Using a calendar to control Follow Me

Follow me is an interesting feature that allows for calls to a user to be directed down two different paths, depending on whether follow me is enabled or disabled.

In a typical instance, a user may want calls to ring on their extension if they are at their desk, but to ring the reception extension when they are on lunch. This setup would involve configuring the reception extension to be a member of the user's follow-me list, and then the user making use of a feature code to enable follow-me right before they leave the office, and disabling follow-me upon their return.

With the introduction of calendars in our 1.5 release, it is now possible to configure follow-me to enable and disable automatically based on events scheduled in the user's calendar. Simply, the call will ring at the user's extension, unless there is an event scheduled in their calendar, in which case the follow-me list of the extension will be processed.

Once a calendar has been configured for the user, their follow-me can be configured to switch automatically, based on calendar events.

• Navigate to the Extensions page of the GUI, right click on the chosen extension, and select "follow-me"

• Set "Enable Calendar matching" to Yes
• Select the appropriate calendar for the user

Attention should be paid to the Calendar Match Inverse setting. When set to "Yes" , follow me will be disabled at times when no event is scheduled, and enabled at times when an event is scheduled on the calendar. This is the typical use case.

Shifted, or part-time, staff may create calendars with events scheduled to mark their shifts. In this instance, Calendar Invert Match would be set to "No", so that calls ring at the extension when there is an event in the calendar (and the user is on shift) and follow the follow-me list when no event is scheduled.