[asterisk-users] dynamic menus in dialplan

[Steve Edwards]

On Mon, 13 Apr 2009, Eric Fort wrote:

> I have an application that needs to vary the menu choices available 
> based upon the availability of an external resource at a given time. 
> What I have in mind is a system that can uplink a user to one of many 
> different satellites.  Due to the nature of orbital mechanics a 
> satellite may be out of range at any given time.  I only want to present 
> a menu of available satellites.  I can query an external program for a 
> list of available satellites, but how can I use that list to present 
> menu options for selection?  What's the best way of doing this?  Does 
> anyone know of similar examples?

If availability is defined purely by time, Asterisk has an IFTIME function 
available in the dialplan.

If availability is defined by a "ping," write a daemon to ping the birds 
that should be in view and update that status in a database.

When a call is processed, call an AGI that queries the database. Depending 
on what your needs are, either have the AGI set a series of channel 
variables to be processed by the dialplan or have the AGI present the 
options and accept the caller's choice.

I've done both. My current project is a third party verification system. 
Dozens of channel variables (STEP-x-PROMPT, STEP-x-RETRY-PROMPT, 
STEP-x-MAX-LENGTH, etc.) are set in an AGI based on the DNIS. The channel 
variables then control processing in an AEL "while" loop.

Thanks in advance,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Edwards      sedwards at sedwards.com      Voice: +1-760-468-3867 PST
Newline                                             Fax: +1-760-731-3000