Understanding Shared Lines - Cisco 7970 Phone Manual

Understanding Shared Lines

Your system administrator might give you a "shared" line. Shared line features do not apply to
standard, unshared lines. Typically, a shared line has two main uses:
• One person applies a shared line to multiple phones—For example, your shared line, extension
23456, applies to your desk phone. You also might log in to a phone in your lab, prompting this
lab phone to temporarily share your extension, as well. In this case, an incoming call to extension
23456 rings on your desk and lab phone, and you can use either of the phones to answer the call.
• Multiple people share a line—For example, you are a manager who shares a line and extension
number with your assistant. An incoming call to the extension rings on both of your phones.
Understanding the Maximum Supported Calls on a Shared Line
You can make calls using a shared line just as you would using any other line (see the "Placing a Call"
section on page 16 for details). However, keep in mind that your system administrator can configure
your shared line to support a different number of calls than your co-workers who share the line with
you. Thus, at times you might not be able to make a new call on the shared line even if your co-worker
can.
For example, you have a shared line extension, 78888, and your phone is configured to support a
maximum of four calls on that shared line. However, one of your co-workers has a phone that supports
a maximum of five calls on the same shared line, 78888. If there are already four active calls on the
shared line, the NewCall softkey is unavailable to you, and you cannot make a new call using the
shared line. However, your co-worker would be able to make a new call on the shared line because her
phone supports a maximum of five calls on the shared line, not just four.
Adding Yourself to a Shared-Line Call
You have two options to join an established call on the line, though both are not typically available,
depending on how your system administrator has configured your phone:
• Barge—allows you to join an in-progress call with minimal interruption to the call. When you use
Barge, other parties on the call just hear a beep tone announcing your presence. You cannot add
additional callers to a barged call. When you hang up, the remaining parties hear a disconnect
tone, and the original call continues.
• cBarge—allows you to join an in-progress call and convert it to a standard conference. This gives
you and all call participants the same features available in standard conferences (see the "Making
Conference Calls" section on page 21 for details), and you can add additional participants to the
call. When you use cBarge, other parties on the call hear a tone and brief interruption in the call,
and call information changes on the screen. When you hang up, the call remains as a conference
call provided at least three participants remain.
Cisco IP Phone 7970
Advanced Call Handling
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