asterisk users - Nov 2005 - Small office with all employee's offsite

I'm sure these questions have been answered at some point, but I'm too
new
to this stuff to know the right words to plug into the search function to 
find what I need.

I have never touched Asterisk before, but have wanted to for some time. 
Now I finally think I'm going to bite the bullet, as I have a real-world 
application for it!

My office consists of two employees, neither of whom work in the office 
physically.  Here is what I'd like to do.  Hopefully someone can tell me 
what I need to do/buy/configure/install to make it work...

I want all calls to come into the Asterisk box in the main office.

I want all incoming calls to be recorded (not as concerned about outgoing 
calls).

Both employees have regular POTS telephone lines (one fellow has a land 
line and a cell, the other has just a land-line).

I'd like callers to be presented with a short menu of options, the 
behavior of which might change depending on the time of day (for instance, 
at night, I'd like both the "sales" and "support" calls
to go to one
employee, while during the day I'd like sales to go to one person, and 
support to go to another.  I'd also like to have an answering machine 
(built into Asterisk?) pick up calls that go unanswered.

I guess that's about it.  I looked at the Digium TDMxx cards, but don't 
really know what I need in the way of FXO's and FXS's to pull off what I
want to do.

As an added bonus, if someone knows of a VOIP adapter that allows one to 
plug an analog phone into it AND accept both VOIP and normal phone calls 
to the same phone, that would be cool (and might make things easier to 
configure, without making each extension 100% dependent on VOIP).

Thanks in advance.  I'm really looking forward to finally doing something 
with Asterisk, one of the most exciting projects I've looked at for a 
while!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
| Jason Marshall, marshalj@spots.ab.ca. Spots InterConnect, Inc. Calgary, AB |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Jason Marshall schrieb:
> I'm sure these questions have been answered at some point, but I'm
too
> new to this stuff to know the right words to plug into the search 
> function to find what I need.
> 
> I have never touched Asterisk before, but have wanted to for some time. 
> Now I finally think I'm going to bite the bullet, as I have a
real-world
> application for it!
> 
> My office consists of two employees, neither of whom work in the office 
> physically.  Here is what I'd like to do.  Hopefully someone can tell
me
> what I need to do/buy/configure/install to make it work...
> 
> I want all calls to come into the Asterisk box in the main office.
> 
> I want all incoming calls to be recorded (not as concerned about 
> outgoing calls).
> 
> Both employees have regular POTS telephone lines (one fellow has a land 
> line and a cell, the other has just a land-line).
> 
> I'd like callers to be presented with a short menu of options, the 
> behavior of which might change depending on the time of day (for 
> instance, at night, I'd like both the "sales" and
"support" calls to go
> to one employee, while during the day I'd like sales to go to one 
> person, and support to go to another.  I'd also like to have an 
> answering machine (built into Asterisk?) pick up calls that go unanswered.
what you're looking for is basically asterisk@home - 
http://asteriskathome.sf.net

It has all features you mentioned already integrated (and many more, too).

-- 
Tomek
http://wpkg.org/email2fax
email2fax - email to fax gateway for Asterisk

On Nov 26, 2005, at 12:48 PM, Jason Marshall wrote:
> I'm sure these questions have been answered at some point, but I'm
> too new to this stuff to know the right words to plug into the  
> search function to find what I need.
We'll let it go just this once... ;-)
> I have never touched Asterisk before, but have wanted to for some  
> time. Now I finally think I'm going to bite the bullet, as I have a  
> real-world application for it
Awesome! Welcome to the community.
> My office consists of two employees, neither of whom work in the  
> office physically.  Here is what I'd like to do.  Hopefully someone  
> can tell me what I need to do/buy/configure/install to make it work...
OK, all of this is possible, and as someone else mentioned, the  
easiest, "it just works" way to accomplish this is through  
Asterisk@Home, which you can find at http:// 
asteriskathome.sourceforge.net. How you accomplish it will depend on  
a few variables, though.
> I want all calls to come into the Asterisk box in the main office.
This is relatively easy, but how you do it depends on where the  
analog POTS lines are terminated. At the central office or at the  
employees' remote location? (I assume that they terminate at the  
remote locations)
> I want all incoming calls to be recorded (not as concerned about  
> outgoing calls).
A@H can handle this. It's in the extension setup.
> Both employees have regular POTS telephone lines (one fellow has a  
> land line and a cell, the other has just a land-line).
Again, it will be important to know where these lines terminate.
> I'd like callers to be presented with a short menu of options, the  
> behavior of which might change depending on the time of day (for  
> instance, at night, I'd like both the "sales" and
"support" calls
> to go to one employee, while during the day I'd like sales to go to  
> one person, and support to go to another.  I'd also like to have an  
> answering machine (built into Asterisk?) pick up calls that go  
> unanswered.
IVR Auto-Attendants are built into A@H/AMP. They are called Digital  
receptionists, IIRC. Voicemail is also built-in.
> I guess that's about it.  I looked at the Digium TDMxx cards, but  
> don't really know what I need in the way of FXO's and FXS's to
pull
> off what I want to do.
This is why it's important to know where the phone lines terminate.  
If they are in the office you can use a TDM400P with two FXO ports.  
You can also use an ATA such as the Sipura SPA-3000 that has an FXO  
port built-in. If the lines terminate at the remote locations, then  
the second option is your only one, unless you put a server in both  
locations. (which is a bit overkill...)

The downside of using a SPA-3000 at the remote location to answer the  
phone, send the incoming call to the asterisk server, and then send  
it back to the extension at the remote site is that you will use  
double the bandwidth. using SIP reinvites might help with that, though.
> As an added bonus, if someone knows of a VOIP adapter that allows  
> one to plug an analog phone into it AND accept both VOIP and normal  
> phone calls to the same phone, that would be cool (and might make  
> things easier to configure, without making each extension 100%  
> dependent on VOIP).
The SPA-3000 is capable of doing this. configuring one the first time  
can be a bit of a bear, but Google is your friend...
> Thanks in advance.  I'm really looking forward to finally doing  
> something with Asterisk, one of the most exciting projects I've  
> looked at for a while!!
Well, good luck and, incase you haven't gathered, google,  
lists.digium.com, asteriskdocs.org, and voip-info.org are your best  
online resources for help. Also, the new book "Asterisk: The Future  
of Telephony" is a great resource. It's available online as a  
download under the creative commons license, and it is also published  
by O'Reilly <http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/asterisk/index.html>

Come to think of it, I have an extra O'Reilly official version of the  
book that I will sell for $30 shipped. (Never used, I already have  
another copy...)

Tom

--------------------
Tom Rymes
Cascade Link Systems
www.cascadelinksystems.com
(603) 375-1414

"Intelligent technology solutions for small businesses."

asterisk-users-request@lists.digium.com is believed to have said: 

Jason,
>I'm sure these questions have been answered at some point, but I'm
too new
>to this stuff to know the right words to plug into the search function to 
>find what I need.
well, yes of course.
>I have never touched Asterisk before, but have wanted to for some time. 
>Now I finally think I'm going to bite the bullet, as I have a real-world
>application for it!
You are in for some fun and satisfaction; with some small price to pay...
>My office consists of two employees, neither of whom work in the office 
>physically.  Here is what I'd like to do.  Hopefully someone can tell me
>what I need to do/buy/configure/install to make it work...
As a minimum set up you will need a CPU plus an interface to your
incoming phone lines and most likely to an extension line in the main office.
>I want all calls to come into the Asterisk box in the main office.
Obvious.
>I want all incoming calls to be recorded (not as concerned about outgoing 
>calls)
Can be done from the dialplan.
>Both employees have regular POTS telephone lines (one fellow has a land 
>line and a cell, the other has just a land-line).
>
>I'd like callers to be presented with a short menu of options, the 
>behavior of which might change depending on the time of day (for instance, 
>at night, I'd like both the "sales" and "support"
calls to go to one
>employee, while during the day I'd like sales to go to one person, and 
>support to go to another.  I'd also like to have an answering machine 
>(built into Asterisk?) pick up calls that go unanswered.
Can be done from the dialplan. Voicemail is an Asterisk application.
>I guess that's about it.  I looked at the Digium TDMxx cards, but
don't
>really know what I need in the way of FXO's and FXS's to pull off
what I
>want to do.
That's a very good option.
>As an added bonus, if someone knows of a VOIP adapter that allows one to 
>plug an analog phone into it AND accept both VOIP and normal phone calls 
>to the same phone, that would be cool (and might make things easier to 
>configure, without making each extension 100% dependent on VOIP).
You could look into products from Sipura or from Grandstream.
>Thanks in advance.  I'm really looking forward to finally doing
something
>with Asterisk, one of the most exciting projects I've looked at for a 
>while!!
But the very best advice I can give you is to start getting used to the
Asterisk wiki and get the O'Reilly book on Asterik: it will be your
friend. That's the small price to be paid.

I found it worth.

Regards
Aldo

I am using this dialplan with DID's to great effect, I have 130 guys doing
exactly what was discussed here. After 12 seconds ringing their SIP or IAX
client, the dialplan calls the cell automatically, during working hours. If
they don't pick up after 18 seconds, voicemail.  After hours, both phones
are dialed concurrently. Also, fax detection is automatic so DID is desk
phone, cell phone, and fax. 

Using it this way completely obviates the need for call forwarding; I find
CF more of a hassle than it's worth because people are dumb and forget that
calls are CF'd then complain that their phone isn't working. 

Note voicemail box is the same as last 4 digits of DID. This simplifies
enduser training. 

Permission given to steal this dialplan logic outright if you can put up
with my sloppy code.


[from-pstn]


;8259 is a single DID for example purposes. All this does is set variables,
then dumps the caller to a dialing context
;TODO: Make variable setting dynamically loaded from a database


exten => 8259,1,SetVar(FAXEMAIL=karenk@landmarkmasterbuilder.com); email
address to send faxes to
exten => 8259,2,SetVar(PRIMARYDIALSTRING=IAX2/landmark:1111@whitemudridge)
;desk phone
exten => 8259,3,SetVar(SECONDARYDIALSTRING=ZAP/g0/9024985) ;cell phone
number
exten => 8259,4,SetVar(TERTIARYDIALSTRING=) ;3rd number line a home number
exten => 8259,5,SetVar(CALLRECIPIENT=Karen Kelly) ;who the person is
exten => 8259,6,SetVar(WORKSCHEDULE=SHOWHOMEHOURS) ;what their working
schedule is
exten => 8259,7,SetVar(BUILDING=BUILDING1) ;building that they report to
exten => 8259,8,SetVar(IVRVM=vm) ;after dialplan is exhausted, send them to
voicemail or to another context?
exten => 8259,9,SetVar(MAILBOX=8259) ;Mailbox number
exten => 8259,10,Goto(dial-internal,s,1)


[dial-internal]
exten => _s,1,Answer()
exten => _s,2,Wait(2);Wait 2 seconds for a fax CNG tone
exten => _s,3,Gotoif($["${WORKSCHEDULE}" =
"BUSINESSHOURS" ]?bushours,1)
exten => _s,4,Gotoif($["${WORKSCHEDULE}" =
"SHOWHOMEHOURS"
]?showhomehours,1)
exten => _s,5,Gotoif($["${WORKSCHEDULE}" =
"SHOWHOMEHOURSSHORT"
]?showhomehoursshort,1)
exten => _s,6,Goto(bushours,1);If there is no schedule set, assume Business
Hours


exten => bushours,1,Gotoiftime(*|sat|*?dialsecondary,1)
exten => bushours,2,Gotoiftime(*|sun|*?dialsecondary,1)
exten => bushours,3,Gotoiftime(8:00-17:00|mon-fri|*|*?dialprimary,1)
exten => bushours,4,Goto(dialprimary,1) ;If there's a time in this range
that doesn't fit the above, dial the Primary number anyway


exten => showhomehours,1,Gotoiftime(*|fri|*?dialsecondary,1)
exten => showhomehours,2,Gotoiftime(15:00-20:00|*|*?dialprimary,1)
exten => showhomehours,3,Gotoiftime(12:00-18:00|sat-sun|*?dialprimary,1)
exten => showhomehours,4,Goto(dialsecondary,1) ;If there's a time in this
range that doesn't fit the above, dial the Primary number anyway


exten => showhomehoursshort,1,Gotoiftime(*|fri|*?dialsecondary,1)
exten => showhomehoursshort,2,Gotoiftime(14:00-20:00|*|*?dialprimary,1)
exten =>
showhomehoursshort,3,Gotoiftime(11:00-18:00|sat-sun|*?dialprimary,1)
exten => showhomehoursshort,4,Goto(dialsecondary,1) ;If there's a time in
this range that doesn't fit the above, dial the Primary number anyway


exten => dialprimary,1,SetCallerID(${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => dialprimary,2,Gotoif($["${PRIMARYDIALSTRING}foo" !=
"foo" ]?3:5)
;Check for a NULL Primary Dialstring if it is null go to secondary
exten => dialprimary,3,ChanIsAvail(${PRIMARYDIALSTRING}) ; check if the
dialstring's channel is available if not go to secondary number
exten => dialprimary,4,Dial(${PRIMARYDIALSTRING},12,T)
exten => dialprimary,5,Goto(dialsecondary,1) ;If user does not pick up in 12
seconds dial his cell (secondary number) 
exten => dialprimary,104,Goto(dialsecondary,1)


exten => dialsecondary,1,SetCallerID(${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => dialsecondary,2,Gotoif($["${SECONDARYDIALSTRING}foo" !=
"foo"
]?3:5) ;Check for a NULL Secondary Dialstring if it is null go to tertiary
exten => dialsecondary,3,ChanIsAvail(${SECONDARYDIALSTRING}); check if the
dialstring's channel is available if not go to tertiary number
exten =>
dialsecondary,4,Dial(${SECONDARYDIALSTRING}&${PRIMARYDIALSTRING},18,T)
exten => dialsecondary,5,Goto(dialtertiary,1) ;If user does not pick up in
18 seconds dial his tertiary number, or voicemail
exten => dialsecondary,104,Goto(dialtertiary,1)


;Tertiary dialing not done yet, instead user is just sent to voicemail
exten => dialtertiary,1,Goto(ivr-vm,1)
exten => dialtertiary,102,Goto(ivr-vm,1)


;We can also modify the IVRVM variable to send the caller to an IVR if IVRVM
is not set to the string "vm"
exten => ivr-vm,1,Gotoif($["${IVRVM}" = "vm" ]?2:3)
exten => ivr-vm,2,Voicemail(u${MAILBOX}@default)
exten => ivr-vm,3,Goto(${IVRVM},s,1)


;Inbound faxes are indicated to the user by momentarily dialing their
extension with Caller ID like this: "Fax: 4035551212"
;In actual use, the Primary dialstring which is typically SIP or IAX works
perfect every time
;but Secondary numbers like cell phones, the dialstring timeout is way, way
too short. Oh well. 


exten => fax,1,SetVar(TEMPHOLDER=${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => fax,2,SetCallerID(Fax: ${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => fax,3,Dial(${SECONDARYDIALSTRING}&${PRIMARYDIALSTRING},1,T)
exten => fax,4,SetCallerID(${TEMPHOLDER})
exten => fax,5,Goto(fax-exception,exception,1)


[fax-exception]


;Fax exception to send fax machines "incompatible" with SpanDSP to a
REAL
fax, this list is trimmed for readability
;In our rollout, there are actually 160 numbers out of several thousand that
can potentially send to us. Pretty good, yay Steve U! 
;TODO DeadAGI script that automatically maintains this list

exten => exception,1,Wait(1)
exten => exception,2,GotoIf($["${CALLERIDNUM}" =
"7804365798" ]?realfax,1:3)
exten => exception,3,Gotoif($["${CALLERIDNUM}" =
"7809292186" ]?realfax,1:4)
exten => exception,4,Gotoif($["${CALLERIDNUM}" =
"7804369640"
]?realfax,1:5);etc,etc add numbers as you encounter them
exten => exception,5 ,Goto(virtualfax,1)


exten => virtualfax,1,Macro(faxreceive)
exten => virtualfax,2,System(/etc/asterisk/emailfax ${FAXFILE} ${FAXEMAIL}
${CALLERIDNUM})


;we have 3 buildings that a "real" fax can go to, this extension
determines
the building, sends it to the right building, sends an email
;to the recipient informing them that their expected fax was received on
hardcopy,
;and informs the receptionist via email that a hardcopy fax came in and
please to distribute it to the recipient


exten => realfax,1,GotoIf($["${BUILDING}" = "BUILDING1"
]?2:8)
exten => realfax,2,SetVar(REPEMAIL=receptionist@landmarkmasterbuilder.com)
exten => realfax,3,Gotoif($["${FAXEMAIL}foo" = "foo"
]?6:4)
exten => realfax,4,Gotoif($["${CALLRECIPIENT}" != "Landmark
Office"
]?5:6);Check for fax DID. If fax DID, inform ONLY the receptionist of the
fax
exten => realfax,5,System(/etc/asterisk/emailfaxlogbuilding1 ${FAXEMAIL}
${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => realfax,6,System(/etc/asterisk/emailfaxlogreception ${REPEMAIL}
${CALLERIDNUM} "${CALLRECIPIENT}")
exten => realfax,7,Dial(ZAP/g0/7023011);Fax number of REAL fax for Building
1
exten => realfax,8,GotoIf($["${BUILDING}" = "BUILDING2"
]?9:15)
exten => realfax,9,SetVar(REPEMAIL=deborahm@summerhillhomes.ca)
exten => realfax,10,Gotoif($["${FAXEMAIL}foo" = "foo"
]?11:13)
exten => realfax,11,Gotoif($["${CALLRECIPIENT}" != "Summerhill
Office"
]?12:13)
exten => realfax,12,System(/etc/asterisk/emailfaxlogbuilding2 ${FAXEMAIL}
${CALLERIDNUM})
exten => realfax,13,System(/etc/asterisk/emailfaxlogreception ${REPEMAIL}
${CALLERIDNUM} "${CALLRECIPIENT}")
exten => realfax,14,Dial(ZAP/g0/7028268) ;Fax number of REAL fax for
Building 2
exten => realfax,15,GotoIf($["${BUILDING}" = "BUILDING3"
]?15:16)
exten => realfax,16,Dial(ZAP/g0/7023011) ;Fax number of REAL fax for
Building 3 - NOT IMPLEMENTED YET
exten => realfax,17,NoOp(Temporary placeholder)
exten => realfax,18,NoOp(Temporary placeholder)


;We put the FAX extension in this context in case somehow a fax call winds
up in this context but is not detected properly


exten => fax,1,Goto(exception,1)
exten => fax,2,Goto(realfax,1)



hth

-----Original Message-----
From: James Armstrong [mailto:james@thearmstrongs.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 11:34 AM
To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Small office with all employee's offsite


Jason Marshall wrote:
>> OK, then this is easy. Instal Asterisk in the central location, along
>> with a Sipura SPA-3000. Configure that unit to answer the incoming
>> POTS line and act as a VOIP gateway for Asterisk. Then configure two
>> additional SPA-3000 units, one at each employee's location. Then,
>> configure Asterisk (I recommend Asterisk@Home for your setup, BTW) to
>> route the incoming call to the right extension based on time of day,
>> auto-attendant, whatever. The SPA-3000 units at each remote site will
>> also be able to accept the employee's incoming POTS line and pass
that
>> call through to the phone they normally use without resorting to
>> sending it to the Asterisk server and back. (It's all in the
SPA-3000
>> setup.
>
>
> Very cool indeed.  Thanks Tom!  Now to throw a monkey-wrench into the
> works...  One of the employees spends a lot of time outside of his home
> office, and is then reachable only by cell phone.  But we (for obvious
> reasons) don't want to hand out his cell number to everyone who wants
to
> reach him.  So, he will often forward his home phone to his cell, and
> forward the main office number to his home number (so when people call
> the office, they get his cell without realizing it).
>
We do this all the time. We just moved and have three people working
from their homes. The boss's extension rings here locally on a spare
phone and rings his IAX2 phone at home. He also forwards his extension
to his cellphone when he is out using *72 on the Asterisk box. One
employee is working from out of state and his extension calls his
cellphone. When someone dials his DID number it dials back out to his
cell phone and no one knows any different. When we dial his three digit
extension here it goes to his cell phone. The last person has an IAX
client running on his laptop and takes calls from there. When someone
calls in and presses '2' for support it rings a guy out in production
and the other person working from home.

I have my extension set to ring my Grandstream phone and my cell phone
at the same time and I can take the calls from anywhere. I can even
transfer a call back to another extension from my cellphone if they need
someone else. Asterisk does all the call forwarding and phone routing.

- James
> Is there any way to use the SPA-3000 at his house to re-route calls
> (VOIP calls, in this case) to his cell?  Or would that have to be done
> at the office where the server is physically.  I'm not clear on whether
> the Asterisk server can control a remote SPA-3000 in this way.
>
As long as Asterisk has a way to re-dial out a phone line or voip
provider, it can route an extension anywhere and the caller will not
know it.
> I guess this could be done directly from the Asterisk server, couldn't
> it? It wouldn't be something that could happen automatically; it would
> have to be manually turned on and off.  But it would also require
> another POTS line at the main office for the outbound call -- so I'd
> rather leverage the phone line at his home office to make the outgoing
> call to his cell phone if at all possible...
>
> One more monkey-wrench -- what if I want both of the employees to be on
> the phone at the same time?  Two incoming POTS lines, and two
SPA-3000's
> at the office?  Or does it make more sense at that time to get a TDMxx
> card?
>
>> This will not change, you're still looking at three lines in the
>> scenario I outlined above. (Unless you switch to incoming VOIP, but I
>> do *NOT* recommend that.)
>
>
> Nope, I don't believe in VOIP replacing POTS completely yet.  Maybe in
5
> years...
>
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-
>
> | Jason Marshall, marshalj@spots.ab.ca. Spots InterConnect, Inc.
> Calgary, AB |
>
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-
>
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