[asterisk-users] Multiple contacts.

[SIP]

Steve Totaro wrote:
> Alex Balashov wrote:
>   
>> I'm sure this has been asked a million times before, but is there an easy 
>> wa to have Asterisk register more than one (distinct) contact binding
>> concurrently?
>>
>> The goal is to have two phones register with the same credentials from 
>> different locations and consistently and reliably ring on inbound calls,
>> irrespective of their registration intervals and so on.
>>
>> --
>> Alex Balashov
>> Evariste Systems
>> Web    : http://www.evaristesys.com/
>> Tel    : +1-678-954-0670
>> Direct : +1-678-954-0671
>>   
>>     
>
> A million and one now, check the archives.
>
> No you cannot and why would you want to?  The device that registers last 
> will ring.
>
> Just set the phones up in a ring group or even a ring all queue.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve Totaro
>
> _______________________________________________
>   
Why would you WANT to? Well heck, I can think of a lot of reasons -- not 
the least of which being able to freely log in from anywhere at anytime 
with multiple phones (the wifi sip phone from the coffee shop, the desk 
phone at the office, the phone at home, the new phone I just picked up 
at lunchtime) without having to configure a device entry for each and 
every one of them and modify extensions.conf to ring multiple devices 
for each and every phone I add or remove from the list.

In short, flexibility.

The problem with this question is the way Asterisk thinks of phones to 
the way many people think of logins. To Asterisk, phones are devices -- 
separate entities for which there should be an entry each time. To those 
of us NOT migrating into Asterisk from the traditional PBX world, this 
is somewhat of a foreign concept. The idea that everywhere we log in 
from must be a unique device that has to be configured to be allowed to 
log in is somewhat weird in a world of mobility.

In the days of terminals all connecting to a central hub, it made more 
sense.  But in the days of internet cafes, library computers, wi-fi 
everywhere, etc., it's just not a compatible concept. Who wants to 
reconfigure his VoIP box every time he goes to a new computer with a new 
softphone, for instance?

So while it may make absolutely PERFECT sense in the realm of Asterisk, 
as Asterisk is a PBX system and that's how PBX systems think, I'm always 
surprised at the number of people who simply don't understand why people 
ask this question. A lot. :)

N.