[Asterisk-Dev] Re: multiple registrations of same credentials

[Kevin Hanson]

Kevin P. Fleming wrote:

> Jonathan k. Creasy wrote:
>
>> I am reading this because I would like to have a shared line appearance,
>> or at least I think I would. The goal is to have several phones with a
>> single line and when it's busy on one, it's busy on all of them. It's
>> been requested by several users, most of them so that a secretary can
>> monitor the lines of 5 or 6 different people. 
>
>
> Multiple registrations have nothing to do with shared line appearances.
>
>> Can someone respond to me off list and assist me in understanding how to
>> make use of this information? I'm a programmer but I haven't done custom
>> coding on Asterisk as of yet. 
>
>
> Shared line appearances are hard to implement with Asterisk, and even 
> harder to understand when the concept of a 'line' does not really 
> exist at all (like when VOIP trunks are in use). We have talked about 
> ways of getting there, but it will not be easy.
>
> If what you want is shared extension appearances, so an admin person 
> can see whether other people are on the phone and see the light blink 
> when their phone is ringing, that can be done today using SIP presence 
> and dialplan hints. This is _not_ shared lines, though.

The major problem with shared extension appearances in Asterisk is 
having to set your call-limit to 1 for the monitored phones.  Those 
phones can then no longer have a second call come in (call waiting), 
place a call on hold and make another call, or transfer calls as they 
are limited to the call they are on.

I installed a Polycom 601 w/ sidecar for a customer and the call-limit 
limitation was a show stopper.  Bascially, all the sidecar gets them is 
an easy way to transfer incoming calls via speed dial setup on the 
sidecar.  For now I've placated them w/ Flash Operator Panel.

Is this a limitation of SIP or will Asterisk be able to support 
extension appearances without the call-limit in the future?

Cheers,
Kevin