Extension Group Overview

Extension groups let you organize related extensions together, assign each member a user type, and control what those members are allowed to do across the system. This page explains what an extension group is, the user types you can assign, and the built-in group that ships with every PBX (Private Branch Exchange, your organization’s phone system).

What an extension group is

An extension group gathers extensions that share a common role or purpose, for example a sales team or a support desk. Groups appear in the Cloud Voice App, so members can quickly locate a colleague who belongs to the same group. Grouping also enables authorized users to manage the calls of other members in their group from the Cloud Voice App Web Client (the browser-based version of the app).

User types

A user type is a bundle of permissions that determines what a member can see and do on the Operator Panel and the Extension Page. Cloud Voice offers three user types. You grant a permission set to each user type and then assign a user type to every group member.

Note

The two places a user type governs are:

• Operator Panel: a live call-management dashboard where an authorized user can see, transfer, monitor, and control calls across the group.
• Extension Page: the per-extension view a member uses to manage their own line and, if permitted, other members’ calls.

Default user types

Two user types are available out of the box:

• Manager: Intended for a team lead. A manager can oversee and act on the calls of other members in the group.
• User: Intended for regular members. Every member you add to a group starts as a User until you change it.

Tip

Leave most members as User and promote only team leads to Manager. Giving each person just the access they need keeps call-control features in the hands of the people responsible for them.

Caution

Manager permissions reach into other members’ live calls: a manager can silently listen in, whisper, barge in, pick up or hang up, and redirect calls that belong to other people. Assign the Manager type only to trusted leads, and make sure this matches your organization’s call-monitoring and privacy policy.

The table below lists the default permissions for the Manager and User types. You can adjust any of these to match how your team works, see View or change permissions for managers and users.

A few rows use call-handling terms: IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is the automated menu that greets callers and routes them based on the keys they press; Listen, Whisper, and Barge-in are call-monitoring modes (listen silently, speak only to your own member, or join the call for all parties); Call Flow is the routing logic that decides where inbound calls go; and AI Receptionist is the automated voice assistant that can answer and handle calls.

Module	Permission	Manager	User
Operator Panel	Switch group members’ presence	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Call distribution management (Redirect, Transfer, Drag and Drop)	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Pick up or hang up other extensions’ calls	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Call monitoring operations (Listen, Whisper, Barge-in)	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Call parking operations (Park, Retrieve)	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Route calls directly from IVR regardless of the IVR menu	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Control Call Flow	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Manage AI Receptionist Calls	✓	✗
Operator Panel	Switch Business Hours and Holidays status	✗	✗
Operator Panel	Switch extension’s recording status	✗	✗
Operator Panel	Show Company Contacts Matching Results	✗	✗
Extension Page	Call distribution management (Redirect, Transfer)	✓	✗
Extension Page	Pick up or hang up other extension’s calls	✓	✗
Extension Page	Call monitoring operations (Listen, Whisper, Barge-in)	✓	✗
Extension Page	Call parking operations (Park, Retrieve)	✓	✗
Extension Page	Control Call Flow	✓	✗
Extension Page	Manage AI Receptionist Calls	✓	✗
Extension Page	Show Company Contacts Matching Results	✗	✗

Note

When Show Company Contacts Matching Results is turned on, matched contacts appear on the Operator Panel call panel (or the Extension Page) for that user, even if the user does not otherwise have visibility of company contacts.

Custom user type

• Custom: Use this when you need to tailor permissions for one particular member. Assign the Custom type to that member and set their permissions individually.

For details, see View or change permissions for a member with custom user type.

The default extension group

Every PBX includes a built-in group named Default_All_Extensions that holds all of the extensions on the system. Whenever you create a new extension, it is automatically added to this group. You are free to delete this group or add groups of your own to fit how your organization is structured.

Caution

Deleting Default_All_Extensions does not delete any extensions, but it does remove the automatic grouping. Once the group is gone, newly created extensions will no longer be added to it, so set up your own groups first if members rely on group-based call control.

To build your own group, see Create an Extension Group.