Presently, none of the versions of the TeleConsole app(desktop or mobile) support BLF or speed dialing. You would need to use a physical SIP phone to dial and monitor BLF and speed dials.
Definition and Usage
BLF
BLF stands for Busy Lamp Field. The term describes a group of physical LED line keys or extensions, or equivalent icons on touchscreen phone models. These line keys indicate who is talking on other extensions of the PBX phone system (usually blinking red) and who is free to receive a call (usually solid green). BLF keys also function like regular line keys and can be pressed to dial their respective extensions.
BLF can save users time by letting them know if other agents are available to accept direct or transfer calls before they try to connect to their extension.
Speed Dial
While this can also be achieved using extensions, the speed dial feature is simpler to configure and just provides a calling or forwarding function for outbound calls from a user's line. Extensions, on the other hand, work for both inbound and outbound calling and are also used for access to system features and destinations.
You should give extensions and speed dials different numbers. If you give the same number to both, speed dials will get priority.
In general, Speed Dials are aimed for use with external numbers while BLF are used for internal numbers or extensions.
Both features work the same, allowing quick dialing with a push of a button, except that with BLF you also get the busy light indicator as the system is able to display the availability status of internal users.
Admin Center Configuration
BLF and Speed Dials are configured in the Admin Center.
- They can be configured for individual user lines from the Lines and Devices page, as explained here.
- Or they can be configured globally for all users from the Speed Dials page, as explained here.
- BLF keys are also useful for users in Pickup Groups to monitor and grab holding calls from other group members. Pickup groups are covered here.
After you create a new BLF or speed dial key or modify existing ones, users would need to reboot their phones or update the phone configuration to acquire the new key settings.
You can find rebooting and configuration updating instructions for phones we sell and support by selecting the Telephone User Guides on the home page of this support portal (scroll down to the the Knowledge Base section).