Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

Discussions around standard phones and phone service in meetinghouses and what the future of meetinghouse telephones should hold
Post Reply
rjulich
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:54 am

Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#1

Post by rjulich »

I am the high councilman in my stake over Technology. Typically the bishop's office and the clerk's office share the same phone number. A problem could occur when the bishop is on the phone and someone picks up the phone in the clerk's office and might hear confidential information. Is there some device that I can install so that if the bishop is on the phone is his office, the person on the clerk's office phone couldn't hear anything on the phone?
User avatar
aebrown
Community Administrator
Posts: 15153
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:48 pm
Location: Draper, Utah

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#2

Post by aebrown »

Phones are the responsibility of the FM group, not the stake technology specialist. I'd be wary of modifying the phone system without the approval of the FM group.

Our FM group has configured all the shared phones so that when the bishop is on his extension, the clerks just hear silence. I'm not sure how they did it, but I'd recommend that you (or your stake PFR) contact your FM group about this.
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34417
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#3

Post by russellhltn »

The only thing I'm aware of would also cause the bishop to interrupt/cut off any conversation the clerk might be having and prevent transferring calls.

There are devices that indicate "line in use". Installing one on the clerk's phone would prevent accidents.

To do anything else would require installing a phone system. Maybe you can find one that is the "matching handsets" style. (So you don't have to re-wire the building and install a key unit.) They used to be popular, but I don't think I've seen one in 10 years.

To my knowledge, the church has never worried about this. I'm guessing that most people would immediately hang up the phone when they find it's in use and only hear a few words - rarely enough to breach confidentiality.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
rjulich
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:54 am

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#4

Post by rjulich »

Thank you. I'll contact my FM group to see what they have to say.
User avatar
Mikerowaved
Community Moderators
Posts: 4734
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:56 am
Location: Layton, UT

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#5

Post by Mikerowaved »

Every clerk's office phone in our stake is configured to cut out completely whenever the bishop's phone is in use. Same with the stake clerk's phone and the stake president. I've never seen it any other way, so I assumed it was standard practice in the church, just like the white-noise generators.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
lajackson
Community Moderators
Posts: 11460
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: US

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#6

Post by lajackson »

Mikerowaved wrote:Every clerk's office phone in our stake is configured to cut out completely whenever the bishop's phone is in use.
In our old buildings, it's an old fashioned party line.

In our new building, each bishop and each clerks office have different phone numbers. Same for the stake president and stake clerks office.
rjulich
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:54 am

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#7

Post by rjulich »

We have 4 wards meeting and the stake offices in our building so we potentially have 5 bishop/stake president and clerk office conflicts. I'll have to test out if every ward is having this "problem".
TinMan
Member
Posts: 474
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:08 am
Location: Bountiful, UT, USA

Re: Phones - Bishop's Office vs. Clerk's Office

#8

Post by TinMan »

I get or make very few calls on my office phone. Most are on my cell now. Same for my clerks.

I would make sure it is really a problem before you go to a lot of bother to fix it.
Post Reply

Return to “Phones”