asterisk users - Nov 2007 - Remote Office, Centrally Shared Voicemail

Hi,

I'm trying to set up a remote office with its own Asterisk Server
they'll
have a dedicated land line, but we'll still want them connected to the main
office via VOIP (IAX2 via VPN).  I've tested using IAX2 to bridge between
the offices based on extensions, since the extensions we want to share are
in isolated blocks of numbers.  I'm not sure how to handle voicemail though.
I'd like to link the voicemail so that local calls to either office will
call extensions and leave voicemail with the appropriate parties.  I'd like
to avoid "Please call a new number" messages.  I have some ideas:

1.  Use central network storage for both offices - if the remote VPN goes
down, the remote office can't connect to the voicemail storage, so they
can't see old voicemail, and may lose new voicemail.

2.  Use local storage for all voicemail.  Only the local office can see or
receive voicemail.  This would require a "Please call a new number"
message,
I think.

3.  Implement some sort of backup script - use local storage for each
office, then periodically sync voicemail folders over the VPN. 

Can anyone suggest an approach to this problem?

Thanks!

Matthew Yingling

Why not simply store voicemail local so there are no issues if the VPN
goes down.  Then set up your dial plan at each site to allow the PSTN
access to your remote (other site) extensions.  You can use IAX to trunk
a "PSTN" call just like you can a local caller, just give them access
to
the context.

Example:

Local Server
My Extension is 2995
Voicemail everything is local

Remote Server
PSTN dial in 731-555-2995
In extension.conf
[call_2000] 
; This context establishes 4 digit dialing to the 2000 block
exten => _2XXX,1,Dial(IAX2/local server/${EXTEN},30,r)
exten => _2XXX,2,Hangup()
exten => _2XXX,102,Congestion() 

When someone calls in and enters the 2995 extension this will route the
call through the IAX trunk.

Hope this helps.



-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Matthew
Yingling
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2007 1:27 PM
To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion'
Subject: [asterisk-users] Remote Office, Centrally Shared Voicemail

Hi,

I'm trying to set up a remote office with its own Asterisk Server
they'll have a dedicated land line, but we'll still want them connected
to the main office via VOIP (IAX2 via VPN).  I've tested using IAX2 to
bridge between the offices based on extensions, since the extensions we
want to share are in isolated blocks of numbers.  I'm not sure how to
handle voicemail though.
I'd like to link the voicemail so that local calls to either office will
call extensions and leave voicemail with the appropriate parties.  I'd
like to avoid "Please call a new number" messages.  I have some ideas:

1.  Use central network storage for both offices - if the remote VPN
goes down, the remote office can't connect to the voicemail storage, so
they can't see old voicemail, and may lose new voicemail.

2.  Use local storage for all voicemail.  Only the local office can see
or receive voicemail.  This would require a "Please call a new number"
message, I think.

3.  Implement some sort of backup script - use local storage for each
office, then periodically sync voicemail folders over the VPN. 

Can anyone suggest an approach to this problem?

Thanks!

Matthew Yingling


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On Friday 30 November 2007 12:26:33 pm Matthew Yingling
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm trying to set up a remote office with its own Asterisk Server
they'll
> have a dedicated land line, but we'll still want them connected to the
main
> office via VOIP (IAX2 via VPN).  I've tested using IAX2 to bridge
between
> the offices based on extensions, since the extensions we want to share are
> in isolated blocks of numbers.  I'm not sure how to handle voicemail
> though. I'd like to link the voicemail so that local calls to either
office
> will call extensions and leave voicemail with the appropriate parties. 
I'd
> like to avoid "Please call a new number" messages.  I have some
ideas:
>
> 1.  Use central network storage for both offices - if the remote VPN goes
> down, the remote office can't connect to the voicemail storage, so they
> can't see old voicemail, and may lose new voicemail.
>
> 2.  Use local storage for all voicemail.  Only the local office can see or
> receive voicemail.  This would require a "Please call a new
number"
> message, I think.
>
> 3.  Implement some sort of backup script - use local storage for each
> office, then periodically sync voicemail folders over the VPN.
if you duplicated the accounts in your voicemail config, you should be able to 
use rsync and a cron job to keep the voicemail spools synchronized.

-- 
Anthony -  http://messinet.com - http://messinet.com/~amessina/gallery
8F89 5E72 8DF0 BCF0 10BE 9967 92DC 35DC B001 4A4E
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