Cenaly Phone: BLF lamps
BLF lamps (Busy Lamp Field) are a board of extensions: who is free, who is ringing, who is on a call. Like a receptionist's desk phone, only in Cenaly Phone. The screen is the same in two cases: for colleagues on the Cenaly PBX and for lamps of your own SIP lines — extensions of your PBX that you chose to watch.
Which version you need#
What you need#
| Mode | What you need |
|---|---|
| Cenaly account | Signed in to Cenaly Phone with an employee account. Colleagues and their status come from the Cenaly PBX by themselves — nothing to set up |
| Your own SIP line | A connected own line (“Your own SIP server”) and a PBX that allows subscriptions to extension status (BLF, SIP SUBSCRIBE). You add the lamps yourself |
Where to find the lamps#
| Where | With a Cenaly account | Own lines only |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | The first tab, “Colleagues” | The first tab, “BLF” (on Android); on iPhone, Windows and Ubuntu “BLF” is a separate tab at the bottom |
| Full screen | The “Full screen” button above the board | The “Full screen” button (on iPhone the “BLF” tab is already full screen) |
| Home | A compact block of favorite colleagues | A compact block — the first 9 lamps of your own lines |
On iPhone with a Cenaly account the lamps open like this: Contacts → “Colleagues” → “Full screen”; the regular list of colleagues stays. On Windows and Ubuntu with a Cenaly account, Contacts has a “BLF” chip — the same colleagues as lamps plus your lamps of your own lines.
Grid or list#
The “Grid” / “List” switch above the board. The grid shows 2–3 lamps per row (1–2 with a large font) and suits a front desk; the list is denser, and swipes work in it. The app remembers your choice.
A lamp shows the name, the number and the state in words and color.
What a lamp's color means#
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| “Available” | The extension is online and not busy — confirmed by the PBX |
| “Ringing” / “Call from …” | The extension is ringing right now; if the PBX reported who is calling, you see the number or name |
| “On a call” | A call is in progress, with “since …” (start time) |
| “On hold” | The call is on hold |
| “Do not disturb” | Do not disturb is on |
| “Offline” | The extension's phone is not registered on the PBX |
| “Status unknown” | No data yet |
| “Status is out of date” | The connection to the PBX was lost and the last known state is out of date |
| “The PBX doesn't report status” | The PBX doesn't give the state of this extension (or doesn't accept BLF subscriptions) |
| “The PBX doesn't allow watching this number” | The subscription is forbidden by PBX permissions |
The last four states are grey and never look like “Available”: when there is no status, it is better to say “unknown” honestly than to send a call nowhere.
Filters#
Above the board: All · People · Services · On a call · Available. “Available” includes only lamps confirmed as free — grey lamps are not in it. “People” are employees, “Services” are other numbers (ring groups, rooms, the AI assistant).
Call, pick up, transfer#
| Situation | What a tap on the lamp does |
|---|---|
| Normally | “Call” this extension |
| The extension is ringing and the PBX allows pickup | “Pick up” — the call comes to you |
| You are on your own call | “Transfer now” or “Talk first, then transfer” |
A long press opens a menu with all actions (“Call”, “Pick up”, “Transfer”, “Edit”, “Remove”). In the list view swipes work: right — call, left — pick up, transfer or “Edit”, depending on the situation.
How pickup works:
- Cenaly PBX — with the code
**<number>(people only, not services). - Your own PBX — according to the line settings in Advanced: “Call pickup prefix” (for example
*8or**) or “Group pickup code”. On Android, if the PBX sends call details in the lamp status, the app picks up directly (SIP Replaces) — on our test benches Asterisk chan_sip did this; Asterisk PJSIP and FreeSWITCH don't send such details, so only the code works there.
If pickup fails: “Couldn't pick up: the call was already answered or the PBX refused”.
Transfer. A call on your own line is transferred only to lamps of the same line: the “Transfer” sheet shows that line's lamps, not Cenaly colleagues. You can't transfer a call to a lamp of another PBX — the app says so: “You can't transfer between lines of different PBXs”.
Your own lamps#
- Tap “＋” (“Add a lamp”) on the lamp screen.
- “Extension or SIP address” — for example
105orsip:105@pbx.example.com. - “Name” — how to label the lamp.
- “Line” — which of your lines watches this extension.
No more than 60 lamps per line — the field hints “Up to 60 lamps per line”. On Android you change the order by dragging the ≡ handle in the list view (with the “All” filter and no search). To edit or remove a lamp — long press → “Edit” / “Remove”, or the lamp card. Your own lamps are kept only on the device and are erased together with “Delete local lines and data”.
In Cenaly mode colleagues appear by themselves — you don't need to add them.
Platform differences#
| Android | iPhone | Windows, Ubuntu | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where with own lines | Contacts → “BLF” | The “BLF” tab | The “BLF” tab |
| Where with a Cenaly account | Contacts → “Colleagues” | Contacts → “Colleagues” → “Full screen” | Contacts → the “BLF” chip |
| Pickup on your own PBX | Prefix, group code, Replaces | Prefix or group code | Prefix only |
| Lamps by SIP address | Yes | Yes | Numeric extensions only |
| Reordering by dragging | Yes | No | No |
| Row actions | Swipes, long-press menu | Swipes, menu | Buttons on hover, context menu, swipe on a touch screen |
Limitations#
- Lamps of your own line show exactly what the PBX reports: if it doesn't report status, the lamp is grey.
- Direct pickup (Replaces) works only on Android and only with PBXs that send call details; otherwise — a pickup code.
- Transfers between lines of different PBXs are not possible.
- On Windows and Ubuntu lamps with a
sip:address or letters in the number don't get a status yet (“Status unknown”).
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| All lamps of your own line are grey: “The PBX doesn't report status” | The PBX doesn't accept BLF subscriptions from other phones (3CX may answer 489). Ask the PBX administrator whether subscriptions to this extension are allowed |
| “The PBX doesn't allow watching this number” | Subscription permissions on the PBX — granted by the administrator |
| “Status is out of date” | The line lost its connection to the PBX — check its status in Settings → “SIP lines” |
| No “Pick up” button | Pickup is possible only while the extension is ringing; for your own PBX set “Call pickup prefix” or “Group pickup code” in the line's Advanced |
| Pickup doesn't work | Your PBX uses a different pickup code — look it up in the PBX settings (Yeastar — *04, 3CX — *20*) |
| On Windows or Ubuntu a lamp always shows “Status unknown” | Add it as a numeric extension, not a sip: address |
FAQ#
Does “Available” guarantee the person will answer?#
No. “Available” means the extension's phone is online and not on a call. Whether the person picks up can't be known from the PBX.
Why is the lamp of a group or a room on the Cenaly PBX grey?#
Ring groups, rooms and the AI assistant have no single “free/busy” state, so their lamps show “The PBX doesn't report status”. You can call such a number as usual.
Can I mix Cenaly colleagues and lamps of my own PBX?#
On Windows and Ubuntu with a Cenaly account — yes: the “BLF” chip shows colleagues and your lamps of your own lines on one board. Transferring a call between PBXs is still not possible.