We have these bridges on FreePBX that non-FreePBX users (Avaya and cellphones) use for conference calls. Not very often, but also randomly (it appears), when the call is over, the parties hang of their phones, but Asterisk misses this and keeps them. in the conference. Besides looking like the bridge is tied up for hours, it creates an audible feedback loop when another party joins the bridge for the next use.
Right now the team calls us and we kick the stuck party from the CLI. I am trying to figure out a more automated approach. There is no consistency to conference length (calls can be minutes or hours). One idea I had was to join a dummy extension to the bridge that plays an announcement that says “IF bridge is still in use, press any key on your keypad.” I f they don’t press a key the whole conference is dropped, if they do press a key the timer resets to x minutes (10) and tries again.
What do you think of that approach?
Any better ideas?
If no, can anyone give me any ideas on how to implement the custom dial plan?