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This chapter describes how to use your phone with the Manager Assistant in the shared-line and proxy-line modes. 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.
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.
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 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.
Managers can use the Manager Assistant softkeys on your phone to divert, transfer, and generally handle active calls:
You can redirect 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Note | If the system administrator changes username, preferred location, or password, then you are not logged off. For user-ID changes, neither the manager nor the assistant is logged off when that manager's user ID is changed. However, an assistant is logged off the assistant's phone and the Assistant Console when that assistant's user ID is changed. |
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. For more information on active assistant status, refer to Table 1.
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.
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. For more information on changing assistants, refer to Table 1.
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.
To open the Manager Status menu on your phone, press the Services button and choose Assistant Service. The table describes Manager Status menu items and associated tasks.
Menu Item Number |
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. |
The Manager Status menu appears on the LCD screen of your Cisco Unified IP Phone.
There are two areas within the Manager Status menu:
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.
Message |
Meaning |
---|---|
“Assistant Watch - ON” |
Assistant Watch is on but no connected or incoming calls are being redirected to your assistant at this time. |
“Assistant Watch - OFF” |
Assistant Watch is off. To set it to on, press the SetWtch softkey. |
“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. |
“Filtering Down” |
Call Filtering feature is unavailable at this time. |
Note | 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. |
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.
|
||
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 window.
|
||
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 window. |
The status window is not visible when you are using your phone to place or receive calls.
Note | Do Not Disturb and Set Assistant Watch softkey options are not available on Cisco Desktop Collaboration Experience Phones. |
Feature |
Description |
---|---|
Assistant Available |
The assistant availability is displayed using the name of the assistant. |
Assistant Unavailable |
This message is displayed when no assistants are available. To identify your active assistant, press the Services button on your phone and then select Assistant Service. |
Call Filter On |
To toggle the filter off and on, select Filter from the Manager Status menu. You can configure call filtering from the Manager Configuration window. |
Call Filter Off |
To toggle the filter off and on, select Filter from the Manager Status menu. You can configure call filtering from the Manager Configuration window. |
Divert On |
The "Divert on" message is displayed below the assistant's name. |
Divert Off |
The "Divert off" message is displayed below the assistant's name. |
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.
The alert tone does not play for incoming calls in these instances:
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.
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.
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 2 table.
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.
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.
Call filtering redirects your incoming calls selectively to your assistant, based on the caller ID and these configurations and settings:
Call-Filtering Settings table 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 Create Filter Lists for a Manager.
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 mobile phone number, enable Divert All, and receive the calls from your family on your mobile 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.
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 1. |
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 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 LCD screen. Press the Services button and choose Assistant Service and then select Filter. |
The 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:
Calls placed from the manager's phone activate the following softkey options:
Softkey |
Description |
---|---|
Conference |
Enables you to add conference participants to a call. |
Hold |
Puts the call on hold. |
Transfer to VM |
Redirects a ringing or connected call to the manager’s voice-messaging system. |
Transfer to other number |
Redirects a selected call to a predetermined target number. You can redirect a call that is ringing, connected, or on hold. |
To Assistant |
Redirects a selected call to the assistant. |
End |
Ends the connected call. |
The Intercom feature is an optional feature that enables you to speak to your assistant over an intercom line. The system administrator configures this feature.
Note | If this feature is not available on your phone, contact your system administrator. |
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 2.
To use the Manager Assistant with Cisco Extension mobility, log in to Cisco Extension Mobility and in the Services menu, select Assistant Service.
For more information about the Cisco Extension Mobility feature, see the Cisco Unified IP Phone guides .