AT&T Voice DNA® User Support

Overview

Use the Virtual Office feature to set up other phone numbers to act like your AT&T Voice DNA® number. For example, you might want to make your mobile number, home number, or a conference room number into Virtual Office numbers so that you can make and receive calls on the AT&T Voice DNA system while away from your desk.

You set up and enable (turn on) a Virtual Office number on the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. When your AT&T Voice DNA number receives a call, your desk phone and all your enabled Virtual Office numbers ring. You can answer the call on any ringing phone.

From the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard, you can place a call that connects your Virtual Office number to the phone you're calling. The call acts like it was made from your desk phone, and your AT&T Voice DNA number appears on the called phone as the caller ID.

You can create several Virtual Office numbers and enable or disable them as needed. On the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard, the Current Settings tile shows if Virtual Office is enabled. (You must have permission to use the Virtual Office feature. If you don’t have permission, Virtual Office doesn’t appear in the tile.)

You can also define a set of selective criteria rules that automatically activate your Virtual Office number. Each selective criteria rule has a schedule and a set of phone numbers. For information about selective criteria, see About Selective Criteria. For information about schedules, see Manage Schedules.

Each rule defines a Use Virtual Office option or a Never Use Virtual Office option.

• Use Virtual Office—Specifies that the system activates your Virtual Office number whenever you receive a call that matches both the schedule and phone number rules. These rules appear in the For calls matching section of the Virtual Office Settings page. If no Use Virtual Office rules are active, your Virtual Office number isn’t activated.
• Never Use Virtual Office—Specifies that your Virtual Office number won’t be activated when you receive a call that matches both the Schedule and Phone Number rules. These rules appear in the Regardless of above settings never ring Virtual Office for calls matching section of the Virtual Office Settings page. Never Use Virtual Office rules are used to exclude specific calls from a broader Use Virtual Office list, enabling you to use more general Use Virtual Office rules.

Note: Although most of your AT&T Voice DNA calling features function normally with Virtual Office, the customized Locate Me features behave differently. For more information, see Calling Features Affected.

Set Up Virtual Office Numbers

Virtual Office works with phones located inside or outside your office.

To add a Virtual Office phone number

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office immediately below. The Virtual Office Locations page appears, showing your current Virtual Office phone numbers.
3. Click Add Number. The Add Number page appears.
4. Set these options:
   • Under Phone Number, enter the new Virtual Office phone number.
   • Enter a description of the location.
   • For Status, select Enable or Disabled. (When someone calls your AT&T Voice DNA number, enabled Virtual Office numbers ring along with your desk phone and other phones that have your number as a line. You can answer the call on any ringing phone.)
   • For Require answer confirmation, select Yes or No. If you select Yes, when you answer a call at a Virtual Office number you follow a prompt to connect to the caller. This confirmation prevents calls from being forwarded to the Virtual Office phone's local voicemail.
5. Click Save.

   Note: If needed, add and save additional Virtual Office numbers.

6. To specify Virtual Office criteria, click Add Criteria.
7. To turn Virtual Office on or off, check the Active box for the rule.

To create Virtual Office rules

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office. The Virtual Office Locations page appears.
3. Click the Edit icon for the rule you want to create.
   • To create a Use Virtual Office rule, click Add Criteria at the top of the For calls matching section.

     

   • To create a Never Use Virtual Office rule, click Add Criteria at the top of the Regardless of above settings never use Virtual Office for calls matching section.

     

   The Add Virtual Office Selective Criteria page appears. The options are the same, regardless of which option you clicked earlier.

   
4. In the Description box, enter a name for the selective criteria rule.

    

   Note: For more information about selective criteria rules, see About Selective Criteria.

5. Specify an initial status of Inactive or Active. You can change this status at any time by clicking the Active box for the rule on the main Virtual Office Settings page when in edit mode.
6. For Select Schedule, click Find Schedule, and, in the Find Schedule window that opens, click the checkmark for the schedule you want to use. The Find Schedule window closes and the Add Virtual Office Selective Criteria page appears again.

    

   Note: If you decide not to select a schedule, the default option of Every Day All Day applies.

7. For Virtual Office Call from, select the phone number that will trigger the virtual office rule. These are the choices:
   • Any Phone Number—Applies when you receive a call from any phone number. This is the default setting.
   • Any Anonymous Number—Applies when you receive a call from a phone number without a caller ID.
   • Any Unavailable Number—Applies when you receive a call from a phone number without a caller ID or a viewable phone number.
   • Specific Number(s)—Applies when you receive a call from any of the specified phone numbers. You can enter up to 12 phone numbers. To search for and select a number from the Company Directory, click Find Number.
8. Click Add.
9. Enter additional criteria, or click Back to Virtual Office Settings at the top of the page to return to the Virtual Office Settings page.

Note: If no virtual office criteria are met (after activating criteria for a particular location), the virtual office phone for that location won’t ring.

To edit a Virtual Office phone number

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. (For help with this step, see Log In.)
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office immediately below. The Virtual Office Locations page appears, displaying your current Virtual Office phone numbers.
3. Find the location you want to edit and, under Actions, click the Edit icon.
4. Make any needed changes.
5. To save your changes, under Actions, click the Save icon . To discard your changes, click the Cancel icon .

To edit a Virtual Office criteria rule

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office immediately below. The Virtual Office Locations page appears.
3. Do one of the following:
   • In the Phone Number column, click the phone number that has a rule you want to edit, and then click Edit on the Virtual Office Settings page. Then click the Edit icon for the rule.
   • Click the Edit icon for the phone number that has a rule you want to edit, and then click the Edit icon for the rule.

   The Edit Virtual Office Selective Criteria Details page appears in edit mode.

4. Make your changes to the rule, and then click Save. For information about the options available, see To create Virtual Office criteria rules, above.

Note: If no virtual office criteria are satisfied (after activating criteria for a particular location), the virtual office phone for that location won’t ring.

To delete a Virtual Office phone number

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office immediately below. The Virtual Office Locations page appears, showing your current Virtual Office phone numbers.
3. Find the location you want to delete, and then under Actions, click the Delete icon.
4. Confirm that you want to delete this location.

To delete a Virtual Office criteria rule

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. Click SETTINGS, and then click Virtual Office immediately below. The Virtual Office Locations page appears.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Locate the phone number associated with the rule you want to delete, and then click the Edit icon . In the Edit Virtual Office Settings page that appears, click the Delete icon for the rule you want to delete.
   • In the Phone Number column, click the phone number associated with the rule you want to delete, and then, in the Virtual Office Settings page that appears, click Edit. In the Edit Virtual Office Settings page that appears, click the Delete icon for the rule you want to delete.

Place and Receive Calls with Virtual Office

You must place Virtual Office calls from your AT&T Voice DNA® User Dashboard. A Virtual Office is the phone number you set up, not the physical phone at the remote location. If you call directly from a physical phone, the call won't be on the AT&T Voice DNA service, and the remote location's number appears as the caller ID.

Virtual Office calls are subject to the same dialing restrictions as your AT&T Voice DNA phone number.

To place a call from Virtual Office

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.

    

   In the Place a Call tile, enter a number, and then click Call. A message shows when the Virtual Office number, along with your AT&T Voice DNA phone number, rings.

    

   For more information about placing a call from your AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard, see Place a Call from the User Dashboard.

To put a Virtual Office call on hold

• A call you make from a Virtual Office number can be put on hold and taken off hold on your desk phone or any phone that has your AT&T Voice DNA number as a line. After the call is answered, it can't be put on hold and taken back by the Virtual Office number. To move the call back to your Virtual Office number, see To move an in-progress call from your desk phone to a Virtual Office phone.

To receive a call when Virtual Office numbers are enabled

• When a call comes in to your AT&T Voice DNA phone number, your desk phone and all your enabled Virtual Office phone numbers ring. Answer any ringing phone. If prompted, press any key to accept the call.
• If Locate Me settings are active, your Virtual Office number is treated the same as your work number.

   

  For example, say that you've set Locate Me to Forward Calls to My Voicemail. When a call comes in to your AT&T Voice DNA number, your Virtual Office numbers won't ring and the call goes to voicemail.

   

  Or, say that for Locate Me you've specified a Ring In Order list of numbers, along with Ring My Work Number First, which takes precedence. When you get a call, your work number and all your Virtual Office numbers ring before calls are routed to the Ring In Order list.

   

  Note: Don't enable Virtual Office and a Ring All At Once list simultaneously, because those features can interfere with each other. For more information, see Calling Features Affected, below, and Manage Locate Me Settings.  

To move an in-progress call from a Virtual Office phone to your desk phone

• From your desk phone, enter the Call Retrieve feature access code (*11). The call moves to your desk phone and is dropped from the Virtual Office phone.

To move an in-progress call from your desk phone to a Virtual Office phone or between two Virtual Office phones

1. Open the AT&T Voice DNA User Dashboard. For help with this step, see Log In.
2. In the Place a Call box, enter the Call Retrieve feature access code (*11), and then click Call.
3. Answer the ringing call on the Virtual Office phone.
4. If prompted, press any key on the Virtual Office phone to accept the call. The call moves to the Virtual Office phone and is dropped from the desk phone. If the call moves to another Virtual Office phone, the call is dropped from the first Virtual Office phone.

Calling Features Affected

Virtual Office and advanced Locate Me options enabled

If you enable both Virtual Office and advanced Locate Me options at the same time, take care:

• If Ring my All At Once list of numbers uses a number that's enabled as a Virtual Office number, the Ring All At Once functionality takes precedence over Virtual Office. If you want to use the Virtual Office feature, don't set Ring my All At Once list of numbers as your Locate Me option.
• Ring my In Order list of numbers also affects Virtual Office.
  • If you're using Virtual Office and set Ring my In Order list of numbers without selecting ring my number first, when a call comes in to your AT&T Voice DNA number, the Ring in Order list of numbers rings. If you have a Virtual Office location in your Ring in Order list, the number rings but doesn't have any of the capabilities of Virtual Office (for example, it can't retrieve a call or provide presence status).
  • If you enable Ring In Order and select ring my number first, when a call comes in, your desk phone and all enabled Virtual Office numbers ring. If you don't answer, the Ring In Order feature takes over and begins ringing your specified list of numbers. If you have a Virtual Office location in your Ring in Order list, the number rings but without any of the capabilities of Virtual Office (for example, it can't retrieve a call or provide presence status).

For details about using Locate Me advanced features, see Manage Locate Me Settings. 

Use Multiple Rules at One Time

You can define multiple rules and specify which rules are active at any given time. If you have multiple rules active at once, the rules are evaluated in the following order:

• Never use virtual office rules are evaluated first.
• Use virtual office rules are then evaluated.

If a Use virtual office rule and a Never use virtual office rule are both defined and active, the Never use virtual office rule takes precedence. An incoming call that matches the Never use virtual office rule prevents the call from being rejected, even though the incoming call otherwise matches the Use virtual office rule.

You can use the Never Use Virtual Office rules to refine a more general Use Virtual Office rule.

Example

You have two Use Virtual Office rules active with the names “Sales calls” and “Management calls,” and one Never Use Virtual Office rule active with the name “Calls from Bob.” When a call comes in, the rules are evaluated like this:

• The Never Use Virtual Office rule “Calls from Bob” is evaluated first.
• If the call is from Bob’s number, the Virtual Office phone doesn’t ring (even though Bob’s number might be listed in the “Sales calls” rule).
• If the call isn’t from Bob’s number, the Use Virtual Office rules are evaluated.