Question about phone lines and multiple callers?

Question

OK so you know how on radio stations, someone can call the same phone number and more people can call and then they can all talk to each other w/the show hosts on the air? How does this work--wouldn't the phone line be busy since the first caller called the same phone number as the other callers?

Same question applies to office #'s...how can multiple calls be on the same line?

Answer 1

different services;

radio stations, just like the pizza deliver have a phantom number, it is really a port in the central office, not a real two way dedicated phone number.

the caller calls a number and the call is routed to a port in the switch. the program director selects a "line" from a computer and the line is tied to the audio pair.

Businesses... they have what is called "roll over". They have multiple phone lines, each line has its own ANI, and can be two-way (99% of the time they are in/out but can be in only). A customer dials the number, if it is busy, the CO rolls the call over to the next open line.

Answer 2

Sometimes it is three-way calling, which is what many home phones have. Even so, three way calling only allows three people to be talking at once.

Most radio stations sign up for premium services from phone companies which allow them to have several people connect to the same phone line.

Offices use similar premium services that radio stations use. There are also a lot of different places that offer conference calling services where you can have around 45 people on the same line at one time. Conference calling services usually require callers to call a certain number, input a conference ID number to identify which conference they are trying to join, and then input a bridge number, which is like a password to enter the conference. Conference calls usually cost ten cents per minute.