[Asterisk-bsd] CAPI and ISDN DDI Configuration

[Thomas Zimmermann]

Hi

>> I use Asterisk with CAPI on FreeBSD 7 and Nagios only for sending and
>> (later) receiving SMS alerts over ISDN to and from mobile users. Receiving
>> SMS is an option to acknowledge or delegate alerts. Now I have stumbled
>> across three issues.
> 
> oh this works now, good to know. Does anybody know if this feature works
> with any gsm interface too?

I have no experiences with gsm interfaces. In some case bluetooth can also
be an option to communicate with a gsm handy. Please evaluate first, if
bluetooth is working reliable with FreeBSD.
 
>> 1. Sharing Asterisk on the same NT with an existing PBX:
>> We have an ISDN line with 4 NTs (8 BRI channels) and 100 telephone numbers

>> for DDI. The protocol is point-to-point.
>> Since connecting Asterisk behind the existing PBX is not possible, I share
>> one of the NTs with the existing PBX.
> 
> sending SMS through the PBX isn't possible or why can't you connect
> behind the PBX?

There is no technical reason ;-) and I already asked for an extension (SIP
or ISDN). 

>> I assume that the existing PBX listens to all DDI Numbers. How can I
>> configure Asterisk to listen to one number without interfering with the
>> other PBX?
> 
> You write "assume". Why does it listen to? Of course it sees everything
> on the bus. But as you didn't mentioned anything, I think the other DDIs
> are reaching the expected destination through the nomal PBX?

In the meantime, I noticed there is no correct way how to operate two ISDN
devices (asterisk + pbx) on one ISDN line in p2p mode. Of course its
point-to-point and not point-to-multipoint! Special thanks to Mathej
Ondrusek and David Wetzel for this information.

>> 2. I am still confused as to how I should setup capi.conf and
>> extensions.conf correctly for an ISDN line with DDIs! All documentation I
>> have found (readmes and Google) mainly focuses on ISDN with
>> point-to-multipoint (msn).
> 
> I think this is for voice/fax/data services only. Sending SMS is more a
> Abfallprodukt of network commands in my opinion.

CAPI is mainly used for voice/fax/data services. Therefore I treat SMS as a
data service. 

Anybody who has a good capi.conf and extensions.conf sample with DDIs?

> 
>> Although my configuration works, I see strange behavior. After running
>> Asterisk for about 15 minutes, the /var/log/messages log file and the
>> console fill up about five times every second with the following message:
>> i4b-L2 dss1_pipe_data_req: unit=0, pipe=0, i_queue full or no fifo
>> translator!!
> 
> No, idea, I guess you have to wait for HSP :-)
Yes, he sent already a useful debug and settings command.

viewing D-channel protocol activities:
isdndecode -u 0 -i -o -x

setting TE mode and the DSS1 point to point driver for DDI:
isdnconfig -u 0 -p DRVR_DSS1_P2P_TE

disabling power saving:
isdnconfig -u 0 power_on

>> 3. Sending SMS, the command above runs successfully, and I receive a message
>> on the mobile phone. However, it displays the wrong ?Calling Line
>> Identification (CLIP)?: It shows the main number instead of the DDI
>> extension.
>> 
>> smsq --motx-channel=?CAPI/ISDN1/0622100000' 079xxx8690 'Hello World? (valid
>> for Swisscom in Switzerland)
> 
> did you try --motx-callerid xxxx78 ?

Thank you Oliver! It displays the right number now.
smsq --motx-callerid='1234578'  --motx-channel='CAPI/ISDN1/0622100000'
079xxx8690 'Hello World'

regards

Thomas