A shared external line allows group extensions such as a Virtual Receptionist, a Ring Group, or a Call Queue to send calls to an external phone number. Individual users can also send calls to the shared external line by updating their call handling instructions.

Some example use cases for a shared external line include:

• A doctor’s office that needs to forward after-hours calls to doctor’s personal phone number in the case of emergency
• An insurance company that needs to send calls to corporate if the caller wants to make a claim
• A company employee who forwards calls they can’t answer to an answering service

You can add up to 1 (one) shared external line to an Ooma Office account by following these instructions:

1. Log in to office.ooma.com as an administrator and navigate to the Settings page.
2. Use the ADD menu to select Shared External Line.
3. Fill in the shared external line’s name and the external number to which it will forward calls. You can also select the Required key press on answer option, which will require the person answering the call to press 1 before the call comes through. Use this option if you’d like unanswered calls to roll to the Ooma voicemail instead of the external number’s voicemail.
4. Save your changes.

Now that you have added the shared external line, it will appear as an option in other extensions’ Call Handling settings.