- Oct 13, 1999
- 22,377
- 2
- 81
SYNOPSIS:
I'm needing to make a few devices that simulate a telephone that has been left "off hook" or one that has electronic hold.
PROBLEM OVERVIEW:
At work we have 4 line phones. They are normal phone lines and the phone company (Pacific Bell) does a roll-over so that all lines are accessable from the first number. Occasionally we are short staffed and it gets annoying to have to juggle multiple phone calls. At those times we wished that we had only a two line phone. We can put the extra phone lines on electronic hold using the feature built into our phones. This effectively makes those lines busy, so if we have two lines going and someone else calls, they get a busy signal. The problem is that doing this causes ALL the phones to bleep at us to remind us that lines are on hold, every two minutes or so.
DESIRED SOLUTION:
What I would like is a device that can be plugged into a phone line that effectively kills the line (but only when the device is plugged in, and without damaging anything).
I've thought about just shorting out the wires, but I don't want to fry anything. I've actually tried crimping a small LED to the middle two contacts of an RJ12 connecter, but it didn't work. The LED would blink and turn hot. Perhaps some kind of resistor? I do like the idea of an LED, however, so I can see that it's plugged in and working. Anyone have any ideas?
I'm needing to make a few devices that simulate a telephone that has been left "off hook" or one that has electronic hold.
PROBLEM OVERVIEW:
At work we have 4 line phones. They are normal phone lines and the phone company (Pacific Bell) does a roll-over so that all lines are accessable from the first number. Occasionally we are short staffed and it gets annoying to have to juggle multiple phone calls. At those times we wished that we had only a two line phone. We can put the extra phone lines on electronic hold using the feature built into our phones. This effectively makes those lines busy, so if we have two lines going and someone else calls, they get a busy signal. The problem is that doing this causes ALL the phones to bleep at us to remind us that lines are on hold, every two minutes or so.
DESIRED SOLUTION:
What I would like is a device that can be plugged into a phone line that effectively kills the line (but only when the device is plugged in, and without damaging anything).
I've thought about just shorting out the wires, but I don't want to fry anything. I've actually tried crimping a small LED to the middle two contacts of an RJ12 connecter, but it didn't work. The LED would blink and turn hot. Perhaps some kind of resistor? I do like the idea of an LED, however, so I can see that it's plugged in and working. Anyone have any ideas?
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