Busy Lamp Feature

While you’re curious about VoIP, perhaps you’re a bit hesitant about adopting the technology into your business. We’re all “creatures of habit.”  If what we’ve been using, or what we’ve been doing has worked, we resist changing those things. While some of us welcome change, many do not. Uncertainty threatens our sense of personal security. Fortunately, VoIP is a secure (as in encrypted) technology and does not require much in the way of change from the end-user.  A VoIP telephone and system can work just like the system that you’re used to now (especially if you’re used to a typical small office system) — which means that you don’t have to change the way that you work!  With VoIP, both your knowledge and calls can be transferred over. As a couple of added benefits, VoIP comes with increased reliability and lower operating costs.

VoIP systems were designed to retain the best characteristics of legacy telephone systems, while supporting hundreds of features.  VoIP features like: call park, busy lamp field (BLF) and paging, make the transition to VoIP much easier.  These three VoIP features (and many others) enable you to do the same things you could with your old phone, but without you or your staff having to learn how to navigate new phones.

 

Call Park: this is essentially allows you to put a call on hold; on its own “line.”

Here’s an example of how you can use it, and how it the procedure compares to a legacy system.

Legacy System

VoIP

1.

The phone rings on “line 3” and you answer it.

The phone rings and you answer it.

2.

The call is for Dr. Jones, so you press the “hold” button and the call is “held” on “line 3.”

The call is for Dr. Jones, so you “park” it in a slot by pressing a button that’s labelled “park 3”.

3.

You use the Busy Lamp Field to see if Dr. Jones is on the phone.

You use the Busy Lamp Field to see if Dr. Jones is on the phone.

4.

If Dr. Jones isn’t on the phone, you yell over to, or page her and and tell her to pick up the call on “line 3”

If Dr. Jones isn’t on the phone, you yell over to, or page her and and tell her to pick up the call on “park 3”

5.

Dr. Jones presses the “line 3” button on her phone and answers.

Dr. Jones presses the “park 3” button on her phone and answers.

6.

If Dr. Jones can’t answer, the call can “ring back” to you so that the caller is not forgotten about.

If Dr. Jones can’t answer, the call can “ring back” to you so that the caller is not forgotten about.

 

Busy Lamp Field (BLF):  Visually indicates which phones are in use.

  • You have co-worker’s extensions programmed into “speed dial” (soft) buttons.

  • If a phone is in use, the lamp is red.

  • If a phone is ringing, the lamp flashes red.

  • If the phone is not in use, the lamp is green.

 

Paging: Alert whomever you want; for any reason (alert Dr. Jones about a call she has waiting for her on “line 3,” or let Bob know that he’s needed at reception).

  • When you initiate the page function: your voice can be heard from the loudspeaker on a single phone, a group of phones, or overhead speakers.

  • You can have phone “groups” – Ex: you can page only the phones in the mail room, or only the phones in the IT department. You can even page multiple groups at once.

  • Here’s the BEST part: with a traditional system, paging is restricted to within your premises. With VoIP, you can broadcast a page throughout all of your offices (if you happen to have multiple locations).  So if you don’t know which office Dr. Jones is at today, you can page everywhere and let her know that she has a call.

When you adopt a VoIP system, all of your favorite features from your current system will be waiting for you.  Your VoIP provider can set up the system to your specifications.  Ultimately, you won’t have to give anything up and you won’t have to struggle to use your new system.  In fact, I can’t quantify how many times we’ve upgraded an office to VoIP and then within a day or two, the staff are able to use their phones as if they’ve been using them for years. Once you experience it, you’ll realize the benefits; in the future, when you’re ready to explore new features, it will be simple to implement them.

So why switch to VoIP?  You keep the features you love, you can continue working how you’re used to without any major changes, you benefit from increased reliability and your business saves money.

Tell us what you think!

Do you have any questions about VoIP features like: Call Park, Busy Lamp Field or Paging?

Are there any features you can think of that make VoIP more familiar feeling?

Are there any features that you want in a VoIP system, but you’re not sure they’re possible?