asterisk users - Nov 2003 - Alert extensions without answering incoming call?

Hi, * gurus,

I wonder if there is a way to alert the in-house extension(s) in case of an
incoming external call without actually answering it, before somebody picks
up the phone on one of the extensions? This way the caller wouldn't have to
pay for the call until somebody answers.

Regards,
Christian Lademann

>Hi, * gurus,
>
>I wonder if there is a way to alert the in-house extension(s) in case of an
>incoming external call without actually answering it, before somebody picks
>up the phone on one of the extensions? This way the caller wouldn't have
to
>pay for the call until somebody answers.
>
>Regards,
>Christian Lademann
The Cisco 79xx series phones in SIP mode have a "distinctive ring" 
that can be triggered from within Asterisk using the "ALERT_INFO" 
variable.  They are the only phones that I am aware of that support 
this SIP standard variable.

JT