Paging and pickup groups

Where it is, and what you see

In the side menu, in the Call management group, there are two items: Paging and Pickup groups. At the top of each screen it says how many groups there are and how many extensions are in them.

Each group has a card: the name, the group number, how many extensions it has and which they are (up to a few extensions, then "and N more"). A paging card also says How it sounds — "Auto-answer" or "Rings", and "Two-way" or "Only the announcer speaks".

On the card: Manage group (or Details without edit permission) and Delete. The last card — New paging group or New pickup group.

Create paging group

1. Click Create paging group.
2. Group name — for example "Office paging". Description — an internal note, not heard in the announcement.
3. In the Extensions that receive the announcement part, choose an extension from the list and click Add. Repeat for each extension.
4. Click Create paging group.

All the extensions in the group hear the announcement together.

How the page sounds

In the Advanced management part ("Auto-answer, talk-back, recording and more"):

• Auto-answer on the phones — the phones in the group answer on their own and play the announcement on the speaker. Off — they ring, and whoever picks up hears it.
• Listeners can talk — on: a two-way call, the people at the group's phones speak too. Off — only the announcer speaks.
• A tone for the announcer at the start — a short tone the announcer hears when the announcement opens: a sign to start speaking.
• Forward according to the extension's settings — an extension set to forward calls (for example to a mobile) will forward the announcement too. Off — the announcement reaches only the phone itself.

In the Recording and control part: Recording the announcement — which recording group the group's announcements belong to, and Group owner — which of the account's users is responsible for it.

How to page in practice

Whoever calls the paging group speaks, and the extensions in the group hear. The way to dial the group from a phone (a code or a key) is set during setup — if you don't have a way to dial the group yet, contact us and we'll set it up together.

For paging a single extension there is also a prefix of the "Page an extension" type on the Prefixes screen: you press the prefix followed by the extension number. See the prefixes and speed dials guide.

Pickup group: answering another extension's call

A pickup group is extensions that can answer each other's calls. When the phone of an extension in the group rings and nobody is at the desk, any other extension in the same group presses ** on its own phone — and the call moves to it.

1. On the Pickup groups screen click Create pickup group.
2. Give a Group name (for example "Floor 2") and an internal Description.
3. In the Extensions in the group part choose an extension and click Add — for each extension that should be in the group.
4. Click Create pickup group.

Adding and removing extensions

In the editor of an existing group, an added extension is marked "Will be added on save", and an extension you marked with Remove is marked "Will be removed on save" (and you can Restore it). Nothing changes until you click Save changes. When all extensions are already in the group, the list says "All extensions are already in the group".

Deleting and permissions

On the card click Delete, type the group number to confirm, and click Delete permanently. The group is deleted, and anything that points to it stops working.

Each of the two screens has separate view, create, edit and delete permissions. Without edit permission the editor opens read-only ("Editing requires the Paging edit permission" or "Pickup groups edit"). To get a permission, contact us.