Asterisk Questions (FreePBX)

Dashrender

A couple of questions:

Parking a call
Mitel = park to a specific exiting real extension on hold, once there the normal hold timeout functions work.
Asterisk = park a call to a virtual extension, tell recipient what that virtual ext is, then recipient goes and gets it.

The Asterisk functionality adds a lot of buttons to push and something to remember, any way to make it work like the Mitel system?

Operators able to change DND status to phones around the company
Mitel = can do this
Asterisk = currently not able to find a way
Pull a call from another extension
Mitel = while a call is on hold at one extension, another phone can pull that call away to their own phone by dialing 4 + where the call is on hold
Asterisk = I don't see a way to do this currently.

Thanks

JaredBusch

The simplest thing for FreePBX is to get the paid add ons. Specific to your questions, those would be Parking Pro and the FOP2 (FreePBX may have their own version of this but I have not looked).

Parking Pro will let you park calls to specific locations like you are used to with a key system. Then the operator can just say "Call on Park 3"
The FOP2 panel allows someone, with the access rights, to set DND status.

JaredBusch

Off the top of my head I do not believe you can pickup a call that is on hold from another extension.
By default you can pickup a call ringing at another extension with **EXT# and programmable buttons can be set to perform pickup depending on the phone itself not the phone system.

I know some key system work like that where people say "call on EXT# for parts" and the parts people hit a pickup button and then EXT#

The simplest thing is to simply teach them to park the call with fixed park slot buttons.

@Dashrender said:

Pull a call from another extension
Mitel = while a call is on hold at one extension, another phone can pull that call away to their own phone by dialing 4 + where the call is on hold
Asterisk = I don't see a way to do this currently.

You can answer other phones ringing with Asterisk however you can't pick up holds. Best thing is just to tell people to forget about holds and use the parking lot. A hold is actually held on the phone itself (and will still use on of it's lines). A parked call is full transfer back to the PBX to handle.

Dashrender

Thanks! You found something others weren't sure was possible (Operator changing DND status).

I'll downlod FOP2 asap. Same with Parking Pro (assuming they have a demo/trial).

I don't think even Digium (the commercial version) even has the ability to pickup remote holds. Though it it's switchboard allows you to view parked calls, transfer calls. etc.

JaredBusch

@thecreativeone91 said:

I don't think even Digium (the commercial version) even has the ability to pickup remote holds. Though it it's switchboard allows you to view parked calls, transfer calls. etc.

Digium is the company, the product is called Switchvox.

Dashrender

Hmm.. all of the features I've listed we've had with Mitel for 8+ years.

I guess I should make a suggestion to the asterisk or FreePBX folks..

Dashrender

Picking up a remote hold is pretty useful. Say you put someone on hold because you have to go get paperwork in another room, or find someone. You get to that new location, you just want to take the call in there instead. Assuming you didn't par the call, you have to go back to your office, park it.. then go back to that location (or transfer it there assuming you can get there fast enough).

Talk about a pain.

JaredBusch

@Dashrender said:

Picking up a remote hold is pretty useful. Say you put someone on hold because you have to go get paperwork in another room, or find someone. You get to that new location, you just want to take the call in there instead. Assuming you didn't par the call, you have to go back to your office, park it.. then go back to that location (or transfer it there assuming you can get there fast enough).

The point is you never put a call on hold. Ever. You park calls.

Different term, but the term does not matter. I have some clients that I labeled the parks "Line 1, Line 2," etc. because they did not want to use the term park. It is still parking, but they still call it call on Line 1 like they did on their key system.

In fact, depending on the phone you use, you can not even provide a "Hold" button. Like on the Yealink T42G, hold is a soft button. and can be removed.

JaredBusch

@Dashrender said:

Hmm.. all of the features I've listed we've had with Mitel for 8+ years.

Great. My Windows XP machine had features too. Does not mean I should keep using them, or it.

I guess I should make a suggestion to the asterisk or FreePBX folks..

Like many people you are getting upset because of a singular feature that does exist, but is simply different. Hold is a function of the extension. Not a function of the PBX. Thus it is only accessible to the extension. To my understanding, this is specifically due to the SIP protocol functionality. A call on hold is still an active call to the extension. The PBX is not in control of the call it has already handed it off to the extension.

Dashrender

LOL - I'm not upset It just seems like a pretty useful feature and I'm looking to have to possible give up. Now if there are technical reasons why I have to give it up, I can understand that.

You're mentioning of SIP lines makes me wonder, currently I have a PRI going to my VOIP phone switch which is talking to my VOIP phones. I assumed, though I could be completely wrong (time for research) that my VOIP phones were talking SIP to the phone switch. Now of course in this case, the SIP is between my phone switch and my phone, where in your example above, perhaps once the PBX sends the call to the phone, it's no longer in the middle and therefore can't be party to my desired pulling ability, which may make sense.

The problem with using park all the time is the possibility (extreme likeliness) that someone else will take my call accidentally.

@JaredBusch said:

@thecreativeone91 said:

I don't think even Digium (the commercial version) even has the ability to pickup remote holds. Though it it's switchboard allows you to view parked calls, transfer calls. etc.

Digium is the company, the product is called Switchvox.

Yeah I do that a lot.

@Dashrender said:

LOL - I'm not upset It just seems like a pretty useful feature and I'm looking to have to possible give up. Now if there are technical reasons why I have to give it up, I can understand that.

You're mentioning of SIP lines makes me wonder, currently I have a PRI going to my VOIP phone switch which is talking to my VOIP phones. I assumed, though I could be completely wrong (time for research) that my VOIP phones were talking SIP to the phone switch. Now of course in this case, the SIP is between my phone switch and my phone, where in your example above, perhaps once the PBX sends the call to the phone, it's no longer in the middle and therefore can't be party to my desired pulling ability, which may make sense.

The problem with using park all the time is the possibility (extreme likeliness) that someone else will take my call accidentally.

It's not really removing a feature just how you do it. With an analog phone system the call is place on hold at the line with the PBX and anyone can pickup the line on their phone. Someone could have just as easily picked up the wrong call with this.

With SIP the endpoint device does more than a endpoint on an analog system does. With analog the PBX still for the most part is controlling and holding the call.

JaredBusch

@Dashrender said:

LOL - I'm not upset It just seems like a pretty useful feature and I'm looking to have to possible give up. Now if there are technical reasons why I have to give it up, I can understand that.

Well I did not assume you were truly upset/angry. Meant that upset as grr damnit I am losing a feature.

You're mentioning of SIP lines makes me wonder, currently I have a PRI going to my VOIP phone switch which is talking to my VOIP phones.

Stop. That is your trunk and has nothing to do with it. We are talking about the INTERNAL side of things here and that has zero bearing on your external connectivity. Your trunk can be whatever you want it to be. SIP, IAX2, PRI, or even POTS. This will not affect internal phone behavior in any way.

SIP between the PBX and the desk set is what we are discussing.

Dashrender

@JaredBusch said:

Stop. That is your trunk and has nothing to do with it. We are talking about the INTERNAL side of things here and that has zero bearing on your external connectivity. Your trunk can be whatever you want it to be. SIP, IAX2, PRI, or even POTS. This will not affect internal phone behavior in any way.

SIP between the PBX and the desk set is what we are discussing.

If that's the case, then the PBX should be able to pull the call from on hold on a different extension... but what do I know

JaredBusch

@Dashrender said:

If that's the case, then the PBX should be able to pull the call from on hold on a different extension... but what do I know

You are still mixing things up. That stuff has nothing to do with the PBX <--> Phone side of things. So "If that's the case" completely doe snot apply. as it has nothing to do with it.

No, because the PBX has handed off control of the call to the phone.

Dashrender

I'm confused... So what you're telling me is, in a digital system (and possibly in my Mitel VOIP/SIP system too) that the call control isn't handed off to the phone, but is asterisk it is?

@Dashrender said:

I'm confused... So what you're telling me is, in a digital system (and possibly in my Mitel VOIP/SIP system too) that the call control isn't handed off to the phone, but is asterisk it is?

We used Mitel PBX and IP Phones at the town. Yes they call it a hold but it was basically a parking lot. Are there was a Individual Hold which placed it at the phone (could not remote pick up) or a System Hold which placed it on the PBX's parking lot hold. We just programed the buttons to do the system hold. It's different vendor terminology but it's the same thing.

Dashrender

@thecreativeone91 said:

@Dashrender said:

I'm confused... So what you're telling me is, in a digital system (and possibly in my Mitel VOIP/SIP system too) that the call control isn't handed off to the phone, but is asterisk it is?

We used Mitel PBX and IP Phones at the town. Yes they call it a hold but it was basically a parking lot. Are there was a Individual Hold which placed it at the phone (could not remote pick up) or a System Hold which placed it on the PBX's parking lot hold. We just programed the buttons to do the system hold. It's different vendor terminology but it's the same thing.

So the parking lot # it put it at was always it's own extension? OK that would make total sense... the guys who set it up must have done that then...