Common area Lines

[kdalton]

We want to have what I would call a common area line.

We need three to four physical phone handsets (not mobile devices) in different areas of our program which all serve (and are served by) the same phone number. They will not be assigned to an individual (though we could create a persona for them with an email)

We want to put these in classrooms so that teachers have a phone on wall they can use in an emergency to either dial other staff for help or call 911.

They can't be "hot desk" shared lines where a teacher would have to log in as themselves and we can't afford to buy a separate line for each location.

Is there a way to do this in zoom? we had been told there was ...but now the zoom staff seems puzzled by this basic functionality of a business phone system. (This is one of THREE problems, they couldn't answer off hand.)

[Amit_Dhanda]

Hello Kdalton,

You can create a shared line / Call Queue and add those 4 common area phones with internal extension to shared line/ Call Queue.

If you want to set the outbound caller ID, you can set a call queue/ shared line number as caller ID as well.

I hope this answers your query. 

[Eliot]

hi amit_dhanda and kdalton,

Zoom has many options to meet different client needs.   

One alternative approach is to assign a desk/wall phone to each classroom with a basic (free) license for extension to extension calling and set up emergency calling.  This would allow teachers to call other teachers, administrators and internal safety response team but restrict outside calls to only permit emergency calls such as 911 in USA.

You will need to set up the classrooms as zoom phone users with zoom phone basic (free) licenses.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360001297663-Getting-started-with-Zoom-Phone-admin-

you need to assign the desk/wall phones to the classrooms.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360021119092-Managing-phones-and-devices

You will need to set up how you want emergency calls routed by following the support article link below.

For an extension without a phone number, select how you want to route calls from extensions that don't have a local phone number:

Route emergency calls to PSAP: Phone users without a direct phone number can reach a PSAP.

Don't route emergency calls to PSAP: Phone users without a direct phone number will be routed to the internal safety response team.

If you selected to route to PSAP for extensions without a local phone number, select a method to provide the caller ID to the PSAP:

Choose a temporary number from Emergency Number Pool: When an extension without a local phone number places an emergency call to the PSAP, a number from the pool will be chosen as the extension's temporary caller ID. Any subsequent inbound calls for that caller ID will be routed to the originating extension that placed the emergency call. This temporary routing will last for 2 hours.

If this is your first time selecting the above routing option, you need to assign numbers to the Emergency Number Pool.

Click Assign Numbers. Only unused phone numbers can be assigned to Emergency Number Pool.

Click Confirm. Zoom will deactivate the outbound caller ID and the temporary routing below when the Emergency Number Pool is established.

If you previously assigned numbers to the Emergency Number Pool, click Emergency Number Pool to assign and remove numbers from the pool.

Choose a dedicated number: Select a direct phone number as the caller ID. The direct phone number must belong to a call queue or auto receptionist. The number will be presented to the PSAP when an extension without a local phone number places an emergency call, so that subsequent inbound calls will be routed to the queue or auto receptionist. This method should only be used when the queue or auto receptionist is the best method for handling emergency call-backs in your environment.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360062110192-Routing-emergency-calls

Did my response answer your question? If so, please don't forget to mark the reply as an accepted solution.

thanks, eliot