[asterisk-users] How to park calls on a specific extension

[Brad Templeton]

On Thu, Nov 30, 2006 at 12:03:24AM -0600, Lacy Moore - Aspendora wrote:
> The question is what is the best interface?  On our old system, we put the
> caller on hold, went to another phone, pressed pickup and then entered the
> extension where the call is on hold.  I never liked that, especially if I
> was at an extension that wasn't mine.  By the time, I got to where I needed
> to be, or someone called me and told me to pick that call, I would forget
> what extension.  The same thing, I believe, will happen with the current
> park method.  I don't know what would help with that, maybe better vitamins
> to prevent memory loss?  :-)  I don't know.  Maybe a receptionist console
> that could tell who is on park, their phone number and caller id info along
> with who put them on park?

If you integrate with the voice mail, so that you can pull a user's audio
name for an extension, the pickup extension can say "Do you want to pick
up the call put on hold by 'Lacy Moore' or 'Joe Smith' or 'waiting room'
or 'extension 242'"

Hopefully little need for memory.
> 
> I'm wondering if maybe we are looking at having to have different ways of
> doing it.  Being able to transfer the call to a line button, and being able
> to press that line button to pick up the call, and having the status shown,
> may be the better solution for small companies.

Problem there is only some phones have line buttons, and when they have
them they are scarce and there's many things you might like to do with them,
and dedicating them to this would be low on my list.   Dedicating one speed
dial to a "pickup call" command that picks up the solo call or reads you the
names/numbers of the calls on hold, or puts them on your screen if you have
a screen -- that makes more sense, and it does well on every phone.  Then if
you want to have line buttons which read hints based on the number of calls
held.
> 
> I'm going to show my ignorance here.  Since the phone displays the number we
> dialed,or the incoming caller information on the screen (we're talking those
> with displays), is there anyway to have it so that when the call is parked,
> it also shows the parking spot the caller is parked on?  Kind of like hold
> does now?  I know nothing about the SIP protocol, so I don't know if this is
> possible or not.

Yes, some phones can receive text messages back from the server.  Not all
of them.   But if you have a system where "parking" is just pressing hold,
then all you need to know at worst is the name or extension of the phone you're on,
and that's usualy already on the phone screen or even written on in pen!