[asterisk-users] Some queries on g729 license.

[Thomas Kenyon]

Matthew Rubenstein wrote:
> 	I connect to a PSTN carrier over SIP which requires me to connect with
> a g729 codec. I'm using them for just robocalling: Asterisk server
> originates calls which play a prerecorded file. Can I pre-encode those
> stored files in g729 so they don't need to be encoded for each call?

Yes, if you are using asterisk 1.4 then in the CLI you can type:

convert 
<filename-including-path-if-not-in-asterisk-sounds-folder>.<original 
extension> <filename-including-path-if-not-in-asterisk-sounds-folder>.g729

so convert recording.ulaw recording.g729

Will make a permanent copy not requireing transcoding again.

If you are using asterisk 1.2, there is a tool on the asteriskguru site 
to transcode the file for you.

http://www.asteriskguru.com/tools/audio_conversion.php

> If
> so, do I need a g729 license for each call, or just a license for the
> preencoder?

You will need a license for when the file is encoded, after that if it 
is played back on a g729 call you will not need a license. Asterisk will 
automatically choose the lowest cost file to playback (which one in 
natvie format will be).

 > If the robocalls accept incoming DTMF, do I need g729
> licenses for those calls?
> 

You only need a license when you are transcoding, if you have an 
incoming call that is g729 and you terminate the call to a device that 
is configured to use g729 then you will not need a license.

If you are recording the call then you will need (possibly 2) llicenses.

DTMF signals do not require a license (although the device generating 
them needs to be configured to use RFC 2833 or Out of Band for DMTF 
encoding).