[WXC/VFX] Multiple IP Phones/ATAs/Softphones

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mushion22

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# 21890 10-May-2008 07:03

Hello all,

I saw a post debating this a couple of years back, but I'm not certain about the status quo.

Is it, or is it not, possible to have multiple independent IP Phones and/or ATAs connected via the same broadband connection to a single VFX account (like iTalk does)?

If so, does it allow multiple simultaneous inbound/outbound calls (like iTalk does)?

Also, is it possible for them to be on different connections (I would assume not, and I'm pretty sure iTalk doesnt allow that either).

I'm guessing the answer is no to all of the above, otherwise you would get people just buying a single line and having effectively unlimited numbers of secondary 'lines' up to the capacity of their connection. That, and softphone support, are the only things that would make me choose iTalk over VFX , because it'd be nice to replace all analogue phones with IP phones instead of using ATAs as well as be able to use multiple PCs, and I guess I'd just do some kind of crazy transfer-to-self thing to move calls between devices.

I'm also guessing the multiple phones/ATAs things can be done using an Asterisk/Trixbox/other IP-PBX setup, or using multiple VFX lines when their new advanced features come out. (eg have multiple accounts, and use the forward/group alert functions).

If anyone could fill me in on these points that'd be great.

Cheers,
Hamish

EDIT: Just to be clear, when i say 'on different connections' I mean simultaneously connected via different internet connections, one via home connection, one via 3G handheld for example.

AFTERTHOUGHT: Also, using the Asterisk etc setups, is it possible to have a call come into the the PBX and forwarded back out to say a cell or other number using the single account, or does it require multiple accounts (much like if you wanted to do it with a PSTN PBX)

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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# 129808 10-May-2008 07:11

Neither iTalk or VFX (or any other SIP service) will allow you to have multiple devices using the same SIP settings to be connected at the same time. Typically speaking whatever device is connected last will be the one that works.

VFX's basic service doesn't allow multiple calls - because you can only have 1 device connected at once and this is tied back to the MAC address of the device. Since there is no way of making multiple calls with a single device then this is fairly self explanatory.

VFX's Asterisk support allows 2+2 (simultaneous incoming/outgoing) which allows more than one call at once.

There is nothing stopping you from having multiple devices, each with their own registration, hooked up to a single router.

If you're wanting to use multiple IP phones or extensions you really need to start looking at PBX options.

mushion22

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# 129810 10-May-2008 07:27

sbiddle: Neither iTalk or VFX (or any other SIP service) will allow you to have multiple devices using the same SIP settings to be connected at the same time. Typically speaking whatever device is connected last will be the one that works.

Maybe I was just lucky, but I did this with multiple softphones and a budgetone phone on iTalk about 7 or 8 months ago when I was fiddling around. Had them all connected, and made an incoming call from my cell and all of them rang at once, and was able to make outgoing calls when another softphone had a call in progress, and could have multiple incoming calls and either answer them on another device or add them to a conference (much like call waiting but with the ability to conference instead of hold and switch).

Yes I figure PBX would be best way to go for now, but would be nice to have that kind of functionality built in for non-geeks who would stare at you blankly if you said VoIP PBX.

Hmm I guess there would be two ways to play it - keep the service more 'dumb' and make a consumer router with simple IP-PBX functionality. Would just need a simple asterisk-esque server along side the other routing functions to give home users the same easy use of multiple IP phones to replicate the PSTN setup but with additional features. I guess the Quadro's would do this, but would be nice to have something a little simpler for purely home use.

Or just make the service smarter and offer a simple hosted pbx-esque service for consumers to easily get that kind of functionality.

richms

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# 130069 11-May-2008 20:45

Before their upgrades of the italk backend I had several atas and softphones registered to it ok, and all rang ok when calls came in. Since the upgrades its usual that only 2 or 3 of them ring, and theres no way to get a pickup on the one that isnt ringing which is usually the one near me at the time.

The solution is to deploy asterisk inhouse, but when out it means I have issues connecting to it with sip since asterisk needs the external IP in it to work properly, and it gets way laggy when the internet is being used. If I cared I would look into hosted asterisk.

2talk let you register with a -1, -2 etc at the end of the sip username so thatit all works good.

Richard rich.ms