[asterisk-dev] Customizable Voicemail Menu

[Jonathan Thurman]

On Sat, May 30, 2009 at 8:05 AM, Giuseppe Sucameli <brush.tyler at gmail.com>wrote:

> 2009/5/30 Sean Bright <sean.bright at gmail.com>:
> > I'm not really sure why you would necessarily want the voicemail menu
> > configuration to be available to non-privileged users.  Also, I don't
> > see why "mixing the voicemail and dialplan configuration" is any more
> > complex from a management standpoint than throwing:
> >
> >    #include "voicemail-menus.conf"
> >
> > at the bottom of my extensions.conf.
> >
> > So the idea is that users (of the voicemail system) can modify the menu
> > layouts for themselves?  Or just that a non-privileged user on the
> > server could be made able to change voicemail menu layout?
> >
>
> 2009/5/30 Giuseppe Sucameli <brush.tyler at gmail.com>:
> >> We can keep the voicemail configuration separate  from the
> >> dialplan, so the dialplan writer will only have to dispatch the call,
> >> and the voicemail config will do the rest. Then one can
> >> import/write/modify the voicemail config without having to bother
> >> (or needing to have permission) to touch the dialplan itself.
>
> For unprivileged users I intend users with server access but which have a
> restricted scope. The dialplan is the main configuration file of asterisk,
> instead admin can demand the manage of voicemail to another user.
> The inclusion in the dialplan by #include directive is dangerous in this
> sense.
>
> 2009/5/30 Sean Bright <sean.bright at gmail.com>:
> > One of my main concerns with this sample configuration is that we are
> > talking about adding another domain specific language to asterisk
> > (extensions.conf and AEL2 being the two biggies that spring to mind).
>
> This is the dev mailing list aim: discussing for new code development.
> This proposal is as an extension of actual app_voicemail, not a replacement
> by a new voicemail.
>
> About the language, I have proposed a possible solution. We can discuss
> which is best way to create a config file for voicemail menu using existing
> config languages, and when we'll find a solution using it.
>
> 2009/5/30 Jonathan Thurman <jthurman42 at gmail.com>:
> >> Two file are attached (only text/plain files):
> >> > brief.txt
> >>                explain the voicemail_menu.conf file structure and its
> the
> >> most
> >>                important functionality
> >>
> >> > voicemail_menu.conf.txt
> >>                is an example of config file to customize the voicemail
> >> menu
> >
> > There are some inconsistencies with your example which makes it a little
> > hard to follow.  You have the start = ast_vm but no ast_vm section
> defined,
> > did you mean vm_menu?  Also a reference to vm_setup_options when I think
> you
> > meant vm_opt.
>
> Oops, your right... start = vm_menu and vm_setup_options is vm_opt.
> I've send the message at 3.23 AM :)
>

Been there...

>
> 2009/5/30 Jonathan Thurman <jthurman42 at gmail.com>:
> > I am really looking forward to customization of voicemail.  It will make
> > migrating customers much easier.  However, I think this is a bit in
> depth.
> > So here is an idea.  For basic users: Make it so that you can change the
> > digits dialed for the current menu items, and have the prompts say the
> right
> > thing.  For advanced users: export the menu items as dialplan functions
> > (maybe have a global variable in voicemail.conf to turn this on/off?) so
> > that users can create a more dynamic voicemail application if they so
> > choose.  It would also be nice to add some more (admin controlled)
> abilities
> > for the users to change more options (like turning on/off attachments for
> > your mailbox)
>
> It's hard, but is a nice idea. However in this moment is a lot in depth.





> >> (3) is an interesting issue of its own.
> > I don't really agree, minivm is much better in supporting language
> > codes and date syntaxes. You can have multiple mail templates
> > in different languages, and set a locale code for correct date formats
> > in the e-mail.
> >
> > I would really love someone
> > - Adding channel datastores to minivm to carry account info between apps
> > - Adding missing building blocks so that you can build a full
> > voicemail app
> > - Adding different storage methods for voicemail
>

These are crucial in my opinion.  While for some users would be very upset
if they could not get voicemail as email, others don't have regular access
to a computer...

>
>
> Seriously, I'll wait for your ideas.
>

I was trying to get out two main ideas:

1. At a minimum, allow administrators to change what digits do what per menu
as they exist on the current VoiceMailMain (Not to difficult)

2.  Use app_minivm as the groundwork to rewrite app_voicemail as building
blocks.  Export those to the dialplan and use them internally by VoiceMain /
VoiceMailMain to keep it simple.  Depricate MiniVM, or make it a wrapper for
the new app_voicemail.  (MiniVM is on the right track, but as a final
solution in a merger I think app_voicemail is a better name)  Then we have
all the functionallity without having to maintain multiple code bases.


If you want feature requests on top of all that work, let me know. =)


-Jonathan
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