Choose when your iPhone rings: at once, only after your desk phone, or not right now.
Two phones ringing for every call gets old by lunch.
Three choices
| Choice | What your iPhone does |
|---|---|
| After my desk | Waits, and rings only if the desk phone is not answered |
| At once | Rings with everything else |
| Not right now | Stays quiet until tomorrow |
"After my desk" is the default.
How long it waits
Eight seconds, unless you pick five, ten or fifteen. That is about two rings: long enough to pick up the desk phone if you are sitting at it.
When it does not wait
Waiting only makes sense if the desk phone could be what answers. So the app rings at once when:
- you have no desk phone connected,
- the app is open in front of you,
- or your iPhone is somewhere other than the office network.
That last one needs no location permission. The system just looks at which network the app last connected from. On the office Wi-Fi, you are at your desk. On mobile data, you are not.
If it cannot tell, it assumes you are at your desk. The worst a wrong guess can do is ring your pocket a few seconds late. It will never fail to ring.
Not right now
This quiets one phone until the start of the next day and then goes back to whatever you had chosen. It is different from setting your status to away: your desk phone still rings and your calls are not diverted. It is for the dentist's chair, not for vacation.
Without opening the app
The same choice is available as a shortcut and as a control on the lock screen, so "quiet when I get to the office" can happen by itself.