Basic guide for Snom Phones

A basic guide for Snom phones. Snom phones can be used with a large number of compatible SIP PBX systems, giving customers a great choice for enterprise communication systems.
The devices are suitable for use in all business environments ranging from home offices to small- and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations.

This guide will be looking at the Snom 320 handset, and some of the basic functions.

We have also written a handy guide about phone system optimisation which you might find useful, available here.

Some functionality may be dependent on how your PBX is configured, so you may need to speak to your phone system administrator. This guide will focus on the basic functions which should work in the majority of cases.

There are a great many functions on the Snom phones – for an advanced look at these, it is advised that you look at the Snom manual from the Snom website or search the Internet for further resources.

Here is a map of the buttons on the Snom 320 phone, this should help you follow this guide with a bit more ease:

Reading the display

In idle state, the phone shows the date and time as well as the active outgoing identity (in brackets) in the top line of the display.

The second line shows the functions currently mapped onto the function keys. This will differ from system to system depending on how your PBX is configured.

The date is shown on the left, in the above example it displays the month (5), then a ‘/’, then the day (19). Systems can be configured for UK display, and may show as 19.5 (a dot as the separator rather than a slash) – this can be rather confusing at first.

If you see ‘NR’ displayed on your phone, this means the phone is not currently registered with the PBX. A simple reboot may resolve this, or the issue may be a number of other things (Internet down, DHCP issues, PBX system down etc).

Making a call

Pick up the handset and dial the number followed by the ‘tick’ button. Or dial the number followed by the ‘tick’ button, and then pick up the handset (unless using hands free or a headset).

Receiving a call

When a call is coming in, your phone will probably ring. To answer, simply pick up the handset. If using a headset you can press the ‘tick’ button.

Picking up a voicemail

If you have voicemail functionality, you will be notified when someone has left a message by the flashing ‘Message’ light on the left side of the phone. You can press the ‘Retrieve’ button next to this and listen to the voice message.

Adjusting the volume

When on a call, if you are having difficulty hearing the caller, you can increase the volume simply by using the volume keys. Be aware that if you are on hands free mode or on a headset, increasing the volume too much may cause an echo.

Rebooting the phone

Press the right arrow key on the silver circular navigation key on the phone until you come to the ‘Configuration’ menu. Select the ‘Reboot’ option to restart the phone.

Placing a call on hold

While on a call, press the ‘Hold’ button at the bottom to place the call on hold. During this time you will see the active call light on the right hand side flashing. To retrieve the call, press the button next to the flashing light. While a call is on hold, you can also make other calls as normal. You can switch between calls by pressing the button next to the light that indicates the call. The steady light indicates the active call, and the flashing light indicates the call on hold.

Transferring a call

There are two ways to transfer a call to another person: a blind transfer, and an announced transfer. It is best practice to speak to the person you are transferring the call to and announce to them you are passing a call to them.
To do this, press ‘Hold’ and dial the number you wish to transfer to – you can speak to the other person and then when ready, press the ‘Transfer’ button.
To transfer a call without announcing, simply press ‘Transfer’ and then dial the number – the caller will be transferred immediately once the new connection is made.

Conference in another person

When on a call, you may wish to bring another person into the conversation. To do this, place the person you are speaking to on hold by pressing the ‘Hold’ button at the bottom. Dial the number of the next person as normal, if you misdial, or receive no answer, you can simply press the ‘X’ button to end the call, and then press the button next to the flashing light on the right hand side which indicates the call which is on hold. Once you have the other caller ready to join the conference – simply then press the ‘Conference’ button which is above the ‘Hold’ button.

Ending a call

If you are using the handset, you can place this back onto the phone unit and this will automatically end any active calls. Calls on hold will remain on hold. If you are using hands free or a headset, you can end active calls using the ‘X’ button.