[Asterisk-Users] Re: passing through MWI info from SBC

[Mike Myers]

John, et al, 

--- John Novack <jnovack at stromberg-carlson.org> wrote:

...

>
> AFAIK, there is no way around this with a POTS line.
> SBC's only indication of MW is stutter dial tone,
> correct?
> 

No, I believe they send tones that activate the MWI
light on the phones.  I am pretty sure about this, but
you can clear VM on SBC via a cellphone, and the MWI
on the phones will go out, even though none of the
phones go off hook, and therefore shouldn't be able to
detect a stutter tone.

SBC does give you a stutter tone, but that's not how
my wife knows there is a message waiting.   If you
look at this website:
http://www.sandman.com/messwait.html , I think it must
be the case that SBC is using FSK message waiting. 
For that matter, my vonage ATA does the same thing -
if I clear VM via the website, the light goes off even
if I don't go offhook. 

> Since Asterisk doesn't detect ANY sort of dialtone,
> either with the X100 
> or TDM400, it seems you are out of luck.
> AFAIK, the ATA's don't detect stutter dial tone
> either, though some may 
> listen for dialtone before dialing.
> 
> Perhaps some others can offer a solution.

Well, I don't think I need it to detect stutter tone,
but decoding the FSK MWI signal would seem a pretty
common thing to want to do, and it should be pretty
common in phone chipsets.  

> Curious, since a cheap $20 box sitting on your line
> can give you a 
> visual indication.
> 
>What are you doing now with the Nortel? Does it know?

Yes.  The Nortel Venture phones are analog phones that
use a data carrier on top of line to talk to each
other for things liek intercom, directory functions,
etc...  They support 3 lines.  If they detect a
message waiting on any of the 3 lines, the MWI is lit,
and a text message on the phone indicates which line
or lines have voicemail waiting.  Very
straightforward.

>BTW - the Sipura 841 is an OK inexpensive phone, but
>speakerphone and 
>display are unusable.
>A somewhat better buy is the Grandstream. At least
you >can read the 
>display. Speakerphone suffers from echo, and it has
no >built in echo 
>canceller.
>The more expensive brands are , well, too expensive
>and seem difficult 
>to configure.

Good feedback to know, I'll do some more digging on
reviews, though the question may be moot if I can't
find a way to communicate the message waiting signal
in  Asterisk.  It's a show stopper in my house.  

I am surprised that noone has run into this issue
before.

Thanks,
Mike



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