Overview
The Phone Bar is your real-time control surface for handling phone calls inside the platform. It lets you go Online to receive incoming and make outgoing calls, see how many callers are waiting, and act on a call without leaving the page. This article explains how the Phone Bar works, how to assign the access it requires, and what you can do during an active call.
Prerequisites
Before you can take or make calls through the Phone Bar, a few things must be in place:
Phone Center must be enabled for the facility. The Support team enables this on request - contact them if the Phone Bar doesn't appear.
As a facility manager, you assign roles and permissions at the Corporate level, for both Corporate and Facilities, that grant access to the Phone Bar. For the full setup, see How to Take Incoming Calls.
Microphone access must be granted in the browser.
How It Works
The Phone Bar gives you a single place to manage incoming and outgoing calls in real time. It has three components:
The availability status - This is where you set your status Online or Offline. Each time you go Online, the browser prompts you to grant microphone permissions. When the status is set to Offline, you cannot answer or make any calls.
Left-hand side of the Phone Bar with the availability status Offline
Queue insights - Shows you how busy the line is. This area displays the number of calls currently waiting in the queue and the average waiting time of calls that are currently in the queue.
Right-hand side of the Phone Bar displaying no caller in queue, therefore average waiting time is zero
The active call element - Appears when you initiate a call, when there is an incoming call, or when a call is in progress. It shows the end user's first name, last name, and phone number, along with the actions available for that call. End Call is always available; other actions depend on the end user's type, as described below.
Active call element when you have initiated a call containing tenant's name, phone number, cancel phone call, and make a call buttons
Assigning Access to the Phone Bar
As a facility manager, you assign roles and permissions that allow access to the Phone Bar before going Online for the first time. This Roles & Permissions assignment for the Phone Center and the Phone Bar is done at the Corporate level.
Using the Feature
Once access is assigned, you can manage calls by setting the availability status to Online. Going Online prompts the browser for microphone access which you grant so the platform can connect calls.
Microphone access options that the browser prompts
When a call comes in, it appears in the Phone Bar, where you can answer it, use the actions available for that call, and click End Call when the conversation is finished.
ℹ️ Info: Once you grant microphone access, it stays enabled for as long as the browser stays open. Logging out doesn't revoke it, because the permission is retained in the browser. You are prompted again only after closing the browser.
If you exit the microphone access options without choosing any of them, you will get the message "Microphone access was denied. Please allow microphone permissions in your browser settings.":
Message displaying "Microphone access was denied. Please allow microphone permissions in your browser settings."
Available Actions by End User Type
The actions shown on an active call depend on the end user's type:
Current Tenant - Make a Payment
Active call element displaying current tenant name, call in progress, Make a Payment and end the call buttons
Former Tenant and Prospect - Show Leads
Active call element displaying former tenant or prospect name, call in progress, Show Leads and end the call buttons
Unknown Caller - Create a Lead
Active call element for an unknown caller displaying the unknown phone number, call in progress, Create a Lead and end the call buttons
FAQs
1. Why doesn't the Phone Bar appear for my facility?
The Phone Bar appears only after Phone Center is enabled for your facility. The Support team enables Phone Center on request, so if the Phone Bar doesn't appear, contact Support to have it turned on.
2. Do I have to grant microphone access every time I go Online?
No. The first time you go Online, the browser prompts you to grant microphone access. After that, the permission stays enabled for as long as the browser stays open. Logging out doesn't revoke it, because the permission is retained in the browser. You are prompted again only after closing the browser.
3. Can I make outgoing calls from the Phone Bar, or only answer incoming ones?
You can do both. The Phone Bar handles incoming and outgoing calls in real time. To make or receive calls, set your availability status to Online. When your status is set to Offline, you cannot answer or make any calls.
4. What actions can I take during a call?
The actions available on an active call depend on the end user's type. End Call is always available. For a current tenant, you can also Make a Payment. For a former tenant or a prospect, you can Show Lead. For an unknown caller, you can Create a Lead.
5. What do the queue insights in the Phone Bar show?
The queue insights show how busy the line is. This area displays the number of calls currently waiting in the queue and the average waiting time of the calls in the queue. When no callers are waiting, the average waiting time is zero.