Overview
The Sharpen Q Phone is a component of the Sharpen Q dashboard that gives agents the ability to make outbound calls, send outbound SMS and MMS messages, view a directory of other agents in your organization, and access their personal voicemail, all without leaving the Sharpen Q interface.
The Q Phone is located along the left side of the Sharpen Q dashboard and is organized into navigation tabs, each covering a specific function. This article covers each of those tabs in detail.
Configuring Q Phone Tabs
Which tabs appear in the Q Phone for each agent is controlled by your administrator. Tabs can be enabled or disabled at both the User Group level and the individual user level.
User Group Configuration
To configure Q Phone tabs for an entire User Group:
Navigate to Admin > Settings > User Groups and select the appropriate User Group.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Q Phone Tabs section.
For each tab — Outbound Phone, SMS, Email, Directories, Contacts, and Voicemail — select Yes to enable or No to disable.
Click Save.
All members of that User Group will see the tabs according to this configuration.
Individual User Configuration
To customize Q Phone tabs for a specific user:
Navigate to Admin > Settings > Manage Users and select the appropriate user.
Scroll to the Q Phone Tabs section and toggle each tab on or off based on what that user needs.
Click Save.
Important: If the user's User Group settings are ever updated and saved, those changes will override any individual-level tab configuration for that user. Individual overrides should be reapplied after any User Group update that affects Q Phone Tabs.
Making an Outbound Call
Outbound calls are placed using the Q Phone dial pad. The appearance of the dial pad will vary slightly depending on your current call routing setting:
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Sharpen Q Phone routing
A green Call button appears above the dial pad.
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Desk phone, mobile, or other routing
A teal Dial button appears instead.
Before placing a call, select the Outbound Queue you want to use. This determines the Caller ID that is presented to the customer, for example, calling from a recognizable Support queue number rather than a personal extension. Selecting the correct outbound queue is especially important if the customer may need to call back.
To place a call, either use the on-screen dial pad to enter the number or type it directly into the number entry field, then click Call or Dial.
You can also initiate calls from the My History tab in the Activity Side Panel. If you have prior interaction history with a customer, locate their record and click the button displaying their phone number to call them directly.
Sending an Outbound SMS or MMS
The SMS tab in the Q Phone allows you to send outbound text messages from a queue number. Just like outbound calls, you can select which outbound queue number the message is sent from before sending.
A few important notes:
This feature is intended for sending a standalone outbound message — not for transitioning an active call to SMS. If the customer replies to your message, it will generate a new inbound SMS interaction for the queue, not a direct message back to you.
To send an MMS, click the Upload button to attach a file. Once a file is attached, the button will display the filename. The SMS button does not change appearance to indicate MMS — the attachment is what triggers it.
While Sharpen supports larger file attachments, the recommended maximum size is 300 KB, as not all wireless carriers and devices can receive larger files reliably.
When the message is sent, you will not be taken to an interaction window. Instead, a brief overlay will confirm that your message was sent successfully.
Viewing the Agent Directory
The Contacts tab displays a directory of other Sharpen users in your organization when enabled by your administrator.
Use the search field to quickly find a specific agent.
The colored bar to the left of each user's name indicates their current status. Click the bar to see a status description.
Click the phone icon next to an agent to initiate a direct call with them. Hovering over the phone icon will display their extension before you call.
To create a new contact without leaving the screen, click the [+] icon in the upper right corner of the Contacts tab and fill in the details.
If the Contacts tab is not enabled for your account, you can access the company directory from the End User Dashboard.
Accessing Your Personal Voicemail
The Voicemail tab displays all voicemails left for your personal extension.
This tab only shows voicemails for your personal extension, not voicemails left for a queue. Queue voicemails are handled as inbound interactions in Sharpen Q.
Use the on-screen playback controls to play or pause a recording and adjust the volume. You can also scrub to a specific position within the recording — useful when you need to quickly reference a specific piece of information, such as a callback number, without listening through the entire message. Voicemails can also be downloaded or deleted directly from this tab.
If the Voicemail tab is not enabled for your account, you can access your personal voicemail history from the End User Dashboard.