An attendant console is a telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

 station that is generally part of a private branch exchange (PBX) or Centrex

Centrex

Centrex is a portmanteau of central exchange, a kind of telephone exchange.In the United Kingdom, British Telecom markets this service as FeatureLine .-Use of Centrex:...

 or other private telephone system. An attendant console generally is a regular PBX telephone station with one or more additional modules each bearing numerous buttons that can be programmed to be associated with particular lines in the private telephone system, or with particular specialized functions.

The attendant console provides control for many call management

Call management

In telecommunications, call management is the process of designing and implementing rules and parameters governing the routing of inbound telephone calls through a network. These rules can specify how calls are distributed according to the time and/or date of the call as well as the location of the...

 features and answers and routes incoming calls. A common example for the use of an attendant console is as follows:

1. A caller dials a firm's main telephone number,
2. The attendant (receptionist
   Receptionist
   A receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...
   
   ) answers,
3. The caller asks for a particular individual or department,
4. The attendant checks the status of the called party's line by looking at the appropriate button on the attendant console, and either:
5. Puts the call through - if the line is idle - or,
6. Offers to route the call to voice mail.

Other uses might include placing the caller in queue to connect to the called party when the called party's line goes on-hook

On-hook

In telephony, the term on-hook has the following meanings:# The condition that exists when a telephone or other user instrument is not in use, i.e., when idle waiting for a call. Note: on-hook originally referred to the storage of an idle telephone receiver, i.e., separate earpiece, on a switchhook...

. Increasingly, the attendant function of a phone system is handled by an auto-attendant.

The attendant console may also be sent other calls that the PBX may not otherwise know how to handle, such as direct inward dialed

Direct Inward Dialing

Direct inward dialing , also called direct dial-in in Europe and Oceania, is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' private branch exchange systems...

 calls that are not associated with a valid extension

Extension (telephone)

An extension telephone is an additional telephone wired to the same telephone line as another. In middle 20th century telephone jargon, the first telephone on a line was a "Main Station" and subsequent ones "Extensions". Such extension phones allow making or receiving calls in different rooms,...

. The attendant console typically has no restrictions about the types of calls that may be made from it so the attendant may complete calls for restricted extensions. This is typically the case where a phone is placed in a public location, such as a lobby, but is set up so that it cannot dial long distance or international calls. Callers using the public phone must dial the attendant, who can complete the call for them.

System Management

In larger PBXs the attendant console may also be used to perform certain administrative tasks. Smaller systems may have all programming of the phone system done from the attendant console. As the user of the attendant console typically knows more about the phone system than other users the attendant console may be used to alert users to a problem with the phone system. As an example should a Definity ECS

Definity ECS

The Definity was the last in a line of circuit based PBX hardware manufactured since the late 1980s by Avaya, then the former Enterprise Networks division of Lucent and AT&T's Information Systems unit...

 PBX have a problem, such as a hardware failure, it may activate an alarm light on the console so the attendant can call for repair. Trunk

Trunking

In modern communications, trunking is a concept by which a communications system can provide network access to many clients by sharing a set of lines or frequencies instead of providing them individually. This is analogous to the structure of a tree with one trunk and many branches. Examples of...

 groups may also be assigned a button with an indicator light so the attendant can monitor their use. If nearly all of the trunks in a trunk group are in use the light illuminates and an attendant may push the button forcing all calls that would normally use the trunk to be routed to the attendant console, allowing the attendant to decide how to ration the remaining free trunks.

Some users buy PC-based software that integrates to the PBX to streamline operations, from providers including Amcom Software

Amcom Software

Amcom Software, Inc. is a communication software company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Amcom was founded in 1984 and now has offices located in New York, NY, Jacksonville, FL, Bedford, NH, Perth, Australia, and the United Kingdom....

, Inc. and Scantalk, Inc.