> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.decodahealth.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Desk Phones

> Provision physical SIP desk phones (Yealink, Polycom, Grandstream) so they ring on calls alongside the browser softphone.

<Info>
  **Where to find Desk Phones:** In the left sidebar, click **Settings > Desk Phones**.
</Info>

A desk phone is a physical handset on someone's desk or at the front counter that rings when calls come in to a ring group. Desk phones are useful for the front desk, exam rooms, nurse stations, or any staff member who prefers a wall phone over the browser softphone.

You can issue credentials for any phone that supports SIP over TLS with SRTP -- Yealink, Polycom, and Grandstream are the three brands we test against.

## Add a Desk Phone

1. Click **Add Desk Phone** in the top right.
2. Enter a **Display name** -- this is how the phone shows up in ring groups and the call log (for example, "Front desk" or "Exam room 2").
3. Choose an **Owner**:
   * **Shared (no specific owner)** -- a phone that isn't tied to one person. It rings on its own as a member of any ring group it's added to. Best for front desks and exam rooms.
   * A specific staff member -- the phone is tied to that person. When they're added to a ring group, you can attach this phone to their slot so it rings alongside their browser.
4. Optionally pick a **Location**.
5. Click **Provision**.

A window opens with the SIP credentials your phone needs. See [Save the Credentials](#save-the-credentials) below before doing anything else.

## Save the Credentials

<Warning>
  The password is shown **once**. If you close the window without copying it, you'll need to use **Rotate password** to issue a new one -- there's no way to retrieve the original.
</Warning>

The window shows five values: **SIP server**, **Port**, **Transport**, **Username**, and **Password**. Click the copy icon next to any field, or click **Copy all** to grab everything as a single labeled block to paste into a password manager or a ticket for whoever is configuring the phone.

When you're ready, follow [Setting Up a Desk Phone](/guides/desk-phone-setup) to configure the handset itself.

## The Desk Phone List

After provisioning, the phone appears in the table on the main page. Each row shows:

| Column       | What It Shows                                                                 |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Status**   | Whether the phone has answered a call recently (see [Status](#status) below). |
| **Phone**    | The display name, with the SIP username underneath in smaller text.           |
| **Owner**    | The staff member the phone is tied to, or "Shared" if no specific owner.      |
| **Location** | The location the phone is assigned to, or an em-dash if none.                 |

Use the search bar at the top of the page to filter by display name, SIP username, owner, or location.

### Status

| Status                      | What It Means                                                     |
| --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Active**                  | The phone has answered a call within the past week.               |
| **Idle**                    | The phone has answered a call before, but not recently.           |
| **No calls yet**            | The phone has never answered a call through Decoda.               |
| **Checking…** / **Unknown** | The status is loading or couldn't be fetched -- refresh the page. |

<Note>
  Status is based on the most recent answered call -- it's not a live registration check. A phone can be powered off and still show **Active** for a few days after its last answered call. The reverse is also true: a brand-new phone shows **No calls yet** until it answers something, even if it's already registered correctly.
</Note>

## Edit a Desk Phone

Click the three-dot menu on a phone's row and pick **Edit**. You can change the display name, owner, and location. Editing does not affect the phone's SIP credentials -- the handset keeps working without re-configuration.

## Rotate the SIP Password

Click the three-dot menu and pick **Rotate password** when:

* A phone is lost or stolen.
* A staff member with access to the password leaves.
* You suspect the password has been shared outside the clinic.

A new password is issued and shown once, just like at provisioning. The old password stops working immediately, so the phone will fail to register until it's re-configured with the new one.

## Remove a Desk Phone

Click the three-dot menu and pick **Remove**. Confirm when prompted.

The phone is dropped from any ring groups it was a member of, and its SIP credentials are deleted. The handset stops registering and can't be reused without provisioning a new phone.

## Outgoing Calls

When staff dial out from a desk phone, the call shows the clinic's **primary** phone number as the caller ID. Per-location and per-phone caller-ID overrides are coming in a future update.

## Emergency Calls

Calls to **911**, **988**, and **211** go through from desk phones. However, the operator may not receive an automatic location for the call, so:

<Warning>
  Staff calling 911 from a desk phone should **state their address** to the operator immediately. Automatic dispatchable-location delivery is coming in a future update.
</Warning>

Emergency calls aren't recorded or transcribed. A notification is posted in your alerts so on-site staff know an emergency call was placed.