[Asterisk-Users] Re: Re:New to *

[Jason Kawakami]

----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Greg Hill <gregh-asterisk at hillnet.us>
> Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] New to *
> To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion
> <asterisk-users at lists.digium.com>
> Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0409031231070.1975-100000 at hillnet.us>
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
> On Fri, 3 Sep 2004, Bill Andersen wrote:
>
> > I just ran across the * site.  Looks great.  I do not need a PBX at this
> > time, but DO need to replace an old voice mail system.  I'll do my
> > homework and figure out the specifics, but before I dive into it all and
> > spend a bunch of time only to find out "I didn't understand", is it
> > reasonable to think I could configure * to simply act as a voicemail
> > system off an existing PBX?  It looks possible to me.
> >
> > Who knows, I might learn enough about how it all works to actually end
> > up replacing my PBX.  But for now, with proper configuration, could it
> > "act" as a voice mail system?
>
> yes, that's entirely reasonable. Probably the trickiest bit will be the
> actual connection between your PBX and your Asterisk box. This connection
> could be made via an x100p card connected to an analog station port on
> your PBX (or multiple connections of the same style). From there you'd
> have to work out how to transfer a call in the PBX out to Asterisk via the
> analog port extension, and how to signal to Asterisk what mailbox is
> wanted (or simply make the transfer and use an IVR in Asterisk so that the
> caller can choose a mailbox him/herself).
>
> In any case, it's a relatively inexpensive experiment.
>
i second this motion.  the integration would be done inband and probably 7
of 10 'traditional' systems are going to support inband voicemail
integration via DTMF.  you will set up a pilot to a hunt group of extensions
on your existing system that will be connected to your * system.  the tricky
part is figuring out what DTMF your system is sending and in what order so
you can set * up to work properly.  check online for a tool called a digit
grabber and connect it to one of the ports on your vm system (assuming that
it is currently an analog integration) and make a few calls to see what your
phone system is sending your voicemail system.

good luck

Jason Kawakami
www.optellabs.com