atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums TDM Business Telephone Systems Nortel Telephones & Systems "Panic Button"

I am currently working on setting up additional phones for the school system I work for. I'm trying to create a way to create a "panic button" for teachers in their classroom to use if needed. I thought about using priority calls, but want to program it into a button or to be as simple as possible. All schools have MICS systems, but the versions vary.

Hotline might work here!

What do you want to do... exactly? What capabilties do you want the class phones to have. What model of phones in the classrooms? What software version on the MICS?

Most of the phones in the classrooms are either T7100s or T7208s. I'm trying to create an extention that the teacher can dial or a button the teacher can press that will broadcast the speakerphone contents (or handset contents for the 7100s) to the main office. This would be used in the case of a medical or other emergency to notify the office immediately. The office is usually manned, but they are on the phone a lot, so my first thought is a priority call, since it will break through if they are on the phone. However, i'd like to make it as user friendly for the teachers as possible. A hotline wouldn't work because every call is not an emergency, and it still doesn't solve the problem of people being on the phone. I have six sites I'm working with, each one has a different version of MICS software (yeah, that's on my list of things to fix).

Couple of possibilites come to mind.

If your software versions allow, you could use a broadcast hunt group on the office phones. The HG will ring even if they are on the phone. A one touch button on the classroom phones labelled emergency to the hunt group DN.

If HG not available, you could add a phone in the office (or hide it in the phone room) that is dedicated as an emergency phone. Put ANS DN of this phone on the rest of office phones. One touch button programmed on each classroom phone to this emerg DN.

You could always set up one phone in the middle of the office area. Then have a button on the phones to page zone x. Have that phone and maybe other office phones all in that page zone. Make sure the teachers phone have Handsfree=AUTO. Then if an emergency they could hit that button, It would page all the office phones and if everyone was on the phone it would still go to the one in the middle that no one is suppose to use. There HF would auto turn on. Whatever is being yelled in the room could be heard by those in the office. Just another possible choice.

I like NTlayoff's idea, but I'd take a little further.

Have no lines or pools assigned, & if you want to make damn sure it's unused, put on a defective handset or handset cord.

The set would have to be a M7208 or higher to have a speaker on it.

Knowing what clients do, also label the phone as to its purpose.

Dave

...and use a RED M7208!

I would use a paging speaker in the office area, and just set a button all classroom phones for that page group. If you already have paging at these sites hookup speaker to a CO port.

Good Luck!!

Lots of good ideas above. Assuming you have a spare CO port, you could hook up a TALKBACK 24 volt speaker to that port and anyone in the office could respond, everyone would hear the call.

You could assign that one CO to be dial 8 and give everyone access. Cheap and simple, I'm just suggesting the TALKBACK speaker as the speaker solution has already been given and I don't want to be taking someone's idea for my own.