[Asterisk-Users] Re: two UA with the same usr/pwd

Wed Aug 3 05:55:06 MST 2005

All of these postings about ringing two (or more) phones is well known 
and fairly well understood by everyone. The "issue" that everyone seems
to want to ignore in the postings is the "busy lamp field" functionality
of key systems (not pbx's). I'm not the OP and I've been around *
and sip phones for over two years.

The issue that the OP was asking about (as have many many others over
the same two years) is that associated with a lamp (led) indicating
when a specific extension is in use, AND, being able to press the
button associated with that lamp and truly pick up that specific
extension.

Over my 20+ years of being a technical engineer for a very large telco,
the best example that I've seen over and over again is that of an
executive and secretary where neither one can "see" the other. The
executive will typically yell for the secretary to pick up the line
that is on hold and finish handling a call. The secretary can't tell
which of the executive's six lines are on hold, can't use call pickup
(cause the phone ain't ringing), can't use directed call pickup (since
the secretary doesn't know which of the six lines is on hold), and
suggestions to train the executive will likely involve seeking 
employment.

Personally, I understand that sip phones need more functionality then
is currently engineered into firmware (with few exceptions), but
the posters asking for this functionality don't know that. The typical
response on this list is "sure you can ring two phones", or, "that's
the difference between a pbx and a key system." Neither one of those
responses cut the mustard as the first response doesn't answer the
original question, and the second response is based on historical
pbx vs key system definitions that do not hold true with current
day competitive pbx functionality.

So, the bottom line answer to the OP's original question really is
that asterisk AND current sip phones "cannot" emulate key system
or competitive pbx functionality, but that certainly does not imply
the functionality can't be added to both at some future time. Lots
of people would really be thrilled if that could happen sooner rather
then later.

That functionality "is" considered/assumed to exist in all telephone
systems by "non-technical business users", regardless of what us
technical types think. Therefore, asterisk does not meet the typical
business user's expectations.

------------------------
> Regardless of what you call it, this functionality is available in 
> Asterisk through other avenues.. Ring two devices with one extention.. rtfm.
> 
> 
> Michael D Schelin wrote:
> 
> > Rich is correct. Example: Night security guards may need to catch an 
> > inbound calls that could ring at more than one station. Maybe one is 
> > doing rounds and the other is at another desk off site. Sometimes call 
> > forwarding is too slow. There are many reasons why this could be used.
> >
> > Rich Adamson wrote:
> >
> >>Regardless of what has (or has not) been implemented in asterisk, there
> >>is a very valid business reason for wanting an extension number to ring
> >>on multiple phones and to determine the status of an extension from
> >>multiple phones. Business have needed (and implemented) that for years.
> >>Having such an implementation in asterisk would definitely be a major
> >>plus (regardless of what our definitions of a pbx and keysystem happen
> >>to be).
> >>
> >>
> >>  
> >>
> >>>Many people seem to want this feature.  I think they are just 
> >>>confused.  I've never actually heard of a good reason to let multiple 
> >>>devices register with the same username/secret.  Most of the time they 
> >>>  want a call to ring on multiple devices and they are trying to make 
> >>>a device == extension, which is not correct.  A device is a device and 
> >>>an extension is an extension and they are not the same thing and there 
> >>>is no 1-to-1 mapping between them.
> >>>
> >>>Victor Alvarez wrote:
> >>>    
> >>>
> >>>> I really think this matter deserves attention. I have been asked many times about it.
> >>>>
> >>>> Regards,
> >>>>  Victor. 
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>      
> >>>>
> >>>>>Hello,
> >>>>>
> >>>>>I can understand why asterisk is designed to not to allow two UAs with the same usr/pwd, 
> >>>>>        
> >>>>>
> >>http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/037284.html, but I have to find a 
> >>solution for this.
> >>  
> >>
> >>>>>My first option is use SER as an extension end of Asterisk, to allow more than one SIP 
> >>>>>        
> >>>>>
> >>endpoint to register with the same details http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk+at+large. I 
> >>wonder if there is another way to do this. Of course, I am talking about a SIP proxy behaviour, 
> >>simultaneous registration, both phones ringing at the same time and first to answer gets the 
> >>call.
> >>  
> >>
> >>>>>Kind regards,
> >>>>>Victor.
> >>>>>        
> >>>>>
> >>>-- 
> >>>Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
> >>>Mark Twain
> >>>_______________________________________________
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> >>>    
> >>>
> >>
> >>---------------End of Original Message-----------------
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >>  
> >>
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