# Set up Boss-Secretary Feature for Extensions

The Boss-Secretary feature puts a screening layer in front of an extension. You mark one extension as the boss, assign the secretary who should field the boss's calls, and choose which incoming calls get routed through the secretary first. The secretary answers, decides whether the boss should take the call, and transfers it on when it is worth interrupting. This page shows how to set it up.

## Before you start

- To route the boss's calls to more than one secretary, first put all of those secretary extensions into a single [ring group](/pbx/administrator-guide/create-a-ring-group/). You will select that group rather than individual extensions.
- If you want the boss's own extension to ring at the same time a call is forwarded to a secretary, add both the boss extension and the secretary extension(s) to one ring group.

## Designate the boss extension

1. Sign in to the Cloud Voice management portal and go to **Extension and Trunk > Extension**.

2. Find the extension you want to make the boss extension and click the edit icon ![Edit](/images/pbx/edit.png) next to it.

3. Open the **Features** tab.

4. In the **Boss Extension** section, turn on the switch.

   ![The Boss Extension switch enabled on the Features tab](/images/pbx/turn-on-boss-extension.png)

   The **Enable Boss-Secretary Feature** option is selected automatically, confirming the feature is now active for this extension.

5. Assign the secretary. How you do this depends on whether one or several extensions will screen calls.

   **One secretary**

   ![Choosing a single secretary extension for the boss](/images/pbx/select-one-secretary.png)

   1. Set **Number of Secretaries** to **Only One**.
   2. Choose the extension from the **Secretary Extension** list.

   **More than one secretary**

   ![Choosing a secretary ring group for the boss](/images/pbx/select-multiple-secretaries.png)

   1. Set **Number of Secretaries** to **More than One**.
   2. Choose the ring group that holds the secretaries from the **Secretary Group** list.

6. Use the **Call Type** list to decide which calls to the boss are routed through the secretary first.

   ![The Call Type list for boss forwarding criteria](/images/pbx/boss-forward-criterial.png)

   - **All**: Route every incoming call to the secretary first.
   - **Internal Calls**: Route only calls from other extensions to the secretary first.
   - **External Calls**: Route only outside calls to the secretary first.

   :::note
   If the boss extension also has a rule set under [call handling based on caller ID](/pbx/administrator-guide/handle-incoming-calls-based-on-caller-id/), any call that matches that rule is handled by it instead of following the forwarding you set here.
   :::

7. Click **Save**, then **Apply**.

## What happens next

The extension is now the boss extension, with the Boss-Secretary feature in effect:

- Incoming calls of the call type you chose are forwarded to the secretary first. The secretary answers and decides whether to pass the call to the boss.
- The boss and secretary can hand a call back and forth by putting it on hold and having the other party resume it. When one side holds the call, the other resumes it from one of these endpoints:

  **Cloud Voice App (web and desktop)**

  Click **Resume** in the pop-up to take the call.

  ![The Resume prompt in the Cloud Voice App web client](/images/pbx/resume-call.png)

  
  ![Cloud Voice, the Resume prompt in the desktop app](/images/pbx/resume-a-call-linkus-desktop.jpg)

  :::caution
  Resuming from the desktop app requires version 1.1.2 or later on both Windows and macOS. On an older version the Resume prompt will not work. The Cloud Voice App mobile client cannot resume calls handed off between the boss and secretary at all, so do not rely on a phone for this step.
  :::

  **Cloud Voice App for Google**

  Click **Resume** in the browser extension to take the call.

  
  ![Cloud Voice, the Resume prompt in the Google browser extension](/images/pbx/resume-a-call-linkus-for-google.jpg)

  **IP phone**

  Press the BLF (Busy Lamp Field) key to take the call. A BLF key is a programmable button on the phone that shows another extension's line status and can be pressed to interact with that line.

  :::caution
  Resuming a handed-off call from an IP phone requires the phone to be configured for it first:

  - So the boss can resume calls from the secretary, see [Monitor secretary's call status on an IP phone](/pbx/administrator-guide/monitor-secretary-call-status/#topic_q2m_dqn_5xb__section_vqn_v3w_5xb).
  - So the secretary can resume calls from the boss, see [Monitor boss's call status on an IP phone](/pbx/administrator-guide/monitor-boss-call-status/#topic_gt5_fnw_5xb__section_zzz_jtw_5xb).
  :::

:::note
- The boss can turn the feature off or change which call type is forwarded directly from the Cloud Voice App (web or desktop) under **Preferences > Features > Boss Extension**. Those changes sync back to the system automatically.
- On the boss's **Call Logs** in the Cloud Voice App, forwarded calls are marked with the ![Boss-Secretary](/images/pbx/boss-secretary.png) icon, so they are easy to tell apart from calls the boss actually missed.

![Forwarded calls flagged in the boss's call log](/images/pbx/boss-secretary-cll-log.png)
:::