asterisk users - Feb 2006 - Remapping Polycom IP501 buttons

Hi,

Just started using an asterisk-based PBX with Polycom IP501 phones.  Am
Fairly satisfied and am starting to get into FTP setup of the phones. 
Have figured out most things except for how button remapping works.

In sip.cfg, I have this entry:

   <keys
key.IP_500.31.function.prim="DoNotDisturb"></keys>

This works as expected but if I try to change the remapping to any other
value like "MyStatus", "SpeedDialMenu", or
"BuddyStatus", it doesn't work.
 I got the list of values from Polycom's admin guide.  Why does
"DoNotDisturb" work and no other values that I've tried?

Thanks.

Hi Henry -
> Just started using an asterisk-based PBX with Polycom IP501 phones.  Am
> Fairly satisfied and am starting to get into FTP setup of the phones.
> Have figured out most things except for how button remapping works.
> 
> In sip.cfg, I have this entry:
> 
>    <keys
key.IP_500.31.function.prim="DoNotDisturb"></keys>
> 
> This works as expected but if I try to change the remapping to any other
> value like "MyStatus", "SpeedDialMenu", or
"BuddyStatus", it doesn't work.
>  I got the list of values from Polycom's admin guide.  Why does
> "DoNotDisturb" work and no other values that I've tried?
You've run into the same problem a lot of other people have had.  Remapping
hard keys works fine, but remapping soft keys does not.  In fact, trying to
remap the soft keys results in some pretty weird behavior.  The Polycom
manual is a little misleading in that it doesn't mention this at all.  My
best guess is that the softkeys don't work because they can mean different
things depending on what the phone is doing at the time.  Polycom, if you're
reading this, this would be another great feature to have!

- Noah

Hi Noah,
>You've run into the same problem a lot of other people have had. 
Remapping
>hard keys works fine, but remapping soft keys does not.  In fact, trying to
>remap the soft keys results in some pretty weird behavior.  The Polycom
>manual is a little misleading in that it doesn't mention this at all. 
My
>best guess is that the softkeys don't work because they can mean
different
>things depending on what the phone is doing at the time.  Polycom, if
you're
>reading this, this would be another great feature to have!
Thanks for the info.  That would explain a lot.

The manual clearly states that SpeedDial should work though.  On page 114
of the admin guide, it says that "key.x.y.subPoint.prim" will
"Sets the
sub-identifier for key functions with a secondary array identifier such as
SpeedDial."  But when I try to set it:

   <keys key.scrolling.timeout="1"
key.IP_500.31.function.prim="SpeedDial"
key.IP_500.31.subPoint.prim="11"></keys>

I get a volume-up action instead.  So I guess it's a bug that they
haven't
gotten to fixing yet?

--Henry

Henry Kwan wrote:
> Just started using an asterisk-based PBX with Polycom IP501 phones.  Am
> Fairly satisfied and am starting to get into FTP setup of the phones. 
> Have figured out most things except for how button remapping works.
> 
> In sip.cfg, I have this entry:
> 
>    <keys
key.IP_500.31.function.prim="DoNotDisturb"></keys>
> 
> This works as expected but if I try to change the remapping to any other
> value like "MyStatus", "SpeedDialMenu", or
"BuddyStatus", it doesn't work.
>  I got the list of values from Polycom's admin guide.  Why does
> "DoNotDisturb" work and no other values that I've tried?
This is the big question as far as I'm concerned with using Polycomm 
phones, I have about 30 501's running in our office and I like 
everything about them except the button remapping problem.  If someone 
can figure that I would be totally psyched.

Like you, I have been able to do simple remaps, like setting the 
Transfer button to issue a #, but anything more complex than that just 
doesn't work.

Matt