Buttons
Buttons are the softphone's BLF (Busy Lamp Field) keys, the same function a desk phone on an IP PBX has. A button dials an extension with one press. A button that watches its line also shows a lamp: the phone asks the PBX about that extension and shows whether it is free, ringing or busy, as a receptionist's console or the programmable keys of a desk phone do.
BLF needs support on the PBX side: the PBX has to report the state of the extension to the phone. Most IP PBXs do. If yours does not, the lamp stays grey and the button still dials.
The buttons stand under the account chips in the main window, and Settings → Buttons is where you make them.
Each row is a button: the lamp, its label, and at the right its number and the account it belongs to — for example 212 · 201 Office. ▲ and ▼ move the button up or down; the buttons in the main window follow this order. Add makes a new one.
The lamp
A button that watches its line shows a lamp:
| Lamp | The line is |
|---|---|
| Green | free |
| Amber | ringing |
| Red | on a call |
| Grey | unknown: the switch will not say |
Adding a button
Press Add; a form opens under the list.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Number | The number to dial. |
| Line | The account the call is placed on. Choose it first: to show the lamp, the phone asks that line's switch about this number, so it has to know which one. |
| Label | The text on the button, for example the person's name. The button has room for a short label only; a longer one is cut off. |
| Show whether this line is busy | A switch. On, the button has a lamp. Off, it only dials. |
Save stays grey until the form is filled in. Cancel drops the form.
The part of the program that shows the buttons can be switched off in Modules.