jakorte's blog

Some time ago my office installed one of those way too sophisticated for normal everyday use phone systems. All those extra buttons I’ll never use have been blissfully ignored for at least a year.

Then, this morning, I received a call I need to transfer. Now Forward and Transfer are really the same button. Usually the screen shows Forward in the first lovely led title spot. It’s only when you pick up a call that Forward changes to Transfer. Pretty easy to use, right?

Except if that title disappears. Truly, I have no idea how it got obliterated from my screen, because it takes some complicated steps to change the defaults on these phones: permissions, passwords, blood samples, the ability to turn three cartwheels in a row while not spilling your precious coffee, stuff like that.

The bottom line is I couldn’t transfer the caller. I had to ask them to hang up and ring back the other person directly. That usually annoys people, but I did explain why it was necessary. Then, I sent out an email to the most phone savvy folks I have in my office network:

>>> Jodi Korte 2/27/2009 11:13 AM >>>
Good morning, all.
The transfer/forward button has seemed to disappear from my telephone led screen.
Does anyone have any idea how to get this back? The Nortel book isn't very helpful. Thanks.

Return replies:
Sorry, I don’t know, Try the QUIT button, Try the OPTION button, Try the SHIFT key, Throw it against the wall.
All good suggestions, but none of them worked. Admittedly, I didn’t try that last one. Job security/liabilty issues, you know.

Then, to my much too happy surprise, I heard from another unlucky coworker who had this happen to her. She graciously came down to my office and prepared to perform phone repair surgery. Before she could though, I received a call from another coworker.

The calling coworker informed me that particular button only shows up on her phone when someone calls in. I jumped up to look at my office mate's phone, just to be sure I hadn't completely lost it. It was right there on her phone in all it's greyish led glory. So, that wasn't it.

Another look at my phone nearly sent me into a tizzy. Now that I had a live caller on the line, my led screen was frighteningly completely blank. The caller took me through some “re-set” steps. They didn’t work. The patient coworker, who was still waiting at my desk, tried the solution that worked for her. And, well, as to be expected, that did not work for me, either.

What to do? 22 minutes later, out of desperation, I discovered the solution. I have happily shared this with my network of phone savvy admins, so that in the future we can prove our immeasurable value to the company should this dilemma occur again:

>>> Jodi Korte 2/27/2009 11:35 AM >>>
Thanks for the suggestions, all.
Due to desperation, I discovered the solution to restoring the missing Forward/Transfer Button:
When all else fails, unplug the phone from the wall, and seriously consider throwing it away.
Count to 10 to be sure that's what you really want to do, and then sigh dramatically and re-plug the phone back in.
The cute little "Forward" led title returns like magic. I guess it's sort of like a phone "reboot."
Yippee! Now, you know. Now, you’re more valuable, too.

jak