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Set Up Paging

Paging puts a one-way intercom announcement out to a group of phones — they auto-answer on speaker so you can broadcast (e.g. "anyone driving a blue Honda, your lights are on"). Different from Page Pro, which schedules pre-recorded announcements.

Before You Start

  • The phones to be paged must support auto-answer (most desk phones do; check the phone's manual or provisioning).
  • For phones managed by Endpoint Manager, auto-answer for paging is usually pre-configured.

Steps

Create a Paging Group

  1. Go to System Attributes → Paging and Intercom.
  2. Click + Add Page Group.
  3. Fill in:
    • Paging Extension — pick a number to dial that triggers the page, e.g. 5000.
    • Description — e.g. All Office.
    • Device List — add the extensions to receive the page.
    • Force use of Page extensions Page-Pro — No (only Yes if you have Page Pro and want to use its renderer).
    • Duplex — No for one-way (broadcast); Yes for talk-back capability.
    • Default Page Group — Yes makes this the page that fires on the default page feature code.
    • Busy Extensions — Skip (don't ring busy extensions) or Force (force-ring even if on a call).
    • Announcement — optional pre-recording played before the live talker.
    • Volume Adjustment — adjust dB if pages are too loud/quiet on phones.
  4. Click Submit.
  5. Click Apply Config.

Page from a phone

User dials the Paging Extension (e.g. 5000). Phones in the device list auto-answer on speaker. The user talks; phones broadcast.

Set up an intercom (one-to-one paging)

For paging a single extension (without a group):

  1. Go to System Attributes → Feature Codes.
  2. Find Intercom prefix (default *80).
  3. Enable.
  4. Apply Config.

To intercom another extension, dial *80<ext> (e.g. *801001). The target phone auto-answers on speaker.

Verify

  • Dial the paging extension. Phones in the group should auto-answer with a beep, then your voice broadcasts.
  • For intercom, dial *80<ext>. The target phone auto-answers.

Common Issues

  • Phones ring instead of auto-answering. Phone provisioning doesn't permit auto-answer for SIP Alert-Info: Auto-Answer headers. Re-provision via Endpoint Manager, or manually enable auto-answer on the phone.
  • Page only goes to some phones. Other phones are unregistered, busy (and Busy Extensions = Skip), in DND, or have call-forward enabled.
  • Echo / feedback during page. Half-duplex environments + multiple phones near each other. Use Duplex = No and pages should be brief.
  • Paging extension conflicts with another module. Pick a number outside ring-group/queue ranges.