*RESOLVED* Unified Voicemail and Company Directory: Almost There!!!

Really??? No takers, suggestions, pointers, etc? I'm not asking for development, just a little help.

No, I have two boxes with voicemail installed, fully independent from one another. I just need help getting to the *98 over the trunk (my dial command does not seem to like the *). Everything works like a champ except for the unified *98 application. If I can figure it out, I'll post full details, as I know several people in the community are looking for this solution.

-Chris

I think you may need to change lazytt's script a little to make it work.

lazytt wrote:

here's a quick and dirty idea of what you need:

[app-dialvm-custom]
exten => _*98,n,Set(ex=${EXTEN:3})
exten => _*98,n,Gotoif($[${${EXTEN:3}:1}=2]?vm-othersys,1)

exten => vm-othersys,1,Dial(iax/othersys/*98${ex})

(its not tested, you might need to work on in a bit...)

I think it needs to be:

[app-dialvm-custom]
exten => _*98X.,1,Set(ex=${EXTEN:3})
exten => _*98X.,n,Gotoif($[${${EXTEN:3}:1}=2]?vm-othersys,1:move-on)
exten => vm-othersys,1,Dial(iax/othersys/*98${ex})
exten => _*98X.,n(move-on),Noop(Returning to app-dialvm)

(its not tested, you might need to work on in a bit...)

Notice the "X." after the *98. this allows you to dial *98212 and have the script work. You will notice I added an alternate destination to the If statement and added a line. The alternate (else) in the If statement lets you skip dialing the other box if it is not a match. Since "app-dialvm-custom" was called as an include from "app-dialvm," the last line serves as a placeholder and a spot to jump back to "app-dialvm." IF line 2 does match, the code in line 3 will be executed and you will never get to line 4.

Putting it in app-dialvm-custom allows both voicemail systems to work. This is a great idea by the way.

I think I almost have it, but for some reason, the system keeps bypassing the app-dialvm-custom in favor of the app-dialvm (even though the include should be working...) I'm still trying to figure out why the include is failing. Any help would be great, I think I a day or two away from having this thing licked. I'm going to normalize the program structure one more level so that multiple offices are easier.

Thanks,

Chris

Okay, here's the final piece, I've managed to get it all working. Thanks for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you all.

1. Change the feature code of "dial voicemail" to something that you don't use, we can't use it here because the -custom include file only gets evaluated AFTER the original app (screws our pattern matching)

2. Make sure you have the dial rules set up properly (i.e. route *982XX to the Dallas IAX2 trunk).

3. Add this to extensions_custom.conf

[app-dialvm-custom]

exten => *98,1,Answer
exten => *98,2,Wait(1)
exten => *98,3,Read(ex|vm-login|||2|2)
exten => *98,4,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "1"]]?vm-houston,1:5)
exten => *98,5,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "2"]]?vm-dallas,1:hang,1)

exten => _*98.,1,Set(ex=${EXTEN:3})
exten => _*98.,2,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "1"]]?vm-houston,1:3)
exten => _*98.,3,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "2"]]?vm-dallas,1:hang,1)

exten => vm-houston,1,Macro(get-vmcontext,${ex})
exten => vm-houston,2,VoiceMailMain(${ex}@${VMCONTEXT})
exten => vm-houston,3,Goto(hang,1)

exten => vm-dallas,1,Dial(IAX2/Inter-Office/*98${ex})
exten => vm-dallas,2,Goto(hang,1)

exten => hang,1,Macro(hangupcall,)

; end of [app-dialvm-custom]

Obviously, make sure you make your contexts meaningful to you. One note is that "Inter-Office" is the name of my IAX2 trunk, make sure you replace it with whatever you have.

I think I've posted everything necessary now for a fully unified VoiceMail and Company Directory application. Let me know if you need any more details.

-Chris

cvander thanks for this info, that's what I was looking for ! :-)

It worked great for a while until the last freepbx update to custom applications. It still works from an extention but no longer can you call an extention from an IVR on another machine.
I would really like this to work again and have tried moving in verious different locations. I have 4 diget extentions on my other pbx that start with 8.

[ext-local-custom]
exten => _8XXX,1,dial(iax2/EX/${EXTEN})

I replied to your question on the FreePBX forum. Check it there.

Have a great evening.

i may be wrong (looking for correction;) but I dont see anything in the code that allows company directory (as in dial-by-name) across both sites. - someone implied so - does it??

thanks Chris, (im blind), thats a nice way of doing things.

maybe we can figure out some sort of sed / rsync merge (eww that sounds dirty).

I believe the first post has been revised to cover everything - we just need to read it carefully ;)

ya - i posted just posted the forum link in here http://trixbox.org/wiki/Additional_Scripts_and_Tricks

feel free to replace that anytime with a full writeup ;)

There were some modifications made to freepbx (and now pbxconfig) that prevent the direct dialing from the IVR unless you modify your IVR contexts so that they consider the extensions on the other server as local. You'll need to go into your config files for this one, but here you go...

modify your extensions_custom.conf file to include the context for your remote office in the dialing plan. For instance, i use IVR-2 for my main menu, so I put the following in my main office IVR:

[IVR-2-custom]
exten => _2XX,1,dial(iax2/Inter-Office/${EXTEN})

my satellite office also uses IVR-2 on it's system for the main menu, so I have this in the satellite IVR:

[IVR-2-custom]
exten => _1XX,1,dial(iax2/Inter-Office/${EXTEN})

Hope this helps.

-Chris

Everyone, it's been quite a while since this has been updated, and I've refined (and HEAVILY commented) the code used for the custom voicemail integration. I'm also utilizing the extensions_override_freepbx.conf file that is available now, so there is no need to disable or change the feature code of *98 in the system. As always, feedback and improvements on the code are welcomed. I'll be updating the Wiki with a full blown how-to in the not too distant future. Here are a couple of highlights from the new app:

1. It is no longer necessary to specify which trunk you wish to dial out. Consequently, you don't have to update the code it your trunk name changes.

2. As a result of the above item, this script will work with any trunk that allows direct inter-office dialing.

3. The need to adjust the script for each location has been minimized. Now, the only thing that must be updated are the dialing rules to match the local extensions of the system.

4. LOTS and LOTS of comments. I tried to make this app easily modifiable by people with even basic knowledge of asterisk.

Without further ado, here's the code, place it in extensions_override_freepbx.conf

[app-dialvm]

;******************************************************************************
; Module written by Chris Vanderbles, using code from FreePBX, and help from  *
; the trixbox community.  This module is known to work with Asterisk 1.2 and  *
; Asterisk 1.4.  Functionality with 1.6 has not been determined    12-05-2008 *
; This module assumes that you have 2 or more asterisk boxes interconnected   *
; via trunks with the context of from-internal SIP or IAX2 should work        *
; equally well.                                                               *
;******************************************************************************

;******************************************************************************
; This sections catches *98 and simulates the standard app-dialvm application *
; but checks the extension input into the system and routes the call          *
; accordingly.  Outbound routes must be set to allow for dialing *98XXX for   *
; calls to complete properly. Make sure that vm-local is correct for each box *
;******************************************************************************

exten => *98,1,Answer  ;catch *98 and answer the call
exten => *98,2,Wait(1) ;pause for 1 second
exten => *98,3,Read(ex|vm-login|||2|2)  ;Read into var ex the val after vm-login message played, 2 attempts, timeout 2 sec.
exten => *98,4,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "1"]]?vm-local,1:vm-remote,1)  ;If first digit of ex = 1, goto vm-local else go to vm-remote.
;*************************************************************************************
; Make sure the above local evaluation fits your local extension profile, if you're  *
; using 4 digit dialing and your local office common prefix is 42XX, then you'd      *
; use this for your evaulation:  GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:2}" = "42"]]?vm-local)           *
; If you have multiple non-congruous local extension profiles, set the destination   *
; of the first evaluation to the next line like so:                                  *
; exten => *98,4,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "2"]]?vm-local,1:5)                        *
; exten => *98,5,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "6"]]?vm-local,1:vm-remote,1)              *
; and so on until all necessary matching conditions are met                          *
;*************************************************************************************


;*************************************************************************************
; This section catches direct dial *98 numbers like *98XXX and runs the same         *
; evaluation as above, make sure this section matches your evaluations above.        *
;*************************************************************************************
exten => _*98.,1,Set(ex=${EXTEN:3})  ;Set the variable ex equal to extension # dialed
exten => _*98.,2,GotoIf($[$["${ex:0:1}" = "1"]]?vm-local,1:vm-remote,1) ;If first digit of ex = 1, goto vm-local, else go to vm-remote

;*************************************************************************************
; This section of code is just copied from the original app-dialvm (and renamed with *
; vm-local, since it handles local extensions and their access to voicemail.         *
;*************************************************************************************
exten => vm-local,1,Macro(get-vmcontext,${ex})  ;Get the Voicemail Context of the extension
exten => vm-local,2,VoiceMailMain(${ex}@${VMCONTEXT})  ;call VoiceMailMain with extension and context
exten => vm-local,3,Goto(hang,1)  ;release the call


;*************************************************************************************
; This section of code sends extensions that evaluate as "remote" to the outbound-   *
; allroutes context and sets the dial pattern to *98XXX or whatever your extension   *
; happens to be.  The dialing rules of the outbound routes will route the call to    *
; the proper server in your trunking scheme.                                         *
;*************************************************************************************
exten => vm-remote,1,goto(outbound-allroutes,*98${ex},1)  ;send call to outbound routes for trunking.
exten => vm-remote,2,Goto(hang,1)  ;release the call

exten => hang,1,Macro(hangupcall,)  ;Hang up the call if anything manages to fall through

; end of [app-dialvm]

Enjoy!!!

-Chris

FreePBX numbers the IVR sequentially. Grep you extensions_additional.conf file for the string IVR and you will find the numbering string. The database maps the user supplied IVR name to the internall generated dialplan name which is IVR-X

implement this on our servers but it is my understanding that unless you duplicate the voicemail name recordings on each server you get the name spelled out by the directory application, please correct me if I am wrong. Has anyone found a way to easily duplicate those name recordings on remote servers? We currently have three servers and eventually will have five so I would like to have an easy way to keep it updated. Maybe someone has coded something to automatically copy the recordings to other servers when the recording is made or changed? Or maybe a way to read the recording file directly from the remote server? If not it would be a good addition to an already great idea, I would be willing to assist...

Glenn