this is like before with the Pickup function key: The user that has the Partner key defined on his phone has a proper Group Indications setting.
Subscriptions
There is however a second option to obtain the partner's call information. This is called subscription. In this mode, the phone that has the function key subscribes for so-called Dialog Info regarding the partner. No group indications need to be sent from the PBX to the user's phone.
Still, the subscribing user must be entitled to receive call state information. Otherwise, the subscription will not receive any information.
Groups
When the subscribing user is an active member in the same group as the subscribed-to user, subscription rights are granted.
Access Lists
Users can define access rights which are listed in the Access column in the PBX's object list.
The following modes are available for access right entries:
- the Name in the entry is a group name and the Group check-mark is ticked. Each active member of the group is granted access
- the Name in the entry is an @ followed by a domain name (e.g. @class.innovaphone.com). Users from that domain is granted access. The domain of a PBX user is the value of the System Name property in
PBX / Config - if the Use as Domain check-mark is ticked - the Name in the entry is the Name of another user
- the Name in the entry is a single @. This is a catch-all and is effective if not other entry matches
Group memberships can be set by the administrator only. Access rights can be set by the users themselves (using the myPBX UC client)!
Operation
When a call alerts at the partner object, the function key will signal it and pressing the key will have this call alert on the users phone just like with the Pickup key. Depending on the various check-makers in the definition, the behaviour of the function key can be modified.
The Hide calling Party in alerting State, Hide calling Party in ringback State and Show connected Party in busy State control the display of calling/called party information.
The Do not pick up an alerting Call disables the call pickup function.
However, the Partner function key can do much more as we will see in the next chapters.
Partner function keys seem to be a useful thing to have and we should provide them for all of our users. A straight forward approach is to configure it in a template.
There is only one problem: when we do this in a template, then every user that inherits the template has a Partner function key, which is good. But they all will share the same configuration and thus will have the same partner! This does not sound that useful.
This is the point to play around a bit with template inheritance. As we said before, settings in a template can be overridden on a per-user level by specifying the same settings (but with different values) in the user object. We can take advantage of this to resolve our Partner key issue.
- Add a Partner function key to template template-Standard at position 4
- set Text for the Idle State to Partner #1
- tick the Subscribe for Dialog Info, Subscribe for Presence and Show connected Party in busy State check-marks
At this point, the Partner #1 key appears on all the phones. However, they are still not functional as we have not defined any Partner Identification.
- open John Doe's phone configuration from the PBX's object list. This is done by clicking on the word config in the Phone column
- you see the Partner #1 key definition, which is inherited from the template
- open the definition and type Jane as Text in the Idle State and jane.doe as Name in the Partner Identification
- from Edward Hyde's phone, call Jane Doe (12)
At this point, you will see the call indicated on John Doe's phone.
- on Jane Doe's IP240 press and hold the function key next to the Partner #1 label
- the function key editor opens
- press the key on the right side of the Number: field
- enter 11 (John Doe's Number) into the Number: field and johnny into the Text: field
- hit the menu key (on the right of the 6 key)
- the function key label now has changed to johnny
Jane could have done that herself
- from Edward Hyde's phone, call John Doe (11)
At this point, Jane Doe's partner function key does not change at all. This is because she has no rights to see John Doe's dialog info. Fortunately, we can fix that easily.
- open the access rights settings for the template. You can do this by clicking on the little + in the Access column
- add an entry for @class.innovaphone.com and tick all the checkmarks
- power cycle Jane Doe's IP240 (this is the fastest way to re-do the partner key subscription )
- from Edward Hyde's phone, call John Doe (11)
At this point, the alerting call will be indicated on Jane Doe's IP240 display.
Monitoring the Partner's Busy State
Monitoring the Partner's Presence State
Busy vs. Presence State
A user's presence state is different from his busy state. The busy state includes phone usage information only, that is, if the user has call, if it is alerting or connected, which numbers are involved. The presence state instead only has a condensed notion of the user's phone activity (the so-called on-the-phone state element). However, in addition to that, further information such as an activity (lunch, meeting, vacation...), a user defined note or the general ability to receive instant messages may be included in the presence state. In fact, presence states can be utterly complex, but most software currently available will only make use of the elements mentioned.
In the PBX, the users presence state can be edited in the Presence column of the
Presence during Alert
The presence state of a user can also be sent along with the Alert signal. So if a user calls another user and the called user has a presence set and the calling user has rights to see the called user's presence information, it will be displayed to the calling user.
This however is only done if the Presence with Alert check-mark is ticked in the PBX configuration.
Obtaining States
The presence state is always retrieved using subscriptions. the busy state can be retrieved via subscriptions (this is known as dialog info) or sent via group indications.
There is however another huge difference between the two methods. Group indications are sent proactively to interested parties. This is controlled by the group configuration discussed before.
Subscriptions however are requested by interested parties. So when a Partner function key has the Subscribe for Presence check-mark set, it will send a request to that effect to the target user's PBX. There is no need to touch the PBX configuration for this to work. The only thing to make sure is that the requesting user has the right to see the target user's presence state. This is configured in the Access column of the PBX's
Also, as the requesting party sends a request to the target users PBX, obtaining the presence status works cross-PBX (although in this course you will not deal with multi-PBX configurations). Group indications are sent only between users registered with the same PBX!
For all these reasons, subscriptions are the recommended way to obtain status information. Group indications should be avoided where possible (currently, only the group call pickup function and the Park function key still require group indications).
Using Dialog Info as an Alternative to Group Indications
Dialog Info is used to obtain the partner object's busy state when the Subscribe for Dialog Info check-mark is ticked in the the Partner function key definition. If so, no group indications are required or used any more for this function.
Calling the Partner and Intrusion
The function key can be configured such that when the partner is already engaged in a conversation, the call is initiated as an intrusion call. An intrusion call connects immediately and creates an implicit 3 way conference between the active call before the intrusion and the intrusion call. The intruder is then part of the intruded call.
The partner function key is configured for intrusion, by setting the Perform Intrusion if Partner is busy check-mark.
Intrusion must also be enabled on the intruding phone by setting the Enable Call Intrusion option in the phones
By default, both parties of the original call will hear an intrusion tone. This can be disabled though using the No Local Intrusion Tone property in the
The Partner function key can be configured such that the call is silently intruded to. Instead of creating a 3 way conference, this intrusion type will create a uni-directional channel from the intruded phone to the intruder. The intruder will not be heard by the original call parties and no intrusion tone is sent. This type of intrusion is configured by selecting Silent Monitoring as the value for the Type property in the Partner function key configuration properties.
Let us configure call intrusion for Jane Doe to John Doe.
- enable call intrusion for Jane Doe's phone (tick Enable Call Intrusion)
- configure call intrusion on Jane Doe's Partner function key in conference mode (tick Perform Intrusion if Partner is busy and select Type Conference)
- From John Doe's IP111, call Edward Hyde (14), go off-hook on the IP232
- The call is indicated at Jane Doe's function key
- Press the Partner function key on Jane Doe's IP240
Jane breaks into John's call and the intrusion is indicated on the IP240's display. Both John and Edward hear the local intrusion tone.
Note that when Jane talks, both John and Edward will hear her. When you change the Type setting in Jane's function key definition to Silent Monitoring and intrude the next call, Jane will not be heard by neither John nor Edward.
The Dial Function Key
However, when the Send in Active Call property is set in the function key configuration, no new call will be created in this case. The digits from its Number property are sent within the current call instead. If the call was already connected, the digits are sent as DTMF. If not, the digits are sent like single digits sent in overlapped dialling mode.
When no call is present, and the Prepare property is set in the function key configuration, the phone will go into the prepared dialling mode just like as if you had dialled the digits of the destination number on the phone's keypad. You then have the chance to edit the number before you go off hook and initiate the call.
We decide to provide a Dial function key for all users which calls to the fire brigade! As you already guest, we will put this into the template we already have defined.
- Add a Dial function key to the template-Standard template on position (Key) #3
- Set the Text to Fire Alarm
- Set the Number to 0112 (0 will be our trunk line access code, 112 is the fire brigade (at least in Germany))
Announcement Calls
For this to work, announcement calls must be enabled in the Outgoing: Allow property of the Announcement Calls.
The destination phone may choose to reject any incoming announcement call for a given registration by setting the Reject property in the Announcement Calls / Incoming section. Also, by setting the Reject if Busy property announcement calls are only rejected when the phone already is busy with another call.
By default, the announcement call is connected and the destination phone's microphone is turned off. This way, silent surveillance of a room is inhibited. If surveillance is desired, the destination phone needs to set the Micro On property.
A phone can be configured to accept any call as an announcement call, even those that have not been initiated as such. This can be done by setting the Treat Incoming as Announcement property for this phone.
Unless the Reject if Busy property is set, any announcement call takes precedence over currently active calls (except if the currently active call is an announcement call too). That is, any currently active call on the destination phone when an announcement call comes in is put on hold and the connected announcement will become the active call.
Edward Hyde is Jane Doe's secretary. This is why she needs to be able to perform announcement calls to him. As he often works a little off his phone, he wants to be able to talk to Jane Doe right away in such calls, without going off-hook. However, Jane should not disturb Edward when he already is engaged in a call.
- Add a Dial function key for Jane Doe on position (Key) #2
- Also allow outgoing announcement calls for her
- Turn on the Reject if Busy and Micro on properties for Edward Hyde
Call Parking
Parked calls differ from held calls in that they disappear from the callers phone completely as long as they are parked. Also, other users can un-park the parked call which then looks much like a call pick-up. This allows calls to be moved between users without a call being made between source and destination (in fact, the source doesn't even need to be able to call the destination).
When no park position is specified during park or un-park, the park area is treated like a queue.
Park using the DTMF Object
If the call is to be parked to another PBX object, feature code *17<position><target># and #17<position><target># will do.
Like with all DTMF Features object features, this will work with just any phone.
As we already have created a DTMF Features object, we can just try this right away.
- from Jane Doe's IP240 call John Doe (11) and go off-hook at the IP111
- on the IP240, press the R key which gives you a new call appearance
- type *160
At this point, the call to John Doe is parked on Jane Doe's extension, position 0 (if the IP240 shows Error while Calling, just ignore this and hang up).
- go on-hook on the IP240. John Doe still hears music on hold
- on the IP240 now call #160
At this point, you are connected to John Doe again. You have parked and unparked a call.
- from Jane Doe's IP240 call John Doe (11) and go off-hook at the IP111
- park the call like before at Janes phone by using R-key and *160
- Hang up at Jane
- on Richard Roe's IP222, call #17012#
At this point, Richard Roe is connected to John Doe. He has unparked a foreign call!
The Park Function Key
The Audible Signal after Parking [sec] is used to generate an audible alert on the phone when there is a parked call in the monitored park position for a long time.
Unparking only works if a Position in the Park Destination is specified.
Any un-parked call will appear as an alerting call (just like when picking a call) on the callers phone. However, if you decide not to un-park the call by pressing the disconnect key, the parked call will be disconnected and the previously parked party will see a user busy indication.
The Park function key will work only if the user receives group indications from the object the calls are parked to (that is, the object defined by the properties in the Park Destination area of the function keys configuration).
As we have seen before, parking with DTMF feature codes is possible but ugly. We provide a Park function key for Jane Doe to simplify this.
- Add a Park function key labelled Call Stock on position (Key) #5 for Jane Doe. Set the Park Destination to her own extension and Position 0. To make sure she is reminded when a call is parked there, set the Audible Signal after Parking [sec] property to 10
- To make sure her phone receives group indications, create a group called jane-doe-personal-park and assign herself as an active member to this group
- set her Group Indications to this group
- From John Doe's IP111 call Jane Doe (12)
- Go off-hook on the IP240
- Press the Call Stock function key
- You will see a Call Cleared message on the display. Hang up
- after 10 seconds, you will hear an audible alarm on the IP240, indicating that there is a parked call
- the IP240's Call Stock function key will show the parked call
- press the the Call Stock function key again
At this point, the IP240 will show an incoming call. Go off-hook and you are connected to John Doe again.