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Frequently Asked Questions – Phones


What happens to the phones when the Internet Service is down?
Can VoIP phone work on my slow Internet Service?
Can calls be recorded?
Can I make conference calls?
I want all calls to be answered by a real person. How can this be ensured?
I want all calls to go to an Auto Attendant or Interactive Voice Recording. How can this be arranged?
How do I customize my Music on Hold?
Can I add or remove a phone from the system once it is set up?
Can I get a direct number for my own extension?
Will my caller ID be that of the company or my extension’s direct number?
How can I retrieve my messages on my office phone if I’m out of the office?
How can I transfer a call without checking with the recipient?
How can I check with the recipient before transferring a call?
How do I transfer a call directly to voice mail?
I can call out, but I don’t receive calls. The calls are going straight to my voice mail. Why?
I would like to forward my office line to my cell phone. Is that possible?

What happens to the phones when the Internet Service is down?
Phones can be configured to automatically forward to another phone (such as a cellphone, landline, or branch office extension) when a phone is offline (because the Internet service is down, the phone is unplugged, the power is off). No calls are lost because the caller will be sent to your voicemail and be invited to leave a message. Extensions can be configured so that if it is unanswered for any reason at all the call can be sent to other numbers, or straight to voice message. Voice messages can be sent automatically to your email address (or even several email addresses). Play the audio recording attached to the email to hear the message.

Add an Uninteruptible Power Supply (UPS, or Battery Backup) to your system to power the modem, router, and Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch.  This will keep your phones operational in the event of a power outage.  The duration of the backup supply will depend on the size of the battery backup unit and the number of devices the unit is powering.

Can VoIP phone work on my slow Internet Service?
VoIP requires decent Internet Service. Where Broadband speeds are limited we can connect you with a “shared band” or “bonded” service, wherein two or three separate services can be unified to act like a single service. We can also provide the shared band service for computer networks that need more speed.

Can calls be recorded?
Call recording can be turned on or off per extension by individual users, or company-wide by the designated company administrator through the web management portal. Call recording can also be turned on or off during a call by dialing a ‘star code’ on the telephone keypad. Recordings are retained on the host system for 30 days, during which time specified recordings can be downloaded to your own computer and retained permanently. Recordings can be retained on the host system for longer periods for an additional fee.

Can I make conference calls?
A standard feature, included with all phones, is three-party conferencing. Some models of phones come equipped with five-party conferencing. A more extensive conferencing service, priced at $10/month per groups of 10 users is also available.

I want all calls to be answered by a real person. How can this be ensured?
There are many ways to ensure that all calls are answered. If for example, incoming calls are directed to reception, and reception doesn’t pick up after a set number of rings, then the call can be directed to ring all or a subset of phones in the office. This ‘call group’ can even include external numbers that are not part of the office phone system, such as other land lines cell phones, even a third-party answering service. Calls can be directed according to ‘Time Frames’. During specified hours, do this; during other others, do something else. For example, after office hours, forward calls to the on-call service technician, the manager, and then if neither of them answers, then to the business owner (who will be asking why the on-call technician didn’t take the call).

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I want all calls to go to an Auto Attendant or Interactive Voice Recording. How can this be arranged?
Through the web management portal, you create an Auto Attendant that consists of two parts. You select the choices to present to callers, for example, “For Larry, press ‘, for Chris, press 2 . . . “ Then you record the message that callers will hear. You can easily record this yourself from any phone on your account. Or, hire an advertising agency to record your message and then upload it to the system through the web portal. It is very easy to create multi-tiered Auto Attendants, such as “For the Service Department, press one, for Sales, press two . . .” Then choices for the chosen sub-menu are offered to the caller. (Add more tiers if you want – but you risk irritating callers if you create too many levels and choices.)

How do I customize my Music on Hold?
There is a default Music on Hold (MoH) but it is a good idea to use your own (licensed or royalty-free) recording. Through the web portal you can upload your own choice of music, or a customized voice recording that you make yourself, or outsource to an agency. This overrides the default MoH and becomes the default for your company. Individual users can upload their own MoH. Change the music or the message with the seasons, or with your weekly promotions. If the MoH is too loud, contact our tech support to have the volume adjusted.

Can I add or remove a phone from the system once it is set up?
Adding extensions is easy. Contact us to get another phone set, or pull one you already own out of storage. Send us the extension number you want for the phone and the user’s name and email address. We can deliver and set up a new phone, or send it by courier to your new branch office in a different city.
There are no contracts on our services, so when you downsize, let us know. We can deactivate the extension(s) and adjust your monthly bill accordingly. (We endeavor to earn your loyalty by providing good service, not by locking you into a contract.)

Can I get a direct number for my own extension?
Direct numbers, or private numbers, can be added to any or all extensions for a nominal fee. You can even have several different numbers directed to one extension. Test the effectiveness of an advertising campaign by using a new number in an advertisement. You will see when a call comes in for that number and can answer the call appropriately. Reference the call history to see exactly how many calls you received in response to your advertising campaign. You can even get phone numbers from area codes across North America and appear to be local to that area. Callers in other areas can contact you without incurring long distance charges. Toll-free numbers valid from anywhere in Canada and the USA are also available.

Will my caller ID be that of the company or my extension’s direct number?
Your choice.

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How can I retrieve my messages on my office phone if I’m out of the office?
Option 1: If your extension has a direct number, call the direct number, and when you hear the greeting, press “*” (star). At the prompt enter your password.
Option 2: If your company uses an Auto Attendant, the administrator can add an option to the Auto Attendant for VM management (without including the option in the associated recorded greeting). Once you call into the company and reach the Auto Attendant, press the designated number and you will be prompted for your extension and password. Some companies have a phone number dedicated to message retrieval to keep the service separate from the public number.

How can I transfer a call directly to the recipient without checking or speaking with the recipient first?
This is called a Blind Transfer. On a Grandstream phone, press, or press and hold, the Transfer Button.
Select “Blind” from the on-screen softkey or phone menu.
Enter the extension of the recipient or the select the recipient’s BLF if it is programmed on your phone.

On a Yealink phone
Press Transfer, enter the extension of the recipient, press Transfer.

How can I check with the recipient before transferring a call?
Press the Transfer key or on-screen softkey. Dial the recipient’s extension (or press their BLF). After speaking with the recipient, press Transfer again to complete the process, or Cancel / End Call to return to the caller without completing the transfer.

How can I transfer a call directly to voice mail?
Prepend 03 to the number of the extension. For example, to send a caller directly to the voice mail of Extension 123, transfer the call to 03123.

I can call out, but I don’t receive calls. The calls are going straight to my voice mail. Why?
IF you can call out but not receive calls chances are that you inadvertently set your extension to “Do Not Disturb” or “DND”. Press the “DND” button on your phone to cancel DND. (If DND does not show as enabled on your phone, sometimes enabling and then disabling DND fixes the problem.) Or check the answering rules tab for your extension on the web portal. Uncheck Do Not Disturb if it is checked in the portal.

I would like to forward my office line to my cell phone. Is that possible?
This is certainly possible, and there are several options.
Simple forwarding – only your cell phone rings
Simultaneous ring – your office phone and cell phone ring together, answer whichever is most convenient.
Simultaneous ring with delay – ring your office phone first and then after a predetermined delay (5 seconds, 10 seconds, etc.) start ringing your cell phone as well.
Simultaneous ring with confirmation required – The Desk phone and cell phone ring simultaneously, but the off-net phone requires confirmation. (“Press one to accept this call.”) If the call is not answered the voice mail is left on the office system, not the cell phone.
Simultaneous ring and simple forwarding can be directed to multiple numbers, for example, to other extensions, land-lines, cell phones. Ringing can cascade to multiple numbers, for example, ring my desk phone, then after 5 seconds also ring my cell phone, then after another 5 seconds also ring a 3rd number, then a 4th . . .
All of these options can be governed by Time Frames, as in, during this period (e.g. office hours), forward calls this way, during this other period (e.g. evenings) forward calls (or not) a different way . . .

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