Having 2 phones for 1 person in different locations

[stevembsl]

Our company is a company of 4. We are going to purchase VOIP and having trouble determining how and if it is possible for a person to have two Falcon IP phones in 2 locations (work and home)? So when I leave the office and get home it a) It Still rings b) knows that i am no longer at work but at home or can at least set the phone in some way to state that I am at home?

Is this something that is possible?

It does seem feasible as if you have a Falcon IP phone say at work, then when you get home you can use ( I am assuming) the free software download to make/receive calls, then somehow it must know where you are?

[minicheddar]

Hi Steve,

There are a number of ways that you can use BT Hosted VoIP to work from home.

1) Order 2 phones on the same 056 number

Connect one phone in your office and another at home. When someone calls your number, or is diverted to it, both phones will ring simultaneously and picking up either phone will allow you to answer the call.

2) Use Find-Me-Follow-Me

Set up your FMFM to ring your office phone first and then divert to your home phone after X seconds.

3) Use BT Office Communicator

Install our softphone client onto your home computer. When someone calls your number, the office phone and the client will 'ring' and you can take the call on either.

I hope this answers your question.

Minicheddar

[stevembsl]

Hi minicheddar,

thanks for getting back to me.

Few questions ( we have not got this system yet so a bit naive as to some of the things you mentioned,

1) Was is an 056 number, is this like an extension number or phone number?

2) If we had two handsets each with the same (056) number could both handsets be used at the same time? i.e. one receives the call and then someone uses it to dial out?

3) Is it not possible to switch between the two phones, so that when I am at home it rings at home (and not at work) and when I am at work it rings at work (and not at home)?

Sorry if they are silly questions.

Kind Regards,

Steve

[minicheddar]

Steve,

There are no silly questions. 🙂

1) All Broadband Voice and BT Hosted VoIP lines come with 056xxxxxxxx numbers.

These are a 'base layer' non-geographic numbers.

Using the Selfcare website, you can add geographic numbers on top of these numbers, for £2.99 per number per month.

People can then call the geographic number(s) or the 056 number. The same phone(s) will ring either way.

For example, I could have a 05601110222 as my non-geographic number. I could then add Sheffield, Manchester and London numbers on top of this, so my business has a presence in each of these cities. Regardless of which number people call, my phone is always the one to ring and I don't pay anything to divert.

2) You can only make 1 outbound call per 056 number at a time.

3) With 2 phones on the same number, the easiest way to do this would be to disconnect/de-power the phone in the office.

If the phones are on different numbers, you can just log in to Selfcare and change the rules online.

Regards, 

Minicheddar

[JTD]

Just resurrecting this thread.  We are trying to split our voip phones over two locations- London and Switzerland.  

Do you know if it is possible for us to transfer a call from London to Switzerland? i.e does voip operate across international boundaries.  Part of the reason for getting voip was because BT told us this would work, but at the moment it doesn't seem to be and so far BT help line have not been able to help!

[SeanC]

Hi JTD

Depending on type of Voip service you have, if you are using the BT Thomson handsets (Hosted Voip), you can either use the short codes or the full voip number to transfer calls between your 2 destinations. If you are unsure of what you short codes are, you will need to log into webcare, you will need your voip number and password to log into this website www.bt.com/businessbbv/webcare

If you have standard voip, your voip lines will be configured onto your router, calls can still be transferred using the entire voip number.

If you need any further assistance or clarification please call into the Voip Helpdesk on 0800 169 1146 option 2 or send me a PM and ill get back to you.

Regards

SC

[JTD · Accepted solution]

Thanks SC

Managed to resolve the problem (we think!) after talking with BT on Friday.  The reason the phone was ringing in London but not Switzerland was because when someone would call the number from a location in the UK (whether from landline or mobile) the London phone would receive the call first (being closer to the caller geographically).  When the number is called from a location in Switzerland, that phone rings and the London one does not.

Fortunately the two phones are never manned at the same time so we just unplug the phone that is not needed at that particular time and the call will be received by the desired phone, whether Switzerland or London.

JTD.