8
LINESHARE 1 x 4
The LineShare 1 x 4 (just “1 x 4” for short) makes it easy to attach four or
more different outbound-only phones, modems, faxes, etc., to the same phone
line. No more flipping switches or turning machines on and off; the 1 x 4 is
fully automatic. When any device attached to the 1 x 4 is using the line, the
1 x 4 will simply send a busy signal to any of the other attached devices if
they try to pick up. This capability, called “port exclusion,” means that your
important conversations and data transfers won’t be interrupted by activity
on the other devices. Once a device goes off hook, the LineShare 1 x 4 will
maintain exclusion until that device hangs up.
Each attached device is allowed unlimited individual connection time. You
can tell, with a glance at the four LEDs on the LineShare 1 x 4’s front panel,
which device is using the line at any given moment.
The LineShare 1 x 4 is for outbound calls only. This makes it ideal for
applications involving intermittent access to the Internet or online services by
multiple users. (The 1 x 4 can’t detect inbound calls; it will not answer them
or transfer them in any way, and it does not ring—although callers on the
other end will hear a ring signal until they hang up. If one of the
attached
devices should happen to go off-hook while an inbound call is being
attempted, a brief connection will be made, but attached modems and faxes
will just hang up again unless they are specifically directed to answer—which
would require either a human picking up first and recognizing the call, or
some very precise mutually agreed-upon timing.)
You can attach all kinds of phone and telecommunication equipment to the
LineShare 1 x 4; it is compatible with any telephone device that responds to a
standard phone-company ring signal. Because it maintains an on-hook voltage
of 36 volts, you can even attach credit-card authorization terminals to the 1 x 4.
If you need more than four devices to share a single line, you can even
daisychain or cascade LineShare 1 x 4s (see Section 3.2).
It is even possible to install the LineShare 1 x 4 on a line carrying one or
more other, non-attached devices. When any of these are using the line, the
1 x 4 will give the busy signal to its attached devices; but it cannot provide
a busy signal to non-attached devices, and if they pick up while an attached
device is using the line, existing phone connections might be degraded
or interrupted.
2. Introduction
