Bluetooth Re: [asterisk-users] Nomination for Coolest App in 2007

[Brad Templeton]

Another idea that has just come to me regarding bluetooth and a PBX is
like this.

Many people would like to use headsets with their IP phones.  Some
support wired headsets, but bluetooth headsets can be a good choice
for a headset -- no wires, many people often have one, and there is
a rich competitive market that makes them cheaper than many of the
headset products available.    There are a few hardphones that will
take a bluetooth headset -- this seems to me like an obvious idea
that's not very expensive to implement -- and I have a plantronics
bluetooth base station for use with any phone that works on my
Cisco 7960 and other phones with a headset jack.   But it's
expensive, and in the latter case, goes digital-analog-digital.


So with a bluetooth channel that can talk to a bluetooth headset,
you could have Asterisk itself give you your bluetooth headset
on your desk phone.    To do this, you would:
    
    a) Send calls to your desk phone to both the phone and
       headset.  You can answer on either.  See caller id
       on phone.

    b) Tranfer calls from desk phone to bluetooth headset.
       (Unfortunately requires the cumbersome transfer
       function of many phones.)

    c) Better still, have it so if the bluetooth headset
       opens a connection, and the "paired" desk phone is in a
       call or has a call on hold, auto-grab that call and
       put it on the headset.

    d) If the BT headset hangs up, instead of a normal
       hangup, consider that a transfer back to the desk
       phone, which will ring, and can then take over the
       call for any phone functions (real transfers, etc.)
       If you really meant to hang up, it does mean you
       have to answer and immediatly hang up this final
       call.    The user could program if she wants this,
       and from which modes she wants it.


Other than some minor inconveniences of (d), you get 
something much like the ability to have a bluetooth headset
as a handsfree headset for any phone on the system, even
analog phones.

Unfortunately, you can only have a limited number of
BT headsets operating at once from any bluetooth dongle
(typically 8, and at that point you also get interference
issues.)   However, dongles are only $10, so you can have
several on one server.   If people will be far from the
server, you have to do this functionality from remote
machines, which might be best done with an IP phone
softphone module.  In that case, you can have more UI,
include a choice on termination.   The general idea of
a "secondary phone" which, if it connects, automatically
grabs any call on the "main phone" is handy.  For real
phones with dials, you can have this be a magic extension
to dial.  Bluetooth headsets can't dial and can have it
simply happen on connection.