SPA942 configuration for a small office (Linksys SPA 942)

Greetings VoIP User Community Members,

I struggled for weeks trying to get a group of old Cisco 7940 phones provisioned with SIP firmware and then registered to a remote Asterisk server- and to be completely honest, I failed miserably. I finally gave up and felt humiliated. I purchased 6 SPA942 phones to replace the 7940's. Compared to the Cisco 7940's, these SPA942's are quite user friendly. I have upgraded each phone's firmware to 6.1.3, I have studied the 942's browser based administration options, I have successfully registered the phones with the remote Asterisk server, and all 6 SPA942's can now both make and receive calls. However, I am encountering problems transferring calls from phone to phone and I suspect the reason is because I have not configured the phones properly. This is why I am writing this post. My goal is to complete this project by configuring the 6 SPA942's correctly and properly, the way an expert who is familiar with SPA942's would configure them. If any of you on the list have ever set up an office with these SPA942s, I sincerely hope you will be able to give me a hand. I have put effort into making the questions simple and clear, but I can provide further information or clarification if necessary. I thank you very, very kindly for your assistance.

Here is the background. We have been given a range of 10 numbers: xxxxx10, xxxxx11, xxxxx12, etc., up to xxxxx19. The number xxxxx17 is the SDA- if someone calls that number, then ALL the phones ring, xxxxx10, xxxxx11, xxxxx12, etc. There are NO calling groups, like "sales" or "service." There are just 6 phones, xxxxx10, xxxxx11, xxxxx12, xxxxx13, xxxxx14, and xxxxx15, and there is the SDA, xxxxx17, which causes all those 6 phones (private extensions 10-15) to ring. We do NOT have a designated person answering the calls- we have no receptionist, just 6 SPA942's, with everyone on the same level, everyone responsible for answering any incoming calls. We simply want any call to the SDA xxxxx17 number to cause all the phones to ring, and allow anyone in the office to pick up that call- and if necessary, to transfer the call to another person in the office. Basically what I am saying is that I seek the simplest and most stripped down setup possible.


The SPA9x2 administration guide (p. 93-94 of the Linksys PDF) says that one should configure EXT 1 as the primary and private extension, and configure shared extensions on EXTs 2, 3 and 4. Please assume that I am configuring phone xxxxx10;



(1)(a) Under the PHONE tab:
I have set Line Key 1's "Extension" to: "1", and set "Shared Call Appearance" as: "private". This is what the manual seems to suggest. Is this correct?

(1)(b) Under the EXT 1 tab:
I have set "Shared Ext" as: "private". Is this correct?

(1)(c) Under the EXT 1 tab:
What should the "Shared User ID" be set to? What in fact is the "Shared User ID"?



(2)(a) Under the PHONE tab:
Should Line Key 2's "Extension" variable be set to "2", and Line Key 3's "Extension" variable be set to "3", and Line Key 4's "Extension" variable be set to "4"?

(2)(b) Under the PHONE tab:
Should the "Shared Call Appearance" variable for Line Key 2, Line Key 3 and Line Key 4 be set to "shared"? This is what the manual seems to suggest.

(2)(c) Under the PHONE tab:
What should the "Short Name" be set to for Line Key 2, Line Key 3 and Line Key 4? I know that the "Short Name" can be anything at all, but what convention makes sense? "General", or something like this, to suggest it's the office's shared lines, as opposed to Line Key 1, which is associated with the individual's private number and line?

(2)(d) Under EXT 2 tab, EXT 3 tab, and EXT 4 tab:
What should the User ID and Password be? For EXT 1, I understand that the User ID and Password should be set to the User ID and password associated with the xxxxx10 private number. But how should I set up the EXT 2 tab, EXT 3 tab and EXT 4 tab? Should I insert the User ID and Password of the SDA number, the xxxxx17 number?

(2)(e) Under EXT 2 tab, EXT 3 tab, and EXT 4 tab:
How should SHARED LINE APPEARANCE be set up? Specically, how should I configure these two variables: "Shared Ext" (private or shared? I assume shared); and "Shared User ID" (what is this?)?


Once again, I thank you very kindly for your assistance.

Phil