Hack37.Set Up Multiple Phone Lines


Hack 37. Set Up Multiple Phone Lines

You can have multiple Skype phone lines by running multiple instances of Skype on the same machine.

Works with: Windows version of Skype.

To have several phone lines you must have several instances of Skype running. These instances can run on different machines, or on a single machine. For this to work, each instance of Skype must run independently from the others. This hack gives some suggestions on how to set up and configure multiple phone lines using Skype.

First, a word of caution. If all the running instances of Skype (whether on the same machine or spread across machines) share the same Internet connection, setting up multiple phone lines is an idea that can be taken too far, because too many instances of Skype sharing the same connection might, at some point, overwhelm it to the degree that call quality is universally degraded.

3.14.1. Multiple Machines

The simplest way to obtain multiple phone lines using Skype is to run Skype on multiple machines, each with its own sound device and/or phone hardware attached. This is very easy to set up and configure, as each is independent of the other.

For a small office, or a home with multiple computers (Dad has a PC, Mom has a Mac, and Junior has a Linux box, for instance), this might be the best option.

3.14.2. Multiple Instances of Skype on the Same Machine

You can have multiple phone lines through a single machine, but it will require a little bit of forward planning, setup, and configuration. Here's the procedure:

  1. Multiple phone lines cannot use the same sound devicewell, not without a lot of confused calls. So, you must install and configure a separate sound device for each phone line (running instance of Skype) you want. This might be as simple as having a number of different USB handsets, all the way up to multiple USB Skype-to-phone adapters driving the phone wires of your home (see "Build a Skype Server" [Hack #35]).

  2. Nothing is stopping you from running several instances of Skype using the same Skype name. Indeed, there are some advantagesfor instance, all lines will ring for the same incoming call. However, for illustration purposes, I will assume that you have created two new Skype accounts for the purpose of having two separate and distinct phone lines. Let's call these two accounts SkypeUser1 and SkypeUser2.

  3. Configure your machine to run multiple instances of Skype, each using a different logon name; namely, SkypeUser1 and SkypeUser2. For two phone lines, log on to SkypeUser1, start Skype, and configure it to use a sound devicesay, USB Handset 1. Similarly, switch to SkypeUser2 (Start Log Off Switch User) and log on, and then do the same for what well call USB Handset 2. Now, incoming calls to SkypeUser1 will be handled by USB Handset 1. Similarly, incoming calls to SkypeUser2 will be handled by USB Handset 2. It's as simple as that! There is, however, one small gotcha to this setup. As only one user session is visible at a time on your monitor, you can effectively make outgoing calls only from the active session; unless, of course, your sound hardware can initiate Skype calls, which is the case for some of the more advanced Skype-compatible sound devices (such as USB handsets with keypads and Skype-to-phone adapters).

  4. Be sure to configure each separate instance of Skype to use a separate sound device.

Some Skype hardware that uses the Skype API won't work if you have two identical devices attached, even if the two instances of Skype associated with the devices are running in separate user sessions. Check with the manufacturer before you buy.


3.14.3. Multiple Virtual Machines

This is really only for serious techies!

When I set up my Skype Test Lab for this book, I was confronted with the difficulty of testing Skype on a variety of platforms and, in the case of Linux, on a variety of distros (SuSE, Fedora Core 4, Gentoo, Debian, and others). To solve this problem I simultaneously ran different operating systems in different virtual machines (Windows) on my computer using VMware Workstation (http://www.VMWare.com/). In each virtual machine there was a different instance of Skype, and with some jiggery-pokery with sound devices, you can make each instance of Skype in each virtual machine have a different sound device, which amounts to having several independent phone lines, all provided by a single machine!

You can do the same on Linux using open source machine-virtualization software, such as Xen (http://www.xensource.com/) and User-mode Linux Kernel Port (http://sourceforge.net/projects/user-mode-linux/).




Skype Hacks
Skype Hacks: Tips & Tools for Cheap, Fun, Innovative Phone Service
ISBN: 0596101899
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 168

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