Used extension numbers

[GaD]

Hi! I'm not sure if I;m posting this in the right place, but here it goes. I'm evaluating GoAutoDialer 2.1 for our callcenter. This is a 1000+ station callcenter dedicated to outbound calling with some inbound. I'm going through the extension.conf and I see that whoever programmed the 'base system' used 8xxx numbering and some other 8xxxxxx for other stuff and some other numbers for other things. My question: Has anybody got a 'layout' of what extension range is used for what. My call center runs on 8xxx extensions and will need to change the numbering used in the extensions.conf, but I need to know the layout so I can re-plan the whole thing and use some 'weird' pattern to make this work (eg ext _**2001* for conference rooms) and make it more generic and less likely to be confused with actual extensions.

If anybody has the numbering layout I'd really appreciate if you'd hand it over for review.

Thank you!

[williamconley]

1) Welcome to the party

2) Seriously: Call The Vicidial Group NOW. You have NO idea how much more easily this system can be deployed with the creator of the software at the helm. (NO, I don't get paid to say that, LOL)

3) GoAutoDial is an ".iso installer" for VICIDIAL. Vicidial can also be installed via Vicibox.com and from scratch (if you are brave). While evaluating, please take into account that The Vicidial Group does NOT support CentOS (in an enterprise situation, this could become a serious issue in case of failure).

4) GoAutoDial will install 2.2.1 (and can be upgraded to 2.4 manually). Vicibox will install 2.2.1 or 2.4 and optionally cluster during installation. GoAutoDial is not specifically designed for Clustering (although it does cluster quite nicely, you just have to do it Manually, for which there are many resources including the free manual by Poundteam).

5) GoAutoDial has a very pretty agent screen which Vicibox does not have. The screen is compatible to 2.2.1 (and theoretically up through SOME of 2.4).

6) The dialplan need not be altered. Those entries are samples in most cases or can merely be removed. Be sure you consult with a vicidial professional or get a "full" picture of the dialplan before you go nuts (remember that there are many contexts and each can have an independent extension schema, with no effect on the others).

7) You should describe your need for conference rooms more clearly, given the odds the Vicidial system can manage that for you within the existing system.

8.) If you really want the "final numbering layout" just enter "show dialplan" from the command line. You may want to set your scroll capture a bit higher before you do it (or you can save it directly to a file). This command will show you the entire dialplan, which can then be perused without the need for looking into the individual configuration files to see how it looks after assembly. However: if you work within the system, you will likely find that everything you want to do CAN be accomplished within the GUI so your administrator(s) need not enter the command line after the system is built and yet they have full power of the entire diaplan when and where needed.

[GaD]

Hi williamconley. Thanks for your quick reply! I sure was not expecting it so soon. Thanks for the welcome.

Asterisk is not new to me. I'm actually running part of the callcenter in 5 asterisk boxes mostly for the administrative part (one box), but I also have a test box, the operational 'productive' box, and the switch that connects them all. I'm pretty familiar with Mr.*, but I was looking for a predictive dialer, and that's how I got here. I had not realized that there was another 'pop-in-the-cd-for-complete-install" iso out there. I thought GoAutoDial was 'it' and I did try to compile it myself, but I got nothing but errors and just got tired of all the 'extra hassle'. You really have to be brave to compile yourself....

I am now downloading the Vicibox to check it out. Something I'm not really fond of is that it uses OpenSuse ans the Linux Distro of choice, but it has been a while since the last time I used OpenSuse for anything -other than cursing at it for it's uselessness (in my opinion)-, but again, I think it is better than any EPEL (RedHat derivative) I've used, so.... I really like that it is 'ready to cluster' which was my next step after getting the hang out of Vici. So...., its starting to grow in my this Vicibox....

In any case, I don't like the fact that the extensions used as 'service extensions' (meetme, voicemail, etc) are actually extensions that could be in the same batch. For example, in my current environment we use 3xxx extensions for production, 2xxx for admin (like real admin people, eg. Human resources) and 8xxx for some 'special' production stations. In the Vicidial, the schema seems to be 8001 -> 81xx (I'm making these up) as agent stations and then from 82xx -> 83xx as "meetme's". What if I have 83xx extensions (meaning that I have over 200 extensions filling up). They could've used 8y0xx -> 8y1xx or something that is not a 'possible' extension. In my specific scenario I use ****8001 (for example) as a meetme extension -with the asterisks in front-. What the developers have done is limit me to a certain ammount of extensions before I have to make a huge mess to 'fix' the limitation that I inherited. See what I mean? In my enterprise where I have a bit over 1000 stations I need a whole 8000 -> 8999 'block' of extensions and therefore the need to change the whole dial plan.

Going back to my original question....., I was just wondering if someone had a 'hardcopy' of the schema the developers had to assign the numbers so I could save me a few hours (or days, don;t know how tangled up this is) to figure out the schema being used and change it.

Anyway williamconley, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it! I think that I'll have to get dirty into the dialplan 'cause I have to fix it anyway..., jeje. Wish me luck Oh, and thanks for the Vicibox info! I'm actually pretty excited on that one!

[gardo]

I'd recommend keeping your current PBX settings (i.e., phone extensions on your Asterisk boxes). You can integrate GoAutoDial to your current infrastructure by using the "external phone" features of Vicidial. This means connecting GoAutoDial to your Asterisk boxes to be able to use the phone extensions already connected to your Asterisk servers. No need to point all your phones and change the extensions for your GoAutoDial server. This makes administration of your phones easier.