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Managing common area phones

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Overview

Common area phones are unassigned desk phones that can be used by anyone. Account owners and admins can add any supported device to the web portal and provision it as a common area phone. You can also enable hot desking for a common area phone, allowing phone users to sign in or out of the common area phone.

Here are a few scenarios where common area phones can be used:

  • If your office has a shared desk that doesn't belong to a specific employee, you can set up a common area phone and enable hot desking so that any employee can use it.
  • If your office reception area is unattended, visitors can use a common area phone to contact an employee.
  • If your warehouse or office requires a pager or intercom, you can set it up as a common area phone so that any phone user can use it.
  • If you have a employee that oversees common area phones, you can add the phones as delegates. This will allow the common area phone to make and receive call on behalf of the phone user.

This article covers:

Prerequisites

  • Pro, Business, or Education account
  • Account owner or admin privileges
  • Zoom Phone license 
  • Supported device

Note: Before adding a common area phone to the Zoom web portal, see an overview of the provisioning process.

Limitations

Common area phones don't support the following features:

If you require one of these features, consider using one of these workarounds:

  • Add a phone user and assign the desk phone to that user. You can still enable hot desking to allow other phone users to sign in to the device.
  • Use the common area phone's Call Handing settings to forward to a call queue, auto receptionist, or shared line group.
    Note: Don't use this workaround if you require nomadic emergency service.

Adding a common area desk phone

Follow these steps if want to add a desk phone that can be used by anyone.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management then Users & Rooms.
  3. Click the Common Area Phones tab.
  4. Click Add and enter the following information:
    • Site (only visible if you have multiple sites): Select the site you want the common area phone to belong to.
    • Display Name: Enter a display name to identify the common area phone.
    • Description (Optional): Enter a description to help identify the common area phone.
    • Extension Number: Enter an extension number to assign.
    • Emergency Address (only visible if you don't have multiple sites): Select an emergency address to assign to the common phone. If you selected a site for the common area phone, the site's emergency address will be applied to the phone.
    • Package: Assign an outbound calling package.
    • Country: Select the country of the phone's emergency address. The country determines the reserved extension numbers that you can't use for the phone.
    • Timezone: Select a timezone to set the time displayed on the common area phone.
    • MAC Address: Enter the 12-digit MAC address of the desk phone.
    • Device Type: Select the brand and model number using the drop-down menus.
    • Provision Template (Optional) - only visible if the specified device supports provision templates: Select a provision template to apply custom settings to the phone.
  5. Click Save. 
  6. Complete the provisioning process.
  7. (Optional) Follow the steps to assign a direct number to the common area phone.

Changing common area phone settings

Follow these steps if you want to edit the settings of a common area phone you have added.

Note: There are also global phone settings, and policy settings that enable or disable certain phone features.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management then Users & Rooms.
  3. Click the Common Area Phones tab.
  4. Click the display name of the common area phone you want to edit.
    You will see the following information and options:

Profile tab

  • Display name: Click Edit next to the display name to change it.
  • Description: Click Edit next to the description to change it.
  • Site: Displays the site that the phone user belongs to. Select another site using the drop-down menu to move the phone to another site.
  • Package: Click Assign to assign an outbound calling package. Click × next to an assigned package to remove it.
  • Extension Number: Click Edit to change the extension number assigned to the phone user.
    Note: Extension numbers can be up to 6 digits. If you have multiple sites and enabled site codes, extension numbers can be 2 to 5 digits and site codes can be 1 to 2 digits.
  • Number(s): Click Assign to assign direct phone numbers to the common area phone. This setting is only visible if you assign a package.
  • Emergency Address: Click Manage to edit the emergency address assigned to the common area phone. If you have multiple sites, you can select any address assigned to the site or the site's default address.
  • Outbound Caller ID (only visible if you assign a package): Select the outbound caller ID when the phone calls out. You can choose from phone numbers assigned to the main auto receptionist.
  • Country (only visible if you assign a package): Displays the country of the phone's emergency address. The country determines the reserved extension numbers that you can't use for the phone.
  • Area Code (only visible if you assign a package): Displays the default area code for outbound dialing. Click Edit to change it, or Set if you haven't added the area code.
  • Time Zone: Select a time zone to set the time displayed on the common area phone.
  • Device Type: Displays the device's brand and model.
  • MAC Address: Displays the 12-digit MAC address of the desk phone.
  • IP Address: Displays the local IP address of the device.
  • Provision Template (optional; only visible if the device supports provision templates): Select a provision template to apply custom settings to the phone.
  • Status: Displays the provisioning status of the phone. If you provisioned the phone and it's currently functioning, you will see an Online status. 

The follow buttons are at the bottom of the page:

Note: Click Resync after changing common area phone settings. This will re-sync your phone with the provisioning server and apply your changes.

Policy tab

Policy settings allow you to enable or disable certain Zoom Phone features.

Settings tab

Note: After setting custom hours, you can customize how inbound calls are routed during these hours. 

  • Business Hours: Click Edit to change the times when the user can answer calls. You can set business hours to span past 11:30 PM. You can also set business hours in increments of 10 mins by manually entering a time; for example, 11:10 PM.
  • Closed Hours: If you customized business hours, you can also set closed hours. 
  • Holiday Hours: Click Manage to designate certain days are holidays. 
  • Keys & Positions: Change line key settings.

Call handling settings

  • Ring the Device: Enable or disable the ring for inbound calls.
  • Ring Duration: If you enabled Ring the Device, set the maximum ring duration before the call is handled as specified in the setting below (When a call is not answered).
  • When a call is not answered: Select how unanswered calls are handled during the specified hours.
    • Play a message, then disconnect: Plays a custom message for the caller then hangs up the call. Click Audio Library to select, record, or upload custom audio.
    • Disconnect: The call will be disconnected without playing a message.
    • Forward to another extension: Route calls to another extension in the account.

Converting an unassigned desk phone to a common area phone

You can convert a provisioned, unassigned desk phone to a common area phone without having to re-provision it.

Note: If the desk phone is currently assigned, edit its settings to unbind it from the phone user.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management then Users & Rooms.
  3. Click the Unassigned tab.
  4. Click the display name of the phone you want to convert.
  5. Click Set up as Common Area Phone.
  6. Specify the same information as if you were adding a common area phone.
  7. Click Save.
    The desk phone will appear in the Common Area Phones tab. The desk phone may reboot several times to complete the conversion.
    Note: If the common area phone is offline, reboot the phone to bring it back online.

Converting a common area phone to an unassigned desk phone

You can convert a common area phone to an unassigned desk phone without having to re-provision it.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management then Users & Rooms.
  3. Click the Common Area Phones tab.
  4. Click the display name of the phone you want to convert.
  5. Click Unassign at the bottom of the page.
    The phone will appear in the Unassigned tab. The desk phone may reboot several times to complete the conversion.
  6. (Optional) Assign the desk phone to a phone user.

Adding a common area phone to a call queue

You can add a common area phone to be a member of a call queue.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management then Call Queues.
  3. Click the name of the call queue you want to add the phone to.
  4. In the Member(s) section, click View or Edit.
  5. Click Add.
  6. Click the Common Area Phone tab.
  7. Select the common area phone and click OK.

Adding a common area phone to an auto receptionist

You can route to a common area phone during an auto receptionist's business or closed hours.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation, click Phone System Management then Auto Receptionists.
  3. Click the name of the auto receptionist you want to add the phone to.
  4. In the Business Hours or Closed Hours section, click Edit next to Route to.
  5. Select Common Area Phone, enter the phone's name, then select the common area phone.
  6. Click OK.

Adding a common area phone to an IVR

If you have an a IVR system, you can provide an IVR menu option for callers to route to a common area phone.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation, click Phone System Management then Auto Receptionists.
  3. Click the name of the auto receptionist with an IVR you want to add the phone to.
    Note: Set up an IVR if the auto receptionist if it doesn't have one.
  4. In the Business Hours or Closed Hours section, click Edit under Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
  5. Click Edit next to one of the key.
  6. Select Forward to Common Area Phone.
  7. Click OK.

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