I seem to recall the PacBell/SBC never offered alternate DN's aka "Ringmaster" whereby a 2nd directory number rang the same pair with different cadence.
Is this still true, or is it available under a new buzzword?
Here in Orange County, CA it was offered as a way to get the fax machine to answer on the same line. Of course you had to have the fax machine that could detect the different cadences. I don't remember what it's called, but for such a simple and easy thing to do, it was way overpriced.
Well, the name would help since the reps I ask are clueless on same...
(And you can use an external ring director...)
See if "Distinctive Ring" gets any response.
However, what I found, via a Google search, tends to indicate that PacBell does _not_ offer the feature.
quoting from , regarding distinctive ring offerings:
Telco Service Name Total numbers per line Bell South RingMaster 3 GTE Distinctive Ring 2 Ameritech Multi-Ring 3 US West Custom Ringing 3 SW Bell Personalized Ring 3 Bell Atlantic RingMate 3 PacBell Not available 1
Pac Bell offers something called "priority ringing" where you get a "distinctive ring" when the call is from any of a list of 'special' numbers.
I suspect there is an inherent conflict between that and the "multiple DN on one wire-pair with unique ring cadence" service.
One option might be to see what a CLEC, instead of Pac Bell, has to offer.
I have checked recently, and SBC - Pac Bell San Francisco Area - does not offer it. They are really pushing "ADL" - additional lines. Increased competition from VoIP providers, giving low-cost additional lines, may persuade SBC to make such an offer, though they are spending most of their energy looking for other sources of revenue, such as television.
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