LGfL VoIP: Phone Administration Settings

Phone Administration

Phones purchased by a school can be used straight away but all phones have features which can be configured by the school's System Administrator. Settings on individual phones can be configured via the Phone Administration tab.

There are four different service levels available and each phone can only be configured with features available for the service level selected for that phone. The higher the service level, the more features the phone will have and therefore more configuration options will be available with higher service level phones.

All the phones will be listed and each one can be configured individually. The list will show the following columns:

Product type: this is the phone model and will be found on the handset
Extension: the internal number for the phone
Line label: this is the name created to identify where the phone will ring
Service level: this states which service level has been purchased for the phone
DDI: stands for "direct dial-in" and refers to an external number from which the phone can be reached. Phones without a DDI can only be reached as an internal extension.
Assigned to: it is possible to assign a phone to a person's USO account. This would enable that person, as the "owner" of the phone, to configure their own settings instead of having to rely on the system administrator. Both the person to whom the phone is assigned and the system administrator would have the same ability to configure that phone.
Call area: it is possible to specify calling restrictions for each phone so that calls can only be made internally, externally with restrictions, externally without restrictions, etc.
System ID: this code is relevant only to AdEPT Education in case troubleshooting is required.

Click Select next to the phone you wish to configure.

Once a phone has been selected, a pop-up will open. This can be used to configure the phone.

Feature Configuration tab

Once you have selected a phone on the Phone Administration page under Settings, the configuration interface will open. Use the Feature configuration tab to configure the handset properties.

Speed dial settings:

Use the dropdown menu under the Button heading to select which button on the phone is being configured. This allows you to configure speed dials, shown as SD and speed dial/busy line field, shown as BLF. Select an option. Buttons that are not yet configured can be set and buttons that are already configured can be given new settings.

To create a setting:

Select the button you wish to set, SD or BLF.
Give it a name to identify it on that phone.
Enter the phone's extension.
Click Save.

Term definitions:

SD (speed dial) - A speed dial is a shortcut to dialling a specific number.
BLF (busy line indicator) - A speed dial + busy line indicator. A busy line indicator will act as a speed dial for a particular number and will also light up when that extension is in use.

Some buttons are not configurable for some phones as they have a built-in function which cannot be changed.

Additional settings:

Voicemail

If the service level on phone being configured supports additional features, the tickboxes shown below will be enabled. If the phone's service level does not allow these featured, the boxes will be disabled.

Features can only be enabled if the combination of the physical handset and the service level applied it support it.

Enable Voicemail: this service can only be enabled on phones whose service level is Enhanced or Deluxe.
Email Voicemail message as attachment: if this option is supported and enabled (ticked), voicemail message will be emailed to the person to whom the phone is assigned. The emails will go to the address specified in the user's USO account settings. Assigning a phone to a user is done via the User settings tab in Phone settings.

Please note: If you have voicemail enabled on a line likely to receive many messages, such as an absence line, it is strongly advised that you forward any messages left as email attachments to a shared mailbox that is accessed by the relevant people to prevent the mailbox becoming full and unable to save further messages. If you choose to keep messages in the voice mailbox, it is advised that you delete them after you have listened to them. Any deleted messages can still be accessed for a further 15 days, after which time they can no longer be retrieved.

Email details of any missed calls: if this option is supported and enabled, any available details of missed calls will be emailed to the person to whom the phone is assigned (see above explanation).

Voicemail PIN

To change the PIN code used in accessing your voicemail, please enter a new code into the box provided.

Note: if a phone is not assigned to a particular user or users, the email functionality relating to voicemail will not work.

Directory listing

The number of every VoIP service user is published in the LGfL Directory. Anyone wishing to opt out and either become ex-directory or have their number restricted to their LA only, can configure this setting via the VoIP management site. You have a choice of three options.

Make your number ex-directory - it will not be visible to anyone
Publish to VoIP user directory - your number will be visible to any member of staff in an LGfL school
Publish number to your LA only - only staff in schools in your own LA will be able to find our number.

Select the option you require and Save.

Softphone

For information on configuring the softphone functionality available with LGfL VoIP, please see the softphone section of this guide.

Line settings tab

Once you have selected a phone on the Phone Administration page under Settings, the configuration interface will open. Use the Line settings tab to define specific options for the selected phone.

The options found here are as follows:

Choose an extension: Select or change the extension number used by this phone.
Label: Enter a name for this phone. This will define the name that is shown on the phone's display and will identify the phone when a call is made from it to another school phone.
Set calling permissions: It is possible to limit each phone's calling capabilities by specifying where calls can be made. The options available are shown in the dropdown menu below.
- This school only allows only internal calls.
- This school/LGfL allows calls within the school and any other schools in LGfL that are on the same network. This setting will allow users to make 999 emergency calls.
- This school/LGfL/Any External allows calls to be made to anywhere.
- This school/LGfL/Restricted External means that internal and external calls can be made though the external calls will be subject to restrictions. The restrictions are defined under Settings >> Schoolwide settings >> Cost management.
- This school/LGfL/External/Private means that in addition to any internal and external calls, a phone with this setting would be able to dial any number in the LGfL network, any external number and any internal private number (a private number is part of an internal subset of phones that cannot be reached directly, for example, a Headteacher's phone that can only be reached by calling their PA).

If the extension already has one or more direct dial numbers associated with it, these will be displayed in the box. To re-use the same direct dial number elsewhere, it will need to be deleted from one phone and allocated to another.

Assign a direct dial number to this extension: If the service level of the phone allows it to have a Direct Dial number, you can choose from the available numbers in the dropdown menu. If the function is not available on the phone, the dropdown menu will appear in grey and will be inaccessible.

User settings tab

Phones can be assigned to specific users. This will allow those users to configure their own phone settings and to utilise certain types of functionality that require user details. The interface within the User settings tab allows the system administrator to assign a specific phone to one or more users. This action will allow users to configure settings on the phone (such as speed dials and busy line indicators).

To find the user to whom the phone should be assigned you will need to search for them either by their USO username or by first/last names. Enter the user's details and click Search.

When the user is found, you have the option of associating them with the phone either as a Primary (main) user or as an additional user if a primary one is already set. Click the Main User button to make the selected person the main user of this phone.

Note: Only the main user benefits from the full phone functionality such as email alerts. Additional users have access to the administrative aspects only. Once set, the person will be listed on this page as illustrated below.

If the main user later needs to be changed, the person assigned can be removed and a new main user can be associated with the phone.