5 Tricks Using snom UC Edition: Intercom, Safe Transfer, Show VirtualKeys & More

I’ve been testing the latest snom UC Edition firmware and I came across some items I thought others might want to hear about.

Intercom

Currently intercom is not a feature of Microsoft Lync. (phone to phone 2 way audio without called party needing to pickup)  But with snom UC Edition devices you can configure intercom functionality to other snom UC Edition devices.

• You can do an intercom from a snom UC Edition thru Lync Server to another snom UC Edition device. So this means you can “intercom” people in other sites or across the globe!
  • snom achieves this by sending “alert-info” in SIP packet and Lync sends this along.
• How to configure?
  • On device receiving intercom: Web GUI Advanced > Behavior > Intercom Policy=Always (or your desired setting)
  • On the phone initiating an Intercom call: In web gui setup a button of Intercom type and no SIP URI (this will allow you to type one in at time of call)
    • If you want you can assign a Intercom button to a specific user by specifying sip uri
  • NOTE: This may be a security concern in some scenarios/offices.

 

How to do a Lync “Safe” Transfer

• What if you want to do a transfer, but if the other person doesn’t answer you want the call to come back to you? In Lync this is called a safe transfer, and currently the only client that can do this is the Lync Attendant. (other than snom UC Edition)
• How do you do a safe transfer with snom?
  • Establish Call, then Press the Transfer Button, dial extension# you want to transfer to. Now you press the right context soft-key under the screen to “Safe Transfer” this call.
  • If the person you transferred to does not answer, the call will come back to you. If you are on the phone it will come back to you as a call on hold. (how handy)

 

Show Line Info/Button Labels on snom 821

• Press and Hold the buttom clear button on the right of the 821 screen
• or go into the Web GUI and set the Preferences > Line info layer

 

Show the 12 Virtual Keys on snom 821

• Press and Hold the Top clear button on the right of the screen

 

Call Waiting Sound & Indication Settings

With Lync Phone Edition devices there is no setting (Lync 2010 and Attendant there is) to modify how the phone acts on 2nd+ incoming call. With snom UC Edition you can tweak this.

• To Turn off/Tweak Call Waiting “Beep Beep” by going to snom phone Web GUI and Advanced > Audio > Call Waiting Indication. You have the option of On/Visual Only/Ringer/Off.

Speed Dial a Partial Number

This was a tip given by snom support.

• Type=Speed Dial
• Number= <the-part-of-number-you-want-speeddial-to-type-for-you>;number=icomplete
• Short Text=<whatever-you-want>

snom UC Edition seems to be getting to be a quite compelling IP phone to bring a complete voice feature user experience to Lync. 

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Mark Orman of Novus LLC for several of these cool tips.