Paging and Intercom User Guide

Overview

This module is for specific phones that are capable of paging or intercom. In the Paging and Intercom module, you can configure groups of phones that will auto-answer and play the page over their speakers when called from the page group. This module will work with most SIP phones that are supported by the PBX.

Logging In

• In the top menu click Applications

• In the drop down click Paging and Intercom

Settings

 Click the Settings tab to set global settings for page groups.

Open

Auto-answer defaults

This is the announcement to be played to the remote party when their phone answers a page. The default is a beep. You can also select a system recording. Select None if you do not want to play a beep or other sound. 

Save

Click the Submit button, then click the Apply Config button.

Paging Groups

Click the New Page Group button to add a new page group, or click the pencil icon next to an existing page group to edit.

Open

Standard Module Options

Paging Extension

The extension number for this page group. Users can dial this number to page this group. The number can be any number from 3 to 11 digits as long as it doesn't match an existing extension or feature code.

Group Description

The name of the page group and/or a short description to help you identify it.

Device List

Selected vs. Not Selected: Choose which extension(s) to include in the page group by dragging the desired extensions to the Selected bin. These will be included in the page group.

Announcement

The announcement to be played to the remote party. Select a system recording, None, or Default. If set to Default, it will use the Auto-Answer Default global setting found in the Settings tab of the Paging and Intercom module. (If that setting is not defined, it will default to a beep).

Busy Extensions

Skip/Force/Whisper: How to handle paging if an extension is busy (such as on a call).

• Skip: A busy extension will not receive the page. All other extensions will be paged as usual.

• Force: A busy extension will receive the page. The system will not check if the device is in use before paging it. Conversations can be interrupted by the page, depending upon how the device handles the page. In most cases, the phone will ring instead of auto-answering if it is on another call, but some phones will put the caller on hold and play the page. This is not usually a desirable outcome unless you are setting up a page group for emergencies, and you want all extensions to hear the page regardless of whether they are already on a call.

• Whisper: The system will attempt to use the ChanSpy capability on SIP channels, resulting in the page being sent to the busy device's earpiece. The page is "whispered" to the user but not heard by the remote party. If ChanSpy is not supported on the device or otherwise fails, no page will get through. It probably does not make too much sense to choose duplex below, if using Whisper mode.

Duplex

Yes/No: This option controls whether the extension receiving the page is muted by default. If you enable duplex, the extensions that are called in the page group will not be muted, which will allow anyone to talk in the page group. Usually this will be set to No.

Paging is typically used for one-way announcements. If Duplex is set to Yes, all participants in the page group can talk to each other and hear each other, similar to a conference room.

Any user can dial *1 to un-mute themselves at any time, regardless of whether Duplex is enabled here.

Default Page Group

Yes/No: Whether to consider this page group a "default" page group. You can create one or more default page groups. This can help you save time when creating extensions in the Extensions module. There, you are given the option of whether to include an extension in the default page group(s), preventing the need to re-visit the Paging & Intercom module to add an extension to the group.

Commercial Module

Page Pro Options

Page Pro (aka Paging Pro) is a commercial module add-on that adds more advanced features to the Paging and Intercom module. With Page Pro, you can set up outbound notifications, use valet-style (airport-style) paging, change prepend recordings, set up an RTP multicast page group, and schedule pages.

If you have Page Pro, you will see these additional options for a page group in the Paging and Intercom module:

Busy Page Group

Do Nothing/Valet/Force Valet: How to handle paging if a user dials a page group that is already in use. Also offers the option to "force" valet-style paging to all groups regardless of busy/available status.

• Do Nothing: The user will hear a busy tone when dialing a page group that is in use.

• Valet: The user will be prompted to say their page, which will be recorded and played to the busy page group as soon as the group is available.

• Force Valet: Valet-style paging will always be used regardless of whether the page group is busy when the user dials it. The user will be prompted to say their page, which will be recorded. After the user hangs up, the recorded page will be played to the page group as soon as the group is available. This is also known as Airport-Style Paging.

Page Announcement

By default, a page begins with a beep tone. You can choose not to play the beep, or to play a system recording. If choosing a system recording, only non-compound recordings may be used.

This announcement will be played to the page group before the pager will be able to talk. Or, in case of a valet-style page, this announcement will be played before the recorded page.

CID Prepend

(Optional): You can optionally set a caller ID prepend for pages made to this page group. This text will be prepended to the Caller ID name.

RTP Multicast

(Optional): You may set any number of RTP Multicast streams here. They must be in the format of IP.ADD.RE.SS:PORT. Enter one per line (use the Add Address button to create a new line).

Enable Scheduler

Yes/No: Whether to enable scheduled paging. You can optionally set schedules for any page group. The system will automatically call the page group at the selected dates and times, play the recording that you have chosen in the Page Announcement section above, and then hang up the call. This could be used for school bell systems or lunch break buzzers, for example.

If Enable Scheduler = yes, you should now see the following options:

Server Time

Displays the current server time, in a 24-hour format. This helps you make sure your system is set to the correct time zone and reporting the correct time. Your scheduled pages will be based upon this server time. If you need to make adjustments, see the wikis System Admin - Time Zone and Time and NTP for more information.

Schedule Range

The time period that the scheduled pages will be active, defined by a start date and end date.

Events

The day(s) of the week and time that a scheduled page will be made. Click the blue plus sign to add another row, or click the trash can to delete a row.

Exclusion Dates

Exclusion dates are used to exclude specific dates that fall within the start and end dates. For example, you could disable the automatic pages on holidays. Use the blue plus sign 

 to add additional excluded days. Click on the trash can 

 to delete a specific excluded day.

Save

When finished editing the page group, click the Submit button and then click the Apply Config button.

Now, the page group will show up in a list at the right side of the screen if you're already viewing a page group.

The page group will also show up in a list at the module's home page.

Linking an Outbound Route to a Page Group (Pro Only)

With Page Pro, you can set up outbound notifications by linking a page group to an outbound route. If a call is placed using that outbound route, the phones in the page group will be paged with an announcement of the extension number that made the call, and the number that was dialed. The phones in the page group will then be injected into the call, initially in a muted state, but with the option to press *1 to unmute themselves.

For example, you could link a page group to an emergency route so that employees are notified when someone in the company dials 911.

The first step is to create a page group in the Paging and Intercom module, containing the list of extensions you wish to be part of the outbound notification.

After you have created the page group, go to the Outbound Routes module.

• In the top menu go to Connectivity

• In the drop-down menu go to Outbound Routes

Create a new outbound route, or click the edit button to edit an existing route.

In our example, we are editing our emergency route.

Click on the Additional Settings tab.

Toward the bottom of the Additional Settings page, you should see a section called Notifications.

Select the desired page group from the Notifications drop-down menu.

In our example we are selecting our "911 Notify" page group created earlier.

When finished, click the Submit button, then click the Apply Config button.