[Asterisk-Users] RE: Answering Machine Function?

[Paul Dugas]

On Mon, January 31, 2005 6:44 pm, Jason Kawakami said:
>     Is it in principle possible to create a dialplan that allows
>     prefix-free dialing to an outside line, and move all the
>     "PBX-like" features behind some special prefix?
>
>     i.e. recognize 3, 7 and 11 digit numbers as phone numbers
>     and dial them without further ado, and put voicemail and
>     every other PBX-ish feature behind, say "#"?
>
> this really isn't this complex.  I taught my mother how to dial '9'...

The only hitch I've found with making a dial-plan that "just works" like
you're thinking (i.e. with or without the 9, areacodes where 10 digits are
required, prepending 1 to 10-digit numbers, etc.) is the need for a
timeout.  I've got something like below here at my house in Atlanta where
we do 10-digit local dialing.  If I dial 800 (the voicemail extension) on
a Zap station, I need to wait a few seconds for the channel to stopp
looking for more digits before it decides the choose 800 over waiting for
the rest of a toll-free 10-digit number.  You can dial a # to force it to
proceed if you don't want to wait.

That said, IMHO, getting the gang here to press # or know to wait a few
seconds was kinder and gentler than making them dial 9.

Paul
--
My Pseudo Outbound DialPlan:
  911           -> Emergency
  0             -> BellSouth Operator
  411           -> BellSouth Info
  _9NXXXXXX     -> forced analog call, prepend local area code
  _9NXXNXXXXXX  -> forced analog call
  _91NXXNXXXXXX -> forced analog call
  _8NXXXXXX     -> forced VoIP call, prepend local area code
  _8NXXNXXXXXX  -> forced VoIP call
  _81NXXNXXXXXX -> forced VoIP call
  _NXXXXXX      -> prefer analog, fallback to VoIP, call, prepend area code
  _770NXXXXXX   -> 770 is local, prefer analog
  _1770NXXXXXX  -> 770 is local, remove leading 1, prefer analog
  _678NXXXXXX   -> 678 is local, prefer analog
  _1678NXXXXXX  -> 678 is local, remove leading 1, prefer analog
  _404NXXXXXX   -> 404 is local, prefer analog
  _1404NXXXXXX  -> 404 is local, remove leading 1, prefer analog
  _888NXXXXXX   -> 888 is free, add leading 1, prefer analog
  _1888NXXXXXX  -> 404 is local, prefer analog
  (same for other toll-free, 877, 866, 855, 800)
  _900NXXXXXX   -> block these
  _1900NXXXXXX  -> block there
  _976NXXXXXX   -> block these
  _1976NXXXXXX  -> block there
  _NXXNXXXXXX   -> long distance, prefer VoIP
  _1NXXNXXXXXX  -> long distance, prefer VoIP
  _011.         -> international, force VoIP
  _1XX          -> internal extensions
  _8XX          -> internal apps (voicemail, time/temp, etc.)

-- 
Paul A. Dugas                    Dugas Enterprises, LLC
paul at dugasenterprises.com        1711 Indian Ridge Drive
p:404-932-1355  f:770-516-4841   Woodstock, GA 30189-6856 USA