Paging ­ Overview & Frequently Asked Questions | AT&T Office@Hand
Article #6123

The Paging feature enables business’s real-time one-way broadcasting through multiple desk phones and overhead paging devices.  It is commonly required function in many industries, such as warehouse, hospital, retail, etc. This feature is available to all Office@Hand Office Editions at no extra cost.  Additional phone device purchase is available.

Features

• Enables real-time announcements to a combination of desk phones and overhead paging devices
• One-to-many communications
• Plug and Page.  Connect to your SIP-based paging devices and start paging, without the need of complicate installation and configuration of analog-to-digital converters.
• Compatible with Office@Hand Polycom and Cisco phone models.

Benefits

• Increase communication efficiency.  Broadcast announcements and emergency alerts to the entire organization or selected peers.
• Eliminating the need to call individual employees with the same message.
• Easy creating/adding/modifying paging group over the cloud, anywhere, anytime.
• 100% SIP digital paging devices compatible.  Save cost from installing additional converters for analog devices.
• Flexible options for grouping desk phone and/or paging devices based on your business needs.
• No additional cost by using existing IP desk phones.

Supported paging devices

• Polycom and Cisco desk phones
• CyberData V2 Ceiling speakers (for indoor) and V2 Paging amplifiers (for outdoor use)

This feature is available on your online account in the Groups section:

This feature is available on your Office@Hand Online Account and enables Administrators to do the following:

• Add a Paging Only Group
• Select the Devices to Receive Pages
• Select the Users allowed to page the Group
• Provision a Paging Device

For more information, go to Paging ­ Set up | AT&T Office@Hand.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. What is a Paging Only group?
2. Will it be additional cost to add this feature?
3. Which AT&T Office@Hand service supports Paging feature?
4. What desk phone models support Paging feature?
5. What overhead paging devices support Paging feature?
6. Can I purchase these overhead paging devices from AT&T Office@Hand?
7. Can Paging be used on AT&T Office@Hand mobile apps or Softphone?
8. Do paging devices require a digital line (DL)?
9. How many devices can I add to a Paging Only group?
10. Can I set up the permission for announcing and receiving pages?
11. Are there special bandwidth requirements for the Paging feature?
12. What is the difference between Paging and Intercom?
13. How do I invoke the paging feature?
14. Can I use a more efficient method of paging?
15. Can Paging calls be recorded?
16. What happens if my desk phone receives a paging call while I am on a phone call?
17. Is there a maximum duration for a paging call?
18. Can unassigned desk phones be included in a Paging group?

1. What is a Paging Only group?
   A paging only group is a collection of paging devices and/or desk phones that can receive a paging call. It allows a business to make a real­ time announcement to multiple desk phones and/or overhead paging devices. Typically a paging group is designed to create certain coverage in a building (i.e. “Warehouse” or “2nd Floor”). Paging Only groups have an assigned extension but cannot receive or originate voice calls.
   Note: See Paging Overview to learn more.
2. Will it be additional cost to add this feature?
   No. This feature is included for free in all Office Editions.
3. Which Office@Hand service supports Paging feature?
   All Office@Hand Editions support the Paging Feature.
4. What desk phone models support Paging feature?
   All Office@Hand models:
   • Cisco: 7841, 8861, SPA-303 Desk Phone, SPA 508G, SPA 514G, SPA 525G2
     
   • Polycom: VVX 150, 250, 350, 450, 501, 601
     
   • Yealink: T42S, T46S, T48S
     * Polycom VVX 350 / 450 are improvements for the Polycom models VVX 311 / 411 respectively.
     
5. What overhead paging devices support Paging feature?
   AT&T Office@Hand supports native SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) paging devices. The only models supported are:
   • CyberData V2 Ceiling speakers (for indoor)
   • CyberData V2 Paging amplifiers (for outdoor)
6. Can I purchase these overhead paging devices from AT&T Office@Hand?
   No. These paging devices can be sourced from Telecom / VoIP equipment resellers. Many of these can also assist with installation.
7. Can Paging be used on AT&T Office@Hand mobile apps or Softphone?
   Your mobile devices and Softphone cannot receive pages. Paging feature is only available on desk phones and supported paging devices. However, you can dial DTMF (Dual­ tone multi-­frequency signaling) code *84 to page a Page only group.
   Note: You need to enable the VoIP Calling mode on your mobile device in order to use Paging.
8. Do paging devices require a digital line (DL)?
   No. These devices can be provisioned to the system without a DL since they cannot originate or receive regular telephone calls.
9. How many devices can I add to a Paging Only group?
   AT&T Office@Hand supports up to 25 phone desks and paging devices per one paging group.
10. Can I set up the permission for announcing and receiving pages?
    Yes. Your administrator can help create specific paging groups that indicate the permission for announcing and receiving the broadcasts.
11. Are there special bandwidth requirements for the Paging feature?
    Yes. Each device receiving a paging call consumes the equivalent of a single G.711 phone call i.e. a call to a paging group containing 10 devices/phones will create a bandwidth load of 11 G.711 calls: 1 for the originating phone and 10 for all the group devices.
    Note: In this release the bandwidth settings for desk phones are ignored for paging calls i.e. all paging calls operate in the high­ bandwidth setting.
12. What is difference between Paging and Intercom?
    Paging is one ­way broadcast one or multiple devices/users while Intercom is peer-­to­-peer, two-­way communication between two devices/users.
13. How do I invoke the paging feature?
    Paging can be invoked the following manner:
    • Desk Phones
      Press the <Page> soft­key on supported Polycom or Cisco desk phone models and follow the prompts. Dial *84 and follow the prompts
    • Desktop Phone
      Dial *84 and follow the prompts
    • Mobile App
      Dial *84 and follow the prompts (VoIP calling mode enabled)
14. Can I use a more efficient method of paging?
    Yes. You can dial *84#<extension number>#. This will bypass the prompt for the paging group.
15. Can Paging calls be recorded?
    Yes. Automatic Call Recording can be enabled for a Paging group and the call recordings will be available to the administrator via the activity log. User who initiates a paging call will not see the recording in their activity log.
16. What happens if my desk phone receives a paging call while I am on phone call?
    I see a new incoming call with the Caller ID of a paging group. If I answer this call, I will be connected to the paging call already in progress.
17. Is there a maximum duration for a paging call?
    No.
18. Can unassigned desk phones be included in a Paging group?
    No.