Profile Behavior

Administrators create presence, absence and conference profiles and define which profiles are at your disposal.

A profile defines how inbound calls are handled in the following situations:

  • Default

    You are able to answer. This is considered to be the default situation.

  • Busy

    You are not able to answer.

  • Not Answered

    You fail to answer either unintentionally or on purpose.

  • Logged Off

    You are logged off.

Administrators define the default behavior that can be any of the following:

  • Prompts are played

  • Callers hear the busy signal

  • Calls are forwarded to voicemail, mobile phone, or switchboard

  • You can enter your personal forwarding number

Some of the profiles can have an end-time rounding defined. This affects the duration and the return time. For example, if the rounding value for a two-hour absence profile is 10 and you activate the profile at 12:38, the profile remains active until 14:40.

Although you cannot change the default behavior, you can adjust the start and end time if the predefined value is not usable in your absence case.

When you search for a user, the Presence column in the search results displays a status icon that indicates whether the user is away, tentative, or free.

Time Zones

Users may permanently or temporarily be located in different time zones. The system takes this into account in the presence information.

Time zone information depends on the workstation. It is retrieved from date and time settings of Microsoft Windows. The search results display the time difference in minutes in relation to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Administrators can also modify this value but the value is automatically updated when you log on to CDT using a workstation that uses another time zone.

In audio messages (prompts) the optional return time is given in the local time of the target user.

If the target user is in a different time zone than you, the user list in Presence Information displays the time difference in minutes in relation to your time zone. All times in the Absence and Presence list and in the Presence column in the directory are displayed in your time. The asterisk (*) indicates that the time zone of the target user is different from yours. When you place the cursor on the start or end time, a tooltip displays that time in the local time of the target user.

If you add an absence, you can choose whether to enter the times in your time zone or the time zone of the target user. When you save the information, the lists display the start and end times in your time (and the target user’s time in the tooltip). And if you modify an absence or a presence profile, enter the new start or end time in your time. When you save the information, the system updates the target user’s local time accordingly. Additionally, CDT informs you if it detects time zone differences when you add or modify absences and presences.

If you create an identical absence for multiple users in different time zones, you can choose whether the profile is activated in your time or in the local time of each target user. Choosing your own time zone causes all absences to occur at the same time (for example when you have a conference call). If you choose Local Time of Target and enter an absence that starts at 09:00, it starts at 09:00 in each time zone.