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!!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:40 am
by aemae
I have read the majority of the manuals, and even though I'd like to think I'm fairly computer literate, a lot of this is way over my head... I have some general questions answered in order to proceed...
First off this is for my new job where if i can get this up and running (press 1 campaign) i cn basically get my company to stop purchasing leads and greatly increase my salary. I will soon have access to funds to purchase legitimate server hardware but until I can show the owner this works I will have to use my macbook pro as the server. It is a quad core 2.3ghz with 16g of ram and 500g hd. To my knowledge the easiest installation seems to be through vicibox which installs everything from OS to vicidial
My first question is, how would I install this on a separate partition so when i boot my computer I can choose from normal osx or server mode ( i produce music so would also like the ability to continue to use my production software)
Second question is with vicibox would I need to purchase ANYTHING? monthly voip fees? hardware?
Third question is if I were doing a press campaign, how many channels or numbers can vicidial simultaneously dial?
I would glady pay someone to help me get this up and running. Id like to have it where my mac isn't running 24/7, where I can show up to work, turn on my mac and set up the press 1 campaign and have 3-5 agents accepting the calls.
After I have everything installed to my liking I will also gladly pay someone to help me configure it the way i want.
Thank you all first of all for developing this, I understand all time here is volunteered so I greatly appreciate any time spent on helping me with my problems!! Godbless
Eric
Re: Someone please help!
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:25 pm
by aemae
Anyone? These seem to be fairly simple questions compared to those I've been reading? Time is of the essence in my situation!
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 5:53 pm
by aemae
Bump for a reply, any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!!
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 5:59 pm
by williamconley
1) Don't attempt dual boot, you'll just break your computer.
2) Don't "bump" your own question as that causes it to look like your question was answered! LOL (ie: two posts to one thread causes you to NOT show on the "Unanswered posts" page I frequent BEFORE these "ongoing conversations").
3) First bet is to either grab any old workstation computer (pentium 4 will do for a prototype)
4) or install Virtualization software (if you can find some for Mac that will reliably run linux OpenSuSE, CentOS, or Ubuntu).
5) Failing that, there is a very old (Vicibox 1.0) Live CD version of Vicidial which does NOT require installation. You boot from it and run it ... but when you shut down, you lose everything which is awkward. LOL
6) All that being said, if you are brave you should consider asking "the community" about Mac/Linux dual boot (places like this:
http://lifehacker.com/5934942/how-to-du ... e-hardware) which is not related to Vicidial at all, but very much related to Dual Boot.
I still think your best bet is to steal a desktop unit from a workstation. Remember that once you are done building it, it does NOT need a mouse, keyboard, or monitor. Just a Box with power cable and network connection somewhere in the office and you're all set. No one touches a Vicidial server physically after building it.
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:31 pm
by aemae
Thank you so much for your quick relpy! I apologize for the bump aswell...
So I have a program called Parallels which has a copy of windows xp on my mac for an old auto dialer i used at a previous company, I am assuming that might work... but I do have access to a worksation for testing so for now I will stick with that.
I am still a little confused as to what I need, provided I have a workstation and a complete vicibox install completed, would I need any other hardware? Could I have my agents just use headsets without an actual hardware phone?
Also does this require a VOIP service to complete the calls? VOIP by the minute seems to get very costly very quick, especially if the call center is running through 10k numbers a day...
Thirdly lets say I have everything up and running and my press 1 campaign is broadcasting, I assume I can change the caller ID to appear to any number I see fit, but lets say the customer presses 1 and is connected to an agent, would it connect to the number listed on the caller ID?
For example my caller id is set to 123 456 7890 and they press 1 does it automatically connect to the number shown on caller id or can i have it connect to a different number? I guess my real question would be how does vicidial handle inbound calls? Is there a number assigned to me? Id like to have the caller ID appear as the main work line so if someone missed the broadcast but they see a missed call and they return the call, they would be greeted by our receptionist and she would route it directly to the sales team. where as if they caught the broadcast call and pressed 1 it would be connect not to the sales team but a seperate qualifying team..
I am assuming that once this is set up I can have a broadcast running 5 hours a day connecting to the "qualifying agents" who set the appointments for the sales team either ringing in on a specific line on the hardware phones, or ringing on the actual computer they sit at and answer via headset. Also once a customer is qualified there is a 3 way call that must be completed with the agent the customer and a third party company, finally after the 3 way is completed the customer may be scheduled, and the agent would move on the next customer. Meanwhile I would have "cold callers" essentially auto dialing through vicidial to do the same series of qualifying and appointment setting. Where my assumption comes in is that the ONLY COST TO ALL OF THIS would be solely through the setup of the server, no monthly fees or by the minute fees.
again thank you very much for your reply! I am very excited to get this up and running!!
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:53 pm
by williamconley
Once Vicibox installation is completed, you will have OpenSuSE (the OS) and Vicidial (scripts which control Asterisk, the PBX engine). Nothing further is required. No purchases of hardware, that computer has been converted to a Server.
You can use Xlite, Zoiper, Twinkle or any other Soft Phone with speaker and microphone and/or a nice headset with a mic.
Then you will need phone service from a VOIP provider. There are hundreds of them. We give a short list to all new clients and after they have "hooked up" we give more as they are needed (retail, wholesale, domestic US vs foreign ... based on need, of course).
A good VOIP provider will have pricing under 2 cents per minute and NO monthly charge at all. Paying per minute is the only way to do it. But when you are talking 1 cent per minute (bulk providers) or even less, it's not really that expensive. There is no such thing as "unlimited" ... contracts always eliminate that as a possibility when it drops your pricing under 2 cents per minute anyway. Hidden in the fine print with a phrase such as "fair usage". No matter what the salesperson tries to sell you.
Beyond that, you need the Vicidial manager's manual available from eflo.net (free or paid verions).
We offer training, installation, support and even colocation. You can rent a server ready-to-go for $349/month and then train for $105 (three hour course) and be up and running in no time. We do charge extra to configure things for you ... but that's not a requirement ...
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Sat Feb 02, 2013 1:43 am
by aemae
Ok perfect! Thank you for breaking it down for me, I think I understand now. I am left with only a few more questions
Ok so VOIP service is required, I was comparing the vicidialer to another software I was considering or rather a hardware software combination called octopus dialer by evs. I am not sure but it looks like the octopus requires actual separate phone lines so simultaneously dial multiple lines. To my knowledge the vicidialer is capable of doing this swell correct? If it is capable of doing this what is the limit of lines or is it based off of hardware capabilities?
Also once I have the server in the office up and running will I need to have the other computers hard wired to the server or will I be able to log in from a separate internet connection?
Is the dialing actually initiated by the server or do each individual agent choose which program or campaign to do? For example Id like to have a few agents on a queue for the live broadcast press 1 campaign, while another couple agents are purely auto dialing through a list and actually talking to customers from the moment they pick up. How would this be initiated? Would I select this on the server and then press go or select via agents screen?
thank you again for your help!
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Sat Feb 02, 2013 2:04 am
by williamconley
vicidial can dial hundreds of lines per agent or one line per agent or allow manual dialing or purely inbound. no extra hardware required. the power of the server (CPU/front side bus/memory ...) and bandwidth available are your limiting factors.
all management is remote, you need never touch the box again after building it (hide it in a closet ..) unless you have hardware issues (power supply ... hard drive ...) as a rule. that's what the manual is for, of course, to help you through that silliness.
properly configured: dialing is initiated by an agent logging in and pressing "resume". At that moment they become "ready" for a call. When they HAVE a call, the dialer will cease dialing for them. When the call ends, they become ready again so the dialer will begin dialing again ... agents sharing campaigns allows the dailer to make calls for several agents simultaneously and smooths that process out quite well. Constantly dialing for various agents as they rotate between busy/available.
honestly: there is NO other dialer out there once you have Vicidial. Unless you want to pay $125k to get these features. and many of those machines don't have these features anyway. LOL
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:53 am
by aemae
Okay cool, I apologize for my nooby questions...
So I secured a dell server to use and all I need is to get this thing running. Do you think if I purchased the manual tomorrow, and also bought the 3 hour training sesh that I could have this up and running by monday? I know this is bought to answer because I may be an idiot and for an idiot it would take eternity but would you consider it possible to someone new to VICIdial?
I tried to dual boot the mac by the way and it could definitely work, the only problem is with vicibox preload I believe the installation just begins and it chooses the first HD available... Is there a way to use the preload but choose a different partition, or basically is there a way to select which HD the install goes on? (I have another buddy of mine who the marketing manager for a data/list company and he is interested in doing this aswell, only he would be using a macbook)
but thank you Will for helping me... if by any chance you purchase data or lists for your dialer I could refer you to him for a crazy deal for helping me. They are aggregators of data and spend millions per month cleaning and updating the database and as you probably know all data comes from the same place so it really boils down to price and accuracy, and they also offer some kind of replacement for any inaccurate data. But ya, thank you very much either way...
Eric
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Sun Feb 03, 2013 7:13 pm
by williamconley
eric,
If you use the standard instead of the preload, your worries regarding HD can be easily resolved. i've never used the preload, so I cannot say anything regarding use of that version.
Our Training (at that price anyway) is scheduled 5 days in advance minimum. Emergency training is a completely different pricing structure (and usually does not involve the full three hour course, because that would be $600 ...).
We have set up many clients in a single day (or a few hours for that matter). Your abilities will determine whether you can have a box online Monday Morning, not my opinion of your capabilities. Depends entirely on your level of expertise and Need (and how much Pepsi you have on hand).
It would, as a rule, be much more likely if you employed a professional ... even if only for hand-holding and "extras". It's amazing what 30 minutes of discussion can do (during training, at $35/hour, that's relaxing ... but when it's an unscheduled emergency at $200/hour it may not be as relaxed, but it's still quite worthy! LOL).
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:14 pm
by aemae
Ok, so i have secured a server, i have installed vicibox which installs vicidial, and now I am on to the setup and configuration phase.
In a previous post you said you supply the user with a list of recommended VOIP service providers to be used in conjunction with vicibox. I was wondering if this list is available on the forum or if you could provide me with this list. To my knowledge the hard part is over and now I will be dialing very shortly once users accounts are created, the configuration is done and a VOIP service provider is secured. Is this correct?
Also would you consider the purchased manual to be the logical choice for assisting me with the setup and config of vicidial? I would hate to bother you through every step and hiccup I encounter if most answers people seek are contained in the manual.
Would vicidial be capable of simultaneously running multiple campaigns each performing a "press 1 campaign" each with a different list containing numbers in different geographic areas?
I am supplying leads to 31 locations of a franchise and I would like to keep records organized and maintenance and config changes all seperate and specific to each individual campaign.
Thank you again for support and assistance thus far, I am thoroughly stoked. haha
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:23 pm
by williamconley
There are many lists available for this from many different locations. I am prohibited from giving this out here as we provide short lists to clients based on need. But many of the ones we provide have been mentioned here (in passing or even as a recommendation).
Yes, vicidial can handle and manage any number of different campaigns with different lists heading to different agents or call centers.
BUT: Each list must be on one campaign only. So you cannot load 10000 leads into a list and use some on one campaign and some on another simultaneously. You'd need to load them into different lists for that and assign each list to its own campaign.
That being said: Beware the Limits of Hardware. You cannot provide more than 250-350 lines from each server as a rule. We've gotten higher than that a few times, but it is rare and requires a serious server (which ordinarily is not worth the investment, as a second server immediately doubles throughput, but a bigger server can easily cost 4X the money, not a real good ROI).
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:05 am
by aemae
I am signing up for a voip service today. Do you have ANY recommendations or suggestions. I am looking at core-voip and bin phone. I obviously would like the best rates available and also a high quality service. I will be the only user at first with a maximum of 3 users for the moment. I don't know how many channels would be prime, or a good dialing ratio for 1-3 agents any ideas?
Would it be possible to have a press 1 campaign where when the customer pressed 1 to speak with an agent, instead of being connected to the agent logged in to vicidial, but have it ring to a specific number? Preferably a specific line on the existing phones in the office? I have a few employees who have other responsibilities and could not be logged in all day and would only pick up a call if I was on one and needed the help.
Is the vicibox set up so when I am talking to a potential customer it would cease the broadcast until I hung up?
Also william would it be possible to call you tomorrow when I am setting this up for some general questions I may have? If not it is okay, but I really need to get this completely up and running tomorrow. I think I will have everything covered once I set up my voip provider. All i will need is to configure the survey and set up the agents and such. Thanks man sorry my message is terrible grammatically and all over the place its 2am and i need to sleep
PS in the recent future I would like to expand to cover all 31 locations of the franchise i work for. I would basically be providing live lead transfers to each location by means of the survey campaign. I would have to be able to record and monitor how many calls were transferred the numbers that were transferred and where they were transferred. Preferably Id like to do this all on one server. So each franchise would have 3-5 agents so worse case 31X5 = 155 agents on 31 different campaigns, which each campaign set to connect NOT to an agent (if possible) but to a specific number in their office so anyone could pick it up. I don't know how i would have this set up... could i have one computer with 31 tabs in a browser open to vicidial with 31 different users in 31 different campaigns all from one server, being controller by one laptop?
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:10 pm
by williamconley
VOIP Provider: You'll need to search the forums (or hope someone pops on here and answers, LOL) I'm under strict order that this information is for paying clients only. Although, that is a recent development as I have mentioned several before ...
Remote Agent for Press 1: Yep. Read the manual for remote agent and check out "on-hook agent" while you're at it.
Available only tally=Y (this means only dial for agents available for a call, not those IN a call)
As long as you have $$ on account with us, we're very happy to answer questions. We bill down to 5 minute increments ... (but "Answer Right Now!" is Emergency at $200/hour ... on the other hand it beats pulling out your hair! LOL). I recommend scheduling a babysitting appointment as far in advance as possible for launch day, and of course our 3 hour Basic Vicidial training course (I also highly recommend traveling to Florida for Matt's intense course if you intend to make money with this and have more than 50 employees who will DEPEND on this technology ... you'll leave that training course an Expert in Vicidial! Seriously!).
The "One Server" supplying solution isn't realistic ... but ONE CLUSTER (central database and management) is very possible. This is not an abnormal concept and is one of the many configurations for which Vicidial is very well suited, assuming you're prepared to invest in the number of servers and configuration time to make it fly.
Hint: As many calls per second as possible from your carrier will be VERY important. You may require as many as 200 cps per dialer for full-blown survey campaigning. And you may require over a dozen dialers to keep that many rooms busy. You'll see as you build! (It's NOT for the light-hearted IT person ...).
If this entire system is to be built around Press 1 Surveys and grows to support 155 agents, Vicidial may not be what you have when you hit top-end. We have custom solutions installed for several clients over the years for this. It's an ugly solution (but the owner/manager is the only one who interfaces with it in most cases, if at all).
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:01 pm
by aemae
In all due respect I am posting on a forum in the support section for an shareware program. If all you are going to do is post how much you charge for help please cease. I am looking for someone to lend a helping hand. I have my webphone dialing on its own (zoiper) so that is set up fine with a VOIP carrier (switch2voip).
I need help configuring VICIdial to use the webphone, and help configuring the set up of the survey. Thats it, I dont see why I would pay for the help when it appears to be offered regularly here on the forum (thats the purpose of the support section to my knowledge)
I can worry about expanding as soon as I satisfy the need for leads at this location. If you could please please please help me set up vicidial to use zoiper and the proper set up of a survey campaign I would be appreciative. Thank you in advance
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Tue Feb 05, 2013 6:31 pm
by williamconley
Just to clarify: Is it a true statement that your opinion is that I was "only" posting my charges? You did not see any other content? Hm.
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:14 pm
by aemae
Post deleted
Re: Problem with Dialplain and Account entry
Posted:
Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:37 am
by aemae
the code below is the example given in the manual
- Code: Select all
[testcarrier]
disallow=all
allow=ulaw
type=friend
username=testcarrier
secret=test
host=dynamic
dtmfmode=rfc2833
context=trunkinbound
the two code boxes below are the information my VOIP carrier sent to me
- Code: Select all
[sip.switch2voip.us]
type=peer
username= USERNAME
host=sip.switch2voip.us
fromuser= USERNAME
canreinvite=no
reinvite=no
secret=PASSWORD
- Code: Select all
[general]
bindport = 5060
bridge=no
reinvite=no
canreinvite=no
bindaddr = XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX ; (Your server IP)
context = main
disallow=all
allow=ulaw
allow=g729
disallow=all
dtmfmode=auto
tos=184
type=friend
defaultexpirey=3600
useragent=Asterisk PBX
So to my knowledge with this information my Account entry would look exactly like this
- Code: Select all
[switch2voip]
disallow=all
allow=ulaw
type=friend
username=USERNAME
secret=PASSWORD
host=dynamic
dtmfmode=rfc2833
context=trunkinbound
Is that correct?
Further more they provide me with this which appears to be the dial plan entry
- Code: Select all
exten => s,1,Ringing
exten => s,2,Wait(3)
exten => s,3,Answer
exten => s,4,DigitTimeout,5
exten => s,5,ResponseTimeout,2
exten => _X.,1,Dial(SIP/${EXTEN}@XX.XX.XXX.XXX)
With the XX's being an ip that is not my server and I have not seen or entered anywhere prior (if this raises any flags to you who know how to set this up)
The manual gives this for an example dial plan
- Code: Select all
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,1,AGI(agi://127.0.0.1:4577/call_log)
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,2,Dial(newsip:test@10.10.10.15:5060/${EXTEN:2},,tTor)
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,3,Hangup
If I am calling only 10 digit numbers in the US like 555 555 5555 What the heck would my dial plan look like?
My second question is I have heard zoiper is integrated into vicidial, but I downloaded the soft phone onto an agent computer and I have it set up with the credentials given to me by my VOIP provider, meaning that I can make calls by manually entering the numbers in the soft phone app. IS this the typical setup of the soft phone, or should I be setting the soft phone up to vicidials ip and username and pass?
Re: Problem with Dialplain and Account entry
Posted:
Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:46 am
by lark
Hi sir my bad to interrupt this lovely conversation
(just kidding lol) I know I'm still a rookie with this but i would suggest you get the managers/agents manual Paid or Free version (pref: the paid one) will be great that helps me alot (still reading O'reilly's ebook
)
Re: Problem with Dialplain and Account entry
Posted:
Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:40 pm
by aemae
Could anyone provide me with the answers to my questions? It would very appreciated! I tried to answer some of the other questions in the support section, however I did not feel I had the complete answer (I dont even havre MY vicibox working yet)
But either way I appreciate the help given so far, I am very close, someone give me the kick I need to get this thing into production. Thanks
Eric
Re: Will pay for answers to the following!!!
Posted:
Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:13 pm
by williamconley
aemae wrote:I need help configuring VICIdial to use the webphone, and help configuring the set up of the survey.
1) We don't have any clients who use the webphone, although I think we set it up for one client a couple years ago but have no access to that machine.
2) Survey is a different matter. My advice on setting up a survey is pretty much always the same, and generally results in success for those who actually try it. It's slow, but free:
First you create a NEW campaign (default settings). Then you make sure it works with LIVE AGENTS. Once that is complete, you change the Routing Exten to 8366 and make NO other changes. Now you'll be using the default Survey campaign. Test it. Be sure it works. Then change ONE setting at a time and test after each change. If it works with each change, continue. If not, back up and undo your last change and test again to be sure you are working. If it does, figure out what was wrong with your last change. Ask a question on the forum at this point how your specific change broke functionality. It'll be educational, but slow ... most importantly it'll WORK and be FREE.
aemae wrote:Thats it, I dont see why I would pay for the help when it appears to be offered regularly here on the forum (thats the purpose of the support section to my knowledge)
3) You would pay for support if you want it sooner than this free forum will provide it. And if you want ALL your questions answered in one fell swoop (Privilege of "Customer" status, which does not apply to a Forum). Not that anyone is holding back, but we all have Day Jobs, right? And if one person asking for a freebie writes a nice long book while another asks a simple question at a time ... that "one simple question at a time" person may lead himself to success (slowly) while the Book person may have a lot of people read the first paragraph and decide that it's too much for this particular moment ... and others are waiting in line.
Hope the advice on the survey gets you going.
Good luck.
Re: Problem with Dialplain and Account entry
Posted:
Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:11 am
by aemae
Thank you William, I keep my fingers crossed all day that you will find my post and reply
I do apologize for being long winded, my intentions were just to be very descriptive.
To summarize it: Based on the information given in the manual and by my VOIP carrier, I would guess my account entry would look like this:
- Code: Select all
[switch2voip]
disallow=all
allow=ulaw
type=friend
username=USERNAME
secret=PASSWORD
host=dynamic
dtmfmode=rfc2833
context=trunkinbound
and my dial plan would look like this:
- Code: Select all
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,1,AGI(agi://127.0.0.1:4577/call_log)
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,2,Dial(USERNAME:PASSWORD@XX.XX.XX.XX:5060/${EXTEN:2},,tTor)
exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,3,Hangup
With the XX's in the second line of the dial plan being the numbers given to me by my VOIP carrier in their dial plan.
Does this appear to be correct to you wise wizard of telecommunications?
I am taking your advice by making sure I can at least dial with VICI before I start working on the survey campaign. First I must be able to successfully log in as an agent and have my soft phone ring and start dialing. Then I will configure the campaigns and add users.
Re: !!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Fri Feb 08, 2013 1:58 pm
by aemae
Ok, so as of now, I can get the Vicidial to successfully call my softphone, and it says "you are the only one in the conference". Can I now assume that my phone and carrier settings are working normally?
If this is true then I move on to configuring my LIST and CAMPAIGNS AND USERS, and I should be up and running. I am almost willing to pay a consultant to do this for me, but where is the fun in that? lol
On my VOIP carrier page it gives me a couple different entries.
Configuration Parameters :
To start making and receiving calls using Switch2Voip please verify that your Asterisk server is configured as follows:
- Code: Select all
Outgoing Settings: (To place calls)
username={ACCOUNT NUMBER}
type=peer
secret={PASSWORD}
progressinband=never
port=5060
nat=auto
insecure=very
ignoresdpversion=yes
host=sip.switch2voip.us
dtmfmode=rfc2833
context=from-trunk
canreinvite=no
allow=g729&g711&g723
Incoming Settings: (IMPORTANT: To receive calls customer must set up inbound route for DID)
- Code: Select all
username={ACCOUNT NUMBER}
user={ACCOUNT NUMBER}
type=user
port=5060
dtmfmode=rfc2833
pogressinband=never
context=from-pstn
allow=g729&g711&g723
Vicidial, GoAutodial, Vicibox, Vicidialnow configuration parameters:
- Code: Select all
register=>{ACCOUNT NUMBER}:{PASSWORD}@sip.switch2voip.us
[Switch2Voip]
type=peer
username={ACCOUNT NUMBER}
host=sip.switch2voip.us
fromuser={ACCOUNT NUMBER}
canreinvite=no
reinvite=no
secret={PASSWORD}
disallow=all
allow=g729
Your dialplan should look something like this:
- Code: Select all
exten => _91XXXXXXXXXX,1,AGI(agi://127.0.0.1:4577/call_log)
exten => _91XXXXXXXXXX,2,Dial(SIP/${EXTEN:1}@Switch2Voip,,o)
exten => _91XXXXXXXXXX,3,Hangup
I directly copied the last 2 entries into the ACCOUNT ENTRY and the DIALPLAN. Where do I configure the Asterisk server to these settings? Like I said before VICIDIAL calls my softphone and I hear the conference message, but it still says no one is in your session. Where is my problem?
Re: !!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Sat Feb 09, 2013 5:53 pm
by williamconley
The "asterisk server" is configured via the Vicidial web interface. So you will never "configure asterisk" for anything, really.
Your campaigns each require a "Dial Prefix" to determine the final dial string. The final dial string consists of {Campaign Dial Prefix} + {Lead: dial_code} + {Lead: phone_number}. So if you put 9 in the dial prefix, and you have 1 in the phone code, and a 10 digit US phone number (NXXNXXXXXX) in the phone number ... you'll end up with 91NXXNXXXXXX and that will match this dial plan entry. Then this dial plan entry will run, one line at a time starting with ",1," (which fires up the agi127001:4577) then the Dial command which happens to have {EXTEN:1}. The :1 in that removes the '9' because it is the first digit (:1 removes the first digit). Now we have left 1NXXNXXXXXX which is what is actually sent to Switch2Voip. Bob's your uncle and you have just called that 10 digit phone number with your carrier. No changes to asterisk, everything in the Vicidial GUI.
Simple, right?
Re: !!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:30 am
by aemae
Ok, so as of now, I can get the Vicidial to successfully call my softphone, and it says "you are the only one in the conference". Can I now assume that my phone and carrier settings are working normally?
I am confused by your response. Glad I don't have to configure anything else! I was aware of how the dial plan works, I was just given conflicting examples and was wondering If I could assume that my carrier settings were working properly if I received the call upon agent logging in. I am asking this question to use the process of elimination. Thank you.
Re: !!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:34 pm
by williamconley
to say "working properly" (which is subjective, of course) you'd have to describe in detail the entire situation. You said "received the call upon agent logging in", but you did not state whether there was sound in both directions. Nor did you state the length of the phone call.
in other words: you asked for an opinion about "working properly" to your expectations without telling us whether ... it worked properly to your expectations. Since it is your experience, we can't say unless you describe all the variables. Then comes the fun part ... When we Certify a Vicidial server for a client, we test autodial with sound in both directions on all carriers and agents logging in. But those are generally predictable servers installed with Vicibox by US (so we have a very good idea of how they will behave, thanks to Kumba). But you installed this and are not (apparently) going through the Vicidial Manager's Manual one page at a time without skipping anything. So it's impossible to say what is and is not configured (much less properly). Including the carrier, of course.
So: Set up an agent on autodial with real prospects, set the dialer to 2:1 diaing and let the agent call and talk for a few hours. At the end of that, you would have empirical evidence of "working properly" to your satisfaction. We generally do at least 10 calls to a test phone with 1:1 dialing and ensure sound in both direction before we move to Live Prospect calls, though. But that's because we generally don't talk to real prospects, we prefer to pass the server to our client for the script based actual sales calls.
Re: !!!!!!QUESTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THREAD!!!!!! :)
Posted:
Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:07 pm
by aemae
I went through the manual, thats why I am asking for help. I search other threads and people seem to have problems just as I have and you appear to actually answer them. Where is the love will? I showed my details and exact error message and I am stuck. I read the manual followed it step by step. I have some questions based on what I read and experienced.
1. If I receive a call on my soft phone upon logging in as an agent saying you are the only one in conference, does this specify that my problem lies somewhere other than carrier settings? Does the message upon logging in show you that "Carrier settings" are set up properly? If not what does it show?
2. What does the Channel Unavailable Cause 16 normal call clearing mean?
3. I know I have my USER, USER GROUP, LIST, PHONE, and SOFTPHONE set up properly to my knowledge. I am thinking it lies in the CAMPAIGN or CARRIER settings. Also my asterisk version says v.1.4.44-vici would I enter that just as it is written in server settings under Asterisk version? I put just "1.4.44" but I am unsure if the -vici part is included or if I should have changed that in the first place.
(I also listed my EXACT information provided to me by my VOIP carrier, and I would maybe like an answer to how YOU would set it up under ACCOUNT ENTRY AND DIALPLAN if YOU were given THE INFORMATION ABOVE)
I am sure I may be annoying, but I am close and need to get this running, and you have the info in your brain.