3. Usage Scenarios

The following examples are common applications of the shared appearances feature and are mentioned here as informative use cases. All these example usages can be supported by the shared appearances feature described in this document. The main differences relate to the user interface considerations of the device.

3.1. Executive/Assistant Arrangement

The appearances on the executive's UA also appear on the assistant's UA. The assistant may answer incoming calls to the executive and then place the call on hold for the executive to pick up. The assistant can always see the state of all calls on the executive's UA.

3.2. Call Group

Users with similar business needs or tasks can be assigned to specific groups and share an AOR. For example, an IT department staff of five might answer a help line that has three appearances on each phone in the IT work area. A call answered on one phone can be put on hold and picked up on another phone. A shout or an IM to another staff member can result in them taking over a call on a particular appearance. Another phone can request to be added/joined/bridged to an existing appearance resulting in a conference call.

3.3. Single Line Extension

In this scenario, incoming calls are offered to a group of UAs. When one answers, the other UAs are informed. If another UA in the group seizes the line (i.e., goes off-hook), it is immediately bridged or joined in with the call. This mimics the way residential telephone extensions usually operate.

3.4. Changing UAs

A user is on a call on one UA and wishes to change devices and continue the call on another UA. They place the call on hold, note the appearance number of the call, then walk to another UA. They are able to identify the same appearance number on the other UA, pick up the call, and continue the conversation.