9. Add station – part 3 – usual types of buttons

So, we spoke about how the system distinguishes between different types of phone buttons on the Avaya Phones. We'll try to present in this module some of the most useful buttons that one can program into the system. Again, we'll be tackling the 9640 as this is one of the advanced models and will give us more flexibility. I’ll explain some of them and for some I’ll just give you the description that Avaya does.

Call-Appr Call Appearance. This button adds another line on the system. For each call-appr that you add on a station, that station can have another conversation at the same time.  If for example your station is 1005 and you add 5 buttons of type call-appr you will find 5 buttons with 1005 programmed on the phone and be able to handle 5 different calls on the same number at the same time (with 4 of them on hold of course).
Brdg-Appr Bridge Appearance. If you want to tap into someone's line you would add a bridge appearance type of button. As options you will have the original position that you want to tap into, the extension and the ring behavior.

  • [B] - Button number : When programming a bridge appearance, remember that you tap into a specific line for the extension you're adding. So, let's assume I’m extension 1005 and I have a colleague who is extension 1009. Looking at his programming we notice he has 3 call appearances on position 1, 4, 12 in the button configuration (speaking about the change station screen page 4 and 5 at this point). If I want to tap into his lines I have to specify the particular button where the call-appr is located on the other station. Remember that you can have multiple lines on your phone, so if I would like to tap into his first line I would have to specify button 1. For the second line button 4 and for the third line button 12. Also, for each line you can program different ring controls if you have the "Per button ring control" set to Y and "Bridge call Alerting" set to Y as well.

Why would one needdifferent configs  though? Why not add all? Or just the first? Those are some questions that depend on the usage of the lines. Let's take some examples.

  1. An admin assist will want to take all the call-appr of the manager they work for. In this case for each call-appr that the manager has on their station, you would program a brdg-appr on the admin assist phone.
  2. A manager would want to make sure when somebody calls on a second line or maybe even the third one. In this case you will add the first call-appr of the team as a brdg-appr on the manager's phone with ringcontrol set to delay (we don't want the manager to get every single call) and the rest of the calls can we setup with ringcontrol set to y. This way if somebody is on the first line or calling the first line of the team, the manager won't hear the phone unless somebody did not pick it up. For the second line though, the manager would hear the ring and would know that there is nobody to pickup the line.
  • [E] - Extension. This would be the extension you are tapping into
  • [r] - Ring Control. This option will show up only if you've set those two fields to y (see above). Possible options are
    • a - abbreviated-ring. Make more like a chirp to help the user distinguish between the lines.
    • d -delayed-ring. The line will flash twice and then ring.
    • r - ring.
    • n - no ring.
Aut-msg-wt Auto-message indicator. By default the system will lit up the message indicator for any new messages that arrive on mailbox with the extension defined on page 1 under Message Lamp Extension. What is however, you are part of a team and the team has a voicemail group? How would you know when a voicemail is waiting? This is the button that you need. Just add the button on the system and as soon as you will get a voicemail in there this button would light up.
Auto-cback Automatic Call Back: when activated, allows inside user who placed a call to a busy or unanswered telephone to be called back automatically when the called telephone becomes available to receive a call.
Auto-dial This is the way you would program a speed dial. Can be used together with abrv-prog( see below) or with Program Access Code from the feature-access-table. Just remember… if you have to dial 9 to get an outside line the number that you program in here should have that as well.
Abrv-Prog Allows the user to program its own auto-dial buttons. Once you give them this option they can change the numbers that you have defined for their auto-dial buttons.
btn-ring  Station User Button Ring Control: allows users to toggle between audible and silent call alerting.
busy-ind Busy Indicator. Unlike the brdg-appr that needs the specific line, the busy indicator works on a station basis and signals the fact that the user is on a call regardless of the line thye are  on. When the user is on a call the button would light up. Very useful for admin assists and managers behind closed doors. Also, a busy indicator will act as a speed dial for that extension if pressed.
Call-fwd Activates or deactivates the call forwarding for the extension that you will program in this field
Call-park Puts the call in a “parked” state. This is useful when you have to take a private call and you don’t want the call to be dropped. How it works ? You would press the button, then go into a meeting room for example and press park-retrieval (or the code associated with it – see display features-access-code) and then enter the extension that put the call on call-park initially.
Call-pkup See above. This is the button to pickup a call. If you go into a meeting room that does not have a display you can also use the features codes for these 2 options.
Directory By pressing this button the user is able to search the directory. Please note that in order to have a working directory search, the name programming has to be done in the format last_name, first_name in the first screen of the change station command. If you want to hide a user from being searched (might not want your CEO number to be dialed by someone on the hallway), just add ~~ in front of the name. The name will still be presented when making a call but won't be shown on directory searched. To use it, a user would press the button then start typing the name pressing only once on the keys. Eg: for Smith, the user would press 76484. You don't have to press 7 three times to get to the letter S. Also please note that Display CharacterSet on the System Parameters Country-Options screen is set to Roman for the directory ~~ feature to work.
Next This button along with the next one, make the holy trinity of directory search. Reading above the user pressed 76474 to get to Smith. What if the user was trying to get to Smithsonian instead ? Pressing the Next button would get the next closest name match for those digits. Play with the option, you will understand it better than I can explain I’m sure
Call-Disp Last button of the directory search function. Once the user finds the name in the directory they will see the name on the top of the screen along with the extension. At this point the user can get a dialtone and dial the number. However, if you add the Call-Disp button on his or hers avaya phone, then the user would just press this button and voila the call is made. So remember for a nice functionality of the directory you need all three

  1. Directory
  2. Next
  3. Make-Call
conf-dsp Allows a user to display information about each party of a conference call. This button can be assigned to stations and attendant consoles.
cpn-blk This is useful if you wish to hide your phone number when calling. It does the exact thing like pressing the code “Per code CPN blocking Access Code” from the feature-access-list table. After pressing this button the next call won’t display the number that’s calling. That means that the person receiving the call will see an Unknown Number calling.
cpn-unblk Reverse for the unblock. See the blocking option above.
Ec500 Extension to cellular. We will discuss this closely in a separate article and also will cover it in the OneX Mobile portion. What it does it “forwards” the call to a third number (usually a cell phone) but without dropping the call. So basically the phone is on 2 calls  at the same time. One call is the incoming call and the other call is the call to the cell. The office phone would “merge” those 2 lines allowing the user to pickup the call back and forth between the office phone and the cell phone. Note that this is an on/off feature.
Exclusion Remember when we were discussing about the bridge-appearances ? Well, if someone has your bridge appearance configured on their phone, they will see when you’re on a call (the button will turn red). Also, they can jump on the line with you at the same time by pressing the button. Kind of annoying if you’re on a private call. So, what you can do? Add this button and press it once you’re on a call. This way nobody can “tap” into that line anymore.
extnd-call This feature will make the phone initiate a call to your EC500 number and connect the current call with that line without dropping the line. More info on the EC500 article (patience, I know J )
Fe-mute Very useful in the case of conference calls. Now, maybe you did not know but the 9640 can be used as a conference bridge (no codes, don’t push your luck) where you can add participants one at a time. While on a call you can see the conf button. Press it, a second line will pick up and give you dialtone. Make the call and when the second party answers press Join. That’s it. Now, what happens when one of your participants puts their phone on hold and you start hearing music on hold ? Press the fe-mute and your noisy person is off. There is a downsize to this though. Once that participant comes back, you won’t know as they are muted J
Major-alrm When you have a major alarm, this button will lit. Very useful for the admins
Mj/mn-alarm Major/minor alarm. As soon as you have an alarm on the system this button will lit up. There is no button for minor alarms only. However, what I like to do is to put both Major-Alrm and Mj/mn-alarm on my station. If there is a major alarm in the system both buttons lit up. If there is a minor alarm, only the second button will lit up.
Ring-stat Users can display the ringer status for a line or bridged appearance by pressing the ringstat button followed by a call-appr, or the bridge appearance button. Depending on the ringer status, the display shows• Ringer On• Ringer Off• Ringer Delayed• Ringer Abbreviated
send-calls Useful as a do not disturb feature. Press the button and all the calls will go to their designated coverage-path (I know we have not spoken about it yet – think of going to voicemail for now) without ringing.
Sta-lock. Station lock. This feature does not “lock” the station but it rather restricts the station from making international call for example. You can specify what types of calls are allowed when a station is in a locked state.
whisp-act We spoke about the trinity of directory. There is another one. Whisper. Very useful feature when you’re on a call and someone wants to leave you an important message. How does it work? You’re on a call and speaking with a third party. Your assistant got a very important call that your baby is on the way and she wants to tell you that without barging into your office. What they would do, they would press the whisper button then the line they  are whispering in (needs a bridge appearance) and tell you the message. Even though you’re on a call, only you can hear them. CAUTION! If at this point you’ll say “What? My baby is due now?!!!” the second party on the line would think you’re crazy as they did not hear your admin assist speaking in the first place. What you’ll have to do is to use the Whisper Page Answer Back button (next one)
whisp-anbk Just press the button when somebody whispers and you can reply without having the other party hearing you.
   

7 comments

  1. is there anyway of creating a 2nd phone number on a phone without actually creating that number as the main or prime number?
    I’m programming up a 9608 phone (phone 1). the customer has the 3 appearances of their main number on their phone and would like a separate “personal” line on key 4. I can’t figure out how to do it without actually creating a separate voip phone (phone 2 and never registering it and always having that alarm as an unregistered phone) then creating a bridge appearance of it on phone 1.

  2. What is the difference between abrdge-appr vs. brdge-appr in Avaya Communications Manager?

  3. What is the difference between brdge-appr and abrdge-appr in Avaya Communication Manager station settings?

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