Overview

The Client Matter Codes service is used to track calls for billing or informational purposes, and optionally to restrict international or external phone calls from being placed without entering a code. The actual codes are created and managed by Support personnel and then implemented at the account level by our Support personnel or applied to individual users by Authorized Contacts.

NOTE: All users of the Sky phone system are initially restricted from dialing international phone numbers unless an Authorized Contact has created a Support Case to remove this restriction for individual users.

The use of Client Matter Codes is common to law firms, staffing agencies, office suites, and businesses with subdivided facilities that need to bill clients for specific phone usage. An organization can have up to 100,000 codes and each code must be 4 to 9 digits in length with up to 32 characters to describe the code.

Note that Client Matter Codes are different from Authorization Codes, which are used to prevent specific users from placing certain types of calls unless a valid code is entered. Your account can be setup with either Client Matter Codes or Authorization Codes, but not both.

Implementing Client Matter Codes

Authorized Contacts (Decision Makers and Phone Managers) can add the optional Client Matter Codes service to their account by creating a Support Case to communicate the necessary information to Support. If any of the "Code Required" calling restrictions (listed below) will be implemented, be sure to obtain a list of valid codes to provide to the users in your account. After this service is activated, you can manage Client Matter Codes for the users in your Sky account by doing the following in the Sky Account Portal:

Navigate to Phone System > Users.
NOTE: If you are a location-based Phone Manager, you must first select the desired user's location address from the "All locations" drop-down menu (located above the column headings).
In the Users screen, right-click the row of the desired user and select the Phone Settings option from the menu that opens.
Find the Calling Restrictions menu in the Features section of the Phone tab.
Click the current setting, select the desired option from the menu that opens, and click the check mark to save.

The following list shows the different options that are available for implementing Client Matter Codes for the user phone profiles in your account. Note that all calls to 900 numbers are blocked by default. Only one of these options can be enabled for a selected user.

Unrestricted (this is the default setting) - Enables calls to any United States or international destination.
Verified Code Required for International - Requires entering a verified code for all International calls.
Verified Code Required for External - Requires entering a verified code for all external calls.
Verified Code Optional for All - Allows entering a verified code for all calls, but is not required.
Unverified Code Required for International - Requires entering an unverified (arbitrary) code for all International calls.
Unverified Code Required for External - Requires entering an unverified (arbitrary) code for all external calls.
Unverified Code Optional for All - Allows entering an unverified (arbitrary) code for all calls, but is not required.

NOTE: When a user profile is configured to use a "Required" client matter code for external calls, Call Forwarding and Find Me functionality does not work.

Identifying Actively Used Codes

Authorized Contacts can identify the Client Matter Codes that are actively used in their organization by accessing the Usage Log screen and exporting the data to a .csv file that provides the Account Codes column for this purpose. Note that the Usage Log screen itself does not display these Account Codes, but the exported .csv file does. For instructions, see the "Exporting Usage Logs" section of the Usage Log article.

Placing Calls with Client Matter Codes

NOTE: The use of Client Matter Codes does not affect the ability to dial 911.

If a "Verified Code Required" type of Client Matter Code has been applied to your phone profile, you will need a valid code to place calls. If you need such a code, contact an Authorized Contact in your account. If an "Unverified Code Required" type of Client Matter Code has been applied to your phone profile, you only need to enter any arbitrary 4 to 9-digit code.

The following topics provide instructions that explain the different ways of entering a Client Matter Code on your phone.

When using an IP 400 series phone, only the Enter Code Before a Call method is valid.
When using a Cisco 7900 series phone:
- For "Required" Client Matter Codes, only the Enter Code Before a Call method is valid.
- For "Optional" codes, you can use any of the three "Enter Code" methods explained below.

Enter Code Before a Call

Dial 9.
NOTE: If your outbound dial digit is not 9, try using 8 or see the Outbound Dial Digit article.
Press *.
Enter the desired Client Matter Code.
Press *.
Enter the desired phone number.

Enter Code During a Call

Press the Services (globe icon) button on your phone.
Select the Add Billing Code option on the phone's screen.
Select one of the following options on the phone's screen:
- Enter Code - Enter the desired code and press the Save soft key.
- Search Description - Use the numeric keypad on the phone to enter the first few digits of the code, when you find the desired code, highlight the code, press the Select soft key, then press the Save soft key.

Enter Code After a Call

Press the Directories (open book icon) button on your phone.
Select Advanced Call History.
Select the Placed Calls option.
Scroll through the placed calls and highlight the desired call.
Select the Detail soft key.
Select the Bill Code soft key.
Enter the desired code.
Select the Accept soft key.

Title Client Matter Codes (for Calling Restrictions)

URL Name Client-Matter-Codes

Additional Information

Authorization Codes
Phone Features Settings
Usage Log
Sky Account Portal
Opening a Support Case
MiCloud and Sky Support

Client Matter Codes (for Calling Restrictions)