tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28245891726379695952024-02-20T23:55:52.109-08:00OwnPages Zero-Cost Phone and Mail SystemDevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-46603892493797121962012-04-08T12:06:00.001-07:002012-06-20T23:49:39.960-07:00Migrating your dialer from hosted to inhouse - F.A.Q.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A user of our hosted predictive dialer recently asked us a few questions regarding migrating a hosted dialer to an inhouse server. The questions pretty much covered all you need to know about this, so this blog entry reproduces his questions and our responses to him:<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<pre wrap=""><b>What is the cost?</b>
We charge $299 one time for standard setup on single server. There is also optional support for $199/month for upto 40 users on single server. The one time charge includes transferring settings and data from your hosted server. The optional monthly charge includes central monitoring of your server for CPU load, memory use and hard disk failure. In addition you get telephonic support as at present.
<b>Do we use our own phone lines or are they yours? If yours, do they have a monthly charge?
</b>You can do both.
<i>option 1.</i> Our phone lines: nothing changes, you pay $0.0099/minute long distance like for hosted dialers.
<i>option 2</i>: You take local phone lines (T1/E1). You need one for each 10 agents for 2.5 max dialing ratio. Thus for say 30 agents you need 3xT1. The cost of the T1 will be available from your local carrier. However please do inform them that you will be using it for a predictive dialer, since those T1s are usually charged higher. Also, we charge $299 one time additional to setup the T1s on your server
<b>What is needed to set it up?</b>
Once you decide which of the 2 options you would like to go with, we will send you the hardware specifications, and give you a download that you need to burn on a DVD and boot the server with. After that we need support of a local technician who will take telephonic instructions from us and bring the server onto the Internet. Once the server is online, it connects to our control systems and our engineers take over the process.
<b>What about redundancy?
</b>Redundancy requires a second server with all associated one time costs. However the standard server uses RAID to guard against hard disk failure.
<b>Would we need to purchase hardware/software? If so what would it entail?</b>
We provide the software. For hardware you need to purchase a server locally that would cost between $3000 and $6000 depending on the brand, for 40 agents. In addition, if you decide to go with local phone lines, you need T1 cards that cost about $1000/T1. A redundancy backup server will double the hardware cost.
<b>Is there any support offered during the set up? After the set up?
</b>Of course, we tell you exactly what you need to do in the setup process and help in procuring hardware. After setup the monthly support is optional as detailed above. You can use monthly support for a few months and then terminate it. Despite taking monthly support you do need some basic local technical help, in case the server is completely unresponsive or for some reason goes offline.
<b>
How much bandwidth do we need?</b>
Inhouse dialers <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/ophostedd.php#bandwidth" target="_blank">consume thrice</a> the bandwidth of hosted dialers. For 3x dialing ratio you need 100kbps/agent with voice compression and 250kbps without. Please check if there is any Fair Use Policy on the line</pre>
<pre wrap=""></pre>
<pre wrap=""><b>Will I save money migrating to inhouse?</b> </pre>
<pre wrap="">Our customer did not really ask this question, but we'll answer it any way. You dont. Not much anyway. Think about it: hosted services like ours buy servers and bandwidth cheaper than you can. Further, you pay for increased bandwidth requirement and pay us to manage your servers for you. When the math on this is done, you could even end up spending more on inhouse systems, despite losing the flexibility of scaling in hours (up or down) that our hosted service gives you. </pre>
<pre wrap=""> </pre>
<pre wrap="">In our humble opinion, inhouse dialers make sense only if you need to integrate other inhouse software (e.g. inhouse CRM) with the dialer, you want to use local phone lines or to cater to special requirements such as HIPPA compliance etc. Another case where you would save is if you intend to manage your servers without help from us. </pre>
<br /></div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-3197781160699650802012-03-12T04:08:00.000-07:002012-03-12T04:08:13.780-07:00Setting up a broadcast/survey campaign in Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Vicidial does many things, which makes it sometimes difficult to configure. This post explains how to setup a broadcast, survey or press 1 type of outbound campaign. This type of campaign makes Vicidial broadcast a message to its list, and optionally connect the callee to an agent by pressing 1 or another digit.<br />
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</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-82195976555252974562012-02-28T00:52:00.000-08:002012-02-28T00:52:18.839-08:00Impress your friends: tell the difference between a PBX and a dialer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Both are phone systems. A <b>dialer</b>
is for teams of people who are on the phone all the time. Such people
are usually called tele-agents. A <b>PBX</b> is for people who need
to do other things apart from dealing with calls. Accordingly the
following differences emerge:</div>
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Table: Differences between a dialer and a PBX</div>
<table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"><colgroup><col width="20%"></col>
<col width="45%"></col>
<col width="35%"></col>
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.04in; padding-left: 0.04in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0.04in;"><br /></td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1px solid #000000; border-left: 1px solid #000000; border-right: none; border-top: 1px solid #000000; padding-bottom: 0.04in; padding-left: 0.04in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0.04in;"><b>Dialer</b>
</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 0.04in;"><b>PBX</b>
</td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Handling incoming calls</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A dialer presumes user is available all the time usually with a
headset, unless on another call. Accordingly when an incoming call
comes, the user hears a beep on the headset or a notice on the
screen and the call is automatically connected.</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A PBX presumes the user could be doing other things and rings a
handset to alert the user.
</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Presence (availability information)
</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A corollary of the above is that presence is important, hence
handled by the user specifically logging in.
</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Presence is handled indirectly or not at all.</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Making manual calls by dialing
</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not setup to do this efficiently</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is default mode in a PBX</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Making calls by clicking on a list</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dialers come with the ability to upload a list of numbers to
efficiently dial sequentially</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A PBX needs to be integrated with a CRM system into which the
list of numbers may be loaded</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Team dialing (automatic / predictive)</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dialers can dial a single list on behalf of a team of callers,
and distribute calls that answer to the team</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A PBX is not setup to do this efficiently</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">User Productivity</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Is a huge focus area, often accomplished by limiting user
functionality</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A PBX focuses on features more than productivity</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MIS and reporting</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Robust reporting that emphasises agent productivity
</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reporting that focus on measures such as call cost.
</span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Resources and cost</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none none solid solid; border-width: medium medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Costs much more per user than a PBX. Resource hog</span></td>
<td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(0, 0, 0) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1px 1px; padding: 0in 0.04in 0.04in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The opposite</span></td>
</tr>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Both a PBX and a dialer can be
integrated with a CRM!</b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A dialer comes with a basic crm of its
own, useful for just telephony interaction, that too over short
periods of time. If a relationship has to be tracked over weeks or
over other forms of communication such as email or sms, then it is
best to integrate a CRM such as vTiger with the dialer. The way this
usually works is that low quality leads are uploaded into the dialer
since it is designed to handle large volume lists. High quality leads
(such as web inquiries) should be loaded into the CRM. If a lead on
the dialer becomes high quality due to interest shown, or needs to be
called after a period greater than a few days, that lead is
transferred into the CRM by clicking a button on the dialer.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the case of a PBX, a CRM can be
integrated to track interaction with customers over the phone along
with other forms of communication. It also allows click to dial from
the lead /contact page of the CRM</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
OwnPages offers vTiger CRM integrated
with its dialer or its PBX as well as a 3 way integration of CRM with
both the dialer and the PBX.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>PBX – cum - Dialers</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is often an overlap between PBXes
and Dialers, and some products claim to do both. In our humble
opinion, that leads them to do neither very well. OwnPages is of
course not one of them and offers a PBX and a dialer as separate
products. You can subscribe to both of them, but they will not run on
the same servers, leaving us with the happy task of collecting
separate charges for each.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-87932927333059182102012-02-15T03:01:00.000-08:002012-02-15T06:13:48.899-08:00Kick butt on your predictive campaigns - Vicidial settings demystified<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
First a note on the term. In predictive dialing the dialer tries to look ahead and predict when one of your agents is likely to be free, and dials ahead of the fact to reduce agent waiting time. It bases its prediction on the average length of conversation and the average time taken to connect a new call. Since these two measures are based on averages, it works better for larger teams and often fails to keep idle time low for small ( to 5 agents) and medium (5 - 40) teams unless tweaked. This post explains some of the tweaks provided by Vicidial.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>Vicidial's predictive dialing</b><br />
Vicidial uses the term adaptive instead of predictive. This is because Vicidial adapts the number of calls per agent (pacing ratio) based on the 2 averages described above. Go to detailed view of campaigns and scroll down to the first green section. Under Dial Method it gives you 3 adaptive options, of which choose <i>adapt_tapered </i>for the time being. Below this Vicidial provides many options to tweak the performance of the predictive formula to reduce agent wait time. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PPBtf0HxEH5bxNut9W_tR8B_Oq7E6_1ngGfAujBte2f1ZrZmBoJbZIfERt6zIgbH-dhgpAiKcKMYxAX1u7D8el3JOc49PNiAnehXs8IVdQ9OtULA3D1JFEmLnPg3nDKyp4Odx7E6Bq-J/s1600/ViciAdaptOptions.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4PPBtf0HxEH5bxNut9W_tR8B_Oq7E6_1ngGfAujBte2f1ZrZmBoJbZIfERt6zIgbH-dhgpAiKcKMYxAX1u7D8el3JOc49PNiAnehXs8IVdQ9OtULA3D1JFEmLnPg3nDKyp4Odx7E6Bq-J/s640/ViciAdaptOptions.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><br />
Available only tally</b><br />
The foremost of these is "Available only tally". When set to <i>"y"</i> means base predictive calculations only on idle agents. For example, if all agents are on calls, stop dialing completely. After an agent becomes free, then begin dialing the next set of numbers for him/her. This automatically causes idle time, since the dialing process begins after an agent becomes free.<br />
<br />
Available only tally = n means keep dialing based on the number of agents in the entire team (logged in but not paused), in the expectation that soon an agent will become free. The predictive principle is based on the average conversation time of the entire team, hence in most circumstances we recommend keeping this at "<i>n" </i> <br />
<br />
You may be thinking that to allow the dialer to continue dialing even if there are no free agents should increase drop rate. Counter-intuitively, the opposite is true. Setting Available only tally = y actually increases drop rate. The reason for this is that in its attempt to get a call to the idle agent, the dialer typically over dials and ends up with more than one connection for the idle agent. <br />
<br />
However, for very small teams, the dialer's predictions will be poor, hence in Vicidial 2.4, we have a new related option "Available only tally threshold" which is normally disabled. Select "Non-Paused Agents" in the drop down and set the agents to 3. This will make "Available only tally" = y below the threshold, assuming you have set it to <i>n</i> in the first place. <span style="color: black; font-family: ARIAL,HELVETICA; font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Drop percentage, adaptive methods</b> <b>and latest server time</b> <br />
<br />
The adaptive nature of vicidial's algorithm looks at the drop rate you are comfortable with (specified by law in some countries) and reduces the pacing ratio if the current drop percentage is more than set. This gives rise to the three types of adaptive dialing methods provided by Vicidial. From Vicidial's help menu: "<span style="color: black; font-family: ARIAL,HELVETICA; font-size: x-small;">ADAPT_HARD_LIMIT will dial predictively up to the dropped percentage and then not allow aggressive dialing once the drop limit is reached until the percentage goes down again. ADAPT_TAPERED allows for running over the dropped percentage in the first half of the shift -as defined by call_time selected for campaign- and gets more strict as the shift goes on. ADAPT_AVERAGE tries to maintain an average or the dropped percentage not imposing hard limits as aggressively as the other two methods."</span><br />
<br />
Latest server time is set to the end of the shift and is only used by the adapt_tapered dialing method<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Maximum adapt dial level</b><br />
This sets the maximum pacing ratio in adaptive dialing. Setting it too high for small teams may cause Vicidial to swing between dialing too much and dialing too little, simultaneously increasing drop percentage and idle time! Keep it at 3 in most cases.<br />
<br />
<b>Other options</b><br />
are best left untouched unless you know what you are doing.<br />
<br />
<b>Bonus tip!</b> <br />
Scroll down to drop action and set it to <i>in_group</i> to send dropped calls to an ingroup. Let the ingroup play the safe harbor message but also allow the called person to stay on the line to speak to an agent. In this way an other wise dropped call will be retrieved. And a person that will wait to speak to an agent is likely a good prospect! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_5rgel390LeY5g23mAYfKXl6pCfUZBl4zpR7kGkE7abPd8ylCphCjPkbZWQl9bIH2to536nM2J6ivUASEAab_kbH47qSN6kOUHmNCrvrvjMZgjTfKev6NEOfnhHlcAm5-zfZzE5t8MfK/s1600/ViciDropOptions.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_5rgel390LeY5g23mAYfKXl6pCfUZBl4zpR7kGkE7abPd8ylCphCjPkbZWQl9bIH2to536nM2J6ivUASEAab_kbH47qSN6kOUHmNCrvrvjMZgjTfKev6NEOfnhHlcAm5-zfZzE5t8MfK/s640/ViciDropOptions.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Remember also to "allow inbound and blended", to select the ingroup you have chosen as the transfer group and to ask your agents to select the ingroup while logging in. Speak to our helpdesk if you would like help to set this up on your OwnPages dialer.</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-88365460754919441122012-01-13T00:26:00.000-08:002012-06-20T23:53:48.309-07:00How to setup a softphone for use with Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This video tutorial explains how to setup a Softphone (Zoiper and xLite) with your OwnPages Vicidial Dialer. Other softphones are similar.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-45687330410691489922011-12-13T00:13:00.000-08:002012-06-20T23:54:37.938-07:00Uploading leads into Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the first administrative tasks to come to grips with is uploading leads into Vicidial. Each campaign in Vicidial can have multiple lists (databases) for it to use. Each list has many leads. Therefore the process of uploading leads starts with first creating a new list, assigning that list to a campaign and then uploading leads into the newly created list. The video tutorial below shows you how.
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<br /></div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-89045312293575718592011-11-09T00:01:00.000-08:002012-06-20T23:56:28.121-07:00Setting up an inbound number in Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This post explains how to setup an incoming number or DID in your Vicidial dialer, once you have ordered one from your OwnPages console. OwnPages provides <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/numbers.php?md=d" target="_blank">inbound numbers (aka DIDs) and toll free numbers</a> from 50 countries around the world to go with your dialer. <br />
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<br /></div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-75752067120170828212011-10-24T00:43:00.000-07:002012-03-07T11:56:34.743-08:00Setting CallerID in the OwnPages Vicidial Predictive Dialer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Below is a short video on how to set callerID for each individual campaign in your OwnPages Vicidial Predictive Dialer. Note that there are additional callerID options in your OwnPages console (Preferences and Reports page) that can <i>overide</i> the campaign callerID. By default your account is setup to use the campaign callerID as shown in the video below, unless you have taken an incoming number from us.<br />
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<br /></div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-54779293839330646932011-08-02T05:27:00.000-07:002012-03-12T03:57:15.786-07:00Listening and Barging in Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Listening and Barging is commonly used to listen into the agents conversation by the VICIdial administrator. In "Listen" the administrator can only listen to the conversations of the agent but in "Barge" administrator can speak with both agent and the customer.<br />
Mentioned below is one of the procedure to use call barging and listening in the dialer.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
Lets say we want to perform listening with a sip phone configured with cc710 phone account.<br />
1. Configure cc710 on a SIP phone and just register the SIP phone to the OwnPages dialer.<br />
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2. Now login as administrator into the dialer and navigate to Reports sections located at bottom on the left hand side.<br />
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3. Click on Listen link located next to "Real-Time SIP" options in the reports page. This will open up Realtime campaign summary.<br />
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4. At the top click on "Choose Report Display Options". Select MONITOR option as "MONITOR" and specify the phone as "710" i.e the phone you configured for listening.<br />
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5. Now when you click on "Listen" link besides the agent in conversation, it will ring at phone configured with cc710. On picking up the phone you will be able listen to the conversation.<br />
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Updated: Video explaining process<br />
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<embed width="560" height="380" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xunYxo4q_Nw?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="border:1px solid #DEEBD1"></embed></object> </div>Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-58990134929525210302011-06-09T08:45:00.000-07:002011-08-02T05:28:56.235-07:00Announcing the hourly hosted dialer for 40 to 220 agents<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We are excited to announce availability of 40 seat ViciDail dialers @ USD2.5/hr. This may be a more manageable option to scaling than using the <a href="http://blog.ownpages.com/2011/05/ownpages-dialer-scaling-from-10-agents.html">multi server dialer</a>. Running costs are a tad more than the multiserver setup using 10 seater servers - USD2.5/hr in that option would give you a capacity of 46 agents. However a single server is easier to setup and configure.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
We charge USD180 one time to install this server, so it is cheaper to setup too than a multiserver setup of 10 seaters where you pay USD90 for each slave server.<br />
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You can switch to using this server with your settings intact by sending an email to the helpdesk at services (at) ownpages.com. We will request you to keep at least USD180 in your prepay account before you ask to switch.<br />
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This 40 seat server can also be combined into a multi server setup for a total capacity of 220 agents</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-60476849023942062032011-05-18T01:24:00.000-07:002011-08-02T05:30:45.356-07:00OwnPages Dialer: Scaling from 10 agents to 55<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The multi user dialer ordinarily scales to 10 users. You could of course take multiple dialers to go beyond 10, but that causes manageability issues. Leads will have to be divided amongst the servers and reports generated will pertain to just one server. Agents also have to be told to log into one of many servers and since the capacity of each is just 10, care must be taken that load is evenly distributed. To avoid this, our helpdesk can combine upto 6 servers into a single dialer on a request from you.<br />
<a name='more'></a> <br />
In this case your first server becomes the master with all your current settings and data intact . All agents log into the Master, and so does the administrator. The only thing the slave servers are used for is that their hostname should be used in the "domain" or "host" field of the SIP phones configured for your new agents. You need to distribute the SIP phones depending on how many servers you are taking according to the table at the end of this post. This needs to be done just once when configuring the phones for the first time.<br />
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Additionally, if you do not boot the slave servers, the main server capacity reverts to 10 as at present. This can be used on days there are less agents. All administration work can also be done with just the main server on. One exception is if recordings are to be downloaded, the slave servers must be on, even though the administrator has logged onto the main server.<br />
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There are some advantages of this "multi server" approach to scaling vs just putting up a single large server for all your agents:<br />
<ol style="font-size: 85%;"><li>Capacity grows in small steps, mirroring real world requirements at most call centers. For each additional server capacity increases by 9 agents. On the other hand putting up a single large server requires advance capacity planning and high expenses even when initially the team may be small.</li>
<li>Day to day manageability is comparable to a single large server, since the slave servers are only used to configure the SIP phones, which is a one time job. After that agents and administrators need to use only the master server. </li>
<li>On days there are less agents, or when doing just administration work, fewer servers or just the master can be booted, reducing hourly charges</li>
</ol><br />
All the servers can be started/stopped from your OwnPages console. The master server must be switched on first and then the slave servers after the master is functional. Each server will be separately charged at prevailing hourly rates. Also, we charge one time installation (USD90 at the time of this post) for each additional server (no installation charge for the Master server). <br />
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<b>Table: Distribution of SIP phones amongst the servers of an OwnPages multi server dialer</b><br />
<table style="font-size: 85%; width: 100%;"><thead>
<tr><td>Number of servers-></td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>3</td><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td></tr>
</thead> <tbody>
<tr><td>Master</td><td>10</td><td>8</td><td>6</td><td>4</td><td>2</td><td>0</td></tr>
<tr><td>Slave1</td><td>-</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Slave2</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Slave3</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>11</td><td>11</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Slave4</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>11</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Slave5</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>Total Capacity</td><td>10</td><td>19</td><td>28</td><td>37</td><td>46</td><td>55</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<i>Note: Just the phones need to be distributed amongst the servers; agents and administrators must log into the master server.</i></span><br />
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</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-26943774573144939722011-05-10T23:07:00.000-07:002011-08-15T23:13:38.116-07:00OwnPages Affiliate program<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">OwnPages' recently launched affiliate program not only lets you make commissions on your references, but on their references to a total of 3 levels. The preferences page in your OwnPages console has an option to convert your account to reseller status which when done converts the invite tab into a full reseller tool page. The invite link generates an email message with a unique link, which if used to sign up to our services provides commission to you. This link can be embedded in forums and web sites too. <br />
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The current commission is 15% divided between the direct referrer (9%), referring account referrer (3%), its referrer (1%) and the referred account (2%). One way to understand it is this way: You get 9% of revenues directly referred by you, 3% of revenues referred by your referees and 1% of their referees. Your reference gets 2% discount on payments.<br />
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One fun fact not mentioned on the web site is that we are working on letting you alter these levels. I.e. you can ask for the various levels to be altered, within the overall 15% limit. I.e. if you would like the entire 15% of revenues of you references to be paid out to you, you can ask us (via email) to do so. That may be short sighted though, since then you would not get commission for references generated by your references.<br />
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You can even ask for the entire commission amount to be given to the party being referred, effectively letting you provide a discount to your referees. <br />
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There is one caveat though: Once the default commission structure is altered for an account, it can never again be altered for the life of the account. This automatically rules out changing the commission structure on a case to case basis.<br />
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More details on this page: - <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/referralop.php">http://www.ownpages.com/referralop.php</a></div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-69671160831061114332011-04-16T21:37:00.000-07:002011-05-18T02:06:22.516-07:00Single user dialer based on Vicidial<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">With the launch of the single user dialer OwnPages has brought the power of Vicidial to single sales professionals. All features of stock Vicidial are available in the single user dialer, including the ability to create multiple users! Any one of these users <i>should</i> use the dialer at a time, however a second user <i>may</i> use the dialer for light administrative tasks such as real time reporting and call barging/listening. This allows professionals to employ an assistant with ease.<br />
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Single user dialers have 3 line outbound calling to US, UK (Fixed) and Canada included in the same low price of USD0.50/hr. Other destinations are as per standard International rate sheet. The price also does not include the dialer calling the agent if you choose to use PSTN aka copper to connect to the dialer.<br />
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When you sign up for the demo, you are given a single user dialer. Users can upgrade to multi user dialer with the same interface and with all their data intact, making for an easy upgrade path. These dialers are covered under the affiliate scheme, so spread the word please. </div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-57185052753309752922010-12-08T02:28:00.000-08:002010-12-09T07:13:39.832-08:00Saying yes to customers - our new simplified demoRecently when a prospect asked us to make changes to the hosted dialer demo so that he could connect agents to the demo via normal phone lines (PSTN), our first instinct was to refuse. We were up to our ears in engineering work. We had no experience operating dialers in this fashion. We also felt that we were unlikely to get many clients that would connect agents via PSTN due to the phone expense involved.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
The prospect was operating a geographically distributed dialer, and did not want to bother with setting up SIP phones at each location. We remembered that the first step in sales is to say yes, and we did. We setup his dialer such that when an agent logs in, he is first called on his PSTN phone to connect him to the dialer. Normally agents are connected via SIP phones.<br />
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Initially we did face a few issues in this mode. An example is voice lag. Consider an agent located in UK calling other locations in UK. If the PSTN gateway is located in the US, then the call travels from UK to the US and back. This longer loop causes a time delay in the conversation, somewhat like an International call to a distant country. We had to redo our routing to take such factors into account.<br />
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However once the initial problems were sorted out, we began to see the elegance of the setup. The biggest stumbling block in setting up a dialer is the SIP phones. It is also the biggest reason for premature abandonment of demos at our site. We realised we could take a phone number during registration and call that phone number to give the dialer demo, simplifying the demo dramatically! For many low cost destinations the added cost of the call to the agent is small.<br />
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And so, ladies and gentlemen, we are pleased to announce our new phone based demo system. We ask you for a number during registration and if it is amongst 35 low cost international destinations, we call that number when you login as an agent during that demo. If it is not one of the 35 destinations, you must continue to use SIP phones. You should get a popup warning when you enter the number saying so. We have also uploaded dummy leads that you can actually call to test the dialer.<br />
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You can continue to use PSTN in production to connect your agents if you find it convenient, or switch to SIP to save money. A big thanks to the prospect, now a valued customer, for giving us this idea.<br />
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Moral of the story: you may be forced sometimes to refuse a sale due to overload, but you may be missing out on a massive payback. It pays to say yes to customers.<br />
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UPDATE: Testimonial! Above mentioned customer emailed us on reading this and says: <span style="color: blue;">"</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">One of the things that has impressed us more than when we have used other dialers is your tech support is always available if we encounter issues and your willingness to work with our group. Overall, yes we have had a few glitches, but you guys were quick to rectify them, we are quite happy with the system, in terms of cost, ease of use and again support."</span></span>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-24206949941541464242010-11-22T11:25:00.000-08:002012-03-09T00:32:15.502-08:00Hosted VICIdial Demo with sip phones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If the phone number you gave us at registration is amongst 35 low cost destinations, you will receive a call on that number when you login as an agent. If not, you must use a SIP phone to take the demo. This tutorial briefs you on how to use the Hosted VICIdial Demo with a SIP phone. It will make most sense to someone who has some experience operating a predictive / auto dialer.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I have split it into 4 sections. Section 2 and 3 will help you get up and running with using Hosted VICIdial Demo.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2824589172637969595#a1">1. Things already configured</a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2824589172637969595#a2">2. Things to be done</a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2824589172637969595#a3">3. Start operating the Hosted Dialer </a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2824589172637969595#a4">4. Sign up </a><br />
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<h3>
<u id="a1">1. Things already configured</u></h3>
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After you <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/demod.php">register for the dialer demo</a> and log into your VICIdial server, you will find that most of the activities you need to perform as a VICIdial administrator are already done for you. Details are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Agents/Phones login:</b> 10 Agents are already created. Agent login start from agent-id 7771 to 7780 with password same as agent-id. 10 Phones are created with username cc701 to cc710 and password provided to you when you register for the hosted dialer demo. Phone username and password go into the softphone for registering them to the VICIdial server (described below). When the agent logs in to his web interface, he is asked for the phone login and password. For security reasons these are different from the phone username and password put into the softphone; agents need to use phone login from 701 to 710 with password same as phone login.</li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> A default campaign named 'Campaign 01' is already created for you. The campaign is set to manual dialing.</li>
<li><b>Carrier:</b> A carrier is a VoIP trunk provided by the VoIP service provider to route your incoming/outgoing calls. For the hosted dialer demo we have already configured a VoIP trunk (carrier) for you.</li>
</ul>
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<h3>
<u id="a2">2. Things to be done</u></h3>
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There are just 2 things you need to do to run your VICIdial server demo:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Configure softphones.</b></li>
<li><b>Upload leads into the default campaign.</b></li>
</ul>
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Please note that you can also modify your campaign settings if you want to, but mostly it would not be required. Modifying campaign settings is described later in this section.<br />
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<b>2.1 Steps to configure softphone.</b><br />
For this tutorial we use the X-Lite softphone. Any other softphone should work just fine. (<b>Update:</b> <a href="http://blog.ownpages.com/2012/01/how-to-setup-softphone-for-use-with.html" target="_blank">video tutorial of this</a>) Steps involved are as follows:<br />
<b>2.1.1. Download X-Lite</b> from <a href="http://www.counterpath.com/x-lite-download.html" target="_blank">here</a> and install it.<br />
<b>2.1.2. Start X-Lite</b>. Right click on the phone and select 'options' menu. Then goto 'Advanced settings' --> 'Audio codecs' section, disable all codecs except speex.<br />
Pictorial view<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTXrzMUrE-xPeUn_Gvc9kqni3uQM3cmTecJz7H8HrdMoRzUc192CUHsnsUZnWVxzaIEL9NMYqdfE8hWdiHSUorPgk6H2RJQV4xj6oTKG611-dgV50-b1rJJRn-T6h8hLksK6F-b8AXw/s1600/xlite.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509278982569717858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTXrzMUrE-xPeUn_Gvc9kqni3uQM3cmTecJz7H8HrdMoRzUc192CUHsnsUZnWVxzaIEL9NMYqdfE8hWdiHSUorPgk6H2RJQV4xj6oTKG611-dgV50-b1rJJRn-T6h8hLksK6F-b8AXw/s320/xlite.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 286px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKjTXrzMUrE-xPeUn_Gvc9kqni3uQM3cmTecJz7H8HrdMoRzUc192CUHsnsUZnWVxzaIEL9NMYqdfE8hWdiHSUorPgk6H2RJQV4xj6oTKG611-dgV50-b1rJJRn-T6h8hLksK6F-b8AXw/s1600/xlite.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
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<b>2.1.3. Register to VICIdial</b>. Right click on the phone, select 'SIP Account settings' then click on ADD to configure your SIP phone.<br />
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Eg below shows phone cc701 being configured. Password and domain will be provided to you when you register for the demo.<br />
Enter following details. <br />
<ul>
<li><b>Display name:</b> cc701 </li>
<li><b>Username:</b> cc701 </li>
<li><b>Password:</b> abcxyz (will be provided on registering for demo) </li>
<li><b>Authorization user name:</b> cc701 </li>
<li><b>Domain:</b> 1234.cc.ownpages.com (will be provided on registering for demo)</li>
<li><b>Domain proxy section</b>: Select 'Register with domain and receive incoming calls' and 'Send outbound via domain'.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Pictorial view<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmtTCOMol0vtRhHUsvi0xU13NAh9MtjKFqqMpdUqDgQJsX2XQrsdOztPCbh3MDQ4aCzaj4MAg9dvFNvchZ_KI7mxyEg1YjDVhar4Zz1MrU0St6Jch_118hEYMFgy9OtpjHE9VO7QfO1U/s1600/xlite_register.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509279319752179618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmtTCOMol0vtRhHUsvi0xU13NAh9MtjKFqqMpdUqDgQJsX2XQrsdOztPCbh3MDQ4aCzaj4MAg9dvFNvchZ_KI7mxyEg1YjDVhar4Zz1MrU0St6Jch_118hEYMFgy9OtpjHE9VO7QfO1U/s320/xlite_register.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 250px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmtTCOMol0vtRhHUsvi0xU13NAh9MtjKFqqMpdUqDgQJsX2XQrsdOztPCbh3MDQ4aCzaj4MAg9dvFNvchZ_KI7mxyEg1YjDVhar4Zz1MrU0St6Jch_118hEYMFgy9OtpjHE9VO7QfO1U/s1600/xlite_register.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
Click on apply and the softphone will automatically register with the server provided you enter correct details.<br />
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<b>2.2 Uploading leads into the default campaign</b><br />
For uploading leads, first create a list, assign it to the default campaign then upload leads into that list.<br />
<br />
Login as Administrator and click on 'lists'. Click on create a new list.<br />
Options provided are <br />
<ul>
<li><b>List ID:</b> Unique list ID.</li>
<li><b>List Name:</b> List name between 2 to 20 characters.</li>
<li><b>List Description:</b> Something descriptive (optional). </li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> This list belongs to the selected campaign.</li>
<li><b>Active:</b> Select Y option.</li>
</ul>
Eg below shows list being created with following values.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>List ID:</b> 1000</li>
<li><b>List Name:</b> USERS_UK</li>
<li><b>List Description:</b> Users in UK.</li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> Campaign 01</li>
<li><b>Active:</b> Y</li>
</ul>
Click on submit and the list is created. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511070878515180338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s320/New_list.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 170px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
After list is created, upload leads into it.For uploading leads click on 'lists'. Click on Load new leads.Leads file should be in .xls,.csv or plain text format. <a file="" href="http://www.ownpages.com/blog/sample.xls">See</a> sample leads file. This file can actually be used to test the dialer.Enter following details in the list-loader page.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Load leads from this file:</b> Browse your leads file and upload it.</li>
<li><b>List ID Override:</b> Enter List Id of list which you just created.</li>
<li><b>Phone Code Override:</b> Leave blank</li>
<li><b>File layout to use:</b> Choose 'Custom layout'</li>
<li>Leave rest of the options to default value.</li>
</ul>
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509283881998999954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s320/leads.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 105px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a> <br />
<br />
Clicking on submit button opens up a new page, select matching VICIdial columns against your lead file columns and click on 'ok to process'. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509284875662415954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s320/leads_match.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 310px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a> <br />
<br />
After submitting, it displays a message about the status of your leads.In ideal case it should display a message as GOOD: n-1 BAD: 1 and TOTAL: n where n is the no of entries in your leads file. The GOOD and BAD entries depends upon the quality of your leads file. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509285361599875106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s320/leads_upload.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 168px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
If quality of the leads file is good and you have followed the above mentioned procedure, leads will be uploaded into the campaign after one minute. <b>2.3 Modify campaign settings if needed.</b>E.g. To modify your dialing method for your campaign:<br />
<ul>
<li>login as VICIdial administrator.</li>
<li>Click on campaigns. Select the campaign whose setting you want to change.</li>
<li>Change 'Dial Method' to RATIO, and 'Auto Dial Level' to something greater than zero.</li>
<li>Click on submit.</li>
</ul>
In this section you saw how to configure your softphone, upload leads into campaign and also modify campaign settings. Next section shows you how to get started with using VICIdial server. <br />
<h3>
<u id="a3">3. Start operating a Hosted Dialer </u></h3>
Now that your Agents are created, phone logins configured, campaign created and leads uploaded into it, lets see how you can start using the hosted VICIdial server.Section below shows the series of steps that the Agent performs to login into the VICIdial web console and start making/receiving calls. Steps are followed by the screen shots wherever needed.Demonstration given below is for Agent 7771 logged into phone extension cc701. i.e<br />
<ul>
<li>Agent with agent-id 7771 and password 7771.</li>
<li>Phone extension cc701.</li>
<li>Web interface phone login 701 and password 701.</li>
<li>Campaign name "CAMP1 - Campaign 01".</li>
<li>VICIdial server address 1555000000.cc.ownpages.com.</li>
</ul>
Ensure your softphone is configured with username cc701 and registered with the VICIdial server. In your browser, enter the URL of your VICIdial server. click on Agent login. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356628893260658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s320/login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
3. Enter web interface phone login name and password. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356929673143810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s320/phone_login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
4. Enter Agent-id and password and select campaign to log into. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509357218369428722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s320/agent_login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
5. After submitting you would be redirected to VICIdial console from where you can start making/receiving calls. If your campaign is set to manual dialing then click on 'DIAL NEXT NUMBER' to start dialing from the leads or click on 'RESUME' if campaigns dial method is set to ratio. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509367639034050962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s320/vicidial_screen.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br />
<br />
6. To finish a call, click on 'HANGUP CUSTOMER'. It will redirect you to disposition page, there you can enter the outcome of the call and click on submit. Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509375688246067730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s320/disposition.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 121px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br />
<br />
After clicking on submit, you will be redirected back to the VICIdial console where you can start making new calls. <br />
<h3>
<u id="a4">4. Sign-up</u></h3>
The demo above has a daily limit, after which the server will automatically shut down. However, your account will automatically be credited with demo credit after a few days, when you can resume your experimentation. Do not go beyond a single agent when in demo mode.Signing up after the demo is also easy. Start depositing money into your prepay account, details of which are sent in the email when you register for the demo. You do not have to use <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/minutes.php">OwnPages minutes</a> in production. The first payment must be of USD200 by PayPal. This will not appear immediately in your account till we cross check with you. Subsequent payments will be immediately credited. On first payment the demo server above will automatically be converted to production.<br />
As a security measure, your calling is limited to 35 low cost destinations. contact us via the forums after sign up if you want to call other destinations.</div>Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-52421637031851019432010-11-14T04:52:00.000-08:002011-07-24T09:44:22.336-07:00VICIdial demo using external phones<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This tutorial briefs you on how to use the Hosted VICIdial Demo. It will make most sense to someone who has some experience operating a predictive / auto dialer.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />I have split it into 4 sections. Section 2 and 3 will help you get up and running with using Hosted VICIdial Demo.<br /><br /><a href="#a1">1. Things already configured</a><br /><a href="#a2">2. Things to be done</a><br /><a href="#a3">3. Start operating the Hosted Dialer </a><br /><a href="#a4">4. Sign up </a><br /><br /><h3><u id="a1">1. Things already configured</u></h3><br />After you <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/demod.php">register for the dialer demo</a> and log into your VICIdial server, you will find that most of the activities you need to perform as a VICIdial administrator are already done for you. Details are as follows:<br /><ul><li><b>Phones login:</b> 10 phone accounts are already created. Phone logins are from e701 to e710 and passwords same as phone login. The phone account e701 is configured with a phone number which was provided while registering for VICIdial demo. So when agent logs into the VICIdial server using phone account e701, the configured phone number will receive an incoming call from the server and the agent gets connected to the VICIdial session.<br /></li><li><b>Agents login</b>: 10 agent accounts are already created. Agent logins are from 7771 to 7710 and the passwords same as the agent login.</li><li><b>Campaign:</b> A default campaign "Campaign 01" is already created. The campaign is set to manual dialing.<br /></li><li><b>Lists:</b> A default list "LIST 01" is already created and is assigned to "Campaign 01". A set of sample leads file is already uploaded into list "LIST 01", so that you can start testing the demo rightaway without you having to create new lists and uploading leads into it. Steps to create lists and uploading leads into the campaign is explained later in thsi tutorial. </li><li><b>Carrier:</b> A carrier is a VoIP trunk provided by the VoIP service provider to route your incoming/outgoing calls. For the hosted dialer demo we have already configured a VoIP trunk (carrier) for you.</li></ul><br /><br /><br /><h3><u id="a2">2. Things to be done</u></h3>If you are testing out the demo hosted dialer then you can skip this section and move on to "Start operating the Hosted dialer" section.<br /><br />There are just 2 things you need to do to run your VICIdial server demo:<br /><ul><li><b>Configure Phone accounts.</b><br /></li><li><b>Upload leads into the default campaign.</b><br /></li></ul><br />Please note that you can also modify your campaign settings if you want to, but mostly it would not be required. Modifying campaign settings is described later in this section.<br /><br /><b>2.1 </b><b>Configure Phone accounts</b><br />When you register for the demo, you are asked a phone number, the same number is configured in one of the phone account e701. Steps to configure the rest of the phones is explained below in snapshots.<br /><br />For configuring Phone account, Login as administrator, click on "Admin" section, click on "Phones" and select the phone to configure.<br /><br />below image displays the list of the phones.<br />Pictorial view<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s1600/vici_phone_list.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540060143250137698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s320/vici_phone_list.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 156px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s1600/vici_phone_list.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />Lets see how to configure phone account e702 with the phone number "1200000011". After the configuring the phone account, when the agent logs into VICIdial web console using this phone account, the phone number mentioned will get an incoming call from the VICIdial server connecting him to the VICIdial session.<br /><br />To configure phone account e702, click on e702 to view its details.<br />Edit the dialplan number and add the phone number(along with ISD code) "1200000011" to "1555". Such that the resultant dialplan number must be "15551200000011".<br />Keep rest of the settings to its default values. Please note that "1555" is the dialplan prefix.<br /><br />Pictorial view<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s1600/vici_phone_set.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540065643094549650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s320/vici_phone_set.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 157px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s1600/vici_phone_set.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />Once the dialplan prefix is edited, click on submit button, and the phone e702 is configured. <br /><br /><b>2.2 Uploading leads into the default campaign</b><br />For uploading leads, first create a list, assign it to the default campaign then upload leads into that list.<br /><br />Login as Administrator and click on 'lists'. Click on create a new list.<br />Options provided are <br /><ul><li><b>List ID:</b> Unique list ID.<br /></li><li><b>List Name:</b> List name between 2 to 20 characters.<br /></li><li><b>List Description:</b> Something descriptive (optional). </li><li><b>Campaign:</b> This list belongs to the selected campaign.<br /></li><li><b>Active:</b> Select Y option.<br /></li></ul>Eg below shows list being created with following values.<br /><ul><li><b>List ID:</b> 1000<br /></li><li><b>List Name:</b> USERS_UK<br /></li><li><b>List Description:</b> Users in UK.<br /></li><li><b>Campaign:</b> Campaign 01<br /></li><li><b>Active:</b> Y<br /></li></ul>Click on submit and the list is created.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511070878515180338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s320/New_list.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 170px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />After list is created, upload leads into it.For uploading leads click on 'lists'. Click on Load new leads.Leads file should be in .xls,.csv or plain text format. <a file="" href="http://www.ownpages.com/blog/sample.xls">See</a> sample leads file. This file can actually be used to test the dialer.Enter following details in the list-loader page.<br /><ul><li><b>Load leads from this file:</b> Browse your leads file and upload it.</li><li><b>List ID Override:</b> Enter List Id of list which you just created.</li><li><b>Phone Code Override:</b> Leave blank</li><li><b>File layout to use:</b> Choose 'Custom layout'</li><li>Leave rest of the options to default value.</li></ul>Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509283881998999954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s320/leads.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 105px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />Clicking on submit button opens up a new page, select matching VICIdial columns against your lead file columns and click on 'ok to process'.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509284875662415954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s320/leads_match.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 310px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />After submitting, it displays a message about the status of your leads.In ideal case it should display a message as GOOD: n-1 BAD: 1 and TOTAL: n where n is the no of entries in your leads file. The GOOD and BAD entries depends upon the quality of your leads file.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509285361599875106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s320/leads_upload.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 168px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />If quality of the leads file is good and you have followed the above mentioned procedure, leads will be uploaded into the campaign after one minute.<br /><br /><b>2.3 Modify campaign settings if needed.</b>E.g. To modify your dialing method for your campaign:<br /><ul><li>login as VICIdial administrator.</li><li>Click on campaigns. Select the campaign whose setting you want to change.</li><li>Change 'Dial Method' to RATIO, and 'Auto Dial Level' to something greater than zero.</li><li>Click on submit.<br /></li></ul>In this section you saw how to configure your softphone, upload leads into campaign and also modify campaign settings. Next section shows you how to get started with using VICIdial server.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><h3><u id="a3">3. Start operating a Hosted Dialer </u></h3><br />Now that your Agents are created, phone logins configured, campaign created and leads uploaded into it, lets see how you can start using the hosted VICIdial server.Section below shows the series of steps that the Agent performs to login into the VICIdial web console and start making/receiving calls. Steps are followed by the screen shots wherever needed.Demonstration given below is for Agent 7771 logged into phone extension e701. i.e<br /><ul><li>Agent with agent-id 7771 and password 7771.<br /></li><li>Phone login e701 and password e701.<br /></li><li>Campaign name "CAMP1 - Campaign 01".<br /></li><li>VICIdial server address 1555000000.cc.ownpages.com.</li></ul>In your browser, enter the URL of your VICIdial server. click on Agent login.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356628893260658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s320/login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />3. Enter web interface phone login name and password.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356929673143810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s320/phone_login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />4. Enter Agent-id and password and select campaign to log into.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509357218369428722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s320/agent_login_one.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br /><br />5. After submitting you would be redirected to VICIdial console and you will receive an incoming call from the VICIdial server connecting you to the session. If your campaign is set to manual dialing then click on 'DIAL NEXT NUMBER' to start dialing from the leads or click on 'RESUME' if campaigns dial method is set to ratio.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509367639034050962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s320/vicidial_screen.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br /><br />6. To finish a call, click on 'HANGUP CUSTOMER'. It will redirect you to disposition page, there you can enter the outcome of the call and click on submit.<br />Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509375688246067730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s320/disposition.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 121px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br /><br />After clicking on submit, you will be redirected back to the VICIdial console where you can start making new calls.<br /><br /><h3><u id="a4">4. Sign-up</u></h3><br />The demo above has a daily limit, after which the server will automatically shut down. However, your account will automatically be credited with demo credit after a few days, when you can resume your experimentation.<br />Signing up after the demo is also easy. Start depositing money into your prepay account, details of which are sent in the email when you register for the demo. You do not have to use <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/minutes.php">OwnPages minutes</a> in production. The first payment must be of USD200 made by wire transfer, after which you can switch to credit cards and PayPal. On payment the demo server above will automatically be converted to production.</div>Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-15944432269204516512010-08-20T06:03:00.000-07:002011-05-10T23:09:07.235-07:00New VoIP preferences/reports settings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">VoIP preferences/reports page allows you to configure options/services for your phone system. Daily call reports, transactions, configure your SIP settings, manage alerts, reverse call service, order a DID are some services provided by it. We have recently added few more capabilities to out VoIP service which are explained here.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Newly added VoIP features<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1594443226920451651#a1">Set Outgoing Caller-Id</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1594443226920451651#a2">Return call service </a><br />
</li>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1594443226920451651#a3">Set Incoming Number Format</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1594443226920451651#a4">Set No. of Incoming Channels</a></li>
</ul>These features are configurable at VoIP preferences/reports page except for Return call service which is enabled by default. Each of these features will be discussed in detail below.<br />
<br />
<div id="cd" style="font-weight: bold;"><u id="a1">Set Outgoing Caller-Id</u></div><div>The caller-id set at your PBX/dialer is usually overridden by OwnPages. Normally outgoing caller-id is set to your incoming number if you have one or as per return call service if you do not. For more advanced caller-id settings go to<br />
preference/reports => Outgoing calling preferences => Set outgoing caller-id.<br />
pictorial view of 'outgoing caller-id' in preferences/reports page.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwQ6X1UBxZRUkaZs3OR-MIwnwTe60b6qEtJru17Ar-T9jmV3gZsL0UQ_R_dSgeLWwgWXVog2BSWLLxDTakOxxGCPR4YhoVWesoQjfGgpN5OOFaBF3XV1Nl77XmnoMDFPSsFMtyTKe_oQ/s1600/Outgoing+calling+preferences.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506269858461185570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmwQ6X1UBxZRUkaZs3OR-MIwnwTe60b6qEtJru17Ar-T9jmV3gZsL0UQ_R_dSgeLWwgWXVog2BSWLLxDTakOxxGCPR4YhoVWesoQjfGgpN5OOFaBF3XV1Nl77XmnoMDFPSsFMtyTKe_oQ/s320/Outgoing+calling+preferences.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 90px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />view image in larger window.</a><br />
You can set caller-id for all or specific destinations. Choose among various caller-id settings provided each of which are explained below.</div><ul><li>EXISTING : Pass to PSTN the caller-id set at your pbx/dialer. For eg in a dialer, set the caller-id of your choice and the same will be shown to the called party.</li>
<li>RANDOM : Sets a random caller-id. Mainly for use by automated dialers</li>
<li>SET : Select this option if you want set caller-id of your choice regardless of what is set at your PBX/dialer.</li>
</ul><div>It is also possible to set caller-id as a local number of the country to which call is made. This is not provided as an option, but you can enable this option by sending a request to services@ownmail.com.</div><br />
<div>Eg: I want to set random caller-id to all outgoing calls to UK and 1800111112 to all US numbers and 1800999999 to rest of the outgoing numbers.</div><div>Following entries have to be made to in 'Destination no' and 'Caller-id settings ' field in order to obtain these settings.</div><div>1. Random caller-id for all UK numbers.</div><div>Destination no : 'Enter destination number' => 44 (ISD code for UK) </div><div>Caller-id settings : 'RANDOM'</div><div></div><div>2. 1800111112 as caller-id for all US numbers.</div><div>Destination no : 'Enter destination number' => 1 (ISD code for US)</div><div>Caller-id settings : 'SET' => 1800111112</div><div></div><div>3. 1800999999 as caller-id for all outgoing calls.</div><div>Destination no : 'ALL'</div><div>Caller-id settings : 'SET' => 1800999999</div><div></div><br />
<div>If your caller-id preferences are not set then your incoming DID number will be passed as the caller-id if you have one. And if you don't have a DID and haven't set caller-id preferences then the caller-id set for your outgoing calls depends upon the client category i.e call-center clients would have random caller-id set and for rest of the clients the caller-id set would be a local number of the country to which call is made (wherever possible).<br />
Non call-center clients can also use our Return call service explained in brief below.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><u id="a2">Return call service</u></span><br />
Using our service you can receive incoming calls even if you don't have an incoming DID number. Suppose you don't have an incoming DID number and haven't set your caller-id preference discussed above then when you make an outgoing call, the caller-id displayed to called party would be a local number of the country to which the call is made. The called party can then call you back by dialing the number which appeared on his/her screen. You have to dial the phone just once for the called party to be able to call you back for life from that phone. Its like having an incoming number without having to pay monthly rent for it but you would be charged per minute basis for a return call.<br />
Return call feature is not available for call-center clients.<br />
<br />
</div><div id="nf" style="font-weight: bold;"><u id="a3">Set incoming number format</u></div><div>You can set the format in which your incoming number arrives at your PBX/dialer. Also known as DNIS, it tells you which number was dialed by the caller. It is useful when you have multiple DID numbers terminating on a single device, thus showing you which number was dialed, based on which you can take appropriate action.To set incoming format goto<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">VoIP preference/reports => Incoming Numbers => Incoming PSTN numbers (DID).<br />
Set the incoming format value against that DID and click on change.</div><div style="text-align: left;">pictorial view of 'outgoing caller-id' in preferences/reports page.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_8sxjtDMDR8c9ZISCw46WSIC_GCyTj7d9Yb17IvaL_u5KaYEN1Fwmbc0Yt_MCs3bsRlQNFkbLwoZK2h3J4hnnN_pttPOynvuy9uSXQsjp5gXTaPl5BXSKR3eCmXmMm8_TTyO76cNjNM/s1600/Incoming+Numbers.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506270452790764770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_8sxjtDMDR8c9ZISCw46WSIC_GCyTj7d9Yb17IvaL_u5KaYEN1Fwmbc0Yt_MCs3bsRlQNFkbLwoZK2h3J4hnnN_pttPOynvuy9uSXQsjp5gXTaPl5BXSKR3eCmXmMm8_TTyO76cNjNM/s320/Incoming+Numbers.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 59px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" />view image in larger window.</a></div></div>Eg: if 'incoming format' field for a incoming DID number 442033938011 is set to 2033938011 then number which arrives at your device will be 2033938011 when 442033938011 is called.<br />
<br />
<u id="a4" style="font-weight: bold;">Set no of incoming channels</u><br />
<div>For setting number of channels goto</div>preferences/reports => Incoming Numbers sectionWe provide incoming numbers charged on a per minute as well as per channel basis. E.g. 5 channels will allow 5 simultaneous calls to the same DID number. For DIDs that are charged on a per channel basis, you can set the number of channels here.Set the 'no of channels' field for that DID and click on change.<br />
<div></div></div></div>Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-30810464102043838062010-08-12T07:00:00.000-07:002010-08-12T07:00:36.309-07:00Why OwnPages?OwnPages PBX, Mail and Contact Centre system focuses on software customization rather than shiny new hardware. It is a hybrid Amazon EC2 hosted/ inhouse virtualized solution that lets you start fast and at dramatically lower cost. OwnPages lets you outsource your headaches while still maintaining control of your systems.<a name='more'></a><h4> </h4><h4>Why no new hardware?</h4>We have nothing against shiny new hardware, however OwnPages lets you begin without any. Over time you could add hardware and let your communication system grow with you. This reduces your sense of risk when starting out on your new communications project.<br />
<h4> </h4><h4>Why virtualized?</h4><ol><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>To abstract the OS.</b> The best software tools are available in a range of platforms, and virtualization reduces the complexity associated with managing them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>To improve uptime.</b> When your server fails, just run OwnPages on another. Even a desktop will do for a while.</span></li>
</ol><h4> </h4><h4>Why Amazon EC2?</h4><ol><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Allows us to host your systems with hourly billing, and yes, in many cases it is possible to switch off your systems when not in use.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Scalable storage and processing power</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Allows a seamless hybrid solution of off-site hosting and on-site virtualization that gives you the power of the cloud while maintaining your control over your system.</span></li>
</ol>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-70781108463203148982010-08-12T00:55:00.000-07:002010-12-08T01:32:27.055-08:00Hosted VICIdial DemoThis tutorial briefs you on how to use the Hosted VICIdial Demo. It will make most sense to someone who has some experience operating a predictive / auto dialer.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<i><small>Note: While registering for the demo if you got a popup asking you to use a SIP phone for the dialer, then <a href="http://blog.ownpages.com/2010/11/hosted-vicidial-demo-with-sip-phones.html">this other tutorial</a> is what you should be reading.</small></i><br />
<br />
I have split it into 4 sections. Section 2 and 3 will help you get up and running with using Hosted VICIdial Demo.<br />
<br />
<a href="#a1">1. Things already configured</a><br />
<a href="#a2">2. Things to be done</a><br />
<a href="#a3">3. Start operating the Hosted Dialer </a><br />
<a href="#a4">4. Sign up </a><br />
<br />
<h3><u id="a1">1. Things already configured</u></h3><br />
After you <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/demod.php">register for the dialer demo</a> and log into your VICIdial server, you will find that most of the activities you need to perform as a VICIdial administrator are already done for you. Details are as follows:<br />
<ul><li><b>Phones login:</b> 10 phone accounts are already created. Phone logins are from e701 to e710 with passwords same as phone login. The phone account e701 is configured with the phone number which was provided while registering for Hosted dialer demo.</li>
<li><b>Agents login</b>: 10 agent accounts are already created. Agent logins are from 7771 to 7710 with passwords same as the agent login.</li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> A default campaign "Campaign 01" is already created. The campaign is set to manual dialing.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Lists:</b> A default list "LIST 01" is already created and is assigned to "Campaign 01". A set of sample leads file is uploaded into list "LIST 01", so that you can start testing the demo rightaway without you having to create new lists and uploading leads into it. Steps to create lists and uploading leads into the campaign is explained later in this tutorial. </li>
<li><b>Carrier:</b> A carrier is a VoIP trunk provided by the VoIP service provider to route your incoming/outgoing calls. For the hosted dialer demo we have already configured a VoIP trunk (carrier) for you.</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3><u id="a2">2. Things to be done</u></h3>If you are testing out the Demo hosted dialer then you can skip this section and move on to "Start operating the Hosted dialer" section.<br />
<br />
There are 2 things which we thought that you need to know in order to operate your Hosted dialer demo:<br />
<ul><li><b>Configuring Phone accounts.</b><br />
</li>
<li><b>Uploading leads into the campaign.</b><br />
</li>
</ul><br />
Please note that you can also modify your campaign settings if you want to, but mostly it would not be required. Modifying campaign settings is described later in this section.<br />
<br />
<b>2.1 </b><b>Configuring Phone accounts</b><br />
While you register for the demo, you are asked for a phone number. This phone number is configured in the phone account e701. Steps to configure the rest of the phones is explained below in snapshots.<br />
<br />
For configuring Phone account, Login as administrator, click on "Admin" section, move on "Phones" and then select the phone to configure.<br />
<br />
below image displays the list of the phones.<br />
Pictorial view<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s1600/vici_phone_list.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s320/vici_phone_list.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540060143250137698" border="0" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmWao56LVL0Ry09bgrERKZWTpF8uezVFhV-Pxqt2BPjsafyz2dMnwvS9iBi09hdKuPpXBnocFm2DKrK2TEIXCAI2_HmSFKL_ll7mUG5CRDV1lOEOiRaEDZZuNueiFDjSD88WJIsR2NQg/s1600/vici_phone_list.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
Lets see how to configure phone account e702 with the phone number "1200000011". <br />
<br />
To configure phone account e702, click on e702 to view its details.<br />
<br />
Edit the "Dial plan number" and add the phone number(including ISD code) "1200000011" to "1555" such that the resultant "Dial plan number" must be "15551200000011".<br />
<br />
Keep rest of the settings to its default values. "1555" added at the beginning is the dialplan prefix.<br />
<br />
Pictorial view<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s1600/vici_phone_set.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s320/vici_phone_set.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540065643094549650" border="0" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFywN-I8fBCxX1dNpcdKylUk1BB7BPVhI8tarUZqPlLxn7ATXXXGPtjCSS1eecs-ecA_GiLMA8YLBGzHJWkHOIDKxGj8uEBSxZMruJ7WpD-7_O98jZWbd-IUy3XGOgi5fE1hfcyYle2QE/s1600/vici_phone_set.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
Once the dialplan prefix is edited, click on submit button, and the phone e702 is configured. <br />
<br />
After the configuring the phone account, when the agent logs into VICIdial web console using this phone account, the phone number mentioned will get an incoming call from the VICIdial server connecting him to the VICIdial session.<br />
<br />
<b>2.2 Uploading leads into the default campaign</b><br />
For uploading leads into a campaign, first create a <b>list</b>, assign it to a campaign and then upload leads into that list.<br />
<br />
Login as Administrator and click on 'lists'. Click on create a new list.<br />
Options provided are <br />
<ul><li><b>List ID:</b> Unique list ID.<br />
</li>
<li><b>List Name:</b> List name between 2 to 20 characters.<br />
</li>
<li><b>List Description:</b> Something descriptive (optional). </li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> This list belongs to the selected campaign.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Active:</b> Select Y option.<br />
</li>
</ul>Eg below shows list being created with following values.<br />
<ul><li><b>List ID:</b> 1000<br />
</li>
<li><b>List Name:</b> USERS_UK<br />
</li>
<li><b>List Description:</b> Users in UK.<br />
</li>
<li><b>Campaign:</b> Campaign 01<br />
</li>
<li><b>Active:</b> Y<br />
</li>
</ul>Click on submit and the list is created.<br />
Pictorial view<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s320/New_list.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511070878515180338" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcLYvpd55gvDhakCepGSotUQRBSC2d2zc6TmOtpFOs8SRp49AYzfZf2hcx2kOwDGH6FU8a2vTIG0Hs4lU4DGEvsD_F2X6QmprUc2zCOdXQe_v8wBeZJRGDuhJLE3aI2spWbFwKe82DHM/s1600/New_list.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
After list is created, upload leads into it.For uploading leads click on 'lists'. Click on Load new leads.Leads file should be in .xls,.csv or plain text format. <a file="" href="http://www.ownpages.com/blog/sample.xls">See</a> sample leads file. This file can actually be used to test the dialer.Enter following details in the list-loader page.<ul><li><b>Load leads from this file:</b> Browse your leads file and upload it.</li>
<li><b>List ID Override:</b> Enter List Id of list which you just created.</li>
<li><b>Phone Code Override:</b> Leave blank</li>
<li><b>File layout to use:</b> Choose 'Custom layout'</li>
<li>Leave rest of the options to default value.</li>
</ul>Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509283881998999954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s320/leads.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 105px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBUt9jA5Yvm6-2bxJa1uo_WAZn2nOUJLPzEAdQ87KWIGpU11vZ0knC5WZxViJ3vALVLFLS8EwxDTm1EKJGu9sNwpj_vomjBsi8J_q6idbaoTLOeyaleas6C-htM72SDe3GhhJtro7izo/s1600/leads.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
Clicking on submit button opens up a new page, select matching VICIdial columns against your lead file columns and click on 'ok to process'.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509284875662415954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s320/leads_match.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 310px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qAdCn_fa-YmnQav6Ul5cKi8absJ9gbFVFmu4xbB32oYvaMSsEnKnY_3Df83J2TO_pivPmNgwr3fkIH6hryipUaJoot3LE-qZZVS-oAtdnFNw1kHt0mayPAQqjh_1Dys2qijZus2tOVU/s1600/leads_match.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
After submitting, it displays a message about the status of your leads.In ideal case it should display a message as GOOD: n-1 BAD: 1 and TOTAL: n where n is the no of entries in your leads file. The GOOD and BAD entries depends upon the quality of your leads file.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509285361599875106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s320/leads_upload.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 168px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP8BE50eddeE22PB6XpySo0WDk5MCVqzj2I_mTBnwAitVw8o9vtP3BV9w5iCdhwIGkYhpjwoEg5OGKUUjulchu8pIz62ml0zJfFFHN-mCwVq4PpXdhm-MT41biBgvpyr3ptqFtoG5mfk/s1600/leads_upload.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
If quality of the leads file is good and you have followed the above mentioned procedure, leads will be uploaded into the campaign after one minute.<br />
<br />
<b>2.3 Modify campaign settings if needed.</b><br />
E.g. To modify your dialing method for your campaign:<ul><li>login as VICIdial administrator.</li>
<li>Click on campaigns. Select the campaign whose setting you want to change.</li>
<li>Change 'Dial Method' to RATIO, and 'Auto Dial Level' to something greater than zero.</li>
<li>Click on submit.<br />
</li>
</ul><br />
In this section you saw how to configure your phone, upload leads into campaign and also modify campaign settings. Next section shows you how to get started with using VICIdial server.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3><u id="a3">3. Start operating a Hosted Dialer </u></h3><br />
Now that your Agents are created, phone logins configured, campaign created and leads uploaded into it, lets see how you can start using the hosted VICIdial server. Section below shows the series of steps that the Agent performs to login into the VICIdial web console and start making/receiving calls. Steps are followed by the screen shots wherever needed. Demonstration given below is for Agent 7771 logged into phone extension e701. i.e<ul><li>Agent with agent-id 7771 and password 7771.<br />
</li>
<li>Phone login e701 and password e701.<br />
</li>
<li>Campaign name "CAMP1 - Campaign 01".<br />
</li>
<li>VICIdial server address 1555000000.cc.ownpages.com.</li>
</ul><br />
1. In your browser, enter the URL of your VICIdial server.<br />
<br />
2. click on Agent login.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356628893260658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s320/login_one.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYf74sQD2ZiGhSQnGzXQ3jc44DWrGaofLQOrnOVP9ICAOeWEmnh2zxBytRNRyHxsqjP9p3-Un8R-0V6yAvxW6KtRP_KVexRlbF_GbP1UCGEwOeb63meItuAtfwXOZPaVdyu1F06xDiFoo/s1600/login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
3. Enter web interface phone login name and password.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509356929673143810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s320/phone_login_one.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGfROmyTpPvFR9n4u3wRWZyI5EiWyeTEaF6YIVwoqRfeQ1lrL046gXjre4hKrHbCQJt1T2NYZvXhP3wNszXs9y6P6TMZ58qS8fbdlOdv-ZT78Fqhr-Fd8iyLp2VWI8nr6zyKiShNoe0-8/s1600/phone_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
4. Enter Agent-id and password and select campaign to log into.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509357218369428722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s320/agent_login_one.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 55px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixlg7-R5-PwIXDllMNwfb03ZC_oLDv0qr7zokNsGxiM-O-jtHpyMNrt5XPXQV9wmtXb7QW4kHxLVxiwggUdFzmzFghnVOjKeaS93HREfFtqZbHvEzWDhyemyDhYthn2tjgteee56O24U4/s1600/agent_login_one.png" target="_blank">View image in larger window</a><br />
<br />
5. On submit, you are redirected to VICIdial console and the phone number configured in e701 will receive an incoming call from the VICIdial server connecting you to the session.<br />
<br />
If your campaigns dial method is set to manual dialing then click on 'DIAL NEXT NUMBER' to start dialing from the leads or if campaigns dial method is set to ratio/automatic then click on "RESUME" so that the dialer starts calling from the leads and connects the call to you.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509367639034050962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s320/vicidial_screen.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6akXacMF_ajkRzs2CpmMTxK7Y_zCgzVf3NYit27ybcpVNsy20n0QdmUe1g_jSNL-nWtVLKeRNFQx0l1jNWCrWwFAykDlUGObpTeJRtt5zkF4bC1nIqGhHk-Rr06BukxW8xhLpFEfr1M/s1600/vicidial_screen.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br />
<br />
6. To finish a call, click on 'HANGUP CUSTOMER'. It will redirect you to disposition page, there you can enter the outcome of the call and click on submit.<br />
Pictorial view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509375688246067730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s320/disposition.png" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 121px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRCiFSwadfBhlzGsDEm1XX43-3JP64OPqKrYIMRzTAqYzhxAyeLMarvUNS1Rk_IQbUSx4wOYW5UQOn1_bxX4WI72AlwzogIz1_ntxYLEyJmexxNlEWcneT4PHwKqOa7y-jO4KTYLcuEs/s1600/disposition.png" target="_blank">View image in another window</a><br />
<br />
After clicking on submit, you will be redirected back to the VICIdial console where you can start making new calls.<br />
<br />
7. Agent phones can also be configured using SIP soft phones. See <a href="http://blog.ownpages.com/2010/11/hosted-vicidial-demo-with-sip-phones.html">this tutorial</a> on how to set up SIP soft phones.<br />
<br />
<h3><u id="a4">4. Sign-up</u></h3><br />
The demo above has a daily limit, after which the server will automatically shut down. However, your account will automatically be credited with demo credit after a few days, when you can resume your experimentation. Do not go beyond a single agent when in demo mode. <br />
Signing up after the demo is also easy. Start depositing money into your prepay account, details of which are sent in the email when you register for the demo. You do not have to use <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/minutes.php">OwnPages minutes</a> in production. The first payment must be of USD200 by PayPal. This will not appear immediately in your account till we cross check with you. Subsequent payments will be immediately credited. On first payment the demo server above will automatically be converted to production.<br />
As a security measure, your calling is limited to 35 low cost destinations. contact us via the forums after sign up if you want to call other destinations.Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-64493168634119892412010-07-20T06:44:00.000-07:002010-08-07T05:02:59.724-07:00Tutorial: Creating users and extensions in OwnPagesOwnPages modifies Asterisk GUI to separate the concept of user and extension. In Ownpages a user is a person or a role that can have one email address but multiple PBX extensions. It allows you create users and extensions and to associate a user with one or more extensions. Below is a brief tutorial on creating users and extensions in OwnPages.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">After you have configured OwnPages, create users and extensions by logging into your admin account. If the OwnPages server is hosted onsite, this must be from within your LAN.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
There would be some default users already created for you by the name of admin, sales, info and marketing and they would have been assigned extensions.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><br />
There are two ways by which you can begin:</div><ol><li>Create a user and optionally create him/her an extension.</li>
<li>Create an extension and optionally assign it to an existing user.<br />
</li>
</ol><u>1.Creating a user and optionally create him/her an extension.</u> <br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Goto Administer => Manage users => Create New User .</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Below is a pictorial view of your Administer page.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOrXV9zO5BTaOOOP26YOfecjgW6RqJNR4XCw23XdPp3U53FNbfQeIY0Roo4BW3LX8kn8YoZ8L7tNzAO2mg6K8EdKCo__MBR7iCsbGVo19UC4aCcsu1OwGxmT_kg6rP2URDfSneWrDMqc/s1600/Administer+page.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495943638027280226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOrXV9zO5BTaOOOP26YOfecjgW6RqJNR4XCw23XdPp3U53FNbfQeIY0Roo4BW3LX8kn8YoZ8L7tNzAO2mg6K8EdKCo__MBR7iCsbGVo19UC4aCcsu1OwGxmT_kg6rP2URDfSneWrDMqc/s320/Administer+page.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 155px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOrXV9zO5BTaOOOP26YOfecjgW6RqJNR4XCw23XdPp3U53FNbfQeIY0Roo4BW3LX8kn8YoZ8L7tNzAO2mg6K8EdKCo__MBR7iCsbGVo19UC4aCcsu1OwGxmT_kg6rP2URDfSneWrDMqc/s1600/Administer+page.png" target="_blank">view image in another window</a></div><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><style type="text/css">
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</style> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Figure Below shows the list of users in 'Manage Users' page.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_-4Pmp6BlKsNUBFPHPC2MB_BKFVWqrFxR5BqnIr7R0uqu-R1ISCx79AOxqdm98w9QtF_uPplcoSwC8Laa1bltgEM2rn-xjA2C2jum5yACadyB_L2M6-FwYSQhJRzYOQEB5xoyWkgJ5k/s1600/Users.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495967560762870882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_-4Pmp6BlKsNUBFPHPC2MB_BKFVWqrFxR5BqnIr7R0uqu-R1ISCx79AOxqdm98w9QtF_uPplcoSwC8Laa1bltgEM2rn-xjA2C2jum5yACadyB_L2M6-FwYSQhJRzYOQEB5xoyWkgJ5k/s320/Users.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 155px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_-4Pmp6BlKsNUBFPHPC2MB_BKFVWqrFxR5BqnIr7R0uqu-R1ISCx79AOxqdm98w9QtF_uPplcoSwC8Laa1bltgEM2rn-xjA2C2jum5yACadyB_L2M6-FwYSQhJRzYOQEB5xoyWkgJ5k/s1600/Users.png" target="_blank">view image in another window</a><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Create new users by clicking on 'Create New User'.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLS4VbVMG9hrP2jYWg-PmeZCUzOfItYwe_kjMRyetVz71W8-sGiDlvDQOIqq6z270xGIrMmMltUlGB4qBTeOLQ-VEoJhuL3O_jm-bKKuizLLtOK73ZpwL0myYkTs45bGxC0ZbWw9dvUc/s1600/Create_Users.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495946462056742818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLS4VbVMG9hrP2jYWg-PmeZCUzOfItYwe_kjMRyetVz71W8-sGiDlvDQOIqq6z270xGIrMmMltUlGB4qBTeOLQ-VEoJhuL3O_jm-bKKuizLLtOK73ZpwL0myYkTs45bGxC0ZbWw9dvUc/s320/Create_Users.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 156px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh_-4Pmp6BlKsNUBFPHPC2MB_BKFVWqrFxR5BqnIr7R0uqu-R1ISCx79AOxqdm98w9QtF_uPplcoSwC8Laa1bltgEM2rn-xjA2C2jum5yACadyB_L2M6-FwYSQhJRzYOQEB5xoyWkgJ5k/s1600/Users.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br />
</a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhLS4VbVMG9hrP2jYWg-PmeZCUzOfItYwe_kjMRyetVz71W8-sGiDlvDQOIqq6z270xGIrMmMltUlGB4qBTeOLQ-VEoJhuL3O_jm-bKKuizLLtOK73ZpwL0myYkTs45bGxC0ZbWw9dvUc/s1600/Create_Users.png" target="_blank">view image in another window</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Enter the userid, password for the user you are going to create. To also create an extension for the user select 'Create an extension for this user' box.</div><br />
Click OK and user is created along with the extension.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><style type="text/css">
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</style> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><u>2. Creating an extension and optionally assigning it to an existing user.</u></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Goto Administer => Manage extensions => Create new extension</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Below is the pictorial view of ‘Manage extensions’ pages.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHuQ16zBlTMdDYN5CiuKK0jSs_K0bHuf-dqC0-3n5lwXL9TIGtuObnp9LRdeGJFsPcgiEo0hPkiVVB6vPcmWh3Fhv8NE2oVH-RS0a6Iu5i8stu-MRYpAusyNpnloN_oT4gG6kaqL-USU/s1600/extension_new.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495948580357518786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHuQ16zBlTMdDYN5CiuKK0jSs_K0bHuf-dqC0-3n5lwXL9TIGtuObnp9LRdeGJFsPcgiEo0hPkiVVB6vPcmWh3Fhv8NE2oVH-RS0a6Iu5i8stu-MRYpAusyNpnloN_oT4gG6kaqL-USU/s320/extension_new.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 157px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUHuQ16zBlTMdDYN5CiuKK0jSs_K0bHuf-dqC0-3n5lwXL9TIGtuObnp9LRdeGJFsPcgiEo0hPkiVVB6vPcmWh3Fhv8NE2oVH-RS0a6Iu5i8stu-MRYpAusyNpnloN_oT4gG6kaqL-USU/s1600/extension_new.png" target="_blank">view image in another window</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><style type="text/css">
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</style> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Create an extension.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2Nv83_FP447V228LovQCRYHwtB4HLvkR_-ZiHfqhITWOCJnjZHd81zcmleFouaTrWFSBjey8UtR9tm9otM_A9TzlMywngd99FkbnW-MP2VzVWKv09EhZbe8o33r1n17GbWHl7VzZA_U/s1600/extensions_create.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495949086516786834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2Nv83_FP447V228LovQCRYHwtB4HLvkR_-ZiHfqhITWOCJnjZHd81zcmleFouaTrWFSBjey8UtR9tm9otM_A9TzlMywngd99FkbnW-MP2VzVWKv09EhZbe8o33r1n17GbWHl7VzZA_U/s320/extensions_create.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 157px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2Nv83_FP447V228LovQCRYHwtB4HLvkR_-ZiHfqhITWOCJnjZHd81zcmleFouaTrWFSBjey8UtR9tm9otM_A9TzlMywngd99FkbnW-MP2VzVWKv09EhZbe8o33r1n17GbWHl7VzZA_U/s1600/extensions_create.png" target="_blank">view image in another window</a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><style type="text/css">
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</style> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: -1in;"><br />
</div><ul><li>Enter extension number<br />
</li>
<li>Enter password<br />
</li>
<li>Optionally you can assign the extension to an existing email user.<br />
</li>
</ul><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Extensions can be created without assigning it to a user. These can be used for parking etc.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Click on create and the extension will be created for you.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div>Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-17099981066070445082010-07-12T22:28:00.001-07:002010-08-07T05:03:20.710-07:00Tutorial: Adding new outgoing service (trunk) in OwnPages using Asterisk GUIAfter OwnPages is set-up, the Asterisk instance in the OwnPages server is started and you are ready to make outgoing calls. OwnPages provides you with default trunk (outgoing phone service) through which you can make your outgoing calls. This post shows how you can use Asterisk GUI to create a new trunk in OwnPages if you have another outgoing service provider or want to add a phone gateway.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h3><span style="font-size: 130%;">CONTENT</span></h3><span style="font-size: 130%;"></span><br />
<h3><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1709998106607044508#a1"></a></h3><h4><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1709998106607044508#a2">1 Creating a new trunk.</a></h4><h4><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1709998106607044508#a3">2 Creating an Outgoing calling rule.</a></h4><h4><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2824589172637969595&postID=1709998106607044508#a4">3 Adding calling rule in Dial plan.</a></h4><br />
<br />
<h3 id="a2"><span style="font-size: 100%;">1 Creating a new trunk.</span></h3>Steps for creating new outgoing trunk.<br />
<br />
Step 1:<br />
Login into your admin email account, from within your LAN if using OwnPages onsite.<br />
Goto Administer => PBX configuration => Advanced configuration.<br />
<br />
Clicking on ‘Advanced configuration’ will take you to the Asterisk GUI.<br />
<br />
Step 2:<br />
Click on Trunks.<br />
i.e Trunks => VOIP Trunks<br />
It will show you available outgoing VOIP trunks.<br />
Click on ‘create new Sip/Iax trunk’ to create new outgoing trunk. This is required even if you are setting up a phone gateway such as an Audiocodes box.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgiPjjT9dNyaQd8PKWSL6elf4NflA1FGk4ac4COrvkf-QMc14e7GUwMeF-3MNn0GPlYM0-vlfd7PL5FduLXRysQJijCYUFfMq03LNkJOBl2rSrXIVIPJZ2sQfI8PUgI4Ll3Xh4ZgKjns/s1600/Trunk_display.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493251946496942434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgiPjjT9dNyaQd8PKWSL6elf4NflA1FGk4ac4COrvkf-QMc14e7GUwMeF-3MNn0GPlYM0-vlfd7PL5FduLXRysQJijCYUFfMq03LNkJOBl2rSrXIVIPJZ2sQfI8PUgI4Ll3Xh4ZgKjns/s320/Trunk_display.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHgiPjjT9dNyaQd8PKWSL6elf4NflA1FGk4ac4COrvkf-QMc14e7GUwMeF-3MNn0GPlYM0-vlfd7PL5FduLXRysQJijCYUFfMq03LNkJOBl2rSrXIVIPJZ2sQfI8PUgI4Ll3Xh4ZgKjns/s1600/Trunk_display.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Step 3:<br />
Clicking on ‘create new Sip trunk’ will force a pop-up window, there you will be required to enter the details of the username, password with which you will register to the outgoing trunk service provider along with the hostname of the trunk service provider.<br />
Details are mentioned below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9wsezx54zfqZeaa3LHK-1YEm7_8hxdtMXccKFoXGmtA2WIJQc5E3VFVoEAxm3x8yB-nHKExqv_2beKRRQqTuN8uXZc0PuDI0Aj-pakYsE_5Isl-t7a8PFoHNXfmQEt8RTbm_h75RXqY/s1600/Trunk_create_new11.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494774329637823346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9wsezx54zfqZeaa3LHK-1YEm7_8hxdtMXccKFoXGmtA2WIJQc5E3VFVoEAxm3x8yB-nHKExqv_2beKRRQqTuN8uXZc0PuDI0Aj-pakYsE_5Isl-t7a8PFoHNXfmQEt8RTbm_h75RXqY/s320/Trunk_create_new11.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 157px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX9wsezx54zfqZeaa3LHK-1YEm7_8hxdtMXccKFoXGmtA2WIJQc5E3VFVoEAxm3x8yB-nHKExqv_2beKRRQqTuN8uXZc0PuDI0Aj-pakYsE_5Isl-t7a8PFoHNXfmQEt8RTbm_h75RXqY/s1600/Trunk_create_new11.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
<ul><li>Type : SIP</li>
</ul><ul><li>Context Naming: select ‘Based on username’ option.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Provider Name: Name the trunk anything you wish.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Hostname : IP/Address of the service provider.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Username : userid with which the OwnPages PBX will register with the service provider.</li>
</ul><br />
After entering the details save the settings and your outgoing trunk will be created.<br />
<br />
You can see the trunk been created when you click on Trunks => VOIP Trunks.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOGl5Ewq42WF4ZMAQJZKDgJ9sIdhYXpB6RwIJ-lr76syIh0L0ayiyyM12JXmduud0MoLdasp7cFCBx0QIeityRNjtAsjyrMBO1hTY-cZqntR2Ho0pHTxFVqsQSiy4NwOH3l7Ne5Uzztc/s1600/Trunk_new_display11.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494774336698362754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOGl5Ewq42WF4ZMAQJZKDgJ9sIdhYXpB6RwIJ-lr76syIh0L0ayiyyM12JXmduud0MoLdasp7cFCBx0QIeityRNjtAsjyrMBO1hTY-cZqntR2Ho0pHTxFVqsQSiy4NwOH3l7Ne5Uzztc/s320/Trunk_new_display11.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 157px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEOGl5Ewq42WF4ZMAQJZKDgJ9sIdhYXpB6RwIJ-lr76syIh0L0ayiyyM12JXmduud0MoLdasp7cFCBx0QIeityRNjtAsjyrMBO1hTY-cZqntR2Ho0pHTxFVqsQSiy4NwOH3l7Ne5Uzztc/s1600/Trunk_new_display11.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
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<h3 id="a3"><span style="font-size: 100%;">2 Creating an Outgoing calling rule.</span></h3>After the trunk has been created, tell OwnPages Asterisk when to route the outgoing calls through created trunk by creating an Outgoing calling rule.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLoQTN9slpVyNzKwbeuRfgD1U3v5KJmNBpj5Ra41iodTMd6RxLfeg2JuYNbinId5sEas-7FoZNMI7T0o4IjyB8GTND9-Lwko5EzN1fZgYsqSGomCF3qa6_VWX3Db7LYK5c2F7xLwLBiE/s1600/Outgoing_rules.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493253524940142882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLoQTN9slpVyNzKwbeuRfgD1U3v5KJmNBpj5Ra41iodTMd6RxLfeg2JuYNbinId5sEas-7FoZNMI7T0o4IjyB8GTND9-Lwko5EzN1fZgYsqSGomCF3qa6_VWX3Db7LYK5c2F7xLwLBiE/s320/Outgoing_rules.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 159px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpLoQTN9slpVyNzKwbeuRfgD1U3v5KJmNBpj5Ra41iodTMd6RxLfeg2JuYNbinId5sEas-7FoZNMI7T0o4IjyB8GTND9-Lwko5EzN1fZgYsqSGomCF3qa6_VWX3Db7LYK5c2F7xLwLBiE/s1600/Outgoing_rules.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
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<br />
Create a new Outgoing calling rules by clicking on New Calling Rule.<br />
Goto ‘Outgoing calling Rules’ => ‘New Calling Rule’.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lcdlBZyVVlCdZIPXjriMAQG7xHUclRdUUfKiWLyAhqM_yb80Gv0PoFSFsFjlNV7MHLzrkg5IADxfk3Y07rJpFhFm911c-o33ljF5mWknpJ7KJPPpL-G2eeR-dbJipJVRnwqZfv1-fqA/s1600/Outgoing_rules_new.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493253806856227714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lcdlBZyVVlCdZIPXjriMAQG7xHUclRdUUfKiWLyAhqM_yb80Gv0PoFSFsFjlNV7MHLzrkg5IADxfk3Y07rJpFhFm911c-o33ljF5mWknpJ7KJPPpL-G2eeR-dbJipJVRnwqZfv1-fqA/s320/Outgoing_rules_new.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1lcdlBZyVVlCdZIPXjriMAQG7xHUclRdUUfKiWLyAhqM_yb80Gv0PoFSFsFjlNV7MHLzrkg5IADxfk3Y07rJpFhFm911c-o33ljF5mWknpJ7KJPPpL-G2eeR-dbJipJVRnwqZfv1-fqA/s1600/Outgoing_rules_new.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Details of the options mentioned above are as follows.<br />
<ul><li>Calling Rule Name: Specify a name for this calling rule.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Pattern: It implies that the calling rule will be applied to any number dialed in the specified pattern.<br />
</li>
</ul><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Eg</span>: In our current calling rule the pattern ‘_9X.’, it means that any number dialed with its first digit as 9 will be assigned this calling rule.<br />
<ul><li>Since you are creating an outgoing calling rule, do not click on ‘Send to local destination’.</li>
</ul><ul><li>And then in ‘Send this call through trunk’ section, you need to make following entries.<br />
</li>
</ul>1. Use trunk : select the trunk for this particular calling rule. The trunk which you created previously has to be selected.<br />
2. Strip : Number of digits to be striped before passing it to the service provider.<br />
<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Eg</span>: If number dialed is 91600123456, then the first digit will be striped and will passed to the service provider as 1600123456.<br />
<ul><li>Alternate trunk option lets you select the trunk the through which your outgoing calls will will be passed when this trunk is unable to make calls.</li>
</ul>And after saving the calling rule it will appear in the list of calling rules.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tK-QK6YBIclbZqclutwqPbTZrROumlh2hI-Xj-nc3UsydSR0M1Cs8Y6iUQixzyEsCbjB6q-CivsoYzy56tCrK0m7hPEc2podkwl9kpE78ehlCQDP_IYZPEJe49ZobFZ8yehAjhZIln8/s1600/Outgoing_rules_ne_display.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493254272151899090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tK-QK6YBIclbZqclutwqPbTZrROumlh2hI-Xj-nc3UsydSR0M1Cs8Y6iUQixzyEsCbjB6q-CivsoYzy56tCrK0m7hPEc2podkwl9kpE78ehlCQDP_IYZPEJe49ZobFZ8yehAjhZIln8/s320/Outgoing_rules_ne_display.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tK-QK6YBIclbZqclutwqPbTZrROumlh2hI-Xj-nc3UsydSR0M1Cs8Y6iUQixzyEsCbjB6q-CivsoYzy56tCrK0m7hPEc2podkwl9kpE78ehlCQDP_IYZPEJe49ZobFZ8yehAjhZIln8/s1600/Outgoing_rules_ne_display.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3 id="a4"><span style="font-size: 100%;">3 Adding calling rule in Dial plan.</span></h3>Now that the outgoing calling rule has been created it has to be added in the Dial plan.<br />
Dial Plan is a set of Calling Rules.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8bCxcTWrnrM-8wfy-mCxzWE96trzG_gn5zEOZmHfLbnFHW9BeawphIjZ0NCWQ-oA8XH6o7mu1dRuyC-B_yFS_eyJ6G6IjQM6c14MM4n0j4NDfHWYKC_hzZT19uW20Pv9Ozhx0NFuI2g/s1600/Dial_plan.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493254758141791218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8bCxcTWrnrM-8wfy-mCxzWE96trzG_gn5zEOZmHfLbnFHW9BeawphIjZ0NCWQ-oA8XH6o7mu1dRuyC-B_yFS_eyJ6G6IjQM6c14MM4n0j4NDfHWYKC_hzZT19uW20Pv9Ozhx0NFuI2g/s320/Dial_plan.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 159px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8bCxcTWrnrM-8wfy-mCxzWE96trzG_gn5zEOZmHfLbnFHW9BeawphIjZ0NCWQ-oA8XH6o7mu1dRuyC-B_yFS_eyJ6G6IjQM6c14MM4n0j4NDfHWYKC_hzZT19uW20Pv9Ozhx0NFuI2g/s1600/Dial_plan.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
Edit the existing dial plan to include the newly created outgoing calling rule.<br />
<br />
You just have to tick the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">checkbox</span> to include the new outgoing rule in the existing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">dialplan</span>, and save the settings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2PZSndtUzvBA1AQ1UoMoOpwPe7rSTOc5DZr-dBhnwYMYXDr7tSj3dK3fvLGIwssmBRZXc8D36d6HNHxpR2W0pka6afCZ_lhgQb8Ga08AhzHJ9RQtGzTNwkh-O0NcoZqmx2kByBlsMpY/s1600/Dial_plan_new.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493255033065289042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2PZSndtUzvBA1AQ1UoMoOpwPe7rSTOc5DZr-dBhnwYMYXDr7tSj3dK3fvLGIwssmBRZXc8D36d6HNHxpR2W0pka6afCZ_lhgQb8Ga08AhzHJ9RQtGzTNwkh-O0NcoZqmx2kByBlsMpY/s320/Dial_plan_new.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 158px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2PZSndtUzvBA1AQ1UoMoOpwPe7rSTOc5DZr-dBhnwYMYXDr7tSj3dK3fvLGIwssmBRZXc8D36d6HNHxpR2W0pka6afCZ_lhgQb8Ga08AhzHJ9RQtGzTNwkh-O0NcoZqmx2kByBlsMpY/s1600/Dial_plan_new.png" target="”_blank”">view image in another window</a><br />
<br />
<br />
After all these steps are completed, click on Apply Changes to reload your sip configuration. If the trunk has been properly set-up and gets registered with the service provider then it will reflect in the 'System Status' in the list of registered Trunks.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In brief, adding a new trunk requires creating a new trunk and then creating an outgoing calling rule for it and including it in your existing dial plan.Shridharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10524438255865821346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-11493049998460830092010-05-26T01:49:00.000-07:002010-05-26T01:54:38.777-07:00Howto speed up agi in asterisk with inetdAsterisk's AGI interface performance issues can be a limiting factor in high performance installations. This post details how we used agi+inetd for a 4x improvement in calls per second (cps) with minimal change in our agi code<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b>Test setup</b><br />
Amazon ec2's high cpu medium instance (the one that costs USD0.17/hr) + Slackware 13.0 + asterisk 1.6.2.7 as the OwnPages call handling server. Another such instance was used for sipp to generate calls, and 2 such were used with Vicidial + asterisk 1.4.x as dummy SIP terminators. We used Vici's excellent performance test that gave approximately our production ACD, ASR and failure cause stats out of the box.<br />
<br />
<b>Before agi+inetd</b><br />
Our existing Asterisk installations for OwnPages choke at 7cps for server side call handling, which we assumed was due to faulty agi design and our use of 1.4.x versions of asterisk. So our first step was to switch (for the test machine) to 1.6.2.7 and inspect our ancient agi processes (written in c) for code and database inefficiencies, of which we found many. To our surprise, the cps meter barely moved. See first row in table of test results<br />
<br />
We then began to systematically remove functionality from the agi processes to isolate functions that were resource intensive. In stages we stripped the agi processes to bare shells that did virtually nothing, and found that it made almost no difference to cps.<br />
<br />
Next step was to replace our agis completely with a simple call to /bin/ls for a directory that had just a few files. When we saw cps stuck at 7 even for this, we understood that the act of calling the agi processes mattered more than what the processes did.<br />
<br />
Our diaplan had 3 agi processes per call attempt. We combined the functionality into just one agi process per call, and saw an immediate 2x improvement to 15cps :-)<br />
<br />
<b>Enter inetd</b><br />
15 calls per second gave us about 350 concurrent calls without media for our call stats. See second row in table below. This was much less than our goal of 1000 concurrent calls for optimum manageability. We then set about removing this last agi call.<br />
Inetd (with tcpd) implements a network wrapper around a normal process by presenting network input to its standard input, and similarly handling its output. The process itself needs no network code. Asterisk 1.6's Fastagi interface is capable of sending variables to the network connection. All we had to do to use Fastagi instead of agi was to modify the agi to accept its variables from command line (for use with agi API) as well as standard input (to use with Fastagi+inetd). This was a simple change in our agi code. We then called our agi from /etc/inetd.conf, effectively using inetd as a Fastagi server.<br />
<br />
We liked this change. CPS went from 15 to 32, and concurrent calls without media touched 800. See third row in table below. We were still short of our goal, but figured we could more than get there with Amazon's high CPU extra large instance type which gives you 4x CPU (at 4x cost). We have not tried it because it is a 64bit instance type. We had managed our goal with no drop in functionality.<br />
<br />
<b>Test results</b><br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cols="5" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; font-size: 80%; text-align: right;"><colgroup><col align="left" width="30%"></col><col width="13%"></col><col width="24%"></col><col width="18%"></col><col width="15%"></col></colgroup> <tbody>
<tr style="border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa; font-weight: bold;"><td></td><td>Max cps</td><td>Max concurrent calls</td><td>Server load avg</td><td>CPU idle %</td> </tr>
<tr><td align="left">Before inetd, 3agis/call</td><td>7</td><td>175</td><td>4</td><td>10</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">Before inetd, 1 combined agi/call</td><td>15</td><td>350</td><td>6</td><td>14</td></tr>
<tr><td align="left">After inetd, 1 combined agi/call</td><td>32</td><td>800</td><td>6.8</td><td>22</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
While the table seems to suggest that the act of combining agis was as important as switching to inetd, our testing indicates that just switching to inetd should give you 3.5 - 4x improvement in cases where agi performance is the limiting factor. We did not measure this clearly, since we had already combined the agi processes by the time we got to inetdDevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-88363566933874817332010-02-07T00:04:00.001-08:002012-03-12T04:27:35.499-07:00Realtime Asterisk GUI Patch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Asterisk GUI is a web frontend for managing Asterisk PBX. One of the limitations of the GUI is that it reads/writes extensions only from <span style="font-size: 85%;">users.conf</span>, because of this realtime extensions cannot be managed from the GUI. This patch enables the gui to manage realtime SIP extensions.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
This patch modifies the gui to read <span style="font-size: 85%;">users_rt.conf</span> instead of <span style="font-size: 85%;">users.conf</span>. The config file <span style="font-size: 85%;">users_rt.conf</span> is created by executing the script<span style="font-size: 85%;"> realtime_extens.pl</span> using <span style="font-size: 85%;">#exec</span> method of asterisk. The script reads extensions from database and <span style="font-size: 85%;">users.conf</span>.<br />
<br />
This realtime GUI is not suitable for large Asterisk PBX systems with more than 250 extensions.<br />
<br />
The patch can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/downloads/Realtime_Asterisk_GUI.tar.gz">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Installing Asterisk GUI</span><br />
<br />
The latest asterisk gui source is available using SVN<br />
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px outset; color: #993300; font-family: arial; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 15pt; margin-right: 5pt; padding: 2px;">
<br />
svn checkout http://svn.digium.com/svn/asterisk-gui/branches/2.0/ asterisk-gui<br />
</div>
<br />
The README file in the asterisk-gui source directory gives detailed instructions to install and enable asterisk gui.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Patching Asterisk GUI</span><br />
<br />
1. Change to asterisk-gui source directory and apply the patch<br />
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px outset; color: #993300; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 15pt; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 2pt; padding: 2px;">
<br />
cd asterisk-gui/<br />
patch -p0 < rtsipextens_patch.txt<br />
make<br />
make install<br />
</div>
<br />
2. Edit the value of following variables in <span style="font-size: 85%;">realtime_extens.pl</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 30pt; margin-top: 2pt;">
<br />
DBType = Type of database (PostgreSQL or MySQL)<br />
DBName = Database name<br />
DBUser = Username to connect to the database<br />
DBPass = Password to connect to the database<br />
DBHost = Host on which database is running<br />
UsersTable = Table containing your user information<br />
Ast_config_path = Path of asterisk config files<br />
</div>
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 15pt;">Copy <span style="font-size: 85%;">realtime_extens.pl</span> to your scripts directory</span><br />
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px outset; color: #993300; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 15pt; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 2pt; padding: 2px;">
<br />
cp realtime_extens.pl /var/lib/asterisk/scripts/.<br />
</div>
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 15pt;">Copy<span style="font-size: 85%;"> rtsipextens.html</span> and<span style="font-size: 85%;"> rtsipextens.js</span> to the asterisk web directory</span><br />
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px outset; color: #993300; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 15pt; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 2pt; padding: 2px;">
<br />
cp rtsipextens.html /var/lib/asterisk/static-http/config/.<br />
cp rtsipextens.js /var/lib/asterisk/static-http/config/js/.<br />
</div>
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 15pt;">Copy <span style="font-size: 85%;">users_rt.conf</span> to your asterisk config files directory</span><br />
<div style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px outset; color: #993300; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 15pt; margin-right: 5pt; margin-top: 2pt; padding: 2px;">
<br />
cp users_rt.conf /etc/asterisk/.<br />
</div>
<br />
3. Enable<span style="font-size: 85%;"> #exec</span> in config files.<br />
<span style="margin-left: 15pt;">Add the line '<span style="font-size: 85%;">execincludes = yes</span>' in <span style="font-size: 85%;">asterisk.conf</span> and reload asterisk.</span><br />
<br />
The GUI will now have a link 'Realtime SIP Extensions' from where you can manage realtime SIP extensions. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzvlOmWUvFz5eSdmJ3kTwlq4_OBB9MZEa-y3pxIA4MlC4BdyKjTDrlFB29G8PWxxAexc4kyG8ktAKe8oHqlFE8Y_cLVO6tU0sy6-yGACnKPuS7fqepYc_KJp2eAZVNMCusm9UNtiXi1k/s1600-h/Realtime_Ast_GUI2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435423073298016690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBzvlOmWUvFz5eSdmJ3kTwlq4_OBB9MZEa-y3pxIA4MlC4BdyKjTDrlFB29G8PWxxAexc4kyG8ktAKe8oHqlFE8Y_cLVO6tU0sy6-yGACnKPuS7fqepYc_KJp2eAZVNMCusm9UNtiXi1k/s400/Realtime_Ast_GUI2.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 241px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 78%; font-weight: bold;">screenshot of Realtime SIP extensions page<br />
</span></div>
</div>Deepeshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04319731240916611615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-83880731529699573412009-12-30T02:01:00.000-08:002009-12-30T02:04:03.578-08:00New demo offer<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">So ok, we have run out of incoming numbers to give away free. We have now transitioned to a new demo system. <a name='more'></a>We give you shared DID numbers. You need to make an outgoing call from OwnPages to a number, to let that number be able to call you back. Its not as bad as it sounds, just use OwnPages to call and let people know of your new incoming phone service, and they will be able to call you back. That said, there are some disadvantages of new demo system:<br />
<br />
1. A little more complex for you.<br />
2. In some cases the same number may be called by two OwnPages demo-ees. In such cases the second will have to be allocated a second DID just for this number, and will be informed by email about the new DID.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, we have some good news too: We will be giving away unrestricted DIDs to those demo-ees that ask for it in the forums. We should be able to provide DIDs to almost all countries for which they are available (whereas previously they were given just from US/UK).<br />
</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2824589172637969595.post-43647076261412137492009-12-07T03:03:00.000-08:002009-12-07T03:30:13.735-08:00How asterisk saved our lives aka Howto save yours<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In 2005 after many years of using a standard hardware EPABX, we shifted to Asterisk. This post details why we did so.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
We had over the course of providing business VoIP services built up a home grown MIS and customer care system we were proud of. The problem was that it was impossible to integrate this with our PBX. Worse, call logging was difficult to the point of being unusable, so we had no visibility on dropped / unanswered calls, durations, type of calls etc. We had to manually analyze call patterns by asking everyone to write down details of each call for a week. <br />
<br />
We found the that as many as 70% of calls were routine and could be automated. Chief amongst these were directory inquiries, credit balance inquiries, requests for emergency credit, payment collections etc. Also, our helpdesk agents had developed specializations over time. We needed to divide calls into queues so as to route them according to these skills.<br />
<br />
One statistic we found hard to accept was that almost 20% of total employee time, or upto 50% of phone facing employee time was spent answering automatable calls. The math done was however convincing, and from there on it was easy to calculate savings possible with a more capable phone system such as asterisk. The savings were in the same order of magnitude as our profits!<br />
<br />
Despite our familiarity with Asterisk, it took us almost 6 months to setup our PBX. The results were spectacular. 3/4th of automatable calls were answered by the phone system, leading to a dramatic increase in agent availability. The number of calls answered by agents as a proportion of total has dropped regularly over the years. <br />
<br />
OwnPages does not on its own deliver all savings we were able to get for our selves. However it does give you a fast start and provide you the platform on which to build further. Post your specific requirements that are not catered to by OwnPages on the <a href="http://www.ownpages.com/omforum/">PBX forum</a> and lets see what we can do for you.<br />
</div>Devenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00071768997333518636noreply@blogger.com