Pbx & Voice Guide.

[eZigma]

I have installed the latest trial version of VG and have begun testing it for our situation.

 

I have also been reading numerous posts here re: PBX.

 

Our Situation: - 4CO Lines coming into building. Telco providing Hunt sequence.

We would like to implement the VG software but would like clarification on a few issues re: Integration with an analog PBX.

 

WARNING - STUPID QUESTIONS FOLLOW: - Newbie at this

 

My understanding is that the 4CO lines that come into the building would be fed into the Dialogic 4d/pci (right or wrong).

If the above is true how does the hand off happen with the PBX...?

 

or should it be the other way around. I.e 4CO Lines > PBX > VG > Extensions

 

Please advise.

 

Also if anyone out there knows of a good SOHO PBX that will work with VG in the USA using analog lines.

[SupportTeam]

4 Co lines plug into PBX, and then you attach VG and extensions to PBX (VG basically just takes up extensions on the PBX) and then VG transfers calls just like one extension would transfer a call to another extension....

 

For a PBX recommendation best to see your local PBX dealer... in SOHO range they are all pretty much the same...(and will most likely be full analog - for systems which can do digital as well you'll pay a fair bit more...)

[eZigma]

Thanks for clearing up the flow...

 

Now that I understand a little better...

 

I know that the answer must be in the PBX manual that I invest in, but wanted to ask the following as it could make a difference to the selection of the PBX.

 

If the CO lines go straight into the PBX and the VG and other extensions are just extensions, I am assuming that the PBX can be programmed to auto route to the VG extensions so that VG can pick up every single call to route it according to user selection.

 

Also assuming the above, once a user selects say an extension, VG will automatically hand back to the PBX in order to route the call back to the extension requested.

 

Assuming all the above is true...

 

When the hand off to the extension happens from VG. VG will release the port in question on the VG server.... correct? Or does it lock it for the duration of the call.

 

Thanks

 

Neil

[SupportTeam]

When the hand off to the extension happens from VG. VG will release the port in question on the VG server.... correct? Or does it lock it for the duration of the call.

 

Once VoiceGuide transfers the call (eg: using a Blind Transfer) then the line will become available to handle further incoming calls - just like it is when you transfer a call from one extension to another - after you do the transfer the line becomes available to take more calls...

[Guest joe paiva]

I am trying to integrate VG with my company's IP-PBX (OpenVoice).

 

From VG's perspective, it looks just like an old fashioned key system....The trunks come in from the telco to a VoIP gateway and OpenVoice routes calls out analog station ports on the same (or another) VoIP gateway to the Dialogic card in the PC with VG.

 

The IP-PBX is configured so that incoming calls are routed as direct-inward-dials directly to a hunt group which includes all the station ports plugged into VG. VG answers the call, and, based on user input, transfers the call using a standard hook-flash and the digits of the person for whom the call is intended. That much (getting VG to answer the call and transfer it using a flash hook and blind transfer) is easy.

 

However, here is the question:

 

Once VG does a blind transfer to an extension, the IP-PBX (OpenVoice) routes the call to IP telephone associated with the user whose extension is 200. At that point, VG has lost the call completely. If the user has their personal settings configured to send a call to VoiceMail after 3 rings, how can I get the call directly back into that specific user's voicemail (as opposed to the main auto-attendant)?

 

The problem is that the IP-PBX wants to just send the call to the hunt group that has all the station ports plugged into VG. Can I get VG to understand DID info and process calls based on that, or do I need to make the gateway send a dtmf string after VG answers the call?

 

JP

[SupportTeam]

how can I get the call directly back into that specific user's voicemail (as opposed to the main auto-attendant)?

The switch would need to be configured to send Inband Signaling information at the beginning of the call. This information should include whether the call is an outside call or a returned call as the extension did not answer, and the extension number. Other switches can be configured to send such information.

 

VoiceGuide script can then act differently depending on what information has been sent in the Inband Signaling.

 

Here is the page from the Help file which details how to configure VoiceGuide to receive Inband Signaling information:

http://www.voiceguide.com/vghelp/html/Inba...ndSignaling.htm

 

Can I get VG to understand DID info and process calls based on that, or do I need to make the gateway send a dtmf string after VG answers the call?

The only way to send information to a system attached to analog extensions on PBX is via Inband Signaling (ie: dtmf string after VG answers the call).

 

Does the OpenVoice PBX supports other ways of finding out information about the call? For example, if there was an ActiveX/COM object which could be used to retrieve info about a call then this can be called from VoiceGuide's Run VB Script module at the beginning of the call, and then the script can do different things based on the information retrieved...

[Guest Joe Paiva]

Your idea on the VB script is very good/intriguing. That would be much more reliable/better for us because we don't builf the hardware. Some ip telephony gateways will and some won't send dtmf in-band after a connect. Using a script would be much more reliable and robust because we coudl send as great deal more informartion about the call.

 

I will talk to some of our engineers Monday and llok at how best to do this. Am I guessing that we would write call information to a separate table outside our application and then have another script that retrives the information and processes the call accordingly.

 

Here is a question...does VG know exactly which port on the dialogic board it is handling? In other words, if our table says that the call on Gateway FXS Port 1 is going to Bob's voicemail and that FXS port 1 is plugged into Dialogic Port 1, can VG be set up to route a call based on the Dialogic Card port number?

 

JP

[SupportTeam]

does VG know exactly which port on the dialogic board it is handling?

Yes. The ID of the port can also be accessed in VoiceGuide script (or VB Script) using the $RV_LINEID Result Variable.

 

From VG Help file:

 

$RV_LINEID

Identification number of the line device which is handling this call.

 

Am I guessing that we would write call information to a separate table outside our application and then have another script that retrives the information and processes the call accordingly.

This approach would also be OK.