Pick up a Call for a Specific Extension

Some team members need to keep an eye on a particular colleague’s line and grab that colleague’s calls when needed. You can support this by programming a BLF (Busy Lamp Field) key on the user’s IP (Internet Protocol) phone that monitors a specific extension and picks up its incoming calls. This page walks through assigning that key from the phone system portal.

You can also let users program function keys directly on their own handsets. For that approach, refer to the documentation supplied by your phone’s manufacturer.

Note

Picking up an extension’s call relies on the Extension Pickup feature code, which defaults to *04. To change the digits, or to turn the feature on or off, go to Call Features > Feature Code > Call Pickup > Extension Pickup in the portal.

Before you begin

Function keys are pushed to a handset through auto provisioning, so the phone must already be connected to the phone system and tied to the user’s extension. If that link isn’t in place yet, set it up first:

• Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely via RPS Method
• Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely with Proxy

Assign the BLF key

The steps below use a common desk-phone model to illustrate the process; the portal configuration is the same regardless of the specific handset.

1. Open the extension you want to add the key to.

   Sign in to the portal and go to Extension and Trunk > Extension.

   • To configure one extension, click next to it.
   • To configure several at once, tick the checkbox for each extension, then click Edit.

2. Select the Function Keys tab.

3. Fill in a function key with these values:

   • Type: BLF
   • Value: the extension you want this user to monitor
   • Label: optional text to show beside the key on the phone screen

   Caution

   Handsets differ in how many programmable keys they offer. If you assign more function keys than the phone physically supports, the extra keys are ignored.

4. Click Save.

5. If a phone is already provisioned for this extension, re-provision it so the new key takes effect. Go to Auto Provisioning > Phones and click next to the phone assigned to the extension.

What the user sees

• When the monitored extension rings, the BLF key flashes red rapidly. The user presses the key to answer that call directly.
• After the call is picked up, the handset registered to the monitored extension logs it as a missed call.