asterisk users - Mar 2010 - Asterisk system for church call center

I have been asked by my church to recommend a VoIP system which can do
the following.

They do internet radio shows which are sometimes broadcast on radio.

They are looking for a system which does the following for about 5
agents, exactly as they have described it.

1. Take incoming calls

2. Put them on hold if there is no one to handle the call immediately,
or transfer them to an available agent

3. Take down their details, and number, (if this can be retrieved and
saved from the caller id, thats better)

4. Get them to hold on after taking their details if they still want to hold

5. Call them back when the backlog is cleared up.

I have a fairly good grasp of the hardware and programming part of
Asterisk, having compiled it more than a few times and implemented
A2Billing phone card and call shop system with it.

But the type of software suited to the Call Center side is where my
knowledge gap lies.

I am looking for solutions based on the usual Asterisk distributions
like AsteriskNow, trixbox, elastix etc, whether ready packaged or
requiring additional customization.


The matter of whether they will use soft phones, or regular phones
with headsets is also something to consider. Soft phones with good
GUI's may be preferred if more cost effective for them, although my
personal preferences are with hard phones.

Any recommendations - the ease of software for the end users is the
main thing for me, and integration with the database for taking
customers details is the main thing for me. One of the distributions
with SugarCRM comes to mind here.

Sorry for cross-posting, but ready made and commercially supported
systems are not ruled out, if they come within their budget.

Regards


Frank Church

I have been asked by my church to recommend a VoIP system which can do
the following.

They do internet radio shows which are sometimes broadcast on radio.

They are looking for a system which does the following for about 5
agents, exactly as they have described it.

1. Take incoming calls

2. Put them on hold if there is no one to handle the call immediately,
or transfer them to an available agent

3. Take down their details, and number, (if this can be retrieved and
saved from the caller id, thats better)

4. Get them to hold on after taking their details if they still want to hold

5. Call them back when the backlog is cleared up.

I have a fairly good grasp of the hardware and programming part of
Asterisk, having compiled it more than a few times and implemented
A2Billing phone card and call shop system with it.

But the type of software suited to the Call Center side is where my
knowledge gap lies.

I am looking for solutions based on the usual Asterisk distributions
like AsteriskNow, trixbox, elastix etc, whether ready packaged or
requiring additional customization.


The matter of whether they will use soft phones, or regular phones
with headsets is also something to consider. Soft phones with good
GUI's may be preferred if more cost effective for them, although my
personal preferences are with hard phones.

Any recommendations - the ease of software for the end users is the
main thing for me, and integration with the database for taking
customers details is the main thing for me. One of the distributions
with SugarCRM comes to mind here.

Sorry for cross-posting, but ready made and commercially supported
systems are not ruled out, if they come within their budget.

Regards


Frank Church

Apart from the call back function, appears to me that any asterisk
distribution interfaced with freepbx will do what you need.
I would recommend pbxinaflash (http://www.pbxinaflash.com), they have a very
active forum, and will get up and running very fast.

Gondar

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 1:46 PM, Frank Church <voipfc at googlemail.com>
wrote:
> I have been asked by my church to recommend a VoIP system which can do
> the following.
>
> They do internet radio shows which are sometimes broadcast on radio.
>
> They are looking for a system which does the following for about 5
> agents, exactly as they have described it.
>
> 1. Take incoming calls
>
> 2. Put them on hold if there is no one to handle the call immediately,
> or transfer them to an available agent
>
> 3. Take down their details, and number, (if this can be retrieved and
> saved from the caller id, thats better)
>
> 4. Get them to hold on after taking their details if they still want to
> hold
>
> 5. Call them back when the backlog is cleared up.
>
> I have a fairly good grasp of the hardware and programming part of
> Asterisk, having compiled it more than a few times and implemented
> A2Billing phone card and call shop system with it.
>
> But the type of software suited to the Call Center side is where my
> knowledge gap lies.
>
> I am looking for solutions based on the usual Asterisk distributions
> like AsteriskNow, trixbox, elastix etc, whether ready packaged or
> requiring additional customization.
>
>
> The matter of whether they will use soft phones, or regular phones
> with headsets is also something to consider. Soft phones with good
> GUI's may be preferred if more cost effective for them, although my
> personal preferences are with hard phones.
>
> Any recommendations - the ease of software for the end users is the
> main thing for me, and integration with the database for taking
> customers details is the main thing for me. One of the distributions
> with SugarCRM comes to mind here.
>
> Sorry for cross-posting, but ready made and commercially supported
> systems are not ruled out, if they come within their budget.
>
> Regards
>
>
> Frank Church
>
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On 29 March 2010 21:46, Frank Church <voipfc at googlemail.com>
wrote:
> I have been asked by my church to recommend a VoIP system which can do
> the following.
>
> They do internet radio shows which are sometimes broadcast on radio.
>
> They are looking for a system which does the following for about 5
> agents, exactly as they have described it.
>
> 1. Take incoming calls
>
> 2. Put them on hold if there is no one to handle the call immediately,
> or transfer them to an available agent
>
> 3. Take down their details, and number, (if this can be retrieved and
> saved from the caller id, thats better)
>
> 4. Get them to hold on after taking their details if they still want to
hold
>
> 5. Call them back when the backlog is cleared up.
>
> I have a fairly good grasp of the hardware and programming part of
> Asterisk, having compiled it more than a few times and implemented
> A2Billing phone card and call shop system with it.
>
> But the type of software suited to the Call Center side is where my
> knowledge gap lies.
>
> I am looking for solutions based on the usual Asterisk distributions
> like AsteriskNow, trixbox, elastix etc, whether ready packaged or
> requiring additional customization.
>
>
> The matter of whether they will use soft phones, or regular phones
> with headsets is also something to consider. Soft phones with good
> GUI's may be preferred if more cost effective for them, although my
> personal preferences are with hard phones.
>
> Any recommendations - the ease of software for the end users is the
> main thing for me, and integration with the database for taking
> customers details is the main thing for me. One of the distributions
> with SugarCRM comes to mind here.
>
> Sorry for cross-posting, but ready made and commercially supported
> systems are not ruled out, if they come within their budget.
>
> Regards
>
>
> Frank Church
>
After there response I will go with some of ready made Asterisk
distributions, then consider to go for a commercial supported versions
if they do not meet the churches needs.

Thanks

Frank