Chorus Phoneman User Guide

Notice: Telephony replacement project

In response to BT switching off analogue lines in January 2027, the Telephony Replacement Project is currently coordinating the replacement of centrally managed analogue and critical phone lines.  In future (likely later in 2025) the project will also be reviewing the Chorus VOIP (digital line) service. For more information see the Telephony replacement project webpage.

 

You can connect to Phoneman by using your SSO credentials.

To request access or removal of Phoneman administrators, please see the Overview section below.

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To request a new Phoneman administrator, please complete the Chorus Access to Phoneman service request. 

To request to remove a Phoneman administrator, please complete the Chorus Access to Phoneman service request. 

LOGIN TO PHONEMAN

After login you will be taken to the home screen. This includes a self-service section which is available to all users, and may also show a devolved administration section which is only visible to phoneman administrators. If you are the Chorus administrator for a unit but can only see the self-service section then please contact us to request access.

The self-service section displays show the following settings as they apply to you:

  • Your telephone extension and host department
  • Your calling line identification (CLI) - this number will be displayed to people that you call. If this shows None then your telephone extension will be used for the CLI
  • Your dialling rights (none, internal-only, national, mobile, international, premium-rate)
  • Your directory status (private, internal-only)
  • Any phone handsets that your extension is connected to
  • Any hunt and pickup groups that you are in
  • Your local telephone administrator

You can also edit the speed-dial buttons on your phone:

  1. Click on the edit symbol at the end of the phone information
  2. You will be shown a list of the phones linked to your number. Select the phone you want to edit the speed-dial buttons for
  3. From the list of buttons, select the one you want to edit and complete the form to set the display name and dialed number for the button. Remember to add a leading 9 for external numbers

You can add, move, or remove extensions from your phoneman allocation by filling in the Chorus Phoneman Extension Amendments service request, through the IT self service portal.  Adding extensions incurs an upfront cost and ongoing rental, details of which can be found on the Chorus billing pages.  Deleting extensions incurs no cost, but please bear in mind that reinstating extensions is treated the same as adding new extensions.  

Moving extensions between Colleges and Departments (Business Units) is also possible, but requires authorisation from both parties, as there is a cost implication to both.  The Business Unit requesting a transfer of an extension will have to supply either a new extension (£200), or one of their own spare extensions to the Business Unit losing an extension.  This process can be managed as follows:

  • Search for the extension on Phoneman.  This should show you which Business Unit the extension is currently billed to.
  • Look up the Phoneman coordinator for the identified Business Unit on the list of Phoneman Administrators.
  • Contact the administrators to ask if they are willing to release the extension.
  • If the Business Unit is prepared to release the extension, please complete the Chorus Phoneman Extension Amendments service request.

 

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  1. Select the Numbers page
  2. Click on the sorting icons to the right of Extension and Assignment to sort by those columns
  3. Click Filters to filter by the type of number (Person, Non-Person, Teams, Unassigned)

Chorus Person lines are paired with SSOs (Oxford Single Sign-On); they come with voicemail by default.

Chorus Non-person lines are standard phone lines. They are attached directly to desk phones. By default they do not come with voicemail, however this is available to be added in Phoneman.

Telephony over Teams are extensions assigned to users in Telephony over Teams.

A set of icons is used to display and set the dialling rights for each number. Hovering over the icons will reveal a tool tip identifying the dialling right selection. From left to right the options are None, Internal only, National, Mobile, International and Premium. Each dialling right includes all dialling rights to the left of it. For example: selecting international will also allow the number to make mobile, national and internal calls.

To edit dialling permissions simply select the dialling permission required and click Update at the bottom of the screen.

Another pair of icons is used to display and set how the extension is visible in the directory.  Hovering over the icons will reveal a tool tip identifying the ex-directory selection. From left to right these options are Private, and University only. Only one icon be selected.

To change the ex-directory status simply click on the desired icon and click Update at the bottom of the screen.

Numbers which are private are not displayed anywhere. University numbers are seen in the Chorus directory and in the Nexus Global Address List.

The next two columns show the calls made and received by that extension, for information only.

  1. Select the Numbers page and scroll down to the bottom where you will find spare numbers
  2. Click on the edit icon next to a number
  3. Select person, non-person, or Telephony over Teams depending on the type of assignment you need, and complete the dialog to assign the number
  1. Select the Telephony over Teams page
  2. Start typing the name of the person into the box and select the correct person as soon as you recognise it. You can also enter an SSO username
  3. The current cost centre is displayed. Click the drop-down box to change to any other cost code used by your unit. If the one you require is not showing, please contact us to request it. This information is updated overnight
  4. Optionally, enter a free text comment which will be included in exports
  5. Click Done, then Update
  6. Phoneman will present you with a message to say that you must wait 10 minutes to make further changes.  It is important to follow this instruction.  Failure to do so may result in submitted requests failing and databases falling out of sync, requiring the intervention of multiple support teams to resolve.

The notification Assignment created successfully confirms that the change has completed.

  1. Select the Personal page
  2. Start typing the name of the person into the box and select the correct person as soon as you recognise it. You can also enter an SSO username
  3. You may choose whether the person has voicemail or not, and enter the delay before the call goes to voicemail
  4. The current cost centre is displayed. Click the drop-down box to change to any other cost code used by your unit. If the one you require is not showing, please contact us to request it. This information is updated overnight
  5. Optionally, enter a free text comment which will be included in exports
  6. You will see the details of phones which are registered to this extension, with the model, mac/IP address and the location of the frodo where they are registered
  7. Click Done, then Update

The notification Assignment created successfully confirms that the change has completed.

  1. Select the Non-personal page
  2. Enter a name to identify this line, up to 20 characters
  3. Select whether voicemail is required and (optionally) enter a pin, email address and delay before the call goes to voicemail
  4. The current cost centre is displayed. Click the drop-down box to change to any other cost code used by your unit. If the one you require is not showing, please contact the service desk to request it. This information is updated overnight
  5. Optionally, enter a free text comment which will be included in exports
  6. You will see the details of phones which are registered to this extension, with the model, mac/IP address and the location of the frodo where they are registered
  7. Click Done, then Update

The notification Assignment created successfully confirms that the change has completed.

This is for 'non-person' assigned extensions, e.g. receptions, labs, and shared phones, which are not assigned to an individual person. 

For 'person' assigned extensions please ask the user to Set a PIN for personal voicemail accounts

 

  1. Select the Numbers page and find the extension number that you need to set the voicemail PIN on
  2. Click on the edit icon (pencil) next to a number
  3. On the dialog box, make sure the tab selected is Non-personal
  4. If Voicemail is set to no, change it to yes
  5. Enter a 6-dit PIN
  6. Click Done on the dialog box that will close it
  7. Click Update on the bottom left of the page
  8. A message on the top of the page will show 'Extension xxxxx: Assignment updated successfully', confirming that the PIN has been set
  1. Click on the edit icon next to an assigned person or non-person number
  2. Proceed as for assigning a number (above)

To switch a person number to a non-person or vice versa you need to remove the number assignment as below, and then assign it as a new number.

  1. Select the Numbers page
  2. Click Delete (a red cross) on the right-hand side of the entry. The assignment will be struck-out
  3. Click Update
  1. Select the Numbers page
  2. Click Export and follow the prompts to save a CSV file

The following fields are included in the export:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Non-person details
  • Mailbox (yes/no)
  • Internal extension number
  • External number
  • SSO
  • Email address
  • Dialling permissions
  • Ex-directory status
  • Calls made and received
  • Cost centre
  • Comment

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Hunt groups on Chorus are a method of distributing telephone calls to a "pilot" number to a group of several phone handsets. Phone calls will be distributed to one phone after another or to all the phones at once. The target phone(s) will ring, and lifting the receiver will accept the call. This differs from a pickup group, where either a button is pressed or a number is dialed to pick up the call. 

The Hunt Groups page allows you to view and edit hunt group assignments within your department or college.

Re-assigning hunt group pilot numbers

You will need to contact us If you wish to re-assign a hunt group pilot number to another user or phone

 

You cannot use Phoneman to manage Call Queues on Telephony over Teams.  You can find out more about how to manage these on the Telephony over Teams Group Working page.

  1. Select the Hunt groups page and click the Add group button
  2. Enter a Name for the hunt group. This must be unique within Chorus
  3. Select the hunt group Type. Options are Circular, Linear, Simultaneous ring and Longest idle. Hunt groups used in Contact Centre will show Contact centre here
  4. Enter the hunt group members, noting that the order is important for circular and linear hunt groups
  5. Enter a Pilot Number for the hunt group. This must be a non-person number that is not assigned to a device/handset
  6. (Optionally) Enter an Overflow Number to receive calls when all the group members are busy or unavailable
  7. Click Update

Hunt group types

Type Call routing
Circular Calls are distributed to the next number in the list after the number that last answered a call
Linear Calls are always distributed to the first number in the list first
Simultaneous ring All the numbers ring at once
Longest idle Calls are distributed to the number that has been idle for the longest time 

NB: When a hunt group is created, the Pilot Number is automatically added as a member of the hunt group; this member cannot be removed from the hunt group (a hunt group always has at least one member, which is the pilot number). 

  1. Select the Hunt groups page and click edit next to the group you wish to modify
  2. Make your amendments (see previous section on Creating a hunt group)
  3. Click Update
  1. Select the Hunt groups page
  2. Click Delete (a red cross) next to the group you wish to delete. The selected group will be struck through
  3. Click Update

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Pickup groups on Chorus allow a group of people to pick up calls for anyone in the group from their own phone. It differs from a hunt group in that the user has to dial a number (**3) or press the Pick up button to pick up the call, whereas in a hunt group the call will be delivered automatically.  Note: a number can only exist in one pickup group. 

The Pickup Group page allows you to view and edit the pickup groups within your department or college.

Telephony over Teams offers similar functionality with Call Groups.  You can find out more about how to manage these on the Telephony over Teams Group Working Page.

 

  1. Select the Pickup groups page and click Add group
  2. Enter a name for the new Pickup Group. This must unique within Chorus
  3. Select members of this pick up group. Numbers cannot be in more than one pickup group: if you add a number that is already a member of another pickup group then it will be removed from the first group
  4. Click Update 
  1. Select the Pickup groups page and click edit next to the group you wish to modify
  2. Make your amendments (see previous section on Creating a pickup group)
  3. Click Update
  1. Select the Pickup groups page
  2. Click Delete (a red cross) next to the group you wish to delete. The selected group will be struck through
  3. Click Update

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In an Executive Assistant (EA) group on Chorus, one "assistant" can monitor a number of "executives", and make and receive calls on their behalf. An executive may have more than one assistant.

NB: All assistants must have handsets able to manage multiple lines, for example 55G, CP400, or CP600 handsets.  These are the only models with the buttons required for EA group functionality.

The EA groups page allows you to view the EA group assignments within your department or college. Please fill out the EA Groups Service Request to make changes.

Similar functionality is offered on Telephony over Teams by Call Delegation.  Please see the Telephony over Teams Group Working page for further information.

 

It is possible to show non-university numbers in the directory. A typical use case is including Oxford University Hospitals Trust numbers belonging to colleagues working in the OU hospitals. These show on the Numbers page, in a Non University Numbers tab. This tab will only be visible if the numbers have been set up by the Chorus team. 

These numbers are edited in the same way as University numbers, however the only options are to set a label and a comment. The label information will be shown in the Chorus directory only. 

To view information about your phone, directory status and dialling permissions


Phoneman

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