centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| Asterisk Question / PPM providers
Ok, I have Callcentric and use Voipdiscount for International calls sometimes.
That aside, is it possible to setup Asterisk as a "gateway" that my SPA-2102 "talks" to to receive instructions. I don't want to use a Digium Wildcard Card. This is my vision of what I want to accomplish (I'm not trying to sound corny). Please let me know if these options are possible.
1. Install two nic cards. One nic connects to the SPA-2102 to so the the SPA2102 and the Asterisk server can pass instructions back/forth. The second nic is for the Asterisk box to talk directly to the service providers and send instructions back and forth.
2. Set up rules on the asterisk box to recognize which providers to use for unique calls on a one line phone. For instance, if I am going to make a international call, the asterisk box recognizes that and uses voip discount for the outbound call instead of callcenteric since it s a free call (close to free) using voip discount. Or setup another rule for asterisk to use FWD for a toll free call instead of Callcentric to avoid a PPM charge. Those as an example.
3. Setup call blocking. Block incoming calls to telemarketers or any other number.
Those are just examples. But I'm looking that as a setup.
Asterisk box w/ 2 nics>>>>>> 1 nic goes to the WAN end to talk to providers>>>>>> nic #2 talkks to the asterisk server to receive instructions.
Comments welcome. |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD | Yes to all questions and you don't need 2 nics. |
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kenn10
join:2003-09-10
Kennesaw, GA
 ·VoicePulse for Bus..
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 ·Comcast
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| reply to centric
Asterisk can do all that and more. I'd recommend the "starter package" of Asterisk that you can get up and running very quickly so check out Trixbox.org for an ISO you can download and use to configure an old or inexpensive PC.
Trixbox incorporates FreePBX gui interface and a lot of helpful tools. It makes its a whole lot easier than trying to start from scratch with Asterisk. |
|
VoIPdevotee
| reply to centric
I'll second the comment that you do not need nor want two NIC's. You would probably do well to visit the Nerd Vittles site and read some of the tutorials there. This article is probably the newest one. Note he says "We don't have a finished VMware product for you yet" and that's actually a good thing - for some reason Uncle Ward loves the idea of trying to run Asterisk in a virtual machine but trust me, that just adds an extra layer of complication and headaches and is NOT the way to go.
Also be sure to visit the FreePBX site and the Elastix site. Asterisk and FreePBX can do everything you want to do and a whole lot more, including some things you probably haven't even thought of yet, but will when you see the capabilities of FreePBX.
Just so you know:
CentOS is the underlying Linux distribution (the operating system).
Asterisk is the actual PBX software
FreePBX is a web-based GUI and configuration utility. It literally writes your dial plans for you. True Asterisk geeks (the guys who write code by hand) sometimes don't like FreePBX but that is because a) they don't understand it and/or b) they can't write code that will do everything FreePBX does without a lot of effort. Unless you were the computer geek that started coding at age 9 AND you like to waste time writing every line of a dial plan yourself, you want FreePBX.
Elastix and Trixbox are "all in one" distributions that include all of the above plus some extras. With either, you pop in a CD, reboot the computer, and it wipes the hard drive and installs CentOS, FreePBX, and Asterisk. Trixbox is better known than Elastix but some think it has become bloated. Elastix is a relative newcomer, but my understand is that it tends to concentrate more on making things work that don't necessarily work all that well in Trixbox. There are pros and cons to each, but either one is better for the newbie than trying to install and configure Asterisk by hand. Just don't make the mistake of referring to the wrong piece of software (for example, when asking for help in a forum such as this one) because most of the heavy lifting is done by Asterisk and FreePBX, not the Trixbox or Elastix packages. So if you ask something like "how do I configure my trunks in Trixbox?" you might get told that you can't do it in Trixbox, you have to do it in FreePBX, or alternately by writing your own dial plan in Asterisk. |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| I installed Tribox tonight. I followed the directions on Callcentrics website and followed their instructions. I was able to get it to register.
trixbox1*CLI> sip show registry
Host Username Refresh State Reg.Time
callcentric.com:5060 1777****** 44 Registered Sun, 23 Sep 2007 01:46:28
I set a user up with admin rights and set the password, and also set the password for admin. My only problem now is when I enter my ip address into my line1 setting in my SPA2102 and enter in admin/pw in the User ID/pw field I get a registration failed state. And yes, I have Use Auth ID and register drop down boxes set as "yes". Why am I getting a failed message on my SPA??? |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD | Did you set up an extension in FreePBX? The ATA setting should match an extension and extension secret. This is different from admin or user login. |
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centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| Thanks Cbrain, I got my SPA2102 to lock on with my askerisk setup and get a dialtone. But when I try to dial out, I get "you call cannot be completed as dialed". I checked my callcentric logs and the call isn't going out to the real world, so that error message is coming from my Tribox.
Here is my dialplaninside my outbound routes:
911
011.
1800NXXXXXX
1866NXXXXXX
1877NXXXXXX
1888NXXXXXX
1NXXNXXXXXX
NXXNXXXXXX
NXXXXXX
Here is my dialplan inside my SPA2102:
(911|611|411|00|0|[2-9]11 S0|[2-9]xxxxxx|[2-9]xxxxxxxxx|1xxxxxxxxxx|011xxxxxxxxxxxxxx|*6x.T|*00|*0x|*1x|*20|*82x.T) |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI | I take that back. It worked when I dialed National City bank at 1-800-925-9259, but when I dial callcentric's test number 1-777-123-4567 I get that error message. |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| It works for all numbers so I'm good. A few questions though:
1. Is there a good tutorial that shows how to route calls based on numbers dialed from one line on the SPA? For instance, when dialing an 800 number asterisk automatically uses FWD for the carrier instead of callcentric. Or when dialing an international number voip discount is automatically used.
2. A good tutorial that shows how to block incoming calls from certain numbers? |
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av8r
I'd Rather Be Flying
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Boca Raton, FL
clubs:
2 edits | You need to set up an new outbound route.
OutboundRoute: TollFree
1800NXXXXXX
1866NXXXXXX
1877NXXXXXX
1888NXXXXXX
Outbound Route: OtherOut
911
011.
1NXXNXXXXXX
NXXNXXXXXX
NXXXXXX
You set the trunk order at the bottom of the outbound routes. Set the priority of the routes with the carrier you would prefer having take the call. Put the secondary carrier below it. This will give a fallback for outbound routing.
--edit
You can also create outbound routes for each individual carrier. Put a Dial Pattern of 8|. in one, and 9|. in the other. This will allow you to force a call to go to that carrier (preface the number with either an 8 or 9 and then the rest of the number). The N|. will be stripped off the number before it is dialed.
See also »freepbx.org/support/documentatio···on-guide |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| What's the difference between 8| and 9| ? "8" forces first, and "9" forces secondary?
i.e.
800 route using FWD:
This forces asterisk to use FWD first for toll free????
8|1800NXXXXXX
8|1866NXXXXXX
8|1877NXXXXXX
8|1888NXXXXXX
800 using callcentric as secondary toll free calls:
This forces asterisk to use Callcentric secondary for toll free????
9|1800NXXXXXX
9|1866NXXXXXX
9|1877NXXXXXX
9|1888NXXXXXX
Am I understanding that correct? |
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av8r
I'd Rather Be Flying
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Boca Raton, FL
clubs:
| Sorry - must not have been clear...
You will have 4 outbound routes:
Outbound Route: OtherOut
Trunk Sequence: (1) CallCentric (2) FWD
911
011.
1NXXNXXXXXX
NXXNXXXXXX
NXXXXXX
OutboundRoute: TollFree
Trunk Sequence: (1) FWD (2) CallCentric
1800NXXXXXX
1866NXXXXXX
1877NXXXXXX
1888NXXXXXX
OutboundRoute: ForceFWD
Trunk Sequence: (1) FWD
8|.
OutboundRoute: ForceCC
Trunk Sequence: (1) CallCentric
9|.
The 1st 2 routes will attempt to dial by the pattern. The 2nd 2 only have a single trunk assigned and will give a congestion indicator if they cannot connect. |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
2 edits | av8r,
Thanks man. Your setup worked. Tribox is now using priority for calls.
I setup two providers:
-Voipdiscount outbound (for 800, international)
-Callcentric as secondary outbound (for everything)
-Callcentric inbound for a incoming did
If I want to force Tribox to use Callcentric for one particular call can I hit a particular number on the phone pad to force a provider before dialing the number?
i.e.
8, then 1-734-555-5555 forces callcentric
9, then 1-734-555-5555 forces voipdiscount
In case voipdiscount gets flaky. |
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av8r
I'd Rather Be Flying
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Boca Raton, FL
clubs:
| Yes, this is the purpose of setting up the N|. in the dial patterns.
Set up a route that only uses CallCentric with a dial pattern of 8|.
Set up a route that only uses VoIPDiscount with a dial pattern of 9|.
Don't set a secondary carrier on these routes. The N will be stripped from the dial string and the call will be presented to the carrier selected. I have these set for all my carriers, also useful for testing a particular route.
--
If I am not for myself, Who will be for me? If I am only for myself, What am I? If not now, When? -- Hillel |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| I added all the individual routes, plus:
OutboundRoute: ForceFWD
Trunk Sequence: (1) FWD
8|.
OutboundRoute: ForceCC
Trunk Sequence: (1) CallCentric
9|.
But, do I need to add 8| or 9| infront of the Prefixes in the dial plan to force that?
i.e
--------------------------
Forces Callcentric tollfree
8|1800NXXXXXX
8|1866NXXXXXX
8|1877NXXXXXX
8|1888NXXXXXX
-------------------------------
But won't that mean I have to dial 8, + 734-555-5555 everysingle time? |
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av8r
I'd Rather Be Flying
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Boca Raton, FL
clubs:
| said by centric  :But, do I need to add 8| or 9| infront of the Prefixes in the dial plan to force that? i.e -------------------------- Forces Callcentric tollfree 8|1800NXXXXXX 8|1866NXXXXXX 8|1877NXXXXXX 8|1888NXXXXXX ------------------------------- No, the only entry in those routes will be the 8|. or 9|. This will force the call to that trunk.
said by centric :But won't that mean I have to dial 8, + 734-555-5555 everysingle time? Not every time, only when you want to force the call. For normal use, you will use the other outbound routes.
--
If I am not for myself, Who will be for me? If I am only for myself, What am I? If not now, When? -- Hillel |
|
cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD
·VoicePulse for Bus..
 ·Verizon FIOS
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| reply to av8r
said by av8r :Sorry - must not have been clear... You will have 4 outbound routes: Outbound Route: OtherOut Trunk Sequence: (1) CallCentric (2) FWD 911 011. 1NXXNXXXXXX NXXNXXXXXX NXXXXXX OutboundRoute: TollFree Trunk Sequence: (1) FWD (2) CallCentric 1800NXXXXXX 1866NXXXXXX 1877NXXXXXX 1888NXXXXXX OutboundRoute: ForceFWD Trunk Sequence: (1) FWD 8|. OutboundRoute: ForceCC Trunk Sequence: (1) CallCentric 9|. The 1st 2 routes will attempt to dial by the pattern. The 2nd 2 only have a single trunk assigned and will give a congestion indicator if they cannot connect. Are you using FreePBX? What about the out-route order? If you have them in the order you list, wouldn't 1800 calls match your 1NXXNXXXXXX pattern and go Callcentric? And your 8| or 9| match NXXNXXXXXX and go as you dial the 10th digit? Do you adjust the dial pattern of your Sip devices? |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
| reply to centric
Nevermind, I answered my own question by trying it out.
I added, 8| for voipdiscount
I added, 9| for callcentric
In each outbound setup.
I dial my cell w/ 8-734-555-5555 and get caller id unknown (voipdiscount)
I dial my cell w/ 9-734-555-5555 I get my home phone number as caller id (callcentric).
If I use no prefix it defaults to voipdiscount.
Thanks
av8r |
|
centric
join:2005-07-31
Ann Arbor, MI
1 edit | Now I've confused myself 
For some reason now, I dial a straight number I get "your call cannot be completed as dialed" unless I use 8 or 9 in front of the number, and my inbound calls go straight to VM. |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD
·VoicePulse for Bus..
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
| Your outbound settings should not affect inbound. Are you making adjustments to both? Are you registered? If you only have 1 extension, could it be busy with what you are doing to outbound? Your not making the test call from your only extension.  Did the call go to * VM or your provider VM? What does CLI show?
Asterisk is a great system with way too many options for most business users. Take it step by step and it's worth the learning curve. Try signing up for a free IPKall line so you have another incoming to test. If you don't have hardware, set up a softphone as a second extension.
»www.ipkall.com
»www.counterpath.com/xlitedownload.html
To see what is going on as calls progress ... from an * prompt type -
[root@asterisk1 ~]# asterisk -rvvvvvvvvvv |
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