Overview
USC uses Zoom Phone as its phone system for faculty and staff. This guide explains how to request a phone number for Zoom Phone and provides additional resources on using Zoom Phone.
Desk phone vs. softphone
Physical desk phones are available primarily in shared spaces only, such as in a department's administrative offices, or in research labs. Zoom Phone is a softphone: instead of a physical phone, use the Zoom application on your computer to place and answer phone calls, and check your voicemail.
Requesting a phone number
If you are new to USC, you'll need to take a few steps in order to receive a USC phone number.
First, activate your USC Zoom account by signing in:
- Go to https://usc.zoom.us.
- Click Sign in.
- Sign in using your USC NetID and passphrase, and complete Duo authentication.
Now, your account is activated and you can request a phone number:
- Fill out and submit the following form. Note that you can optionally request a physical headset:
Once your request is submitted, DTS will coordinate your request with ITS and will confirm once you are assigned a phone number.
Confirming Zoom Phone has been activated
Once you are assigned a phone number, open Zoom to confirm that Zoom Phone features now appear in your account:
- Open the Zoom Workplace app on your work computer or device. Zoom is already installed on all Dornsife-managed devices.
- In the left menu, select Phone.
- In the left panel, you can use the tabs to navigate to your History, Voicemail, Lines, and SMS. In the right panel, you can dial out. Your number appears below the dialpad in the Caller ID field.
Don't see the Phone option in the Zoom menu? You may need to update and restart Zoom:
- Click your profile icon in the upper right, and select Check for Updates.
- Install any pending updates. Then, quit and reopen the Zoom app.
Additional resources
USC resources
Setup and basic functions
The following guide reviews functions such as recording a voicemail greeting and setting business hours, and includes links to additional Zoom Phone training resources:
The following resources can help you get started with Zoom Phone:
Shared lines and call queues
If you are responsible for answering a shared departmental line, or for answering another person's line, refer to the following guides:
To grant someone else the ability to answer your line or check your voicemail, refer to the following guide:
Zoom-authored documentation
The following guides by Zoom are not USC-specific but cover specific functions you may find useful: