Avaya Campus Phones & Desktop Softphone

At Emerson, your office comes equipped with an Avaya handset, and your extension also runs on your computer. This guide covers the desk phone, voicemail, and the softphone. To set up Avaya Workplace on a mobile device, read this article.

There are three ways to use your Emerson extension:

• The web softphone at softphone.emerson.edu, which makes and answers calls in a browser tab with nothing to install.
• Your desk phone, the handset in your office.
• Avaya Workplace, the older desktop app, for people who already have it installed.

Two reference PDFs are available for the desk phone: Getting Started and the Reference Guide for voicemail codes, forwarding, and more. Avaya also publishes a full voicemail user guide.

The Web Softphone

The web softphone at softphone.emerson.edu runs your extension in a browser tab. There is nothing to install, so it works the same on any computer you sign in from, and it handles calls, contacts, call history, and voicemail from one page.

Signing in

1. If you are off campus, connect to the Emerson VPN. This step is not necessary on the campus network.
2. In Chrome or Edge on a Windows computer or a Mac, go to softphone.emerson.edu. The web softphone is not supported on phones or tablets.
3. Enter your Softphone username and Softphone Password, then sign in.
4. When the browser asks for permission to use your microphone, click Allow. Calls will not work without it.

Using the web softphone

The menu on the left moves between the main areas. What appears depends on how your extension is set up.

• Dashboard - the dial pad, your current call, and call controls.
• Contacts - the campus directory and your personal directory.
• Call history - missed, answered, and outgoing calls.
• Voicemail - play, save, and delete your messages.
• Recordings - play call recordings, if recording applies to your extension.
• Profile - your name, forwarding, and other extension settings.

Making and answering calls
Enter a number on the dial pad and click the call button. Dialing rules are the same as the desk phone: four digits for a campus extension, and 9 first for anything outside Emerson. Incoming calls appear at the top of the window, where you can answer or decline, and hold, transfer, and hang up controls appear once a call is connected.

Browser or desk phone
Use the device selector at the top of the window to choose where calls are handled. Select this browser to talk through your computer, or select your desk phone to use the page as a control panel for the handset on your desk.

Managing Your Phone Settings Online

Your phone settings are managed at myavaya.emerson.edu rather than from the handset, including your softphone credentials, your desk phone login code, your voicemail passcode, and call forwarding.

1. If you are off campus, first connect to the Emerson VPN. This step is not necessary on the campus network.
2. Go to myavaya.emerson.edu and sign in with your Emerson username and password.
3. Select Avaya Phone > Extension Management in the left sidebar. Your extension is on the My Phones tab.

From this page you can change:

• Softphone Password - the password for the web softphone and Avaya Workplace.
• Security PIN - the code you enter to log in to a desk phone.
• Voicemail Passcode - the code you enter to listen to messages by phone.
• Voicemail to Email - the address your voicemail audio files are delivered to.
• Call Forwarding - forward all incoming calls to another extension or an outside number.

Click Save beneath each setting you change. Two items on the page are shown for reference and cannot be edited: Softphone username, which you copy and use to sign in to the softphone, and Caller ID, the name people see when you call them. Email helpdesk@emerson.edu if your Caller ID needs to change.

The Main Screen

Every phone has four default buttons on the main screen: three lines for incoming and outgoing calls, labeled Line 1, Line 2, and Line 3, and a log out button. If you belong to a call center or a specialized group, you may have more.

Press Mute during a call so the other person cannot hear you, and press it again to unmute. When a call is muted, the Mute button is lit and the top line shows the Mute icon.

Logging In and Out of Your Phone

Avaya's IP Office separates your extension and voicemail from the hardware you use to reach them. Much like your Emerson email account, you can log in to your extension from any handset on campus.

1. Press Login.
2. Enter your four-digit extension and press OK.
3. Enter your Security PIN and press OK.

To find the extension assigned to a handset, lift the receiver and look at the top center of the screen. If you do not know your Security PIN, set a new one at myavaya.emerson.edu. For a shared phone that is not personally assigned to you, such as a front desk or conference room, email helpdesk@emerson.edu for help logging it in.

Locking and Unlocking Your Phone

You are responsible for everything that happens on your extension, so secure your logged-in phone when you are away from your desk.

To lock your phone:

1. Press Features.
2. Scroll down to Phone User, the third option on the menu.
3. Press Lock, the first option on the menu.

When locked, anyone who tries to dial from your handset gets an "Incompatible" error and a beep. To unlock, press Unlock and enter your Security PIN.

To change your Security PIN from the handset:

1. Press Features.
2. Scroll to Phone User, the third option on the menu, and press the OK button in the center of the arrow keys.
3. Scroll to Set Security Pin, the fifth option on the menu, and press OK.
4. Enter your current PIN and press Done.
5. Enter your new four-digit PIN and press Done. The phone confirms that your PIN has been changed.

You can also change your Security PIN at myavaya.emerson.edu. See Managing Your Phone Settings Online above.

Voicemail

Set your voicemail passcode
Set the passcode at myavaya.emerson.edu, or from your desk phone: press Features, scroll to Visual Voice, scroll to Passcode, enter your current passcode, then enter the new one. Choose something you can remember, because you enter it every time you listen to voicemail by phone.

Record your greeting
By default, callers hear a generic "Your call is being answered by Avaya IP Office" message. To record your own from any phone:

1. Dial 7500 from a campus phone, or (617) 824-7500 from off campus.
2. Enter your four-digit mailbox (your extension), then #.
3. Enter your passcode, then #.
4. The system prompts you to record your name. Press 1 to record and 1 again when you are finished.
5. Press 3 for greetings.
6. Press 1 to record the main greeting, then # when you are finished.
7. Press 1 to set the greeting for all calls, wait for the confirmation, and hang up.

From your desk phone, press the Message button, scroll to Greeting, and recording starts immediately. Listen plays back what you recorded, and Submit saves it.

Listen to messages
When a new message is waiting, the envelope icon on the Message button is lit red. Press Message. The first item in the list shows how many New, Old, and Saved messages you have. Press OK, choose a category, press OK again, then choose an individual message and press OK to listen. From any outside phone, call (617) 824-7500 and follow the prompts.

Making Calls and Dialing Outside

• Campus extensions: dial the four-digit extension.
• Local numbers: dial 9 followed by the phone number.
• Long distance: dial 9, then 1, then the area code and number.
• International: dial 9, then 011, then the country code and number.

You are responsible for any calls made or received using your assigned extension. For more information, see Information Technology's policy.

Setting Up a Conference Call

1. Press Conf once you have an active call.
2. Dial the next number, or call the person from your Contacts or History list.
3. When the second person answers, press Conf again. All three of you are connected.
4. Repeat to add another person.
5. Press Drop at any time to remove the last person added.

Putting a conference on hold
Press Hold during the conference. The other parties can still talk to each other. Press the blinking line where the call is holding to rejoin.

Adding a call to a conference

1. Press Hold to put the conference on hold. The other parties continue talking to each other.
2. Press an available Appearance button and dial the party you want to add.
3. If they answer and want to join, press Conf.
4. If they do not answer or do not want to join, press Drop, then press the Appearance button of the held call.

Changing Your Ringtone

The phones come with 16 ringtones installed.

1. Press the Home button.
2. Select Options & Settings.
3. Select Screen & Sound Options.
4. Scroll through the ringtones. Each one plays as you highlight it. Select Classic for more options.
5. Press Save when you find one you like.

Programming Quick Dial Buttons

You can add your own buttons to the main screen. This example creates a speed dial.

1. Press Features.
2. Scroll to Phone User, the third option on the menu, and press the OK button in the center of the arrow keys.
3. Select Self Administer and enter your Security PIN.
4. Scroll to a blank button field and press Replace.
5. Locate Abbreviated Dial in the list of button types and press Select.
6. Type the extension or number you want, or press Dir to find it in the directory. Scroll to your selection and press Save.
7. The speed dial appears on the home screen. Press the button next to it to call.

Call History

Your phone stores missed, received, and outgoing calls. Press History and use the arrow keys to move through them.

• Press Delete to remove an entry.
• Press Details to see the time, date, and extension of a call.
• Press More > +Contact > Save to turn an entry into a contact.

The Directory of Contacts

Everyone on the phone system appears in the directory. Press Contacts to view it.

To add a contact to your personal directory:

1. Press New.
2. Type a name using the keypad.
3. Use the down arrow to move to the number field and type the number. Numbers outside Emerson must start with 91 or the call will not go through.
4. Press Save.

Visit the online campus directory to find extension numbers for faculty, staff, and students.

Call Forwarding

The simplest way to turn forwarding on or off is at myavaya.emerson.edu. See Managing Your Phone Settings Online above.

You can also enter a destination once on the desk phone and then switch forwarding on and off without re-entering it. When forwarding is on, you hear an intermittent dial tone and the screen shows a "D" to the right of your username.

1. Press Features.
2. Select Forward.
3. Select Forward Unconditional.
4. Select Destination.
5. Type the number you want calls sent to. Begin with 91 for an outside number, then the area code and number.
6. Press Select to save the destination.
7. Select Fwd Unconditional, press On, then press Save.
8. To turn forwarding off, press Features > Forward > Forward Unconditional > Off > Save.

Unconditional forwarding can also send calls straight to voicemail. On the Forward Unconditional page, press the To VM soft button and then Save. When you turn voicemail forwarding back off, your previous destination number is restored.

Avaya Workplace: The Desktop App

Avaya Workplace is the older desktop client for your extension. It is kept for people who already have it installed and use it every day. It has to be installed and configured on each computer separately, so start with the web softphone if you are setting up for the first time.

Step 1: Install or update Avaya Workplace

Choose the option that matches your computer. The current phone system requires a recent version of the app, so update it even if you already have it installed.

On an Emerson purchased Mac

1. Open Emerson IT Self Service from the Applications folder or Spotlight and sign in with your Emerson username and password.
2. Search for Avaya Workplace and install the latest version. No administrator access is needed.

On an Emerson purchased Windows computer

1. Type software center in the Windows taskbar search box, then open Software Center.
2. Open Applications and search for Avaya Workplace.
3. Click it, then click Install or Update. You can keep working while it runs, and no administrator access is needed.

See Installing and Updating Software on Emerson Windows Computers for more about Software Center.

On a personal computer

This method requires administrator access, so use it only on a computer you own.

1. Download the installer for Windows or Mac, signing in to Google Drive with your Emerson credentials, and open the zip file.
2. Windows: launch the installer, click Run, accept the license agreement, and keep the defaults on every screen (Complete installation, C:\Program Files (x86)\Avaya\Avaya Workplace\, English). Click Install, then Yes if Windows asks to allow changes, then Finish.
3. Mac: open the Mac folder in the zip file and drag Avaya Workplace into your Applications folder. Open it once copying finishes.

Step 2: Set up the app

1. Open Avaya Workplace and wait for it to launch. Click Got It if a window appears announcing the name change in the application.
2. Click Configure my account.
3. Do not enter your email address. Click the gear icon in the upper right and select Use web address.
4. In the URL field, enter https://avaya.emerson.edu/46xxsettings.txt and click Next.
5. At the sign-in screen, enter your Extension and your Softphone Password.

If Avaya Workplace will not connect or sign in

An "invalid username and password" message, or an app that will not place calls, usually means Avaya Workplace is holding onto old server settings. Resetting the app clears its configuration and walks you back through setup. Nothing else on your computer is affected.

1. Click the gear icon in the upper right.
2. Click Support in the left menu.
3. Click Reset Application.
4. Click CLEAR on the confirmation popup.
5. Click Configure my account.
6. Do not enter your email address. Click the gear icon in the upper right and select Use web address.
7. In the URL field, enter https://avaya.emerson.edu/46xxsettings.txt and click Next.
8. At the sign-in screen, enter your Extension and your Softphone Password.

If the app still rejects your sign-in, set a new Softphone Password at myavaya.emerson.edu and enter it again. Type the password carefully: if the field stops accepting keystrokes and you hear an error tone, click back into the Password box and continue. Email helpdesk@emerson.edu if you are still stuck.