Receptionist Mode: Generally a call will always appear on the first line appearance of a Polycom®, Cisco SPA, Yealink or Snom phone unless the system has been configured to point a DID / Line to a specific line appearance on the phone. With a user busy on a call, notification of a subsequent call will be via a call waiting tone (if configured) in the ear and a phone display change. This is not always convenient or practical for a busy administrator. Many of our available phones have alternate configuration options for this feature. Using a simple configuration change using the Receptionist Mode option (see portal configuration Extensions link for the available phone models - example below) to ensure that incoming calls to the extension will roll down the line appearance keys.
The primary distinction between receptionist mode and non-receptionist mode is to give the person answering the phone the ability to manage their calls on physical buttons and to navigate between those call using the buttons as opposed to using the navigation keys.