I have to bid on a hotel contract, but there are some things I don't know how to do -- but clearly Asterisk has been used by hotels before, so I figure someone on here must have some answers: 1) While the majority of the phones will be SIP, there will be a couple hundred analogs (due to wiring logistics); what should I terminate them into? 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own back/front end? 3) Anything else that those familiar with hotels have bumped into that might not be obvious at the outset? Thanks! -Ken
I have to bid on a hotel contract, but there are some things I don't know how to do -- but clearly Asterisk has been used by hotels before, so I figure someone on here must have some answers: 1) While the majority of the phones will be SIP, there will be a couple hundred analogs (due to wiring logistics); what should I terminate them into? 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own back/front end? 3) Anything else that those familiar with hotels have bumped into that might not be obvious at the outset? Thanks! -Ken Ken, Long time no see on the list welcome back. 1) The best thing would be is to get a channel bank. Xorcom has one that I believe works over USB though never tried it so I cant comment on it. 2)I dont think there is any software out there for hotels per say but there has been talk about working some of the open source billing programs out there in to a custom app. The only reason why I would go for writing your own is A)You have more control. You can build it for your own custom needs for the ground up. B)People have asked about it before. While I dont know the market size I am sure that you can resell it once you are done. Dovid
Ken D'Ambrosio wrote:> I have to bid on a hotel contract, but there are some things I don't know > how to do -- but clearly Asterisk has been used by hotels before, so I > figure someone on here must have some answers: > > 1) While the majority of the phones will be SIP, there will be a couple > hundred analogs (due to wiring logistics); what should I terminate them > into? > > 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at > check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own > back/front end? > > 3) Anything else that those familiar with hotels have bumped into that > might not be obvious at the outset? > > Thanks! > > -KenKen, I can comment on the analog phones: get AudioCodes gateways. They come with up to 24 FXS ports. You can install on on each floor/whatever. -- Kristian Kielhofner
> > 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at > > check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own > > back/front end? > >The integration with the hotel systems for the activation/deactivation and billing can be tricky. Check the archives for some discussions on this topic.
On 8/7/06, Ken D'Ambrosio <ken@jots.org> wrote:> I have to bid on a hotel contract, but there are some things I don't know > how to do -- but clearly Asterisk has been used by hotels before, so I > figure someone on here must have some answers: > > 1) While the majority of the phones will be SIP, there will be a couple > hundred analogs (due to wiring logistics); what should I terminate them > into?Use channel banks, I like the Adit 600 which can take 48 FXS per 2 T1s, or one CMG card for 48 channels (however to actualy utilize the CMG you loose a slot which is 8 channels so it only goes for 40 channels). A quad T1 card will then allow you to utilized 96 channles over 2 Adit 600s.> > 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at > check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own > back/front end?The easiest way to do this is to have the outbound extens defined for the phones (zap channels or the like) to go thru a check in the asterisk DB, and the asterisk DB is updated by the checkin/checkout program thru a shell command something like this: /usr/bin/asterisk -rx "database add OUTBOUNDACTIVE/ZAP4=1" exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,1,GotoIf($[${DB(OUTBOUNDACTIVE/ZAP${CHANNEL:4:1})}=1]?50) ;if the value is one goto 50 and continue dialing exten =>_1NXXNXXXXXX,2,Congestion() ;if we got here then the value is NOT 1 so disallow dialing exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,50,Dial(whatever)> > 3) Anything else that those familiar with hotels have bumped into that > might not be obvious at the outset? > > Thanks! > > -Ken > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >
Question: Are you planning to use ADSI to signal a Messege light on the phones? On 8/7/06, Ken D'Ambrosio <ken@jots.org> wrote:> I have to bid on a hotel contract, but there are some things I don't know > how to do -- but clearly Asterisk has been used by hotels before, so I > figure someone on here must have some answers: > > 1) While the majority of the phones will be SIP, there will be a couple > hundred analogs (due to wiring logistics); what should I terminate them > into? > > 2) Phone activation at check-in/phone de-activation and billing at > check-out. Are there GUI tools for this, or should I write my own > back/front end? > > 3) Anything else that those familiar with hotels have bumped into that > might not be obvious at the outset? > > Thanks! > > -Ken > > _______________________________________________ > --Bandwidth and Colocation provided by Easynews.com -- > > asterisk-users mailing list > To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: > http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users >-- --- Andrew Latham - AKA: LATHAMA (lay-th-ham-eh) lathama@lathama.com - lathama@gmail.com If any of the above are down we have bigger problems than my email! Hind sight is most always 20/20 or better. ---