has anyone else experienced the following problem and found a workaround?
i have a queue that dials static agents. each static agent also has a follow me to a pstn line with call confirm.
if i use a route through sipdiscount, voipdiscount or any other finarea service then the call connects, can be confirmed, and a conversation can take place. however, when the pstn user disconnects, the line isn’t dropped, so the call originator can stay on and block the line.
in contrast, my voiptalk route allows the same functionality, but on hangup of pstn there is a brief pause and then the originating caller is disconnected, thus freeing the line.
this leads me to believe it is a quirk of voipdiscount, etc, but is there a workaround or fix for this?
From what you describe it does sound like an issue with the provider. When you hangup at the far end they should detect that and send the appropriate signaling within ar reasonable amount of time. I assume if you make a call to that same pstn line from the system and have them hangup you end up with the same issue, you remain online until you hangup. If that is the case then there seems to be an issue with how your provider is addressing this although you need to determine the source. On many POTS lines, it has been the case in the past that you could receive a call, hangup the handset. Walk over to another handset and pick it up. The call would still be active. It would take maybe 20-30 seconds before the phone company terminated the call and sent the hangup signal back to the caller. This contrasts with the person who makes the call - who upon hanging up the phone will typically result in an immediate hangup of the circuit. Question here, who is holding the line. If you put a cell phone at the end of that call instead of a traditional PSTN POTS line, and then hangup the call from the cell phone, do you get the same behavior? Or does the line hangup right away this time?
I would do a few of these tests, and then with that information in hand, I would call up your provider and discuss the issue to see if there is a resolution of if it is even something in their control. If the Cell phone scenario results in the circuit going down - it may very well be out of the control of the provider and may be an issue with the far end PSTN line.
Philippe Lindheimer - FreePBX Project Lead
http//freepbx.org - IRC #freepbx