Chorus Telephone System
This guide contains useful information about the recently introduced Chorus telephone system. Click on one of the links below to be taken to the appropriate section of the guide.
Dialling out
Chorus telephones and their features
Person vs. Non-person telephone numbers
Voicemail
Teleconferencing
Chorus mobile app (only available for “person” numbers)
Chorus web portal
Forwarding Calls
Dialling out
Unless you are using the cordless model of phone, your telephone number can be found in the bottom left corner of your phone’s digital display and is shown as a five-digit extension number.
People calling from external lines need to prefix your internal number as below:
- For extensions beginning with 7 such as 77513, the full number is 01865 (2)77513
- For extensions beginning with 1 such as 15902, the full number is 01865 (6)15902
You no longer need to dial 9 when calling an outside line.
Chorus telephones and their features
Please click on one of the telephone models below to view details of its features and functionality.
| 35G | 55G | Gigaset |
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35G
Call Management
Making a Call
Making a phone call with your new phone works much the same way as with any other phone. You may either:
Dial the number and then lift the handset – the call will be made as soon as the handset is lifted.
Lift the handset, dial the number and press the OK button to make the call. If you do not press the OK button, the call will be made after a short delay.
You can quickly redial the last number you called by lifting the handset and pressing OK
Pick-up Groups
You may have requested to be made part of a pick-up group, in which case the Pick up button will flash on your phone if another member of the group is receiving a call. In order to take the call, lift the handset and press pick up. You will be connected instantly.
Call Log
The call log can be used to view missed calls plus any calls that have been recently made to or received by the phone.
With the handset down, press Messages, ensure “Call log” is selected and press OK.
Using the navigational arrow buttons, scroll through and select the appropriate option from “Missed”, “Dialled”, “Received” and “Forwarded” by pressing OK.
Scroll through the recorded call entries and press OK to dial the desired number.
Holding Calls
To put a caller on hold, simply press Hold. You can retrieve the call by pressing Hold again.
Do Not Disturb
Pressing DND will activate Do Not Disturb, meaning that anybody calling your number will automatically be transferred to voicemail. Phones with DND activated will have an illuminated DND button plus an icon on the digital display. To deactivate, press DND again and the light and icon will disappear.
Forwarding calls while away from your desk
To forward your number to another extension such as a colleague’s or mobile phone:
Press Forward and use the navigation button to scroll down to “set a forwarding destination” and press OK
The next screen will show “Enter destination” and will allow you to type the telephone number to which you wish to divert your number. Press OK to accept the number and activate the forwarding.
If you wish to forward your number to the same destination as last time you forwarded, simply press Forward and it will automatically use the last number.
Your phone’s display will show the 
icon alongside the diversion number and the Forward button will be lit up red.
To cancel the forwarding, simply press Forward again and the red light will disappear. You will now see your own extension number on the display again.
Transferring calls to another number
To transfer an active call to another line, press Transfer and dial the extension of the person you wish to transfer the caller to before pressing OK. The caller will be put on hold while you make the transfer. You will then be put through to the number you dialled.
If the recipient answers their phone you can tell them who is calling and put your handset down. This will then connect the caller to the recipient of the transfer.
Your phone’s display will show “disconnect and return” while dialling the recipient, so if they do not answer it is possible to press OK and reconnect to the caller.
Note that if you simply hang up while the transfer is being made, the caller will be cut off and will have to call back.
55G
Call Management
Making a Call
Making a phone call with your new phone works much the same way as with any other phone. You may either:
Dial the number and then lift the handset – the call will be made as soon as the handset is lifted.
Lift the handset, dial the number and press the OK button to make the call. If you do not press the OK button, the call will be made after a short delay.
You can quickly redial the last number you called by lifting the handset and pressing OK
Pick-up Groups
You may have requested to be made part of a pick-up group, in which case the Pick up button will flash on your phone if another member of the group is receiving a call. In order to take the call, lift the handset and press pick up. You will be connected instantly.
Call Log
The call log can be used to view missed calls plus any calls that have been recently made to or received by the phone.
Press Call Log and, using the navigational arrow buttons, scroll through and select the appropriate option from the “Missed”, “Dialled”, “Received” and “Forwarded” tabs. You will need to press the up arrow from the main call log menu in order to cycle through the tabs.
Scroll through the recorded call entries and press OK to dial the desired number.
Holding Calls
To put a caller on hold, simply press Hold. You can retrieve the call by pressing Hold again.
Do Not Disturb
Pressing DND will activate Do Not Disturb, meaning that anybody calling your number will automatically be transferred to voicemail. Phones with DND activated will have an illuminated DND button plus an icon on the digital display. To deactivate, press DND again and the light and icon will disappear.
Forwarding calls while away from your desk
To forward your number to another extension such as a colleague’s or mobile phone:
Press Forward and press “enter destination” to program a new destination forwarding. The next screen will allow you to type the telephone number to which you wish to divert your number. Press OK to accept the number and activate the forwarding.
If you wish to forward your number to the same destination as last time you forwarded, simply press Forward and it will automatically use the last number.
Your phone’s display will show the icon alongside the diversion number and the Forward button will be lit up red.
To cancel the forwarding, simply press Forward again and the red light will disappear. You will now see your own extension number on the display again.
Transferring calls to another number
To transfer an active call to another line, press Transfer and dial the extension of the person you wish to transfer the caller to before pressing OK. The caller will be put on hold while you make the transfer. You will then be put through to the number you dialled.
If the recipient answers their phone you can tell them who is calling and put your handset down. This will then connect the caller to the recipient of the transfer.
Your phone’s display will show “disconnect and return” while dialling the recipient, so if they do not answer it is possible to press OK and reconnect to the caller.
Note that if you simply hang up while the transfer is being made, the caller will be cut off and will have to call back.
Gigaset
This phone is a straightforward cordless model with very little functionality but can be carried into different rooms as long as it remains within range of the base station.
Call Management
Making a Call
Making a phone call with your new phone works much the same way as with any other phone. Type in the number and then press the green button. To hang up, press the red button.
Call Log
The call log can be used to view missed calls plus any calls that have been recently made to or received by the phone. From the home screen press Calls and, using the navigation buttons, scroll through and select the appropriate option from “Missed”, “Dialled”, “Received” and “Forwarded” by pressing OK.
Scroll through the recorded call entries and press OK to dial the desired number.
If you have any missed calls, the envelope button on the phone will be flashing. Press this button to view your missed calls. You can press Options to copy a number to your phone directory, delete one missed call entry or delete the entire list of missed calls.
Person vs. Non-person telephone numbers
There are two types of phone number:
- ‘Person Phone’ – this is a number that be must owned and aligned to a University SSO account. This can be an individual, e.g. Bekki Tordoff (bras****) or a generic email account that has an SSO like the college.office@bnc.ox.ac.uk email account. One SSO account can only own/operate one phone number. With this type of number/setup, there is a web management portal available to the ‘owner’ of the SSO account where they can log in and use the full functionality VOIP has to offer.
- ‘Non Person Phone’ – This is quite literally just a telephone number that must have a physical VoIP handset to work as there is no associated SSO account set to it; thus it has no web portal to log into. Only standard phone calls can be placed and no other functionality is available.
What features do ‘Person Phone’ VOIP numbers have access to?
- Receive and make calls anywhere in world
- Single address book across all devices
- Send and receive instant messages
- Search the University Directory
- Access your call history
- Manage Voicemail
- Add/Remove your number to use any University VOIP phone
- Teleconferencing
- Divert calls to alternative devices (e.g. personal mobile)
- Unlimited local, national and UK mobile calls are included in the annual fee. (International calling is available but is a feature that would require to be activated/authorised on your account by line manager approval.
Voicemail
Setting up a voicemail PIN
For staff with a person phone:
Visit the following URL and log in with your SSO: https://register.it.ox.ac.uk/self/chorus_pin
You will be prompted to enter a six-digit PIN which you will need whenever you check your messages. Please use a memorable number for your PIN, as local IT staff are unable to retrieve this for you if it is forgotten. Once you have successfully chosen your PIN, you will receive a confirmation message on screen and the PIN will become active after 10 minutes.
If you try to use your new PIN before it is ready, you will be advised that the voicemail password is not valid and your account will be locked after three attempts. If this happens, you need to wait for 30 minutes and try again – there is no need to contact support.
Received voicemails will also be sent to your University e-mail address.
For staff with a non-person phone:
You will need to use the default PIN provided in the e-mail sent out by IT, if voicemail has been requested for your line. IT have set up your answer phone messages to be sent to your University e-mail address.
Checking your voicemail
When you receive a voicemail, the red indicator on your Messages button will be lit and your phone will display the 
icon.
In order to check your messages, lift the handset and press Messages (or press the button if using the cordless Gigaset model telephone). You will be prompted to enter your PIN followed by #
You will then hear the details of your messages including the number of the caller plus the time the message was received. Follow the recorded instructions to listen to, save and delete these as appropriate.
Recording your name
The first time you log into your voicemail (see instructions under “Checking your voicemail” for how to log in) you will be asked to record your name which will be inserted into the default voicemail message. Follow the recorded instructions in order to record your message and access any other voicemail-related options.
Teleconferencing
Please note that teleconferencing is not available on the cordless Gigaset model telephone.
Your desk phone allows you to create a conference call with up to three participants. To create a conference call:
Call the first participant. When they answer, press Conference. The first participant will be placed on hold while you dial the number of the second participant.
When the second participant answers, press Conference again. This should connect all participants, but you may instead see a message asking if you want to retrieve the call. If this is the case, press OK to retrieve and then wait about 8 seconds before pressing Conference one more time. You should now be connected to all participants of the conference.
Participants may leave the call at any time but if the person who set up the conference hangs up the call will be dropped completely.
A college-owned conference telephone is available for boardroom-style teleconferences. This can be connected in any teaching room throughout college (except Old Library and Tower Bursary) and will always have the same number regardless of where it is plugged in.
The number for the conference phone is 01865 615920 (or just 15920 if connecting internally) and is cleared for making international calls.
If you would like to use this phone, it can be booked through IT during term time, or through the Conference Office outside of term – when booking, please provide at least 48 business hours’ notice.
Chorus mobile app (only available for “person” numbers)
Setting up the app
OpenScape Mobile (OSMO) can be downloaded for free from your smartphone’s app store and allows you to use Chorus features from your mobile, such as checking voicemail, choosing your preferred mobile device for call forwarding, etc.
Before setting up the mobile client you must first set a password via the following link (SSO login), paying close attention to the password requirements:
https://register.it.ox.ac.uk/self/chorus_password
After 10 minutes you will be able to use your new password to configure the app. Please be aware that this is not the same password as you set up for your voicemail.
Open the app and press Account. You will then be asked to enter the following details:
- Subscriber: Your SSO username followed by –sip, e.g. brasxxxx-sip
- Server Address: https://mobile.chorus.ox.ac.uk
- Password: The password you set in the previous step
Please be aware the Chorus project is not actively supporting the app. While a useful feature of the project, it is deployed at the user’s discretion and will be subject to limited local IT support.
Using the app
Guides for using the OSMO app can be found on the IT Services website and cover both Android and iPhone.
Chorus web portal
For staff with a person number, Chorus allows several functions to be accessed via its web portal, including call history, contacts, voicemail, teleconferencing and chat. Information about this service can be found here.