Combination Extensions
A combination extension is an extension with two devices connected to
The following are examples of useful combination extensions:
■System phone plus standard phone, for power failure backup on extensions 10, 16, 22, 28, 34, 40, 46, and 52
■System phone plus answering machine
■System phone plus fax machine
■System phone plus headset
■System phone plus an external alert (such as a bell or chime).
Using the telephones in a combination extension is fairly simple. The main point to understand is that the two telephones share a single extension in the same way several home telephones share a single line. A system phone works like it always does and a standard phone works like it always does when connected to the system. Only one phone or device can be used at a time, unless you want to join the two on a single call (the same way two people can pick up the same call on different telephones at home). Furthermore:
■Both phones share the same extension number.
■Both phones share the same voice path; that is, when either phone is busy, the extension is busy.
■Calls ring at both phones.
■A second call can ring at the system phone while the standard phone is busy, but do not use the system phone to answer the second call until the standard phone is idle or the first call will be disconnected.
■If you make a
■Call Waiting (#316) does not work on a standard phone in combination with a system phone.
■The lights on the system phone show what the standard phone is doing as well as what the system phone is doing. For an explanation of light patterns, see “Lights” at the beginning of this chapter.
■If Privacy is active at a combination extension, no other extension can join a call in progress at either a system phone or a standard device. (However, a phone can interrupt a call on a standard device at the same extension. For example, if a system phone and modem are combined at an extension, picking up the handset of the system phone could interrupt a modem transmission, even if Privacy is active.)
