[asterisk-dev] Code review: app_queue: Give members a penalty time for not answering

[Mark Michelson]

On 09/14/2010 10:13 AM, Håkon Nessjøen wrote:
> URL: https://reviewboard.asterisk.org/r/920/
>
> I think the automatic mail was refused because I used another mail
> address than I had initially registered with at the dev-list?
> I think it's sorted out now though.
>
> Anyways, someone please review the mentioned patch. :)
>
> Regards,
> Håkon Nessjøen
>
> Description from reviewboard:
> ----------------------------------------
>
> This patch adds a new option notpresent-penalty option on queues.conf,
> which sets how many seconds of penalty a member will get for not
> answering in time.
>
> Say you have a queue with current setup:
>
> penalty, member
> 0, member1
> 0, member2
> 1, member3
>
> For example, if both member1 and member2 left their phones, and forgot
> to log out, a normal queue would loop between these two users, trying
> to get them to answer. With this patch, they will be given a penalty
> when they don't answer, and so the queue will go to the next penalty
> level if neither member1 or member2 is answering their calls.
>
>    
You can actually already get the same functionality with Asterisk 1.6.2 
and later versions. It is possible during a call to adjust the 
QUEUE_MAX_PENALTY and QUEUE_MIN_PENALTY channel variables to adjust 
which queue members are available for answering the call. See 
configs/queuerules.conf.sample and config/queues.conf.sample for more 
information on this. Using queue penalty rules is advantageous over the 
proposed method because

1) Both the minimum and maximum penalty can be changed in mid-call.
2) The operations that happen in mid-call only affect the current call 
instead of affecting all calls. (your mileage may vary as to whether 
that is actually an advantage)
3) The default set of queue penalty rules can be overridden with the 
Queue() application, so you can have different behavior for specific 
callers if desired.
4) Multiple changes to the penalty window can be made in a single call.

Mark Michelson