Issue / Question
This article was created to showcase the differences between Single Number Reach and Call Forwarding. If you have further questions, please contact our Service Desk for more information: 208-282-4357 or help@isu.edu.
Environment
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Platform
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Audience Affected
Resolution
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Remote Phone: a phone that you want to answer when you are not at your office. This can be a cell phone, home landline, or private office phone, for example.
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Desk Phone: the Cisco Phone that sits on your desk at work. This phone uses the ISU phone system.
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ISU Phone system: The telephone system that manages all of ISU’s phones, including voice messaging.
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ISU Number: Your work number is assigned to your desk phone.
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Off-Campus Phone: any phone not affiliated with the ISU phone system.
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Single Number Reach works by ringing your Remote Phone at the same time as your Desk Phone. This allows you to virtually answer your desk phone even when you are not at your desk. The phone call itself stays within the ISU phone system, however. This means if someone leaves a message, the message will be on the ISU Phone Messaging System.
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Call Forwarding works by transferring the phone call to another phone number. If you have your ISU phone transferred to an off-campus, Remote Phone, the phone call will literally be sent off-campus to your Remote Phone and will be using that phone carrier's system. If someone leaves a message, the message will be recorded on the messaging system of the Remote Phone if one is set up. (Be aware that some callers will be able to see the number that the ISU phone has been forwarded to on their display. Users who want to keep their personal numbers private should take this into consideration when choosing the call forwarding option. For more specific information on what numbers callers will see, read the next section.)
Many people have questions about what number will display when they use these systems. The following scenarios are an attempt to clarify what numbers display when phone calls are made.
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ISU number calls an ISU number = ISU numbers displayed on both phones.
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ISU number calls an ISU phone which has Single Number Reach set up to dial a Remote Phone = ISU numbers appear on both phones
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Off-Campus Phone calls an ISU phone set up with Single Number Reach = the ISU number appears on the Off-Campus phone.
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Single Number Reach Remote Phone calls an ISU number (including Single Number Reach and non-Single Number Reach phones)
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ISU numbers appear on both phones. The ISU phone system recognizes that the remote phone is part of the ISU system via the Single Number Reach setting, so as soon as the caller connects to the ISU system, it displays the ISU number.
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Single Number Reach Remote Phone Calls an Off-Campus Phone
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Remote Phone number, NOT the ISU number, appears on the Off-Campus Phone. (The remote phone is being used without interacting with the ISU phone system, so it behaves like a normal phone.)
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ISU number calls an ISU Phone set up with Call Forwarding sent to a Remote Phone
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ISU number and Remote Phone numbers are displayed on respective phones.
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The phone call went to the ISU phone, which then forwarded the phone call to the Remote Phone and thus out of the ISU phone system. The caller will see the number that the ISU phone has been forwarded to on their display. Users who want to keep their personal numbers private should know this when choosing the call forwarding option.)
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Off-Campus number calls an ISU phone set up with Call Forwarding sent to a Remote Phone
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ISU Phone number and Off-Campus number appear on respective phones.
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The off-campus call went to the ISU number and was redirected out of the ISU system to a separate phone system. However, ISU’s system passes on the original ISU number to the off-campus provider, so that is what the caller will see on their display.
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ISU Phone set up with Call Forwarding calls an ISU Phone
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ISU Numbers are displayed on both phones.
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Call forwarding transfers calls coming into a different phone. Because the call was going OUT, the number of the phone that made the call will display.
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Remote Phone that an ISU phone is forwarded to calls an ISU Phone
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Remote Phone number displays on the ISU phone, and ISU phone number displays on the Remote Phone.
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Call forwarding transfers calls coming into a different phone. Because the call was going OUT, the number of the Remote Phone that made the call will display.
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Remote Phone that an ISU phone call is forwarded to calls an Off-Campus Phone
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No ISU phone numbers are displayed. The Remote Phone's number will display on the Off-Campus Phone, and the Off-Campus Phone's number will display on the Remote Phone.
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Both phones operate without connection to the ISU system, so both behave as regular phones.