For Managers—Using Your Phone with the Manager Assistant

This topic describes how to use your phone with the Manager Assistant in the shared-line and proxy-line modes:

•Using Your Phone with the Manager Assistant in the Shared-Line Mode

•Using Your Phone with the Manager Assistant in the Proxy-Line Mode

•Using the Intercom Feature to Speak to an Assistant

•Muting the Ringer on Your Phone

•Using Cisco Extension Mobility

Your system administrator is responsible for choosing the shared-line or proxy-line mode, and you need to identify the mode before you begin using the Manager Assistant. See Identifying the Mode on a Manager's Phone, page 3.

Using Your Phone with the Manager Assistant in the Shared-Line Mode

This topic describes for managers how to use the Manager Assistant in the shared-line mode. Within this topic, see these subtopics:

•Diverting and Transferring Calls

•Using the Intercom Feature to Speak to an Assistant

In the shared-line mode, you and your assistant are assigned the same directory number, and your assistant uses the shared number to handle calls for you. See Overview of Shared-Line and Proxy-Line Modes, page 2.

The Manager Assistant provides these features for managers who are configured for shared-line mode:

•Enhanced call-handling features on your Cisco Unified IP Phone—Provides softkeys and a status window on your phone's LCD screen.

•Intercom capabilities—Enables you to place intercom calls to your assistant and receive them from him or her.

•Web-based feature configuration—Enables you to customize the Divert target using the Manager Configuration window. Or, your assistant can configure this feature for you from the Assistant Console.

Diverting and Transferring Calls

Managers can use the Manager Assistant softkeys on your phone to divert, transfer, and generally handle active calls:

•Redirecting an Incoming Call Immediately to Another Number

You can press the Redirect softkey to divert a call that is ringing, connected, or on hold from the phone to another phone number that has been set up as the divert target. You or your assistant can change this target from the Manager Configuration window.

•Transferring a Call to Voice-Messaging Service

You can press the TrnsfVM softkey to send a call immediately from your phone to your voice-messaging service. You can transfer a call on hold to your voice messaging service.

Using Your Phone with the Manager Assistant in the Proxy-Line Mode

This topic describes for managers use the Manager Assistant in the proxy-line mode. Within this topic, see these subtopics:

•Understanding Assistant Selection

•Using the Status Window

•Diverting and Transferring Calls

•Configuring an Alert Tone for Incoming Calls

•Diverting and Transferring Calls

•Using Call Filtering

•Using the Intercom Feature to Speak to an Assistant

When you use the Manager Assistant in the proxy-line mode, you are assigned a directory number and your assistant is assigned an alternate directory number to use as a proxy number (line) to handle calls for you. See Overview of Shared-Line and Proxy-Line Modes, page 2.

Your system administrator is responsible for choosing the shared-line or proxy-line mode, and you must identify the mode before you begin using Manager Assistant. See Identifying the Mode on a Manager's Phone, page 3.

The Manager Assistant provides these features for managers who are configured for the proxy-line mode:

•Call-routing—Selectively redirects incoming calls to your phone or to your assistant's phone based on your custom filter list.

•Enhanced call-handling and monitoring features on your Cisco Unified IP Phone—Provides new softkeys and a status window on your phone's LCD screen.

•Intercom capabilities—Enables you to place intercom calls to and receive intercom calls from your assistant.

•Web-based feature configuration—Enables you to customize some manager features, such as the Divert target, using the Manager Configuration window. If you prefer, your assistant can configure these features for you from the Assistant Console.

Understanding Assistant Selection

As a manager, you are logged in automatically to the Manager Assistant feature unless you are configured to use Cisco Extension Mobility.

To handle your calls, your assistant must log in to the Assistant Console and remain online. Your active assistant is the one who is handling calls for you currently. If that assistant logs out or goes offline, the Manager Assistant attempts to assign another assistant to you.

Identifying Your Active Assistant

If you have multiple assistants, you can identify which assistant is currently active by pressing the Services button on your phone and selecting Assistant Service. Item 3 identifies your active assistant. See Table 8.

Assigning Your Default Assistant

When possible, the Manager Assistant assigns your default assistant to serve as your active assistant. If that assistant is unavailable (offline or logged out), the Manager Assistant assigns another assistant until your default assistant logs in or restores online availability.

You (or your assistant) can choose your default assistant from the Manager Configuration window. For details, see Assigning a Default Assistant to a Manager, page 50.

Changing Assistants

If you have multiple assistants and more than one of them is available online, you can override the automatic selection by choosing your active assistant manually.

To see the assistant list, select item 3 from the Manager Status menu. Then you can select another assistant. See Table 8.

When Assistants are Not Available

If all of your assistants are unavailable, the Assistant icon (left-most icon) in the Manager Status menu on your phone appears crossed out. Your call-handling support resumes as soon as one of your assistants logs in.

Using the Manager Status Menu on Your Phone

To open the Manager Status menu on your phone, press the Services button and choose Assistant Service. Table 8 describes Manager Status menu items and associated tasks.

Table 8 Manager Status Menu Items and Associated Tasks 

Manager Status Menu Item
What it does
1

Filter

Toggles call filtering off and on.

2

Filter Mode

Toggles between Inclusive or Exclusive filters.

3

Assistant

Displays your active assistant and other available assistants.


Using the Status Window

The Manager Status Menu appears on the LCD screen of your Cisco Unified IP Phone.

There are two areas within the Manager Status menu:

•Assistant Watch area—The top part of the status window displaying the caller ID and the elapsed time for a call that an assistant is handling for you. See Table 9.

•Assistant and Features area—The largest portion of the status window displaying icons to indicate the presence of an active assistant and the on/off status of your features. See Table 10.

The status window is not visible when you are using your phone to place or receive calls.

Press the SetWtch softkey to toggle Assistant Watch off and on.

Table 9 Assistant Watch Messages 

Message
Meaning

"Assistant Watch - ON"

Assistant Watch is on but no connected or incoming calls are being redirected to your assistant at this time.

"Call from" followed by caller ID

An incoming call was redirected to your assistant and is currently ringing on your assistant's phone. You can intercept the call now.

Caller ID and a timer

The assistant answered the incoming call. The timer begins when the assistant answers, or otherwise handles, the call.

"Assistant Watch - OFF"

Assistant Watch is off. To set it to on, press the SetWtch softkey.

"Filtering Down"

Call Filtering feature is unavailable at this time.


(The icons for the Cisco Unified IP Phones with black and white LCD screens are the same as for the phones with colored screens, except as noted in the table.)

Table 10 Message Status Icons on the Cisco Unified IP Phones  

Feature
Description

Assistant Available

The assistant icon resembles a person and is located on the left side of your status window. The icon indicates that an active assistant is ready to take your calls.

Assistant Unavailable

The assistant-unavailable icon resembles a person with a line across it. This indicates that all of your assistants are unavailable.

To identify your active assistant, press the Services button on your Cisco Unified IP Phone and then select Assistant Service.

Call Filter Enabled

A window with a pass-through green arrow and deflected red arrow indicate that filtering is on.

Note For the Cisco Unified IP Phones with black-and-white LCD screens, the Call Filter Enabled icon is a mesh-filled circle.

Call Filter Disabled

A crossed-out window with a pass-through green arrow and deflected red arrow indicates that filtering is off.

To toggle the filter off and on, select Filter from the Manager Status menu. You can configure call filtering from the Manager Configuration web page.

Note For the Cisco Unified IP Phones with black-and-white LCD screens, the Call Filter Disabled icon is a hollow circle.

Do Not Disturb Enabled

A crossed-out bell indicates that the feature is on (ringer is disabled).

Do Not Disturb Disabled

A bell indicates that the feature is off (ringer is enabled).

To enable/disable the DND feature and turn your ringer on or off, press the DND softkey.

Divert All Enabled

An arrow deflected by a barrier indicates that the feature is on (calls are being redirected away from your phone).

Divert All Disabled

A crossed-out arrow deflected by a barrier indicates that the feature is off (calls are being directed to your phone).

To enable/disable the Divert All feature, press the DivAll softkey. The initial default target for this feature is your selected assistant. You can change the target from the Manager Configuration web page.

Note For the Cisco Unified IP Phones with black-and-white LCD screens, this icon is a straight arrow pointing at a phone (directing calls to your phone).


Configuring an Alert Tone for Incoming Calls

Incoming calls appear on the manager's phone screen, but ring only on the assistant's phone.

Use this procedure to add an audio alert to incoming calls on the manager's phone.

Procedure

Step 1 Press the Services button.

Step 2 Select and set Alert Tone.

Step 3 Set Alert Tone to On.

The alert sounds once per call.

The alert tone does not play for incoming calls in these instances:

•The alert tone for your phone is turned off from the assistant's phone or the Assistant Console.

•The Assistant Watch feature is off.

•You set calls to redirect to your assistant automatically.

Intercepting a Call that is Ringing on the Assistant's Phone

To intercept a call that is ringing on your assistant's phone and to redirect the call to your own phone, press the Intrcpt softkey on your Cisco Unified IP Phone

To successfully intercept the call, you must press the Intrcpt softkey before your assistant answers the call. You cannot intercept calls that have already connected.

When a call for you is ringing on your assistant's phone, you can see the text "Call from" and the caller ID in the Assistant Watch portion of the status window on your phone.

Redirecting an Incoming Call to Another Number Immediately

To redirect a call that is ringing, connected, or on hold from your phone to another phone, press the Redirect softkey. By default, the Redirect feature redirects calls to your selected assistant. However, you or your assistant can substitute any phone number as the divert target.

If the assistant is the designated divert target and if you have Assistant Watch on, you can verify that the call has been redirected to your assistant by looking at the status window on your LCD screen.

The Redirect feature and the Divert All (DivAll) feature share the same divert target. You or your assistant can change this target from the Manager Configuration window.

Redirecting All Calls to Another Number

To toggle the Divert All (DivAll) feature on or off, press the DivAll softkey. When this feature is on, DivAll redirects your incoming calls to another phone. For the icons, see Table 10.

Unlike Redirect, which you invoke on a call-by-call basis, DivAll enables you to redirect all future incoming calls until you set the feature to off.

By default, the DivAll target is your selected assistant. However, you or your assistant can substitute any phone number as the divert target. For example, if you plan to be away from the office and you want to receive your calls during this time, you can set the Divert All target to your cell phone number.

DivAll applies to all of your lines that your assistant can manage, not calls that your assistant cannot access or calls that you receive on an intercom call.

The DivAll and Redirect features share the same divert target. You or your assistant can change this target from the Manager Configuration window.

If you have both call filtering and DivAll enabled, the Manager Assistant first applies call filtering to an incoming call. Call filtering directs the call to you or to your assistant (depending on filter settings.) Next, the Manager Assistant applies DivAll to those calls that filtering has directed to you. The DivAll feature redirects those calls to the DivAll target.

If you configure call forward all on your phone, all of your incoming calls are forwarded to the call-forward number that you entered. Your calls are not filtered to your assistant, and they are not redirected to your divert target.

Transferring a Call to Voice-Messaging Service

To send a call immediately from your phone to your voice-messaging service, press the TrnsfVM softkey. You can transfer a call on hold to your voice messaging service.

Using Call Filtering

Call filtering redirects your incoming calls selectively to your assistant, based on the caller ID and these configurations and settings:

•Filter Mode

•Filter Lists

•Filter on/off status

Table 11 describes these filter settings.

The initial default settings are such that Inclusive call filtering is on and filter lists are empty, so all of your incoming calls are redirected to your assistant. To customize filtering, see Creating Filter Lists for a Manager, page 51.

For your assistant to handle your calls, call filtering must be enabled. If you have both call filtering and Divert All (DivAll) enabled, the Manager Assistant first applies call filtering to an incoming call. Call filtering directs the call to you or to your assistant (depending on filter settings.) Next, the Manager Assistant applies DivAll to those calls that filtering has directed to you. The DivAll feature redirects those calls to the DivAll target.

For example, you can set up a inclusive filter to receive only family calls. Your assistant then handles all other calls. If you have plans to be away from your office, you can set the DivAll target to your cell phone number, enable Divert All, and receive the calls from your family on your cell phone. Your assistant still receives all of the other calls.

When you configure call forward all on your phone, all your incoming calls are forwarded to the call-forward number that you entered. Your calls are not filtered to your assistant and they are not redirected to your divert target.

Table 11 Call-Filtering Settings 

Setting
Purpose
Where to find it
Notes

Filter Mode

Use the filter mode setting to toggle between Inclusive and Exclusive filter lists. For more information, see Table 2 page 11.

Toggle between Inclusive and Exclusive filter lists from the Manager Status menu on your phone's LCD screen.

By initial default, the Inclusive filter is active.

Assistants can control the filter mode for you from the Assistant Console.

Filter Lists

Filter lists consist of one or more phone numbers (partial or entire). When you get a new call and filtering is on, the Manager Assistant compares the caller ID to the numbers in your active list. Depending on whether the numbers match and which filter list is active (Inclusive or Exclusive), the Manager Assistant then routes the call to you or to your assistant.

Create filter lists from the Manager Configuration window. Choose the Inclusive or Exclusive Filter tab.

Your assistant can set up filter lists for you. By initial default, filter lists are empty.

Filter on/off status

The filter on/off setting toggles call filtering on or off.

When the feature is on, all of your incoming calls are intercepted and redirected according to filter settings.

Toggle filtering on and off from the Manager Status menu on your phone's LCD screen. Press the Services button and choose Assistant Service and then select Filter.

The initial default setting for the filter is on.


A circle icon in the Manager Status menu indicates if the call filtering feature is on or off:

•On = Mesh-filled circle icon.

•Off = Hollow circle.

Using the Intercom Feature to Speak to an Assistant

The Intercom feature is an optional feature that enables you to speak to your assistant over an intercom line.

It is configured by your system administrator so if the feature is not available on your phone, contact your system administrator.

Procedure

Step 1 To place an intercom call, press the Intercom button that corresponds to your assistant.

Step 2 When you initiate the call, your assistant's speakerphone answers automatically. You can begin talking using your speakerphone, headset, or handset. To speak to you, the assistant must press the Intercom button on his or her IP phone.

The following variables apply for all Cisco Unified IP phones except for the Cisco Unified IP Phones 7961G-GE, 7961G, 7960G, 7941G-GE, 7941G, and 7940G.

•In the shared-line mode, the current active assistant is the target for your intercom call. If no assistants are active when you log in, no target exists for your call.

•In the proxy-line mode, various outcomes are possible after you initiate the call:

–If a default assistant is configured and available, that assistant is the target for your call. If that assistant is unavailable, the next available assistant becomes the target. If no assistants are active when you log in, the default assistant remains the target.

–If a default assistant is not configured, the current active assistant becomes the target. If that active assistant goes offline while you are logged in, the next available assistant becomes the target. If no other assistants are available, the assistant that went offline remains the target.

–If a default assistant is not configured and no assistants are active at the time you log in, no target exists for your call.

Note Only for the Cisco Unified IP Phones 7961G-GE, 7961G, 7960G, 7941G-GE, 7941G, and 7940G, if your assistant is busy on another call, the intercom call rings on the assistant's phone, and he or she must answer it manually to hear the intercom. (This is also the case when your assistant places an intercom call to you at a time when you are on another call.) For other phones, the assistant does not need to answer the call to hear the intercom, as described at the beginning of this step.

Step 3 To end the intercom call, hang up the phone (or push the Speaker or Headset button).

Muting the Ringer on Your Phone

To mute the ringer on your phone, press the DND softkey to toggle the Do Not Disturb (DND) feature on or off. (If the DND feature is not available on your phone, contact your system administrator.)

When this feature is on, the ringer is disabled on your Cisco Unified IP Phone. The DND feature disables the ringer for all lines on the phone. (Intercom is not affected by the DND feature.) The initial default setting is off.

The DND feature is represented by a bell icon in the Manager Assistant status window on the LCD screen of your Cisco Unified IP Phone. For the icons, see Table 10.

Using Cisco Extension Mobility

To use the Manager Assistant with Cisco Extension mobility, log in to Cisco Extension mobility and select Assistant Service in the Services menu.

See the Cisco Unified IP Phone guides for more information about the Cisco Extension Mobility feature.