OLE@csli.stanford.edu (Ole J. Jacobsen) (08/20/89)
At the office we have 16 incoming lines (in hunt). We have an answering machine connected to the main number, and that's it. If the main line is in use (for an outgoing call, say) the answring machine won't kick in. I know radio shack has a device that will "watch" two lines and patch the ringing one through to the answering machine, I have such as gizmo at home and it works well. In theory I should be able to buy a number of them and connect them in cascade to have the answering machine pick up any ringing line. This would be a giant kludge, but would probably work. The question though is: Can I purchase some sort of device that will answer multiple lines, or are we talking "voice mail" which I've avoided so far since it seems very expensive? I guess 8 x 2-line answering machines would work too, but I'd prefer a more elegant solution. Any pointers would be much appreciated. Ole
dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Levenson) (08/22/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0314m04@vector.dallas.tx.us>, OLE@csli.stanford.edu (Ole J. Jacobsen) writes: > At the office we have 16 incoming lines (in hunt). We have an answering > machine connected to the main number, and that's it. If the main line is > in use (for an outgoing call, say) the answring machine won't kick in. > I know radio shack has a device that will "watch" two lines and patch > the ringing one through to the answering machine, I have such as gizmo > at home and it works well. In theory I should be able to buy a number of > them and connect them in cascade to have the answering machine pick up > any ringing line. This would be a giant kludge, but would probably work. Yes, it will work. I use a cascade of these devices to share a Caller*Id display unit between several lines. The trouble is that the holding time for calls to answering machines is long enough that a single machine may be unable to handle the traffic on 16 lines. The probability that it will be in use when any given call arrives may be too high to be helpful. I suggest a compromise: use a cascade of three devices to share the answering machine over the first four trunks. If you need more, consider a second answering machine for the next six, and so on. There are two-line answering machines, but they combine the two-line switch with the machine. This means that you can't cascade them for larger concentrations of lines per machine... -- Dave Levenson Voice: (201) 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