Roger Fajman <RAF@cu.nih.gov> (02/10/90)
I have a BBS running on a 10 line rotary, which is most of a small Centrex. In order to minimize the consequences of a hung port, it has Uniform Call Distribution (aka circular hunt). This is very important, as the system runs unattended most of the time. Thus there's no one there to reset a port that doesn't answer. For various reasons, I occasionally want to make either all or some of the lines busy. Right now, each for each line there is make busy switch provided by the telco (C&P of Maryland). Each switch has a circuit of its own going back to the central office, which is fairly expensive. What I would like to know is if there is a device I can get that will provide the same make busy capability without the circuit to the central office? If there is a call in progress, I want it to be allowed to complete. I would prefer to buy something rather than build, but it can't be too expensive or I won't save money. I'm also interested in alternatives to Centrex that could do this job, including the circular hunt as well as the make busy. I am aware that a modem using the Hayes command set can be told to take a line off hook, but this does not work in there is no modem connected. It also requires cooperation of the BBS software if a call is in progress -- the software must take the line off hook at the end of the call. In my configuration, that is possible, but not very convenient. Roger Fajman RAF@NIHCU (BITNET) RAF@CU.NIH.GOV (Internet)
Dave Levenson <dave%westmark@uunet.uu.net> (02/12/90)
In article <3708@accuvax.nwu.edu>, RAF@cu.nih.gov (Roger Fajman) writes: > For various reasons, I occasionally want to make either all or some of > the lines busy. Right now, each for each line there is make busy > switch provided by the telco (C&P of Maryland). Each switch has a > circuit of its own going back to the central office, which is fairly > expensive. You can make a line busy by taking it off-hook. The telco will send you ROH tone, and may get annoyed if you do it a lot, however. If you use a switch that connects a resistor of about 600 ohms between Tip and Ring, it probably won't affect a call in progress (may drop the audio level a bit). When the call ends, the line will appear to remain off-hook, and the CO will just hunt around it. Dave Levenson Voice: (201 | 908) 647 0900 Westmark, Inc. Internet: dave@westmark.uu.net Warren, NJ, USA UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave [The Man in the Mooney] AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave