A shared line allows you to answer an incoming call that is being rung at another phone, or allows you to pick up a call from someone else’s phone after they put the caller on hold.
- From the top toolbar, select Settings
- Under the Voice category, select Shared Line Appearances
- Click the blue + Add button in the top right
- Fill out the necessary info.
- Shared Line Group Name
- Shared Line Owner
- Shared Line Access Number
- Number of Lines
This is just the name of the shared line group. Example: “Your Company Name Shared Line”
This just refers to who has permission to edit the Shared Line. Set this to be your office administrator or yourself.
This is essentially an extension number. Set this as a 3 or 4 digit number that is not currently being used by any other device. A good starting point might be to use a number in the 300’s as the 100-200 range might be reserved for other devices.
This is how many lines you wish to be shared. If you want to be able to answer multiple calls through the shared line feature, you may want more than 1. We will be referring to this later in the device profile.
- Toggle ON ‘Is Enabled’
- Press Save
- From the top toolbar, select Settings
- From the Voice category, select Device Profiles
- Select the device profile you wish to add this feature to.
- In the left pane, select ‘Buttons’
- Press the blue + Add button in the top right
- Fill out the necessary info.
Button Action: Set to ‘Shared Line Appearance’
Label: You can label this as “Line 1” (Increment the number by one for every line you created previously)
No Selection drop down menu: Select the group you made in step 4.
*A new “No Selection” drop down menu will appear. Select Line 1 - Press Save
- Repeat step 12 for as many lines as you have created.
- To change the order of the buttons, press the Edit button in the top right
- Select the button to move
- Press “Move Up” & “Move Down” until you reach the desired spot.
- Press Save
- Provision any device that has that device profile applied to update the phones.
How It Works
A shared line has to be set on a phone number. After setting this inside of Numbers -> Options, you will be able to use a shared line appearance on any devices that utilize that number.
When a call comes in, you will see your new shared line button flash red. Even if your phone is disabled inside of a ring group, while you won’t get a popup saying a call is coming in, your new shared line button will activate. Anyone can press the red button and they will pickup the call. Once that button turns green, the call can no longer be answered by anyone else. If the option inside of Settings -> Shared Line Appearance allows for ‘Active While Holding’, putting the caller on hold will once again flash red on that button to everyone allowing them to take the call.
If you have more than one line, take care of what shared line the caller calls in on. Having multiple shared lines can cause a bit of confusion especially while trying to transfer calls or pickup. You can press and hold the button to see the details of the caller inside of that line including their caller ID. This only works if the associated option in the device profile is turned on.
Green button = cannot pickup the call
Red button = call can be picked up (this ONLY applies to the Shared Line buttons. Other buttons that are red usually mean that phone is currently in use.)