Telephone: Cisco Getting Started

This service is for faculty, staff, and student workers.

How do I make a call from a campus phone?

  • To another St. Thomas phone: Simply enter the last 5-digits of the phone number (Eg. 2-6230). 
  • To an non-St. Thomas number: Dial 8 first to reach outside numbers + area code + phone number
  • To make a long distance call: Dial 8 + 1 + area code + phone number. At the beep, you will need to enter your authorization code.
  • To make an international call: Dial 8 + 011 for the U.S. exit code + Country Code + International Phone number. At the beep, you will need to enter your authorization code.

How to Answer Multiple Lines

If you are talking on the phone when you get another call, a message appears briefly on the phone screen. Press the flashing amber line button to switch lines and press the session button to answer the second call. The first call goes on hold automatically. 

How to Put a Call On Hold

  1. Press the Hold icon.Hold icon for cisco phones The hold icon appears and the line button will flash green. 
  2. To resume a call from hold, press the flashing green line button. You can also press either Resume or Hold

How to Transfer a Call

  1. From an active call, press the Transfer button 
  2. Enter the transfer recipient's phone number.
  3. Press the Transfer button again (before or after the party answers). The transfer is then complete. 

Direct Transfer

You can transfer the active call to the held call either on the same line or across lines. 

  • From an active call, press TransferTransfer icon for Cisco phone 
  • For a held call, press Active calls to select the held call and then press Transfer again to finish the call transfer. 

How to Host a 3-Way Call

  1. From an active call, press Conference icon Conference icon for Cisco phones
  2. Make a new call
  3. Press Conference again (before or after the party answers). The conference begins and the phone displays "Conference."
  4. Repeat these steps to add more participants

The conference call ends when all participants hang up.

How to Mute Yourself

  1. While on a call, press the Mute icon. Mute icon for Cisco phones The button glows to indicate that mute is on.
  2. Press Mute again to turn mute off. 

How to Reach Your Voicemail

Press Messages and follow the voice prompts. Messages icon for Cisco phones

How to Forward All Calls

  • To forward calls to another St. Thomas extension, press Forward all and then enter a valid St. Thomas extension number. You will hear a confirmation tone. 
  • To forward all calls to voicemail, press Forward all and then the Messages button Messages icon for Cisco phones.
  • To cancel call forwarding, press Forward off.

How to View Call History

  1. Press Applications. Applications icon for Cisco phones
  2. Scroll and select Recents. (This may be Call History depending on the model phone you have).

Select a line to view. your phone number displays the last 150 missed, placed, and received calls. To view details for a call, scroll to the call, press More, and then press Details.

How to Adjust Phone Volume

The Volume bar is located to the left of the keypad. Volume bar for Cisco phones

  • To adjust the handset, headset, or speaker volume, press Volume when the phone is in use.
  • To adjust the ringer volume, press Volume on the left (-) or right (+).
  • To silence the phone when ringing, press Volume left one time. Pressing Volume multiple times lowers the ringer volume

How to Adjust Ringtone

  1. Press Applications Applications icon for Cisco phones
  2. Select Settings > Ringtone
  3. If you have multiple lines, you will have to select which line you are changing the ringtone on. (Note: You can set different ringtones for the phone lines).
  4. Scroll through a list of ringtones and press Play to hear a sample
  5. Press Set and Apply to save a selection

How to Adjust Screen Brightness

  1. Press Applications Applications icon for Cisco phones
  2. Select Settings > Brightness
  3. Note: If you have a key expansion module, you will need to adjust which brightness you are adjusting. 
  4. Press the Navigation cluster left or right to increase the brightness.
  5. Press Save

How to Adjust Font Size

  1. Press Applications Applications icon for Cisco phones
  2. Select Settings > Font Size
  3. Select Tiny, Small, Regular, Large, or Huge.
  4. Press Save.

How to Keep Track of Multiple Calls

Line button colors indicate call states and can help you stay oriented when handling multiple calls including shared lines:

  • Ringing call: Flashing amber
  • Connected call: Solid green
  • Held call: Flashing green
  • Shared line in-use remotely: Solid red
  • Shared line on hold remotely: Flashing red

Additional Resources

For a complete user guide, please visit the Cisco support website and search by your phone's model number. A guide to what phone models are available at St. Thomas is listed below:

  • 8800 Series (newest series at St. Thomas)
    • 8811 Model - distinguished by its grayscale display screen
    • 8851 Model - distinguished by its color display screen
  • 7800 Series (primarily found in the Dougherty Family College)
    • 7841 Model - distinguished by 2 soft buttons on each side of the main screen and 4 buttons below the main screen
  • 6900 Series (deployed between 2005-2017 and will be replaced to the 8800 series in Summer 2021)
To report a problem or receive additional troubleshooting, please contact the Tech Desk