Call presence is a unique feature that will show you the status of other phone users.
Being able to see someone's status means if presence is enabled, you can see whether another extension is on a call or not, if a call is ringing to that extension, or even if they have a call on hold. In addition, Call Presence serves as speed dial to the extensions that are visible via Presence.
1. Some device extensions that have provisioned to Phone.com will have the option to enable Presence. It’s very easy to enable this for a device extension that’s already on an account.
2. Log into the Control Panel. Hover over Configure and click Manage Users and Extensions.
3. Click Edit by the device ext.
4. Scroll all the way down to the very bottom and you’ll see this:
You’ll want to make sure that “Monitor status of other phones” is set to Yes if this device wants to be able to see the call status of other phones on the account. (The default setting is No.)
**Note: In order for this to be moved to “Yes” the device must be provisioned properly and “online” and cannot be an ATA, mobile extension, Communicator/Softphone, legacy Polycoms (listed below) or some rarely used generic devices. The “Monitor” status will be greyed out.**
Next, reboot this phone and once it’s back online, any available “line” buttons on the phone will show a slightly different icon for Presence, the extension number and extension Nickname.
In the picture below, the green box indicates the actual extension assigned to this Polycom phone. All other extensions visible on the phone and the Expansion Module show “Presence.”
On this Yealink phone, it’s more obvious which extensions are not in use with the green light next to them. It also shows the extension assigned to the device highlighted at the top.
- You can see an extension that is actually assigned to the device has a little phone icon next to it, whereas the extensions that are just visible via “Presence” have an icon of a person.
- On the Polycom and Panasonic models (with or without Expansions attached), the button is dark if an extension is not in use. When an extension is in use, the light on the button next to it will turn red. When a call is ringing to an extension or that extension has a call on hold, the light next to that extension will flash red.
Polycom VVX500 (no Expansion Module attached): Ext 303 is on a call and shows with the Red line on the extension.
Polycom VVX500 (no Expansion Module attached): Ext 303 is on a call and shows with the Red line on the extension.
- On the Yealink (with or without Expansion Module) and Cisco models (WITH Expansion Modules) the button is green when an extension is not in use. When an extension is in use, the light turns red. When a call is ringing to an extension or that extension has a call on hold, the light will flash red.
- If you want, you can also press the button next to the specific extension and it will speed dial to that extension.
FAQs
Keep in mind that the number of extensions a device is capable of viewing with “Presence” is limited to the number of lines on that phone.
- For example, if you’re trying to enable Presence on a Yealink SIP T23, that device only has 3 lines. So that phone would have its own extension assigned to it plus “Presence” of a max of 2 other extensions.
- However, if you have a Yealink SIP T29 which has up to 10 line-keys, you’ll be able to have that phone’s own extension plus “Presence” of up to 9 additional extensions, visible on the phone.
- If there are more extensions on the account than lines on the phone that’s using Presence, the extensions visible on the phone are prioritized in ascending numerical order. For example:
o An account has ten extensions: 500 - 509
o Polycom VVX 300 (6-line phone) on extension 500, with Presence set to “Yes”
o Polycom VVX 300 will show extension 500 on the first “line” button, followed by 501, 502, 503, 504 and 505 on the remaining line buttons.
o Because it’s a 6-line phone, extensions 506 - 509 will not be visible for Presence on the Polycom VVX 300 (without an expansion module).
Q: Is an Expansion Module required in order for a device to use Presence?
A: An Expansion Module is not always required in order for presence to work. The exception is Cisco - Cisco phones must have an expansion module in order to use Presence. (Only the Cisco SPA5** series support the Expansion Module we sell.)
For Polycoms and Panasonics, an Expansion Module will make it more convenient if the number of device extensions on an account exceeds the number of “lines” on the phone using Presence.
Expansion Modules require no setup as long as the device it’s connected to is compatible with the specific Expansion Module and Presence is enabled within the ext. The Expansion Module is completely dependent on the phone it’s attached to.
Q: Can customers buy an expansion module from outside Phone.com?
A: Yes. Customers can buy one elsewhere and use it on their IP device. We won’t charge any setup cost and it doesn’t increase cost on their account. BUT the customer must have a Polycom, Yealink, Cisco, or Panasonic IP phone (not an ATA) and purchase a compatible expansion module. As long as the expansion module is compatible with their phone that we provide support and provisioning for, yes, they can use it. The customer needs to be sure their device is compatible with the expansion module they’re purchasing and that their device is provisioned with Phone.com.
Q: Can every model of IP phone support Presence?
A: Device extensions that are ATAs, mobile extensions, Communicator/Softphone, legacy Polycoms (listed below), or some rarely used generic devices will not support Presence. In addition, Cisco phones without an Expansion Module attached currently cannot support Presence. Note: the popular Cisco SPA303 phone cannot support the Cisco Expansion Module that we offer; only SPA5** series phones.)
Q: Can every model of Polycom, Yealink, Cisco or Panasonic support Presence with an Expansion Module?
A: (Mentioning these specific brands since these are the 4 brand of Expansion Modules we sell.) The legacy Polycoms (anything provisioning via polycom.old.prov.phone.com) aren't supported anymore; not by the manufacturer, not by us. Presence and expansion modules will not work on these models:
- SoundPoint IP 300/301
- SoundPoint IP 320/330
- SoundPoint IP 430
- SoundPoint IP 500/501
- SoundPoint IP 600/601
- SoundStation IP 4000
Any customers with these models should replace them with something newer.
Q: Are the Expansion Modules that we sell compatible with every model phone in the corresponding brand?
A: No. The Expansion Modules are compatible with specific models only.
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- The Polycom Expansion Module we offer is only compatible with VVX model Polycom phones.
- The Yealink Expansion Module we offer is only compatible with the T27 and T29.
- The Cisco Expansion Module we offer is only compatible with the SPA5** series.
- The Panasonic Expansion Module we offer is only compatible with the KX-UTG300.
- To view the Expansion Modules we sell go to VOIP Phones and click “Accessories”
Q: Can multiple devices on an account enable Presence “monitoring” at the same time?
A: Yes. (Polycoms will actually ring for every call that comes to any extension visible with Presence on the phone, with or without an Expansion Module).
Q: Will Presence work on a device that isn’t up to date with Provisioning or is in a “degraded” (yellow) state?
A: Presence is dependent on the device being Provisioned to our servers, so if it’s showing “degraded” it undoubtedly won’t work. In addition, a device needing a bootstrap may have limited/no Presence ability until the bootstrap is enabled and the device actually provisions.
Additionally, device extensions that are ATAs, mobile extensions, Communicator/Softphone, legacy Polycoms (listed above) or some rarely used generic devices will not support Presence.