Vicidialnow Server requirements, help

[erico1981]

hello mates,

my goal is to get a server that can make 120 outgoing calls simultaneously ( at a time ).

what is the hardware needed for this kind of server?

i might be using the g729 or the g711 codec ( i need details for each codec ).

bandwidth is not an issue here

thanks alot

[williamconley]

Need much more information ... BUT ... to be helpful:

Core2Quad 4 Gig RAM 2.6Ghz with 20Meg bandwidth (all ulaw calls) 80 lines simultaneous before hitting 50% cpu (recommended max cruising speed). It will go higher than that, but once I hit 50% I let it ride.
This is Vicidial 2.0.4 on Gentoo 32bit with FreePBX integrated, single server system (MySQL, Web, Asterisk all in one box).

Caveat: this is a broadcast only with NO AGENTS.

Will you be recording calls? (recording takes cpu and hard drive work)
Playing a recording? (as opposed to direct connect to agent for answers)
How many agents? (each agent screen hits the web server and is another call in itself)
Using ulaw/gsm/g729? (you suggested limitless bandwidth, BUT often there are unusual requirements in call centers, so i had to ask).

Taking the MySQL server off this configuration would probably allow it to go to the level you are speaking of (but then you're at two servers so 125 calls is not surprising).

We also have a Gentoo64 bit with roughly the same hardware pushing 500 calls, but we had to build special software for that (not vicidial, just dial, play, forward in asterisk). Yes it take some bandwidth, lots of it.

[dspaan]

Hi,

Our VICIDial pilot is underway, i have bought the agent and manager manual and am now reading.

We already use an asterisk server currently on which manual outbound calls are made and recordings are done.

We plan to install an additional server which will make a trunk with the current asterisk server. So the new VICIDial server will be a VICIBox install that will be used for about 10-15 agents max. outbound autodialing and blended inbound calls (just about 3 inbound lines simultaneous max).

Like i said the recording will be done on the other machine.

I plan to use a 64bit machine with dualcore processor and 2GB memory. Will this be enough for this setup?

What kind of connection would you advise to link the two asterisk machines together, a SIP trunk?

And we would like to configure the other asterisk server to only use bandwith when a connection is made, so on predictive outbound dialing it would be great if it would only use signaling bandwith. Is that possible?

Our current asterisk server makes an IAX2 G729 trunk with another asterisk server abroad. Our agents connect to the machine via ulaw.

[Michael_N]

If bandwith is not an issue then stick to g711

You dont have to pay licensefee and dont need cpupower to transcode

[dspaan]

We use G729 because we our internet bandwith is very limited. G711 is not an option, only within LAN.

[williamconley]

10-15 agents is not enough information to say whether Core2Duo will be enough. How many simultaneous phone calls? (8 calls per agent? 2? 1?)

IAX and SIP do not use voice connections until after a call is answered.

If you already use IAX between two servers, you should use this same method with your vicidial server. both because you are familiar with it and because it's a great method to connect two asterisk boxes.

my experience with core2duo and g729 is that this may be borderline capacity based on your usage. however, if you do not have all 15 agents online immediately, just be prepared to pop out the core2duo cpu and pop in a core2quad (although considering the cost difference between the two for hardware, it's kinda silly not to just go quad core to begin with).

[dspaan]

I expect to be dialing 4 lines per agent.

Thanks for the advice William. I think we will start with the AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor and then then switch to a AMD Phenom™ II X4 Processor later on. Over here were i live hardware is very expensive and the price difference between those two is significant.

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/serv ... R1002_USEN
The asterisk server that will dial out over the WAN is a HP Proliant ML350.
* Up to 3.4 GHz Intel Xeon processors with 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache and EM64T
* 400 MHz DDR2 Memory (PC2-3200)
* 2 PCI-Express and 4 PCI-X Slots

Could this machine become a bottleneck?

[williamconley]

Buy it on eBay and send the seller a self-addressed postage paid insured/tracked envelope!

[dspaan]

Don't know how i would do that. The postal services in USA would somehow have to work together with the postal services over here of which i'm sure is not the case....

[gardo]

The AMD X2 might be hard-pressed doing 4:1 dial ratio for your 15 agents since you'll be using g729 as your codec. The AMD X2s are not as powerful as Intel's Core 2 Duos. You might be better off starting with the AMD X4.

You'll also have a hard time tracking the recordings of your calls if you're going to do it on a separate box. The integrated recording feature of Vicidial allows you to access the recordings via the web admin interface. You can also use the search for a lead function to search for recordings based on: dispositions, phone numbers, agent and etc. You can then have these recordings automatically uploaded to an FTP server to save on disk space.

I'd recommend you have the recordings done on the dialer itself. Just enable RAM drive so it minimizes the impact on the system load.