How to: Setup trixbox PRO’s FindMe

Without a doubt, FindME is one of the most useful features that trixbox PRO has to offer.  The ability to extend your extension beyond the borders of your office, and have access to your calls from anywhere allows users greater freedom than ever before!  Want to go grab a bite to eat, but don’t want to miss an important call?  Set up your FindMe to forward to your cell phone and you can go wherever you want, and still be within reach of your customers and clients.  FindMe can be configured in many different ways, each allowing you to control your incoming calls for whatever application you may need.

I have a few customers who have been having problems understanding FindMe, and even more who don’t even use it do to a lack of knowledge on the subject.  Because of this, I am going to detail a few applications of FindMe, and how to implement them on your trixbox Pro server.

Enabling FindMe

As the old saying goes, “Before we can learn to walk, we have to learn to crawl”.  No matter what you want to do with your FindMe, you are going to need to first enable it.  This can be setup in each of your trixbox’s extensions web login.  For those who do not know, in each extension you create in a trixbox PRO server, you will be prompted to set up a web login and password for use at the trixbox Hybrid Hosted control panel, cp.trixbox.com.  This username and password can be used by users to adminstrate their own extension settings, set their profile info, view their recorded calls (Call Center Edition only), control their voicemail and view call reports.  To enable the FindMe feature, you must log into your extension, and click on the features tab at the top of the site.  This will bring you to the Call Forwarding/FindMe settings page (which also hosts a utility to change your password and set queue settings (Call Center Edition only).  By default, all extensions have the ‘Do not forward my calls’ setting enabled.  From this screen, you can choose to forward your calls to a single number, or enable the FindMe feature, which can unitilze Boomerang Mobile Integration if you are planning to forward calls outside of your system.

Forwarding to a Cell Phone/External Number

Now that we have our FindMe enabled, let’s forward calls to a cell phone using FindMe.  You will notice that once you enable Find Me, a ‘When to FindMe’ window.  This allows you to configure your FindMe to fit your needs and schedule.  You can set your find me in three different ways.

• Always FindMe – This is the easiest option to use.  When enabling this option, every call you get, internal or external, at all times will be subject to your FindMe settings.
• FindMe using a schedule – Using this option, you can set a time frame for when this mode is to be used.  This allows you to do things such as enabling FindMe only during Office hours, only during non-office hours, only during the week, or any other time frame you might want to use.
• FindMe using a schedule and HUD Status – Using this option allows you to set a specific period just as the above setting, as well as using your Hud Status.  This means that you can set your schedule as you want it, but allow you to use your Hud Status (Online, Away, Offline) to overwrite these settings for greater control.

You will also notice that there is an option to not use FindMe when you are actively talking on the extension.  This feature is VERY important, because it prevents your calls from entering your FindMe settings if you are simply missing a call because you are on the other line.  If you do not enable this option, there might be times you want to let a call go to voice mail because you are on an important call, but end getting another call on your cell phone!

For this example, I am enabling the “Don’t FindMe when I’m talking…” option, as well as using the ‘Always FindMe’.   Now we can configure “How to FindMe”.  The FindMe system operates in steps, allowing you to control what happens for each call and when it happens.  Normally, you will have step one ‘call my extension’ so that when you get a call, it first goes to your extension.  You can then choose how exactly to route your call to your cell phone.  Ultimately, the only setting you will need to set is ‘call my mobile’, which will forward the call to whatever number you have set as your mobile number in your profile.  But using several features, you can tailor the call flow to your liking.  Some of the more popular features are:

• Notify caller I’m being located – This will prompt the system to play a recorded message alerting the caller that you are being located
• Call external number – This will allow you to call an external number of your choosing, which would come in handy to forward calls to your home, or another person.
• Enable call screening – This will enable the call screening feature, which will alert your caller that you are away from your desk, and that you are being located, as well as prompting the customer to state their name, so that when the call reaches you, it can be played to allow you to know exactly who is calling.
• Press to Accept – This feature will allow you to accept, or reject, calls once they reach you.  If a call is rejected, it will return to your voice mail.
• Forward to my other voice mail – This will enable you to forward calls to a voicemail box other than yours, or a shared mailbox.
• Overwrite caller ID name – This will replace the caller ID with a field of your choosing, to let you know the call is coming from your FindMe.

So using these options, I will set my Find Me to a pretty basic setup.  First, I will choose to ‘Always FindMe’.  Next, I will work down my ‘How to FindMe’ steps.  I have attached a picture below so that you can follow along.  With these settings, at any time I get a call on my extension, it will first ring at my desk for 20 seconds.  If in that time I do no answer, which would usually mean I am away from my desk, the call will begin to forward to my cell phone.  First, it will enable call screening, so that I will know who is calling me.  Next, it will overwrite the caller ID, so I can see that this is a FindMe Call.  Then the call will be routed to my cell phone (As well as my desk phone at the same time, in case I return to my desk) for 45 seconds, with press to accept.  So now, if I answer the call on my phone, the call screening will announce the calling party, and allow me to accept or reject the call (the caller will never know, to them it will appear as if I am still being located).  If I do not answer during these 45 seconds, the call will go to my voicemail.

This simple setup allows me to be accessible anywhere, but also controls which calls I do and do not take.  This is a very basic setup, and with some tweaking, you can do so many different options that might better suite your needs.

White List

One last feature that I wanted to outline, is the White List.  This allows you to essentially set permissions on your find me.  You can control who can find you, and anyone else will just go to voice mail.  This allows you to allow only the most important calls, and to filter out unneeded calls.  This will allow you to make yourself available to family, management, or important clients, but prevent you from being bombarded by calls that can be handled once you return to your desk.

FindMe can really be used to make your trixbox fit your needs.  In the fast moving world of today, the ability to manage calls from anywhere is a major advantage that few systems can offer, and even less can match in ease, quality and functionality.  If you have any questions on FindMe, or anything covered in this article, please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to address your concerns.

Related Links:
888VoipStore Product Page: trixbox PRO
Manufacturer Page: trixbox

Tags: trixbox, VoIP Education, VoIP Software, VoIP Systems