LGfL VoIP: Schoolwide Settings

This Schoolwide settings section provides the ability for a VoIP system administrator to configure settings on a school-wide basis. The administrator can add lines, change the composition of Line groups via the Line Management interface and set up call cost controls via the Cost Management section.

Terminology used in this section:

Hunt groups - This term describes a situation where incoming calls can be distributed to a set of phones rather than a single extension. The LGfL IP telephony system can support complex call distribution functionality but this must be configured by Wavenet based on each school's individual requirements.
Line groups - This refers to groups of telephone lines which make up the Hunt groups. The extensions within a Line group can all be set to behave in a number of ways when there is an incoming call. For example, they can all ring at the same time, they can ring sequentially until a phone is answered or the next call can be made to automatically go to the phone that has been idle the longest.

Within the VoIP management website, the administrator can control the compositions of the line groups and determine the order in which extensions are called, how they are called and for how long. This is the Line group and it can be found on the Schoolwide Settings page in the site under the Line settings tab. In general the administrator's main task will be adding, removing and re-ordering the Line group members and deciding the ringing behaviour for each such group.

Line Management

When new phone lines are needed by the school, new handsets will be purchased and new lines need to be added into the system. Select the Schoolwide settings page and the Line Management tab open automatically to allow you to do this.

Adding a new line

To add a new extension into the system, select any extension which reads Available to add.

Enter a label for that extension.

Click the Add/Update line button to save each change. This will add the new extension into the system and show the phone's label when a call is made to its extension from another extension. This process will not change what appears on the phone's own display.

Setting speed dials

A system administrator can set 10 global speed dials so that these will be the same on all phones that support this feature. Select the button number (1 - 10) and set a speed dial destination for that button. There are 2 options for saving your settings:

Set on all phones asap: Be aware that if you want to apply the changes immediately this will cause all phones to switch themselves off and on while they update their settings. Any calls taking place at that time will be disconnected and system will not be usable during the update.
Set on all phones overnight: A safer option is to have the settings update overnight when no one will be affected by the interruption.

Setting the main greeting

To set the greeting heard by callers please follow the instruction available at the bottom of the page in the VoIP site. The unique code you need to log in will be provided on that page.

Managing Line groups

Creating line groups - To create a new Line group simply give it a name and click Create. This process will create a new group whose members and properties will then need to be defined.

Editing a line group - To change any properties of a line group, click Select to the left of the relevant group.

A popup window will open. This allows you to edit all properties of the selected line group.

You can change the name of any line group at any time. The first part of the name will always contain your establishment's full DFE code but the text part of the name can be anything you choose. If you have multiple line groups in a hunt group, please ensure you name them in a way that is easily understandable later on.

You will need to define which extensions make up the line group. The order in which lines are added into the group may be important because it may define how incoming calls are treated based on the call distribution type you choose. To add a line, select an available line from the dropdown menu and click Add line to group.

If you need to later change the order in which lines appear in the group, simply delete the extensions by clicking Remove selected line and then adding the lines again in the required order. Set the Ring timeout option. This refers to how long a phone in a line group will ring without being answered before moving on to the next phone. Decide on the Ringing order.

The 4 possible ringing orders which are as follows:

Ring extensions in order listed (Top Down): each phone will ring for the set Ring timeout, one at a time starting at the first number in the list until answered.
Ring each extension in turn (Circular): each phone will ring for the set Ring timeout, one at a time starting, starting with the line listed after the last to be called on the previous call.
Ring extension with the longest idle time (Longest Idle Time): the lines are ordered by how long it has been since they answered a call, each then rings for the set Ring timeout before moving to the next until answered.
Ring all available extensions (Broadcast): all of the phones ring at the same time for the duration set in Ring timeout.

Specify the Action when unavailable.

There are 4 possible actions that can be taken:

Try next line, then, try next group in Hunt List: Once all of the lines have rung for the set Ring timeout or are busy/unavailable then move on to the next Line group in the Hunt List. If there is no next Line group the call is ended.
Try next line, but do not go to next group: If the Ringing order is set to Circular (see above section) each line will continue to ring for the Ring timeout, otherwise the call will be ended after all the phones have rung for the Ring timeout, unless busy/unavailable of course.
Skip the remaining lines in group, and go directly to next group: If the Ringing order is set to Broadcast (see above section) then all the phones must be unavailable/busy or have rung for the Ring timeout for the call to be passed to the next Line group. With any ringing order other than Broadcast, the rule applies to the first line tried so if it rings for the Ring timeout, is busy or unavailable then the call moves to the next line group without trying any other lines in this group.
Go to voicemail if available: To use this option, some pre-configuration by AdEPT Education and a voicemail box will be required. After a set time, not the Ring timeout, or if all lines are unavailable the caller will be diverted to voicemail.

Please ensure you Save your settings before closing a popup window.

A couple of examples

A simple setup

There is a single Line group with four lines.
The Ring timeout is set to 60 seconds.
The Ringing order is set to Ring all available extensions and Try next line; then, try next group in Hunt List.
Result:
An incoming call will ring all four phones for up to 60 seconds before the call is dropped.

A less simple setup with voicemail

There are two Line groups, both contain the same four lines.
The first line group has Ring timeout set to 10 seconds.
The Ring order is Ring each extension in turn and Skip the remaining lines in group, and go directly to next group.
The second Line group has the Ring timeout set to 20 seconds.
The Ring order is Ring all available extensions and Go to voicemail if available.
The voicemail timeout has been configured by AdEPT Educatin to be 25 seconds.
Result:
An incoming call will first ring on the extension which appears after the last extension to be called first, on the previous call, for 10 seconds. If not picked up, all of the lines in the second Line group will ring for up to 15 seconds and if not picked up the caller will be sent to voicemail.

Cost Management

It is possible for those involved in the financial aspects of a school to monitor costs associated with phone calls. Should this be necessary, the VoIP system administrator needs to go to Settings >> Schoolwide settings >> Cost Management tab and configure the required settings.

Email alert management

It is possible for the person in charge of school finances to be alerted when calls made from the school exceed a certain cost. This section allows you to configure the points at which alerts are triggered and specify the person to whom they should be sent. You can specify the cost of any national landline or mobile calls that should trigger an alert. You can separately specify the call of an international call that will trigger an alert. Enter the amounts and click Save. These can be changed at any time.

Alerts will be sent as soon as any calls are made that exceed the specified costs. The alert will come as soon as a call has been completed not while it is in progress. However, alerts can only be sent if a person is configured to receive them so this must also be specified.

To configure a person to receive the alerts you must find them within the system by running a search. You can search for the person you require by either entering their USO username or first and/or last name.

When the person is found, you must click the Add user button next to their name in order to select them.

You can send alerts to as many people as required by repeating the above process and adding them one at a time. Once a person has been set, they will appear in the list below the heading. A person can also be deleted from the email recipients list by clicking the Delete button to the left of their name.

Invoice management

The VoIP system produces electronic invoices that will be emailed to the individual(s) named at the time the system is set up.

Blocked call management

It is possible to restrict calls made from your establishment so that certain destinations (such as premium rate numbers) can't be accessed. Use this section to define such destinations.

Tick the boxes next to the types of numbers you wish to have restricted. Then click Save.

You must then configure the phones you wish to restrict by going to Settings >> Phone Administration, then selecting each phone that needs restricting. In the pop-up use the Line settings tab and select the option under the Set calling permissions menu to This school/LGfL/Restricted External.