[Asterisk-Users] Billing (itemized) in the UK

[Peter Hoppe]

Thank you very much for the answer! I think it is a good path to look at. I have had a look through 
our paperwork for the present pbx, and I found one document that seemed to indicate we have to dial

1666<extn><dialled_number>

to give the extn info to the telco. The paper is a bit old (1999) and since then we have changed our 
telco, but I guess that this protocol is still valid. This afternoon I will hook up a recording 
device on the line and see which digits are actually dialled when I dial an outside line. From the 
recording I should be able to reconstruct which digits have actually been dialled by the pbx.

If the protocol is correct, I could construct a dial command such as

exten => _9.,1,Dial(Zap/g1/1666<ID>${EXTEN:1})

or so - I would just need a way to construct <id> - and then any caller from an inside device would 
just prepend a '9' before the real number. I probably would also bar simple '9' dialling to get an 
outside line... lets see.


Keep you posted, and so many thanks for all the help!

P

> Hi Peter
> You need to first of all ask your Telco what mechanism it uses with your
> current switch.  The most likely ways are 
> 
> 1) Two stage dialling.  1xxx  pause <PIN> <exten> <dialled number>
> 2) access code		1xxx <exten> <dialled number>
> 
> You need to get the specs for this from Your Communications.  It is not
> clear from the web site...
> 
> Asterisk will cope perfectly with either solution - you will just need
> to fiddle a bit with the dial plan. Once we know what you have to send
> to the telco there are tons of people here who will advise on the Dial
> command you should use to achieve what you want.
> 
> Rgds
> Tim Robinson
> Ps. Any reason why you chose to stick with the analogue solution? Is
> this just risk mitigation in the early stages? (this is a valid reason,
> btw!)
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com
> [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Peter
> Hoppe
> Sent: 25 November 2004 10:54
> To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com
> Subject: [Asterisk-Users] Billing (itemized) in the UK
> 
> 
> Hello!
> 
> We are located in the UK, and we are planning to replace our old pbx
> with an asterisk based pbx. For 
> outgoing calls our present pbx is connected to three PSTN lines which
> all have the same number. 
> Internally, the pbx caters for quite a few extensions, and each
> extension can make outbound phone calls.
> 
> Our telecom provider (your communications) gives us monthly itemized
> bills that list all of the 
> calls per extension, i.e. from the bill we are able to tell which
> internal extension made what call 
> to which destination at which date/time, how long this call was in
> minutes and how much that 
> particular call costs.
> 
> We would like to reuse the three PSTN lines with the asterisk system,
> and at present there are no 
> plans to utilize other connectiviy (such as ISDN) - we would like to
> stick with the three PSTN lines.
> 
> My understanding is that when the asterisk system is running we won't
> get any itemized bills any 
> more since the telecom provider has no way of telling from which
> extension a call originated.
> 
> 
> Questions:
> 
> To give the extension information to the telco...
> 
> How can I configure Asterisk to do send extension information?
> 
> What signalling do I have to provide for outgoing calls to give
> extension information the telco?
> 
> Is there a standard for sending extension numbers (i.e. do I have to
> send some DTMF digits)?
> 
> Is there a software / asterisk extension (that works in the UK) that
> allows asterisk to send 
> extension info?
> 
> Do I need to buy some equipment that can provide this info to the telco?
> Which?
> 
> Where could I find more information on that subject?
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you very much for your consideration.