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tt:tips.and.tricks:spare.line.key.functions

Assigning Useful Functions to Unused Line Keys - Cisco Phones

In the instructions below, we will use Line #4 for our example, and we will program it to bring up the *Weather* function.

From your phones web portal.

Step 1: Click Admin Login » Advanced » Voice Tab » Phone Tab

Step 2: Scroll down to Line Key 4 (our example / unused line).

  • a. In the Extension: drop down list, choose Disabled.
  • b. In the Extended Function field enter:
fnc=weather

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Sumit All Changes.

Your phone will reboot, and when it is done, Line #4 should have a thermometer icon next to it.

Press the Line #4 button, and you will be taken to the phones *Weather* sub-menu section.

You will have to program the phone to display the weather in your preferred city or zip code. Those instructions are not provided here. A Google search can yield those instructions. Your phone can handle up to three cities / zip codes. So after you program your favorite cities, when you press the *Weather* button and the phone displays the first city, you can use the phones Arrow Left and Arrow Right buttons to scroll through the different cities.

The word weather we used in our command is called a Function Type.

The various options for *Type's* are:

– xml: Pressing the line button accesses XML services. The XML service configured on the Phone button launches the page identified in the XML Service field.

You can specify a different XML service to connect to by using the syntax

fnc=xml;URL=http://xxx.xx.xxx/some-web-page.html

Where xxx.xx.xxx is the URL of the XML service.

– mp3: Pressing the line button starts the mp3 player.

– weather: Pressing the line button accesses weather information.

– news: Pressing the line button accesses new feeds.

After the programming your preferred fuction, the phone will display the following icons next to the extension label:

  • xml: XML icon
  • mp3: mp3 player icon (Cisco SPA525G or Cisco SPA525G2)
  • news: RSS icon
  • weather: thermometer icon


Function Key Examples

To configure the the button for mp3 player:

fnc=mp3

To configure the button for weather:

fnc=weather

To configure the button for xml:

fnc=xml;URL=http://bogus-site.com/some-web-page.html

To configure the button for new:

fnc=news

Note regarding News Button

There are 5 possible News feeds you can program. Each of them will pull an RSS news feed from the source you specify. (examples below)

Programming the 5 News URL's requires going to a different section on your phones Web GUI.

Step 1: Click Admin Login » Advanced » Voice Tab » User Tab

Step 2: Scroll down to the Web Information Service Settings section.

There you will see 5 lines labeled RSS Feed URL [1-5]

On each of the 5 lines you want to program for an RSS news feed, you will specify two parameters.

  • A name for your RSS news feed, and
  • A URL to the RSS news feed

In the example below, we show you how to enter the syntax for the USA TODAY RSS news feed

name=USA Today News;url=http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/UsatodaycomNation-TopStories

Here are some other examples:

CNN News

name=CNN Top Stories;url=http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss

Wagga Wagga Australia News

name=Wagga Wagga;url=http://rss.weatherzone.com.au/?u=12994-1285&lt=aploc&lc=4337&obs=1&fc=1&warn=1
tt/tips.and.tricks/spare.line.key.functions.txt · Last modified: 2022/11/27 00:35 by kg6baj