Tip of the Week
Tip of the Week #3: Forwarding your Telephone
“Forwarding” your telephone is the ability to redirect an incoming call to another extension depending on the “condition,” or status, of your phone. There are three conditions:
1. Forward-All – Every call to your extension is redirected,
2. Forward-Busy –A call is redirected when your extension is in use, and
3. Forward-No Answer – Calls are redirected when you do not answer.
Generally calls are forwarded to voice mail, but you might choose to have one or more of the conditions redirect to a different extension*.
By default the extension for Forward-No Answer is 6775. For Forward-Busy the default is your Line 2, (Line 2 is your extension with a “0” in front of it). The thinking behind this is to help reduce or eliminate “telephone tag.” When you do not answer a call forwarded to your Line 2 it is Forwarded-No Answer to you voice mailbox so the caller can leave a message.
When we designed the template for the buttons on our telephones we included FWD-ALL and FWD-BUSY buttons. These buttons not only make it easy to forward your phone, but also to identify the state of each forward condition. When either button is lit, a forward condition is set. When it is off, the forward condition is not set.
Forward All: To set Forward-All to send all calls to voice mail, pick up your handset, press the FWD-ALL button, dial 6775 and hang up. Your FWD-ALL button will light. If you will be away for an extended period and set Forward- All to voice mail callers will be directed to your voice mailbox immediately, rather than wait through four rings to find out that you’re gone. When you return to your desk the light on the FWD-ALL button is a reminder that the Forward-All condition is still set and should be removed. Simply pick up your handset, press the FWD-ALL button—the condition is removed and the button is no longer lit.
Forward Busy: These instructions also apply to the FWD-BUSY button. You should always have your Forward-Busy condition set to go somewhere; otherwise callers hear a busy-signal when your extension is in use.
Forward No-Answer: Pick up the phone. Dial *7 and the extension to which calls will be forwarded (Default # is 6775). Hang up after confirmation tone. Your screen should display “forward set” as well.
You can also find this information on Telecom’s web pages. Click here.
If you’ve departed campus for the semester and prefer to have all of your calls forwarded directly to voice mail please send an email to Keith Harris or Chris Atkinson and we’ll be happy to set that up for you.
* In order to restrict toll-fraud we do not permit you to forward your campus extension to an off-campus phone number.