The phone's screens, keys and sounds

Source

This page is generated from docs/phone-ux.md in the repository.

The one source of truth for how the hardware phone looks, sounds and responds. The firmware (firmware/main/: strip.c, menu.c, signals.c, main.c) and the browser phone (apps/device-web/src/: strip.ts, menu.ts, leds.ts) follow this page; when they differ, this page wins and the code is the bug.

The hardware (hardware/DESIGN.md): 12 keys 1 2 3 4 5 MENU / 6 7 8 9 0 BACK, a hook switch under the cradle, a 2.13” e-paper screen (250 × 122, black on white; the 2.9” option is 296 × 128), one red status LED, a piezo ringer (beeps only, no speech) and the handset’s earpiece and mic on the 3.5 mm jack. No speaker, no per-key lights, no battery.

Screen

• Text, upper case, a 5 × 7 pixel font scaled up, each line centred. Some screens are drawn as pictures: the boot logo, the setup QR code, About, the key map (handset up), the phone check and the self-test.
• Status screens: 1 or 2 lines of at most 16 characters, at 3× (18 px per character, 288 px wide). This is the protocol’s strip: the server never sends more.
• Longer text scrolls instead of being cut off: a long name (a caller, a key’s person, the owner line, a Wi-Fi network) holds at its start for 2 s, then moves one character every 0.6 s through to the end and round again.
• Menus and setup: 3 or 4 lines of at most 20 characters, at 2× (12 px per character). 20 keeps every screen readable on the 2.13” (250 px wide).
• What’s on screen is what to do next. A second line names the action (LIFT TO ANSWER, PRESS A KEY, PRESS MENU 4); digits in menus are the key to press (1 VOLUME).
• Refresh: fast partial refresh on every change, a full refresh every 20 changes to clear e-paper ghosting. The screen keeps its last image without power.
• The key labels (who is on which key) live on the keycaps: paper labels under the clear caps, printed from the app (Manage phone → Print key labels).

Screens by state

Highest priority first: the first row that applies is shown.

State	Screen
Power-on	the mark (handset over the 2 × 6 keypad) and OPEN LOUNGE PHONE, firmware version small, for 2.5 s
Holding MENU+BACK at power-on	KEEP HOLDING / FOR WI-FI SETUP, then KEEP HOLDING / TO RESET (3 s and 10 s)
Updating	CHECKING UPDATE / PLEASE WAIT, UPDATING 42% / DON'T UNPLUG, UPDATED
Self-test running	the keypad drawn as 2 × 6 boxes plus HOOK and JACK; each fills in when pressed or moved; ALL GOOD at the end
Menu open	the menu screen (below)
Setup network open (no call)	a QR code that joins the setup network (scan it with a phone camera; the setup page opens), beside SCAN TO SET UP and the same in words: OR JOIN / network name / PW xxxxxxxx / OPEN 192.168.4.1
Server too old or phone too old	SERVER TOO OLD or UPDATE NEEDED / what to do
No server chosen	SET UP: / CHOOSE A SERVER / PRESS MENU 4
Pairing	PAIR 123 456 / ENTER IN APP
No Wi-Fi saved (a board without a network socket)	NO WI-FI / PRESS MENU 3
Offline	OFFLINE / RECONNECTING, or why Wi-Fi won’t join: JOINING WI-FI (a handshake failed; one at power-on is usually just timing), WRONG PASSWORD? (three failed handshakes in a row), WI-FI DROPPED (a working connection was lost), WEAK WI-FI (the router didn’t answer: antenna or distance), NETWORK NOT SEEN (5 GHz only or out of range), SECURITY NOT OK, CAN'T JOIN WI-FI. A board with a network socket (hw v0.2) also says what its cable is doing: CABLE UNPLUGGED (no link: no cable, or a dead socket at the other end) and NO DHCP ON CABLE (a link, but nobody gave the phone an address); with Wi-Fi saved, Wi-Fi’s own reason comes first, and the cable’s only while the cable was what the phone was using
Connecting	CONNECTING
Calling	CALLING MOM (or CALLING / long name)
Waiting in a public line’s queue	IN LINE 2 / 1 VOICEMAIL (with a call back too: 1 VM 2 CALL BACK; only a call back: 2 CALL ME BACK; neither: the line’s name; WAITING IN LINE when it shows no places)
Asked a public line to call back	PLACE KEPT / WE'LL CALL BACK (with the handset up, as the key map’s footer)
A public line calling you back	the line’s name / CALLS YOU BACK (lift to answer: the call to the line goes on, CALLING or IN LINE 1)
You put the call on hold	ON HOLD / name (MENU 1 RESUMES)
Choosing who to transfer to	TRANSFER TO? / PRESS A KEY
Ringing	GRANDMA CALLING / LIFT TO ANSWER, with BACK: SILENCE in turn on the second line (every 3 s). After BACK the ringer stops on this phone (the LED keeps flashing; the call still rings the person’s other phones and apps, and goes to voicemail at the usual time): GRANDMA CALLING / LIFT TO ANSWER
In a call	IN CALL 01:23 / name, with MENU 3: MUTE in turn on the second line (every 3 s); muted: MUTED 01:23 / name, in turn with MENU 3: UNMUTE; recorded: REC 01:23 (muted: REC MUTED 01:23) / name; while connecting CONNECTING / name. When the audio connection drops: after 2 s (the other side hanging up drops it too, a moment before the server says the call ended: that’s a normal end) RECONNECTING / name while it is restored (the call’s timer and status come back only once audio flows again); if it can’t be restored within 20 s the call ends (CONNECTION LOST, below). On the browser phone, when packet loss or jitter make the audio poor: the second line says POOR CONNECTION until it’s better (not on the hardware phone: its WebRTC library doesn’t report it)
They put you on hold	ON HOLD / name
In a call, another call waiting	WAITING: MOM (a long name: CALL WAITING / the name, in turn with the keys) / 1 TAKE 2 IGNORE, with the call-waiting beep in the earpiece (see “Call waiting”)
In a room	the room’s name / 3 IN ROOM (MUTED, REC when they apply); STILL THERE? / PRESS ANY KEY before an idle room drops you; CLOSING SOON / the room’s name a minute before a party line’s hours end. When a party line with hours opens, a phone with its key shows PARTY LINE OPEN / its name with a chime (a notice): lift and press the key to join. The phone shows IN ROOM / MUTED until rooms get audio on the phone (planned)
Handset up, nothing dialled	the key map, drawn as a page: whose phone it is in the title bar (KIDS: SMITHS, ANA'S PHONE, LOUNGE: STUDIO; SPEED DIAL before the server says), then who is on each digit key of the page shown in two columns like the key rows (1-5 left, 6-0 right; a filled keycap = someone is on it, - = nobody), and at the bottom PRESS A KEY TO CALL (with more than one page of keys: PAGE 2/3 - BACK: NEXT PAGE, see “Speed-dial pages”), or after a call that didn’t go through BUSY, NO ANSWER, DECLINED, UNAVAILABLE, NOT ALLOWED, CALL FAILED or CONNECTION LOST (the call’s audio connection dropped and couldn’t be restored, on either side) - PRESS A KEY; when the server says why, its words instead: ON ANOTHER CALL (you’re on one already), ADD-ON OFFLINE, ADD-ON BUSY, TAKES NO CALLS, NO SUCH ADD-ON (none of that name on your account there), ADD-ONS ARE OFF, CAN'T CALL THAT (nothing you may call at that address, whether or not anything is there) (a Lounge phone with nobody signed in that tried a public line: SIGN IN TO CALL - PRESS A KEY)
Not answered, voicemail offered	LEAVE A MESSAGE / name, a beep, then RECORDING 01:59 / HANG UP TO SEND (counting down to the limit, 2 minutes)
Just hung up after a message	SENDING MESSAGE, then MESSAGE SENT or MESSAGE NOT SENT (4 s)
Listening to voicemail	MESSAGE 1 OF 3 / who / 00:04 OF 00:12 / 1 AGAIN 2 NEXT; then NO MORE MESSAGES
Ready, a kids’ phone waiting for a grown-up to allow its new firmware (Ask me first, docs/security-model.md “Firmware changes”)	ASK A GROWN-UP / NEW FIRMWARE, also with the handset lifted and after any key: it makes no calls (no keys, no missed calls to call back, no MENU 6); a phone calling one that waits shows WAITING FOR OK / PRESS A KEY
Ready, a notice from the space	its one or two lines (BUS IS HERE), with a chime when it arrives (none during quiet hours); any key clears it, lifting the handset plays its recording over and over until the handset goes down or a key clears the notice (that key doesn’t dial) (notices.md)
Ready, daily check-in due	CHECK IN BY 10:00 / PRESS 1: I'M OK until someone presses 1 (handset down); once the time passed without it (the guardians were told): CHECK-IN MISSED / PRESS 1: I'M OK; after 1, once the server has it: THANK YOU / CHECKED IN (4 s), then the usual ready screen. See “Daily check-in”
House intercom	KITCHEN CALLING / LIFT TO ANSWER (another room calling), CALLING / DEN while you call one (CALLING / ALL ROOMS for every room), INTERCOM / DEN while you talk; after: DEN / HUNG UP, DEN / IS BUSY, DEN / NO ANSWER, ANSWERED ELSEWHERE (4 s); see “House intercom”
Ready, missed calls	one message: MISSED MOM / ASK A GROWN-UP (kids) or PLAY IN APP; one missed call: MISSED MOM / MENU 5: MISSED; several: 3 MISSED CALLS / each name in turn (3 s). Messages go once heard (played on the phone, MENU 2 3 CLEAR, or opened in the app), missed calls once cleared (MENU 5 3 CLEAR, or in the app). A public line’s call back that nobody took (a person’s own phone): MISSED CALL BACK / the line’s name, or among the names; it goes with MENU 5 3 CLEAR, by calling the line, or by taking its next call back
Ready, quiet hours	QUIET TIL 07:00 (or QUIET HOURS) / the owner line
Lounge phone	see “Lounge phone” below: the takeover code, PRESS KEY 7, HI ANA
Ready	READY 14:05 (local time, once the server has sent its clock; READY before) / the owner line: KIDS: SMITHS, LOUNGE: STUDIO, ANA'S PHONE

Keys by state

Digits 1-9 and 0 are the speed-dial keys (protocol button 0-8 and 9), in pages of ten (see “Speed-dial pages”). MENU and BACK never leave the phone.

State	Digits	MENU	BACK	Hook
Ready (handset down)	nothing (a click); with a notice showing: clear it; with a daily check-in due: 1 is I’m OK	open the menu	with a notice showing: clear it	lift: dial tone (and a notice’s recording)
Handset up	call that key’s person on the page shown (while a notice’s recording plays: stop it and clear the notice)	open the menu	the next page of keys, from the last back to the first (with one page: nothing); while a notice’s recording plays: stop it and clear the notice	down: back to ready (and page 1)
Calling	nothing	open the menu	nothing	down: cancel
Waiting in a public line’s queue	1: leave a voicemail instead; 2: call me back (each when offered)	open the menu	nothing	down: cancel
Ringing	nothing	open the menu	silence the ringer on this phone	lift: answer
In a call	nothing (after MENU 2 Transfer: the key’s person gets the call)	the call screen (1 Hold, 2 Transfer, 3 Mute / Unmute, 9 Volume)	nothing	down: hang up
In a call, another call waiting	1: take it (this call goes on hold; on the hardware phone this call ends); 2: ignore it (it goes to voicemail at the usual time)	the call screen	nothing	down: hang up this call; the waiting one then rings like any call (lift to answer)
Call on hold	nothing (one call has audio at a time)	the call screen (1 Resume)	nothing	down: hang up both
Leaving a message	nothing	nothing	nothing	down: send it (under 1.5 s: dropped)
In a room	any key: “still here”	the call screen (3 Mute / Unmute, 9 Volume)	nothing	down: leave
Self-test	ticks that key off	ticks it off	ticks it off	ticks it off (and works as usual)
Menu open	the option shown	close the menu	one level up (closes at the top)	as in the state underneath
Power-on with MENU+BACK held				3 s: setup network, 10 s: factory reset

The menu closes by itself after 20 s without a key.

Speed-dial pages

A phone can have more than ten people on its keys: the app keeps them in pages of ten (Manage phone → Keys → Add page; up to 10 pages, 100 keys), one key per digit on each page.

• Handset up, the key map showing: BACK shows the next page that has someone on it, and from the last page back to the first. Empty pages are skipped; page 1 is always there.
• The footer says which page is on screen, by the app’s page numbers, and how to turn it: PAGE 2/3 - BACK: NEXT PAGE (3 is the last page with keys; the 2-line status says PAGE 2/3 / BACK: NEXT PAGE). After a call that didn’t go through the footer says why first (BUSY - PRESS A KEY); BACK still turns the page, which clears it.
• A digit calls that key on the page shown. Hanging up, or a call starting, returns to page 1. Redial calls the same page’s key again, whatever page is showing.
• BACK pages only there: everywhere else it keeps its job (the menu’s one level up, silencing a ring, stopping voicemail playback or a notice’s recording, a house intercom call, deleting an extension’s digits). With one page BACK does nothing on the key map, as before.
• Keys elsewhere use page 1: a blind transfer’s “press a key”, a free Lounge phone’s house-line keys, the key labels printed for the keycaps. A Lounge phone in use pages the signed-in person’s own desk-phone keys.
• Phones that don’t list key-pages get page 1 only.

Menu

Key	Item	On the phone
1	Volume: earpiece 1 quieter, 2 louder (0-10, 3 dB steps, capped); ringer 4 soft / medium / loud, 5 style classic / double / beeps (each press plays it); 6 SIDETONE OFF / LOW / NORMAL (your own voice in the earpiece in a call, never while muted; normal is the default); 7 ECHO CANCEL ON / OFF (from the next call; see audio.md)	yes (6 and 7: hardware only)
2	Voicemail: how many new messages. A person’s own phone: 1 PLAY (handset up) plays each unheard message in the earpiece, oldest first (1 again, 2 next, BACK stop; one played to the end is marked heard, everywhere), 3 CLEAR marks them all heard (missed calls and call backs are on 5, not here); a message recorded before phones could play it says PLAY IN APP. A kids’ phone: ASK A GROWN-UP (they listen in the app), and no 4 GREETING (a kids’ phone never records the child). 4 GREETING on a person’s own phone: 1 record your name, 2 a whole greeting, 3 back to the standard one (the browser phone; planned on hardware)	yes
3	Network: the Wi-Fi network and signal, and the server; 1 CHANGE opens the setup network (Wi-Fi and server). A kids’ phone asks PRESS 1 AGAIN first; a Lounge phone doesn’t offer it (ADMIN: SEE GUIDE: hold MENU+BACK at power-on). A board with a network socket (hw v0.2) heads the screen with its cable: WIRED NETWORK and the phone’s address on it while the cable is in use; otherwise CABLE UNPLUGGED, CABLE CONNECTING (a link, its address on the way), NO DHCP ON CABLE or CABLE AFTER CALL (the cable works; a call on Wi-Fi finishes first), over the Wi-Fi line. See “Wired network” below	yes
4	House intercom, when it’s on for this phone (the rooms to call, see “House intercom”); else the chime, when the phone has one (CHIME / its words / 1 SEND TO ALL PHONES); else the same screen as 3	yes (the intercom: hardware only)
5	Missed calls (not on a Lounge phone; a Lounge phone in use: open to chat on / off): see “Missed calls” below	yes
6	Dial an extension (team and organization spaces; shown when the space has extensions): EXT 204_, digits, BACK deletes, MENU dials (handset up)	yes
7	Phone check: a page with Wi-Fi (network, signal, channel; on the cable instead: CABLE and its speed, 100 MBIT/S FULL DUPLEX), address, server (online, for how long), the last Wi-Fi problem, handset and jack, the mic, the echo, time running and clock, memory; 1 starts the self-test, 2 the echo test. With the handset up the page switches the handset’s mic on and shows the speech it hears, every second (MIC SPEAK NOW, then SPEAK NOW: -26 DB OK: the level after the automatic gain, and OK, WEAK for a weak handset or TOO LOUD for too much mic gain; audio gain on the console, BRINGUP.md) until the page closes; handset down: LIFT TO TEST. The echo test (2, handset up and held normally) plays a short sweep in the earpiece: ECHO TESTING..., then 38 DB OK, 4 MS (how much quieter the earpiece is in the mic, GOOD / OK / POOR, and how late) or OVER 52 DB GOOD (nothing came back); a poor result turns the echo canceller on, over 5 ms turns the sidetone off; handset down: LIFT, PRESS 2. The footer reads 1 SELF-TEST 2 ECHO BACK: MENU	yes
8	Redial (not on a Lounge phone; a Lounge phone in use: log out, the phone forgets the person): with the handset up, calls again what this phone last called (a key, an extension or a call back); handset down: LIFT THE HANDSET / THEN MENU 8; nothing called yet: NOTHING TO REDIAL. The phone remembers it across restarts until it’s removed	yes
9	Update now (official firmware with updates on)	yes
0	About: a page with the mark and OPEN LOUNGE PHONE, the firmware, board (MINIMAL-REVA, or MINIMAL-V02 for the board with a network socket) and server, the public key part (the four fingerprint words, WORD-WORD-WORD-WORD) that the app shows for the same phone, and OPEN SOURCE OPENLOUNGEPHONE.APP along the bottom	yes

Root screen: MENU, then the items that apply, packed into up to five lines that fit (20 characters at 2x on the 2.13-inch; six lines of 20 px fill its 122 px): 1 VOLUME 2 VOICEMAIL / 3 NETWORK 4 INTERCOM / 5 MISSED 6 EXT / 7 CHECK 8 REDIAL / 0 ABOUT 9 UPDATE (4 CHIME with a chime and no intercom, nothing on 4 with neither; no 6 EXT outside team and organization spaces); a Lounge phone in use: 1 VOLUME 5 CHAT / 8 LOG OUT 3 NETWORK / 7 CHECK 0 ABOUT / 9 UPDATE. 9 UPDATE comes last and is left off when it doesn’t fit (9 works either way). The browser phone has no Network, Check or Update items.

Missed calls

A missed call rang this phone (or, on a person’s own phone, any of the person’s phones and apps, in any of their spaces) and nobody answered, and the caller left no message: no answer in time, or the caller gave up while it rang. Declining a call isn’t missing it. A message left after it makes it voicemail instead (MENU 2). A public line’s call back that nobody took is listed here too. Lounge phones keep none.

MENU 5: MISSED 1 OF 3 / who (scrolls when long) / how many and when (2 CALLS 14:05, YESTERDAY 09:12, 12 OCT 18:30; a line: CALLED BACK 14:05) / 1 CALL BACK 2 NEXT / 3 CLEAR ALL, newest first; with none: NO MISSED CALLS.

• 1 calls the shown one back (handset up; handset down: LIFT THE HANDSET / THEN MENU 5), like pressing a key: a kids’ phone only calls people on its allow-list it may call, within its quiet hours, so anyone else is refused (NOT ALLOWED - PRESS A KEY); a person’s own phone calls as its owner would from their app. Someone the phone can’t reach from its space (a member of the owner’s other space) is UNAVAILABLE: call them back from the app there.
• 2 shows the next one; 3 clears them all: marked seen on this phone and, for a person, on all their phones and apps (the app’s Missed calls clears them the same way).
• The ready screen shows them with the voicemail: MISSED MOM / MENU 5: MISSED for one missed call, MISSED MOM / PLAY IN APP (or ASK A GROWN-UP) for one message, 3 MISSED CALLS / each name in turn for several, and the light breathes until they’re cleared or heard.
• On a server older than 0.7.0 (no missed-calls) the phone lists only missed call backs here, as before.

Daily check-in

For someone living alone (a grandparent): their guardians set a time in the app (Manage phone → Home features → Daily check-in, e.g. 10:00, the space’s time zone). Each day until then the ready screen asks CHECK IN BY 10:00 / PRESS 1: I'M OK; pressing 1 (handset down) tells the server, and the phone says THANK YOU / CHECKED IN once the server has it. If nobody has pressed it by the time, the server tells every guardian of the space (an alert in their voicemail inbox: “Gran didn’t check in by 10:00.”, with a chime), once that day, and the phone shows CHECK-IN MISSED until someone presses 1. The server watches the time itself, so an unplugged or offline phone is noticed too. A time set after today’s has passed starts tomorrow. Off unless set; not on Lounge phones. The browser phone has it too.

Chime

“Dinner’s ready”: a phone the guardians gave a chime (Manage phone → Home features → Chime, the words, at most two lines of 16 characters) posts them as a notice to every phone of the space: MENU 4 (CHIME / DINNER'S READY / 1 SEND TO ALL PHONES), then 1. The other phones show it and chime like any notice (see notices.md); it lasts 15 minutes, and a phone sends at most one a minute. Notices from the app work as before; the chime is the phone’s way to send one. The browser phone has it too (with the house intercom on, it’s 9 CHIME on the intercom screen).

House intercom

Phones of one space on the same local network (the house Wi-Fi) call each other room to room, with no server and no internet in between: lift the handset, MENU 4, and the room’s digit (INTERCOM / 1 KITCHEN 2 DEN / 3 GARAGE / 0 ALL ROOMS / 9 CHIME, the rooms other phones announced in the last 90 s; NO OTHER ROOMS YET with none). The other phone rings (KITCHEN CALLING / LIFT TO ANSWER, the ringer and the fast-flashing LED); lifting it talks. 0 rings every room and the first to lift answers (the others show ANSWERED ELSEWHERE). Hanging up either side ends it; BACK stops a call you’re making. A phone in an intercom call is busy for server calls and the other way round.

• Off by default, on per phone (Manage phone → Home features → House intercom). The room’s name is the phone’s name.
• Only the space’s phones, only on the local network. Control messages are UDP broadcasts on port 47100 that never leave the network, each signed with the space’s intercom key (an HMAC-SHA256, with the time and a one-time number, so a neighbour on the same Wi-Fi can’t ring a room or replay a message); the audio (G.711 on UDP 47101, straight between the two phones) is encrypted with AES-128 under a key made from the space’s key for that call, and each packet is checked (a truncated HMAC). The key comes from the server when the intercom is turned on and the phone keeps it, so the intercom works while the internet is down. A phone whose intercom is turned off (or that is removed) forgets the key.
• Hardware only: the browser phone has no intercom (a browser can’t talk UDP on the local network).
• Messages older than a minute are refused when the phone knows the time (it learns it from the server); a phone restarted with no internet can’t check that until it’s back, so for that time only the one-time numbers it has seen stop replays.

Lounge phone

A shared phone (set up as a Lounge phone in the app). Free: the takeover QR code with SCAN TO USE THIS PHONE, a hint (THIS PHONE, HERE: BEN when someone is open to chat at another Lounge phone, OR PRESS A KEY when the space gave free phones house-line keys; those call people of the space, never a public line: only someone signed in calls a line) and the space’s name. Scanning asks for proof the person is at the phone: PRESS KEY 7 / TO START (the red LED flashes fast) until they press it. In use: HI ANA / MENU = OPTIONS (or OPEN TO CHAT), their people on the keys. When the session ends (log out, the space’s time limit, someone else takes it over) the phone forgets them and shows SIGNED OUT / SEE YOU (or TIME'S UP, SOMEONE ELSE) for 4 s, then the code again. Digit keys do nothing on a free phone without house-line keys.

Call screen (MENU in a call or a room). Each action keeps its digit everywhere (the browser phone too): 1 hold, resume or merge, 2 transfer, 3 mute or unmute, 9 volume. In a call: CALL / 1 HOLD / 2 TRANSFER / 3 MUTE 9 VOLUME (3 UNMUTE when muted). On hold: 1 RESUME. In a room: ROOM / 3 MUTE (or 3 UNMUTE) / 9 VOLUME. Transfer without a held call is blind: the next key picks who gets it. Mute stops the handset’s mic for this call (the other side hears silence; the server isn’t told, so it lasts until you unmute, hang up or the call is held): the screen says MUTED and the status LED blinks slowly in pairs. In a room the room’s server is told (everyone sees you muted). The hardware phone has audio for one call at a time, so holding doesn’t add a second caller; adding a caller, merging and transferring to the held call are in the app and the browser phone.

Call waiting. A second call to someone who is in a call no longer gets busy: it rings softly where they’re talking. On the phone: a beep in the earpiece every 5 s and WAITING: MOM / 1 TAKE 2 IGNORE. 1 takes it: on the browser phone (and in the app) the call you’re in goes on hold (the other person hears the hold tone) and you talk with the new caller; when that call ends the first one is on hold (ON HOLD / name, MENU 1 RESUMES), and MENU offers 1 MERGE and 2 TRANSFER meanwhile. The hardware phone has audio for one call at a time (one WebRTC connection; a held call would come back without sound), so there 1 ends the call you’re in and answers the waiting one. 2 ignores it: it stops beeping here and goes to voicemail after the callee’s usual ring time, as an unanswered call does. Hanging up the call you’re in makes the waiting call ring like any call. A second call waiting, a call you’re holding, or being in a room: busy, as before. Kids’ phones get call waiting too; their allow-list and quiet hours decide exactly as for a first call (someone not allowed is refused without a beep). It’s on unless turned off: a person in the app (Settings → Calls; their apps and own phones follow it), a kids’ phone by its guardians (Manage phone). Phones get it only if they say they show it (hello.features call-waiting); older phones stay busy.

Reconnecting. When a call’s audio connection drops (Wi-Fi blips, a network change), the phone says RECONNECTING instead of sitting in silence. The side that placed the call restarts the connection (an ICE restart: new routes, same call), every few seconds, for up to 20 s; then the call ends for both sides with CONNECTION LOST (the server tells the other side why). The hardware phone can’t restart a connection (its WebRTC library, esp_peer 1.5.6, has no ICE restart): it shows RECONNECTING while the connection is down, waits up to 15 s for it to come back by itself, then hangs up the same way. A browser phone or app restarting a call with a hardware phone gets no answer to its restart, so such a call ends after the wait.

Self-test (MENU 7 then 1): press every key, lift and hang up the handset, plug the handset in and out. The earpiece plays a 1 kHz tone meanwhile (lift the handset to hear it) and each key clicks the piezo. It ends with a short double beep when every key and the hook are ticked (the jack is optional), with a long beep after 30 s without input, or when a call rings.

Wired network

The board with a network socket (hw v0.2, the RJ45 with Power over Ethernet) uses a cable when it has one; the boards without one are Wi-Fi only and nothing here applies to them.

• A working cable wins. At power-on the phone looks for a cable first (CONNECTING, a few seconds). A cable with a link and an address is used for everything and the Wi-Fi radio is off. No Wi-Fi needs to be set up for it: a phone on a working cable never opens the setup network by itself; MENU 3 → 1 still opens it, and its page says Wi-Fi is optional and asks only for the server.
• No cable, or one that doesn’t work: Wi-Fi, if a network is saved. The cable’s port is powered down meanwhile and checked every 30 s (every 5 minutes after a cable that gave no address), so plugging one in takes up to half a minute to be noticed. With no Wi-Fi saved the port stays on and the phone waits for the cable (OFFLINE / CABLE UNPLUGGED). With neither at power-on the setup network opens at once (after 3 minutes without any network later on); a cable coming up closes it again, unless someone opened it.
• Pulled out: Wi-Fi takes over at once (the port stays on a few seconds in case the cable was only bumped). OFFLINE / CABLE UNPLUGGED until Wi-Fi joins.
• Calls: a call on Wi-Fi stays on Wi-Fi until it ends, even if a cable starts working meanwhile (CABLE AFTER CALL in MENU 3); the phone moves to the cable when it hangs up. When the network a call is on is lost (the cable pulled, Wi-Fi gone), the call ends and the phone reconnects to the server on the other network; the call can then be placed again.
• Power: PoE or a USB-C charger (hardware/README.md “Power”).

Status LED (red)

Pattern	Means
Off	no power, or starting up
Dim (8 %)	ready
Slow breathe (4 s)	ready, with missed calls or new voicemail
Pulse (1 s)	pairing, or connecting to the server
Fast flash (4 per second)	ringing (a call, or another room on the house intercom), or a Lounge phone waiting for its PRESS KEY proof
Short blink every 2 s	offline: no network (Wi-Fi or the cable) or no server
On	calling, in a call or in a room
Slow double blink (two 0.25 s blinks every 2 s)	in a call or a room with the mic muted (MENU 3)
Double flash every second	this call or room is being recorded (it is also the recording light; it wins over muted)

Sounds

Piezo (4 kHz, in the base):

Sound	Pattern
Ring	every 3 s while it rings: classic = 1 s warble; double = two 0.4 s warbles; beeps = three 0.15 s beeps. Soft, medium or loud (MENU 1, 4 and 5)
Key click	30 ms (every key press)
Pairing code shown	3 × 120 ms
Paired / done	2 × 60 ms
Error	400 ms

Earpiece (only with the handset up):

Tone	When
Dial tone, 350 + 440 Hz steady	handset up, nothing dialled
Ringback, 440 + 480 Hz, 2 s on / 4 s off	calling
Busy, 480 + 620 Hz, 0.5 s on / 0.5 s off	the call didn’t go through
Hold beep	they put you on hold, or a call you put on hold is waiting
Call-waiting beep, 440 Hz, 0.3 s every 5 s	in a call, another call is waiting
Beep, 1 kHz, 0.6 s	start speaking: the message is recording
1 kHz steady	the self-test

Leaving a message: the phone records the handset mic as 8 kHz WAV and sends it when you hang up. Recorded greetings aren’t played on the hardware phone yet (the beep starts the message). Spoken prompts (the pairing code, “This call is recorded.”, “Please leave a message”, menu read-outs) are planned as recorded clips; until then the phone uses the screen and these tones. The browser phone speaks them already.