[Asterisk-Users] multiple locations

[Darren Martz]

I have a scenario that I just can't seem to determine the best way to deal with.

We would like to have our PRI lines moved to our datacenter with Asterisk directing calls between our 4 small offices. Internet connections at the small offices are high-speed, but *may* go down on a rare occasion. 

Having the main voice menus at the datacenter makes sense, its the voicemail and locals that are troubling me. In the situation where an extension is busy or an office connection is down, incoming calls should *still* be directed to voicemail. So to me, that means the voice mail should be at the datacenter. As far as I can tell, that also means every extension in the company needs to be known in at least two locations.

I did try to find some documentation on the "switch" command, but didn't find much and I don't really understand it.

It appears the datacenter will need a "dial iax2" statement backed by a voicemail statement. The iax2 call will also need the intended extension and a timeout. The small office will need to direct that same extension to a dedicated channel. So every extension is configured in three places - right? Once at the data center, twice at the small office (incoming and outgoing).

When extension 100 calls 101 and they are both are in the same small office, how does extension 100 leave a voice mail? Does that mean entering the extension in four places now? or is there an easier way?

And what about transfers where someone in office A transfers a PRI caller to office B. What IP path is that call taking? Does it go from the datacenter to office A then back to the datacenter and finally to Office B, or does Office A get removed from the path? Perhaps the way Asterisk is configured effects the answer.

Is it possible to still use apps like call-queues and agents in a distributed configuration? Can the "you have mail" indicator on a Zap channel still work if the voicemail is not on the same asterisk box?

What happens when someone from Office A calls Office B. Does the call path bypass the datacenter or is it a three point call?

I've been reading as much as possible on Asterisks lately, but I still ended up with these questions. Hopefully someone is up to the challenge :)

Cheers,
Darren



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