Call Back

Call Back Overview

The CallBack feature allows you to receive notification when a busy extension is available to receive calls.

You can activate Call Back for a destination phone that is within the same Unified Communications Manager cluster as your phone or on a remote Private Integrated Network Exchange (PINX) over QSIG trunks or QSIG-enabled intercluster trunks.

To receive CallBack notification, press the CallBack softkey or feature button while receiving a busy or ringback tone. You can activate Call Back during reorder tone, which is triggered when the No Answer timer expires.

Suspend/Resume

The Call Back feature enables the system to suspend the call completion service if the user who originated Call Back is busy. When the originating user then becomes available, the call completion service resumes for that user.


Note


Call Back supports Suspend/Resume CallBack notification for both intracluster and intercluster QSIG trunks or QSIG-enabled intercluster trunks.

Call Back Prerequisites

To use the Call Back feature, the destination phone must be in one of the following locations:

  • In the same Unified Communications Manager cluster as the user phone

  • On a remote PINX over QSIG trunks

  • On a remote PINX over QSIG-enabled intercluster trunks

If you want to use non-English phone locales or country-specific tones, you must install locales.

  • The following devices support the Call Back feature:

    • Cisco Unified IP Phones 6900, 7900, 8900, and 9900 Series (except 6901 and 6911)

    • Cisco IP Phones 7800 and 8800 Series

    • Cisco VGC Phone (uses the Cisco VG248 Gateway)

    • Cisco Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) 186 and 188

    • Busy Subscriber for Cisco VG224 endpoints

    • No Answer for Cisco VG224 endpoints

  • A CTI route point that forwards calls to any of the supported phones.

Call Back Configuration Task Flow

Complete one of the task flows depending on whether your phone supports softkey or buttons.

Use this table to determine whether to configure the CallBack softkey or the button for the Call Back supported IP phones.

Table 1. Cisco IP Phones That Use CallBack Softkeys and Buttons

Cisco Phone Model

CallBack Softkey

CallBack Button

Cisco Unified IP Phone 6900 Series (except 6901 and 6911)

X

X

Cisco Unified IP Phone 7900 Series

X

Cisco IP Phone 7800 and 8800 Series

X

X

Cisco Unified IP Phone 8900 Series

X

X

Cisco Unified IP Phone 9900 Series

X

X

Cisco IP Communicator

X

Before you begin

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

Configure Softkey Template for CallBack

Perform this step to add CallBack softkey to template and configure the softkey using the Common Device Configuration or phone.

Step 2

Configure CallBack Button

Perform this step to add and configure the CallBack button to a phone.

Configure Softkey Template for CallBack

CallBack softkey has the following call states:

  • On Hook

  • Ring Out

  • Connected Transfer

Use this procedure to make the CallBack softkey available:

Before you begin

Ensure your phone supports Call Back.

Procedure


Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Device Settings > Softkey Template.

Step 2

Perform the following steps to create a new softkey template; otherwise, proceed to the next step.

  1. Click Add New.

  2. Select a default template and click Copy.

  3. Enter a new name for the template in the Softkey Template Name field.

  4. Click Save.

Step 3

Perform the following steps to add softkeys to an existing template.

  1. Click Find and enter the search criteria.

  2. Select the required existing template.

Step 4

Check the Default Softkey Template check box to designate this softkey template as the default softkey template.

Note

 

If you designate a softkey template as the default softkey template, you cannot delete it unless you first remove the default designation.

Step 5

Choose Configure Softkey Layout from the Related Links drop-down list in the upper right corner and click Go.

Step 6

From the Select a Call State to Configure drop-down list, choose the call state for which you want the softkey to display.

Step 7

From the Unselected Softkeys list, choose the softkey to add and click the right arrow to move the softkey to the Selected Softkeys list. Use the up and down arrows to change the position of the new softkey.

Step 8

Repeat the previous step to display the softkey in additional call states.

Step 9

Click Save.

Step 10

Perform one of the following tasks:

  • Click Apply Config if you modified a template that is already associated with devices to restart the devices.
  • If you created a new softkey template, associate the template with the devices and then restart them. For more information, see Add a Softkey Template to a Common Device Configuration and Associate a Softkey Template with a Phone sections.

What to do next

Perform one the following procedures:

Associate CallBack Softkey Template with a Common Device Configuration

Optional. There are two ways to associate a softkey template with a phone:

  • Add the softkey template to the Phone Configuration.

  • Add the softkey template to the Common Device Configuration.

The procedures in this section describe how to associate the softkey template with a Common Device Configuration. Follow these procedures if your system uses a Common Device Configuration to apply configuration options to phones. This is the most commonly used method for making a softkey template available to phones.

To use the alternative method, see Associate CallBack Softkey Template with Phone.

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

Add CallBack Softkey Template to the Common Device Configuration

Perform this step to add CallBack softkey template to the Common Device Configuration.

Step 2

Associate a Common Device Configuration with a Phone

Perform this step to link the CallBack softkey Common Device Configuration to a phone.

Add CallBack Softkey Template to the Common Device Configuration
Procedure

Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Device Settings > Common Device Configuration.

Step 2

Perform the following steps to create a new Common Device Configuration and associate the softkey template with it; otherwise, proceed to the next step.

  1. Click Add New.

  2. Enter a name for the Common Device Configuration in the Name field.

  3. Click Save.

Step 3

Perform the following steps to add the softkey template to an existing Common Device Configuration.

  1. Click Find and enter the search criteria.

  2. Click an existing Common Device Configuration.

Step 4

In the Softkey Template drop-down list, choose the softkey template that contains the softkey that you want to make available.

Step 5

Click Save.

Step 6

Perform one of the following tasks:

  • If you modified a Common Device Configuration that is already associated with devices, click Apply Config to restart the devices.
  • If you created a new Common Device Configuration, associate the configuration with devices and then restart them.

Associate a Common Device Configuration with a Phone
Procedure

Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Phone.

Step 2

Click Find and select the phone device to add the softkey template.

Step 3

From the Common Device Configuration drop-down list, choose the common device configuration that contains the new softkey template.

Step 4

Click Save.

Step 5

Click Reset to update the phone settings.


Associate CallBack Softkey Template with Phone

Optional: Use this procedure either as an alternative to associating the softkey template with the Common Device Configuration, or in conjunction with the Common Device Configuration. Use this procedure in conjunction with the Common Device Configuration if you need to assign a softkey template that overrides the assignment in the Common Device Configuration or any other default softkey assignment.

Procedure

Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Phone.

Step 2

Click Find to select the phone to add the softkey template.

Step 3

From the Softkey Template drop-down list, choose the template that contains the new softkey.

Step 4

Click Save.

Step 5

Press Reset to update the phone settings.


Configure CallBack Button

The procedures in this section describe how to configure the CallBack button.

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

Configure Phone Button Template for Call Back

Perform this step to assign CallBack button features to line or speed dial keys.

Step 2

Associate a Button Template with a Phone

Perform this step to configure the CallBack button for a phone.

Configure Phone Button Template for Call Back

Follow this procedure when you want to assign features to line or speed dial keys.

Procedure

Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Device Settings > Phone Button Template.

Step 2

Click Find to display list of supported phone templates.

Step 3

Perform the following steps if you want to create a new phone button template; otherwise, proceed to the next step.

  1. Select a default template for the model of phone and click Copy.

  2. In the Phone Button Template Information field, enter a new name for the template.

  3. Click Save.

Step 4

Perform the following steps if you want to add phone buttons to an existing template.

  1. Click Find and enter the search criteria.

  2. Choose an existing template.

Step 5

From the Line drop-down list, choose feature that you want to add to the template.

Step 6

Click Save.

Step 7

Perform one of the following tasks:

  • Click Apply Config if you modified a template that is already associated with devices to restart the devices.
  • If you created a new softkey template, associate the template with the devices and then restart them.

Associate a Button Template with a Phone

Procedure

Step 1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Device > Phone.

Step 2

Click Find to display the list of configured phones.

Step 3

Choose the phone to which you want to add the phone button template.

Step 4

In the Phone Button Template drop-down list, choose the phone button template that contains the new feature button.

Step 5

Click Save.

A dialog box is displayed with a message to press Reset to update the phone settings.

Call Back Interactions

Feature

Interaction

Call Forward

Calls that are made from CallBack notification screen will override all the Call Forward configured values on the target DN. The calls should be made before CallBack recall timer expires otherwise the calls will not override the Call Forward configured values.

CallBack notification with phones running SIP

CallBack notification works differently only for Cisco Unified IP Phones 7960 and 7940. All other SIP phones and all SCCP phones support on-hook and off-hook notification.

The only way that Unified Communications Manager knows when a line on a SIP 7960 or 7940 phone becomes available is by monitoring an incoming SIP INVITE message that Unified Communications Manager receives from the phone. After the phone sends the SIP INVITE to Unified Communications Manager and the phone goes on-hook, Unified Communications Manager sends an audio and CallBack notification screen to the Cisco Unified IP Phone 7960 and 7940 (SIP) user.

Do Not Disturb (DND)

CallBack would work normally in case or when DND-Reject is set to Off at the originating or the terminating end. The behavior differs only when DND-Reject is set to On.

  • DND-Reject On on Originating end—User A calls User B and invokes Call Back. User A goes on DND-R. After User B is available, the CallBack notification will still be displayed to User A. That is, user will still be notified with the availability of the other party irrespective of the DND status.

  • DND-Reject On on Terminating end—User A calls User B, and User B has set DND-Reject to On. User A will get a fast busy tone. User A can initiate CallBack on a busy endpoint. If User B is still on DND-Reject and goes Offhook and Onhook, User A will get a notification "User B is available now but on DND-R", and it will not show the Dial option. If User A does not choose to cancel, CallBack will still monitor User B until User B sets DND-Reject to Off.

Cisco Extension Mobility

When a Cisco Extension Mobility user logs in or logs out, any active call completion that is associated with Call Back is automatically canceled. If a called phone is removed from the system after Call Back is activated on the phone, the caller receives a reorder tone after pressing the Dial softkey. The user may cancel or reactivate Call Back.

Call Back Restrictions

Feature

Restriction

Call Back with video across CUBE

The Call Back feature does not work for video calls when the call is placed between two Unified CM clusters that are connected via CUBE with qsig-enabled SIP trunks. For additional detail, see CSCun46243.

SIP Trunks

Call Back is not supported over SIP trunks but is supported over QSIG-enabled SIP trunks.

Supported characters for name or number of calling or called party

Call Back only supports spaces and digits 0 through 9 for the name or number of the calling or called party. To work with CallBack, the name or number of the calling or called party cannot contain a pound sign (#) or asterisk (*).

Voicemail

You cannot activate Call Back if you forward all calls to Voice-Messaging System.

Call Back Troubleshooting

This section describes the problems, possible causes, and solutions for various scenarios, and error messages that are displayed on the IP phone for Call Back.

Unplug/Reset Phone After Pressing CallBack Softkey but Before CallBack Occurs

Problem

You have unplugged or reset the phone after pressing the CallBack Softkey but before activating CallBack.

Possible Cause

Unified Communications Manager cancels the Call Back activation.

Solution

After the caller phone registers, the caller phone does not display the Call Back activation window after the reset. The caller must press the CallBack Softkey to view the active Call Back service. CallBack notification occurs on the phone.

Caller Misses to View Availability Notification Before Phone Reset

Problem

In an intracluster or intercluster Call Back scenario, a caller initiates Call Back for a user, for example, User B, who is unavailable. When User B becomes available, the availability notification screen displays on the caller phone, and a tone plays. The caller misses the availability notification for some reason, and the phone resets.

The caller contacts a different user, User C, for example, and presses the CallBack softkey because User C appears busy. The replace/retain screen displays on the caller phone, but the screen does not state that the availability notification already occurred for User B.

Possible Cause

The user reset the phone.

Solution

After a phone reset but not during an active call, review the Call Back notifications on the phone. Press the CallBack softkey.

Call Back Error Messages

The following section describes the error messages that display on the IP phone screen.

CallBack Is Not Active

Problem

The following error message is displayed:

CallBack is not active. Press Exit to quit this screen.
Possible Cause

User pressed the CallBack softkey during the idle state.

Solution

Follow the recommended action provided in the error message.

CallBack Is Already Active

Problem

The following error message is displayed:

CallBack is already active on xxxx. Press OK to activate on yyyy. Press Exit to quit this screen.
Possible Cause

A user tried to activate Call Back, but it is already active.

Problem

Follow the recommended action provided in the error message.

CallBack Cannot Be Activated

Problem

The following error message is displayed:

CallBack cannot be activated for xxxx.
Possible Cause

When a user tried to activate Call Back, either the extension is not available in Unified Communications Manager database or there is no QSIG route to the destination (that is, the extension belongs to remote Proxy which is connected via non-QSIG trunk), and the extension is not found in the database.

Solution

The user must try again, or the administrator must add the directory number to the Cisco Unified CM Administration.

Key Not Active

Problem

During a call, the CallBack softkey displays on the phone and the user presses the CallBack softkey before the phone rings. But, the following error message is displayed on the phone:

Key Not Active
Possible Cause

User may not be pressing the CallBack softkey at the appropriate time.

Solution

Users must press the CallBack softkey after a ringing or busy signal is received. Pressing the softkey at the wrong time may cause an error message to display on the phone.