[Asterisk-Users] Silly question: Why multiple lines on SIP phones?

[Mike Dent]

Hi Paul,
I have the Cisco 7960 which has 6 lines. You can configure the other lines with
different extension numbers if you wish and then set your dialplan so that
calls coming in over different circuits, FWD, POTS etc come in different
buttons on your phone.
I'm sure there are lots of other uses including having several
outgoing/incoming calls
at the same time and switching between them.

Mike



On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 21:17:56 -0500 (EST), Paul Dugas
<paul at dugasenterprises.com> wrote:
> This is probably going to sound really silly and I must be confused about
> it.  Maybe someone can set me straight.
> 
> I've been tinkering for a while with * and a number of different FXO/FXS
> cards, SIP phones, and ATAs trying to get a feel for what works and what
> doesn't.  In the SIP phone group, I have a Cisco 7940G, a Polycom 500, and
> now an SPA-841.  Each of these allow me to configure at least 2 "lines".
> What I'm wrestling with is what to do with the second lines.  With the
> cisco and the polycom, I have only one line configured and can
> successfully conference and transfer calls.  When I'm on the phone and a
> new call comes in, they display the second call and controls for switching
> between them.  (hmmm... what happens when the third comes along?)  The
> Sipura appears to be unable to do this without configuring a second
> extension.  (anybody got any insight on that?)  My question is basically,
> assuming all I want is the same kind of service I get on a traditional
> analog line with respect to call waiting and 3-way, do I need a multi-line
> phone?
> 
> Back to the Sipura... If I configure it to only register the first line,
> it seems it cannot conference or transfer calls.  With my current configs,
> a second incoming call to the extension dumps straight to "busy" voice
> mail.  I guess I could setup my dial plan to roll to the phone's line 2
> but that seems like a mess.  It's not needed with the cisco or polycom so
> it's possible, right?
> 
> Curious,
> 
> Paul
> 
> --
> Paul A. Dugas                    Dugas Enterprises, LLC
> paul at dugasenterprises.com        1711 Indian Ridge Drive
> p:404-932-1355  f:770-516-4841   Woodstock, GA 30189-6856 USA
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