[Asterisk-biz] asterisk as outbound dialer only

[Jeff Johnson]

I am pursuing using Asterisk as a tool to queue up phone calls to businesses 
to verify if a number is working, disconnected, a fax, etc. This would be 
done strictly as an automated, unmanned operation with results stored in a 
database. The application would search our database for phone numbers to 
verify, place the call, and would determine whether the number is working 
and flag the database accordingly. Ideally, it would tell the difference 
between an answering machine and a human. If an answering machine is 
reached, it may just hang up and log the status as a working number that had 
an answering machine. Can Asterisk do this?

If a human answers we may either play a polite 'sorry wrong number' message 
or ask that they verify certain information (i.e., press 1 to confirm that 
your business name is 'ABC Company').

So, my questions are:
- Is Asterisk a recommended application for:
   - scheduling automated phone calls to thousands/millions (?) of numbers
   - determining and flagging the status of a given phone number (i.e., 
whether it is active, disconnected, a fax, etc.)
- Can it tell the difference between a live human answering and an answering 
machine/voicemail
- What is the range of bandwidth that it will take up? (Assume a 10-second 
call once connected).
- Is there a limit to the number of simultaneous calls that can take place? 
We would be doing the verification from a co-location that has virtually 
unlimited up/download.

We will keep a log of businesses that want to opt out (i.e., press 2 to 
remove your phone number from further verification efforts) to avoid any 
legal troubles.

Any input you have on any of these topics would be well received.

Also, if anyone has a track record as a proven consultant and wishes to bid 
on programming for this project, we can put together details and discuss.

We don't need most of the bells and whistles that asterisk comes with (i.e., 
call forwarding, dial by name, incoming calls), so many of the features 
would be unused.

Thank you!