Multiple lines for each phone

General Help
1

Hello all,

Disclosure: I am new to PBX/phones in general so I think my issue is in the vocabulary.

I have FreePBX installed and functioning fairly well with two DAHDi lines on my Digium card. I can call either number and it all works perfectly. I am trying to make it so that on my phones I can select the outbound line.

I have an outbound route for each line but no dial patterns as we run many entities under our umbrella and may dial any number on any line to reach a client.

I am not sure how to select the line on the phone, do I need to use a feature code wired to each “line” button on my phones?

I don’t think it matters yet but my phones are Grandstream GXP2000/2020s.

Thanks a ton for the awesome product!!!

2

You probably need to read the wiki here to start and search the forums as there are several dozen covering exactly what you are trying to do, I think you misunderstand what dialpatterns do, they would allow you to do exactly what you want to.

3

Thanks for the tip, I will look into that tomorrow when I get to work.

4

Hello,

Taking dicko’s advice I have been digging through the wiki and forums/google results but I am still confused on how to implement a way to select an outbound route with a line button from the phones.

After reading through this:: http://wiki.freepbx.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=5538110#NewSystemSetupGuide(WIP)-OutboundRoutes and anything else I could find on dial patterns, my limited understanding still has me seeing dial patterns as a way of saying “any number that matches a given regex will go out this route”

I don’t think the issue is with FreePBX, the forums or the wiki, I am pretty sure that I just don’t know what I don’t know.

I am digging through the interfaces on my phones(web and on the LCD) trying to find the configuration for Line 1, Line 2…

If someone could point me in the right direction I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks,

Mitchell

5

I have had a small measure of success!!! I added a Misc Application that when dialed will connect to the given trunk for outbound calls. Now I just need to figure out how to wire my feature code to the line buttons and get the button to flash on a call coming to that trunk.

6

You have set up a trunk for each number, then set up an outbound route with a dial pattern that will match the desired route. For example, if the outbound route matched a dial pattern beginning with 81, it will select trunk 1, 82 will select trunk 2.

7

Just a point of note. Sounds like you’re trying to make the PBX behave like a key system. They’re really two different animals. If your users extect it to operate like a key system, your’re going to have a big headache on your hands.

This problem is not something that is unique to FreePbx, it’s something telcom system designers have faced forever. 40 years ago my ex came home from work in a tizzy. They had replaced the 1A2 key system with a Dimension system, and the phone had no buttons!

8

Thanks w5waf, that makes sense I was thinking that is what dicko was alluding to as well. It does not appear that the line buttons are configurable, you wouldn’t happen to know how to find what is being sent to the PBX when a user hits a line button would you? In my reading it looks like I will need to use BLF settings to make the buttons flash with an incoming call.

I am supposed to be recreating the existing PBX(an old Nitsuko) with very little understanding of phone systems. FreePBX has been amazing so far considering my n00bness.

9

Hey welcome! I’m a consultant and contractor, I also use Grandstream phones. Without going into too much instruction, here’s some suggestions:

  1. In your mind, separate the “lines” on grandstream phones from the two lines on the digium card. Grandstream lines are multiple SIP lines to your PBX or another provider. Digium lines are made for an outbound route/inbound route/etc into your PBX.

  2. If you setup one Digium line as a single outbound route, and then the second Digium line as the failover for the same outbound route, you do not have to press “line 1” or “line 2” on the Grandstream to pick one or the other. Simply dial, and the PBX will attempt the connection between line 1, then line 2.

Also, why are you using analog lines? I don’t know how much you’re paying, but if you have internet at the site, you can save dramatically by porting your numbers to a SIP service (like Flowroute, for instance), and probably get more features and flexibility.

10

Hello,

Yes our intention is to move to 100% SIP in the next few months, I am not sure why we are doing analog migration with the intention of dropping analog. I was told to make it work since we can’t seem to fix our existing Nitsuko(it works as expected except we cant edit ring groups, after hours or voicemail).

I have been pulled from our programming and cloud department to do this so they have a machete doing a scalpel’s job :slight_smile:

Now that I have a way to “select an outbound route with a button” I will just focus on bare essentials until we move to SIP.

Thanks,

Mitchell Turner

11

A couple of questions. Are you trying to emluate this specific behavior because there is a genuine operqational reason for doing so, or because “that’s the way it’s always worked.”