Call handling between Dect and Analog Out on Digital Voice

[wkirkman]

Hello,

I am sure this will have been covered elsewhere but I haven’t found it yet, so please forgive me if I am repeating a question. I’m happy to be pointed to an already established answer.

We have Digital Voice now, and we have the Main House, and right off of it an Annex extension. The phone extensions are wired from the Main House into the Annex. All working, no issue, just cabled the extensions into the analog out green port on Smart Hub 2.

The reason why this is important to explain is because the Annex is unfortunately shielded by metal backed insulation, meaning it kind of acts like a Faraday cage. Complete Wi-Fi is extended inside by Ethernet, no issues there, but it means that we have to use the extension wiring to add phones to the Annex as opposed to using the Digital Voice phones, as Dect from Main House SH2 through to the Annexed cage distorts and loses signal.

All this leads to the main question. Is there a known way to allow the Dect phone group connected to the SH2 within the Main House work as the same circuit as the Analog out extension phones.

Previously, all copper-connected phones including Dect groups would open onto the same line. E.g: person answers phone in Main House, shouts to family member in Annex that they have a call, they can pick up their phone on the extension, and be on the same call, allowing first phone to hang up.

Now, the SH2 appears to treat the two sets of phones differently. All Dect phones registered to it are one circuit, and anything out of Analog out is another. All phones within Analog circuit can break in on the current call, and all phones within the Dect group can ‘join’ a call in progress — but not across to each other.

Phones in the Dect group of the SH2 cannot ‘join’ a call in progress on the Analog, and a call on the Analog circuit cannot connect to a call from the Dect phones.

So, in practice: I get a call in the main house on Digital Voice Dect handset, but the call is for my father. If he picks up his phones he cannot take the call. The handset cannot be passed into the Annex as the signal will degrade; he ‘has to’ come into the Main House and use the same phone the call came in on. Situation same in reverse, obviously.

I have no issue with that in the fact of course he is allowed to use my handset… but surely, surely, they should be joined so either you pick up one and can interrupt the call on the other, or have a chance to ‘join Analog’ which would be fine as that’s just one big circuit like it always was before VoIP…

And if not possible, why? Surely a software update could bridge the two? Allowing that green port to be part of the party? That’s all it needs, is to include the Analog out port as one of the phones within the group. Otherwise, such situations are going to quite fractured.

Any thoughts?

[jac_95]

Hi wkirkman,

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[imjolly]

This is covered in the FAQ 

You need to go to the DV phone and in call setting change from multi to single 

The DV phone is able to make or receive 2 calls at same time hence multi so changing to single will allow you to do what you want

[wkirkman]

Hello,

I’m afraid that doesn’t actually do that. All that does it tell you the line is already in use on the DV phone if the line is in use. Doesn’t actually address the issue I’m afraid.

[imjolly]

Did you go to menu/phone settings,/line settings/call settings then change multi to single.

[wkirkman]

Yes, I did. But as mentioned, then as it considers it to be a single line and detects it is in use, it simply displays on the phone, when opening the line ‘line already in use’ or words to that effect. So, instead of breaking into the already in-progress analog call, it instead detects one is in progress and denies entry.

I understand where you are pointing at, and it makes sense that would work, but it doesn’t. As I said, the ‘Dect group’ on the SH2 is treated as almost Siloed from the ‘Analog Circuit’ instead of considering it all the same thing. Hence the post, as I have tried many scenarios already to see if I can find a way for this to work.

[imjolly]

@wkirkman 

There are other posts all with same result - unable to transfer calls from dv phone to phones connected to phone socket on hub

[jac_95]

The port on the back of the smart hub 2 is a ATA adaptor and therefore some limitations on how it integrates with the specific BT digital voice interface for the BT Digital Voice handsets and adaptors. I would say that is by design as it could be anything connected to the ATA adaptor and therefore would not know how to route the call and would be less controlled than going from one BT Digital Voice handset to another BT Digital Voice handset.

It is essentially two different systems trying to interact with each on a basic common interface with less integrations. A bit like mixing 2 DECT devices together by different manufacturers, some features may not work with each other.