Shared Call Appearances - Internal Calls

Feature Description

Shared Call Appearances (SCA) can be configured for use on internal calls. This can be useful for internal calls to a support help desk for example, so that calls can easily be answered by a pool of employees and then easily placed on hold and picked up by a particular knowledge expert.

The Shared Call Appearances feature provides the following functionality:

  • Presents external calls on programmable keys on XSTIM extensions (SCA keys)
  • Multiple XSTIM extensions can be configured to have the same SCA key(s)
  • Once a call is assigned an SCA ID, all extensions with the corresponding SCA key provide indication of the call state via icons (Nortel/XSTIM IP phones) or indicators (Nortel digital phones)
  • While an SCA call is ringing, any extension on which the call is ringing or presented to (see Configuration - Step 5 on how to program a non-ringing SCA key) can answer the call by going off-hook or by pressing the Answer softkey or the programmed SCA key
  • If an SCA call is put on hold, users of all phones with the corresponding SCA key can press that key to retrieve the call
Note that the behavior of the physical SCA key on a UCX system differs from the behavior on Norstar and BCM systems.
  • You cannot originate outbound calls by pressing the SCA key when using UCX based SCA.
  • Incoming calls can also be answered by going off hook or pressing an extension button or the Answer softkey
Using the Shared Call Appearance feature with calls routed through queues is NOT supported.

Introduction

From the end user perspective

  • SCA keys implement call appearances that can be shared by any number of XSTIM extensions
  • SCA keys provide “public hold” or "transfer on hold" functionality
  • SCA keys provide visibility of how many SCA calls are active
  • SCA keys can be configured on expansion modules (with SCA, the number of active calls on a phone is not limited by the number of programmable buttons on the phone itself)
Only XSTIM phones can be configured to use shared call buttons, but any phone type can receive and handle shared calls.

Pre-Requisites

None.

Configuration

Step One: Configure Ring Group

This step is optional. You need to configure a ring group only if you want multiple phones to ring or be alerted on an incoming SCA call.

  • Open the UCX Web-based Configuration Utility
  • From the PBX tab, select PBX Configuration
  • From the left side column under Inbound Call Control, select Ring Groups
  • Fill in the following required fields:
    • Ring-Group Number - the number to dial to reach this ring group
    • Group Description - a description for this ring group
    • Extension List - the list of extensions to ring
    • Destination if no answer - select the destination if none of the extensions in the group answers
  • Press the Submit Changes button

IntSCARingGroupa.png

IntSCARingGroupb1.png

Step Two: Create an Inbound Route

To add an inbound route, perform the following steps:

  • Open the UCX Web-based Configuration Utility
  • From the PBX tab, select PBX Configuration
  • From the left side column under Inbound Call Control, select Inbound Routes
  • Add a new route or edit an existing one
  • Add a DID Number that would not be seen on any other incoming route. In this example '4035551234was used as the 555 NXX code is not used in North America.
  • You may optionally enter a CID name prefix that will appear next the incoming callers name on the set display In this example we used 'Int:to designate an internal caller.
  • Enter a tag in the Shared Calls Tag field (you will use this tag when you set up SCA buttons on the phones).  In this example we are using the tag 'SCG5' (for Shared Call Group 5).
  • Set Destination to be any valid destination (in this example we use the Ring Group created in Step One, '74').
  • Press the Submit Changes button

IntSCAInbounRte.png

IntSCAInbounRtea.png

Step Three: Create a Custom Destination

To add a Custom Destination, perform the following steps, refering to the Custom Destination documentation for additional details:

  • From the PBX tab, select PBX Configuration
  • From the left side column under Inbound Call Control, select Custom Destinations
  • Add a new destination
  • Enter the following in Custom Destination field: from-pstn, 4035551234,1 (using you own unique DID from Step Two)
  • Add your own description. In this example 'Support_SCA' was used.
  • Add any Notes you may want.
  • Press the Submit Changes button

IntSCACustomDest.png

Step Four: Create a Miscellaneous Application

To add a Miscellaneous Application, perform the following steps, refering to the Misc Applications documentation for additional details:

  • From the PBX tab, select PBX Configuration
  • From the left side column under Applications, select Misc Applications
  • Add a new Misc Application
  • Add a description of the application in  the Description field, for example, 'Internal_Support'
  • Enter a Feature Code  that will trigger the miscellaneous application. IIn our example we use '7676'
  • Set the Status to Enabled
  • Set the desired Destination, choosing the Custom Destination created in Step Three
  • Press the Submit Changes button

IntCSAMiscAppl.png

Step Five: Configure Programmable Keys on XSTIM Devices

To configure the SCA button on an XSTIM phone, perform the following steps:

  • Open the UCX Web-based Configuration Utility
  • From the PBX tab, select PBX Configuration
  • From the left side column under Basic, select XSTIM Phones
  • All the configured XSTIM phones will be listed on the right hand side
  • Select one of the XSTIM phones that you assigned to the Ring Group in Step One
  • Scroll down to the section labeled Programmable Keys
  • In the Label field of a shared call appearance key, enter a descriptive label such as "Tech Support
  • In the Digits field,  the value MUST start with the letters "SCAfollowed by a colon ":", a call number (1,2,3,...), the "@" sign, followed with the Shared Calls Tag (e.g. SCG5), and optionally end with ":N" to indicate that the call should be presented to the key but does not ring.
    • For example (ringing): SCA:1@SCG5SCA:2@SCG5, etc. where SCG5 is the Shared Calls Tag that you used in Steps One and Two
    • Non-ringing example of the above: SCA:1@SCG5:NSCA:2@SCG5:N, etc. where SCG5 is the Shared Calls Tag that you used in Step Two.
  • Press the Submit Changes button and apply your configuration changes (the dropdown selection box will automatically change to Other when you click the Submit Changes button).

In the example below:

  • SCA:1@SCG5 represents the first call appearance of shared call group 5 (SCG5)

IntSCAProgamKeys.png

Usage

The following display images show the various states that are presented to the user at extension 223 (Carol).

Idle

IntSCA_Idle.png

Ringing

IntSCA_Ringing.png

Answered

IntSCA_Answered.png

Held

IntSCA_Held.png

Picked Up by Other User

IntSCA_OtherUser.png

Page Tags: 
shared call appearance
shared call line
sca