I have set up a queue, number 401.
When someone calls in, they get “If you know your party’s extension, you may dial it at any time” as part of the IVR greeting. If they dial a “real” extension, the call goes through. But if they dial 401 to get to the queue, the call does not go through presumably because it’s a queue and not an extension.
To work around this, I created a virtual extension (no device) also numbered 401, and set it to unconditionally forward to queue 401 (i.e. forward on no answer, busy, or unavailable).
Now, intuitively, that should not work (right?) because, so I’m told, you can’t have multiple “things” (queues, extensions, ring groups, etc.) with the same number. And in fact, FreePBX System Status screen complains about “conflicting extensions” numbered 401.
And yet, it works fine. Someone calls in and dials 401 during the IVR greeting, and their call goes to the queue (presumably via the virtual extension’s forwarding rules). If they pick up an internal extension, or call in to a DISA, they can dial 401* and log in as a member, or 401** and log out.
Should it do this, or did I run across a bug that is beneficial for a change? I’d prefer not to set up about 75 of these queues and virtual extensions and then discover that some unintended consequence is happening that will bite me in the backside.
I’d also prefer not to have 75 error messages show up on FreePBX System Status, because they’ll make it that much harder for me to see “real” errors.
Eric