[asterisk-users] Call Center

[ka at mayten.sch.bme.hu]

I've done something like this, and it was done by an external perl 
script.  Asterisk played its part through call files to initiate calls 
and putting them into the right point in the dial plan, playing sounds 
and accept user iteraction (through dial plan extensions or AGI).

Totally doable and I wouldn't call it a call center either.  Except if 
at some point you want the called party to be able to talk to a human 
being, in which case you'd probably want to put them into a queue and do 
proper call center functions.

regards
Adam


On 2015-08-03 16:59, Steve Edwards wrote:
> On Sat, 1 Aug 2015, Murthy Gandikota wrote:
> 
>> Has anyone used Asterisk for a Call Center operation? What I mean is: 
>> given a list of phone numbers, can Asterisk dial each number, play a 
>> message and accept some DTMF? I ask because I am an employee of a 
>> non-profit company based in San Diego, CA. I already evaluated Voicent 
>> and Voxeo. The former has expensive licensing terms and the latter is 
>> not best suited for a call center. I would appreciate your kind 
>> comments.
> 
> On Mon, 3 Aug 2015, Murthy Gandikota wrote:
> 
>> We make only solicited calls. That means, the people we are going to 
>> call have signed up with our service. As for technical details, I can 
>> think of a while loop in .ael to dial out. If you can please point me 
>> to a URL, I'd be grateful.
> 
> When I hear 'call center' I think of agents and queues.
> 
> What you describe sounds more 'automated' -- no humans involved.
> 
> I don't think looping in a dialplan is the right approach, since this
> process (originating calls) is not executing in the context of a
> channel.
> 
> I think an external 'scheduler' either creating call files or issuing
> originate requests via AMI is the way to go.
> 
> Something like:
> 
> // read the list of numbers from a text file or database
> 
> // for each number...
> 
> // write a 'call file' in /tmp/
> 
> // move the call file to the outgoing spool directory
> 
> // sleep a bit so you don't overwhelm Asterisk or your SIP provider
> 
> // lather, rinse, repeat
> 
> The call file asks Asterisk to dial the number. Once the call is
> answered, the call continues at the context, extension, and priority
> specified in the call file.
> 
> The dialplan plays the file, asks the questions, and writes the
> responses to the database. You can pass variables (donor name, last
> year's donation) in the call file that you can access as channel
> variables.
> 
> Based on the 'project' description, that's how I would approach it.
> For specifics, feel free to break out your check book and contact me
> off-list :)
> 
> --
> Thanks in advance,
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Steve Edwards       sedwards at sedwards.com      Voice: +1-760-468-3867 
> PST