[Asterisk-Users] Screen Pop & Remote Agents

[Philipp von Klitzing]

Hi!

>  Im new to Asterisk and I would like to get some imput from all of you.
> First I would like to start by telling all of you I am starting a call 
> center Within the next 2 weeks with 12 agents to start.

Asterisk is probably a very good choice for you, however you'll need more 
time than those 2 weeks to be fully operational (unless you get some 
consultant to assist you).

> has turned me on to Asterisk ;). Now The info I need IS what cards do
> you think I should get? 

Before spending tons of $$$ the first step is to install Asterisk and 
test it with IP phones (soft- or hardware). Look at queues and agents and 
check out if they do what you need. Have a look at GnoPhone if you need a 
Linux based software phone that includes a web browser and can take URL 
arguments along with a call.

http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk+call+queues
http://www.gnophone.com/

> pops for my reps through a web site? So when the call is connected the 
> yget all the coustomers info on screen?

Use GnoPhone, or write your own little app (using PHP or PERL etc) that 
regularly reloads the call agent's browser (you might be a bit too slow 
that way, so it might be necessary for the agent to initiate the reload 
manually). If you prefer fance stuff then you could use FLASH instead of 
HTML with the help of PHP, ming and Actionscript.

> For the second tricky part is can I have remote agents? (reps working
> from home and log into the pbx by either Voip or even Dialing in)? 

Yes - the Wiki link above about "call queues" has the info and links that 
you need to look at.

> as much as possible! as for some of the more basic questions, can I
> put a .csv file in the sql DB and have it dial from there? 

Take a look at sample.call in your Asterisk installation. See also:
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-Asterisk+auto-dial+out

> and will I be able to set a Dial Plan to only call certin area codes? 

You mean you want to dial random numbers within a certain area code?
I wouldn't consider that to be a nice way of doing things...

> reason I ask all this is because all of these over priced dia rs do
> just that. Also can Asterisk be set with the FTC laws to 3% droped
> call ratio? 

Explain?


Cheers, Philipp