[asterisk-users] multiple softphone clients and same/different account credentials

[Ben Ford]

I'm no expert on the user side of things, but I would prefer option A. Of
course, this is completely your preference. Asterisk will allow either
option, so you have some flexibility there. One of the advantages of option
A is that you can have multiple devices (like you mentioned) that can all
be rung at once simply if the user has a desk phone, mobile work phone, etc.

On Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 6:44 PM Greg Troxel <gdt at lexort.com> wrote:

> (I'm new to Asterisk, after having started VOIP with vat on the mbone in
> the 90s.)
>
> I am setting up my first Asterisk system, and trying to read
> docs/guidance and follow best practices.  I have read the 5th Edition of
> "Asterisk: The Definitive Guide" and like the 3rd Edition on the web it
> recommends that hardphones and softphones both have a unique name
> distinct from any concept of extension.
>
>
> http://asteriskdocs.org/en/3rd_Edition/asterisk-book-html-chunk/DeviceConfig_id283201.html
>
> Then the 5th edition goes on to give an example with a hardphone and a
> softphone associated with one individual, where the hardphone is named
> by MAC address and the softphone by JIM_VANM_SOFT (p. 61).
>
> Despite talking about separating extensions, phone names, and people, it
> seems clear that a softphone is usually personal to a person (unless
> it's a desk phone via a computer, but I'm talking about the personal
> type).
>
> THe book does not address the notion that a user might be given
> credentials and then configure them on a number of softphone-type
> devices simultaneously, e.g. a smartphone, a tablet, and two laptops.
> When getting service from an ITSP, it seems there are credentials and
> they don't want to know the details of how many softphones you are
> using.
>
> So which option is preferred?
>
>   A) Have a softphone aor/auth_user/password for a particular human, and
>   expect them to configure it on multiple devices.  Do not worry that 1)
>   multiple are registered at once (because that's normal in SIP) and 2)
>   asterisk has no idea which is which (because the intent is to place a
>   call to that person)
>
>   B) issue credentials per device and keep them all separate.  Use
>   extensions.conf to ring them all
>
> Having written the question out carefully, it seems obvious that A is
> the way to do this, but it's sort of contrary to the advice in the book
> so I thought I would ask.
>
> Thanks,
> Greg
>
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-- 
Benjamin Ford
Software Engineer
256-428-6147
Check us out at www.sangoma.com
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