Forwarding Calls to a User's Pager

Calls to a group can be forwarded to the pager number for the group. For information about editing a group, including the Pager field, see Adding or Editing a Group.

Vocera does not allow users to forward calls directly to a pager, because callers do not typically expect that behavior. Sending a page usually implies a sense of urgency or importance, and callers would be surprised if Vocera automatically forwarded a less critical call to a pager without opportunity for intervention.

However, some sites may have specific situations that warrant forwarding a user's calls to a pager. In this situation, you can set up an address book entry for the pager itself, and then forward the user's calls to this address book entry.

You cannot simply enter a phone number in the Pager field of an address book entry to achieve this effect. Supplying a value in the Pager field allows a user to issue the “Send a Page” voice command—it does not permit forwarding.

The rest of this section shows you how to use the built-in dialing macros to create an address book entry that permits indirect forwarding. Set the group properties to forward calls to this address book entry; when the recipient returns the call, it is connected directly to the original caller's badge.

Note: Use the technique in this section only if or a user at your site needs to forward a call to a pager. To allow ordinary badge-to-pager interactions, enter a pager number directly in the user profile and in the address book entry.

To forward a user's calls to a pager:

  1. Click the Address Book tab in the navigation bar.
    The Add, Edit, and Delete Entries page appears.
  2. Click the Add New Entry button.
    The Add New Entry dialog box appears.
  3. Check Place in the Entry Type section.
  4. Enter a name such as UserNamePager in the Name field.
  5. In the Phone field, enter the following values in this order:
    • Either a Q to indicate that the value in this field is a literal.

    • The access code that is needed for an outside line.

    • The long distance access code, if necessary.

    • The area code, if necessary.

    • The phone number of the pager.

    • A semicolon to separate the pager number from the numbers the pager will display.

      The semicolon causes Vocera to pause until the pager is ready to receive the numbers to display.

    • The Vocera hunt group dialing macro ( %V ).

    • The desk phone dialing macro ( %D ).

    • Any special characters, such as the # character, that the pager requires to end the sequence.

    For example, if the pager's number is (408) 555-1313, and it is a toll call, enter the following value in the Phone field (assuming the access code for an outside line is 9 and the access code for long distance is 1 ):

    Q 9, 1-(408) 555-1313 ; %V %D #

    Note: Do not use a comma when you are connecting to a digital PBX. The comma character is not recognized by a digital PBX, and it may prevent a connection if it occurs after the access code.
  6. Click Save to close the dialog box and save the entry.

When the user forwards a call to this address book entry, Vocera dials the pager number, pauses briefly, and then passes the pager the hunt group number and the desk extension of the user who called. The pager displays the hunt group number and the desk extension. If the caller does not have a desk extension, the pager displays only the hunt group number.

The pager's owner returns the call by dialing the hunt group number and then entering the badge user's desk extension at the hunt group Genie prompt. Vocera then automatically connects the return call to the user's badge.

Vocera interprets the %V dialing macro in this example as the value you provided in the Vocera Hunt Group Number field on the Basic Info page of the Telephony tab. Vocera interprets the %D dialing macro as the value you provided in the Desk Phone or Extension field on the User Information page of the Add User dialog box when you set up the user. A user can also enter or edit this value in the User Console.