[Asterisk-Users] Calling Waiting on PSTN line

[Scott Laird]

On Sep 29, 2004, at 9:24 PM, Martin Keding wrote:
> I have looked through tons of wiki etc and still have not found an 
> working answer for this. Does Asterisk support call waiting on a PSTN 
> line(through an X100P card). I hear the beep but I can't get it to 
> flash to the other line. Anyone with a wokring configuration, PLEASE, 
> send it along.
>

In theory it's possible to get Asterisk to send a hook-flash to a port 
on an X100P, but it's a pain and runs counter to the whole PBX 
mentality.

For my home Asterisk server, what I did instead was drop call waiting 
and add call forward when busy.  I then signed up with NuFone and got 
an 800 number that costs me $0.02/minute.  I then set up 
call-forward-when-busy to point to the 800 number.  Result: when a 
second caller calls, they get forwarded to the 800 number, and then 
that connects directly to Asterisk.  I can then either answer the call 
or let it go to voicemail.  In essence, it works just like having a 
second physical phone line, except I'm only paying $2/month or so for 
overflow calls, rather then $30.

Assuming that you're in Canada, you might have a hard time finding a 
similar service, but the basic concept is sound.


Scott