I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. One of the features that will be important (particularly for the receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is not the case please set me straight. I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked up to any trunks as of yet. Thanks, Dayton Gray
dgray at xevio.com schrieb:> I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP > phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT > to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. > > One of the features that will be important (particularly for the > receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't > want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. > > Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm > assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need > in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is > not the case please set me straight. > > I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some > polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is > not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the > game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would > be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk > install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked > up to any trunks as of yet. > > Thanks, > > Dayton Gray > > _______________________________________________ > -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-usersHello, i would say that the best phone u can get at the moment is the Linksys SPA962 with an SPA932 Expansion Modul. Not only BLF and short dial works perfect without any problem, also a pickup runs without doing to much tricks in the asterisk config. by the way the Spa942 doesnt have blf. Maybe this one could be interesting for u too (www.snom.com) the Snom360 but it has some bugs, but all of the one u said have less or more :) best regards steve smith
We use the linksys 942's and they work flawlessly and are easy to setup The CISCO phones do not come with SIP, you have to upgrade their firmware from a TFTP server. dgray at xevio.com wrote:> I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP > phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT > to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. > > One of the features that will be important (particularly for the > receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't > want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. > > Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm > assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need > in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is > not the case please set me straight. > > I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some > polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is > not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the > game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would > be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk > install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked > up to any trunks as of yet. > > Thanks, > > Dayton Gray > > _______________________________________________ > -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
I'm using Aastra 57i + 560M sidecars for receptionists... the only downside is that they support a max of 50 BLF subscriptions... you can setup up to 180 blf keys with 3 560Ms but it will still only subscribe to a max of 50... from what I understand it's a firmware limitation. For 4-6 phones you could probably get away with doing it directly on the 57i with no 560M's (or 536M's) too many more phones and you'd need the sidecars just for the extra buttons I think. -- Matt -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of dgray at xevio.com Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:50 PM To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com; asterisk-users at lists.digium.com Subject: [asterisk-users] BLF Compatible Phones I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. One of the features that will be important (particularly for the receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is not the case please set me straight. I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked up to any trunks as of yet. Thanks, Dayton Gray _______________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
> One of the features that will be important (particularly for the > receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I > don't > want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used.Hi Dayton, It's even easier than that. With an asterisk PBX your receptionist shouldn't be "picking up" analog lines directly for either incoming or outgoing calls. S/he will be able to sit back and file their nails and answer the phone when it rings, and to dial out just let asterisk manage the lines for that as well. You don't have to worry about anyone managing the lines, let the software do the work. If you fill up all the lines with either incoming or outgoing calls you'll run into issues of course, but then it's a simple case of adding lines to meet demand. You will want to keep track of usage for this purpose, but it need not be actively managed by the receptionist unless you specifically want them to. A small script is more reliable and better for most cases. If you've already got the server set up at home, dig through ATFOT a little more and start configuring a line or two at home and you'll start to realize how the config works. Best regards, David david_nedved at yahoo.com
On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 3:50 PM, <dgray at xevio.com> wrote:> > I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP > phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT > to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. > > One of the features that will be important (particularly for the > receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't > want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. > > Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm > assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need > in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is > not the case please set me straight. > > I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some > polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is > not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the > game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would > be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk > install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked > up to any trunks as of yet. > > Thanks, > > Dayton Gray >You select lines with a "Key System", a "PBX" simply uses a pool of lines. You may not even need or want any BLF (Busy Lamp Field) or SLA (Shared Line Appearances) because Asterisk is a PBX (for the most part). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_branch_exchange "PBXs are differentiated from "key systems" in that users of key systems manually select their own outgoing lines, while PBXs select the outgoing line automatically. Hybrid systems combine features of both." Thanks, Steve Totaro
dgray at xevio.com wrote:> I am new to asterisk and am looking to setup a small office with 4-6 IP > phones and 4 analog lines from the local telco (primary line with HUNT > to the other lines). I am considering purchase of a Digium AEX800. > > One of the features that will be important (particularly for the > receptionist desk is to show status of the other lines in use). I don't > want the receptionist to pick up a line if it being used. > > Is there a list of phones that are BLF (Busy Lamp Field) compatible? I'm > assuming (after reading tons of misc articles) that this is what I need > in order for the receptionist not to pick up lines in use. If this is > not the case please set me straight. > > I am considering the cisco 7960's, linksys SPA942, and possibly some > polycom phones. I was leaning toward the 7960 but I've read that it is > not BLF compatible. Are there any workarounds for this? I am new to the > game and would be grateful for any recommendations on which phones would > be the easiest to setup, etc. I currently have a working asterisk > install at home with a single cisco 7960 registered which isn't hooked > up to any trunks as of yet. > > Thanks, > > Dayton Gray > > _______________________________________________ > -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >I concur with one of the earlier posts that the Aastra 57i (or 57iCT) with the 560m LCD side car works very well. LCD side cars are ideal because they're alway up to date and paper based sidecars look messy. The Aastra 57iCT is unique in that it adds a portable handset which gives the admin the ability to go to other parts of the office and still handle calls. The Polycom 650 with it's sidecar also works well with BLF.
Glad to hear that, I do remember my aastra phone xfer button crashed asterisk every time i pressed it ;) 2008/5/20 Daniel Lynes <astuser at westwoodvillagecomputers.com>:> Grygoriy Dobrovolskyy wrote: > > Hmm, i dont like aastra really much, their transfer management is not > human > > friendly ;) > > > Fwiw, their new 9i series (9143, et al) have BLF/xfer, speeddial/xfer > feature that features one button transfer, eliminating the need for the > transfer button for any preprogrammed extensions. > > _______________________________________________ > -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >-------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20080520/4af794cb/attachment.htm