[OGo-Discuss] OGo and asterisk

[Sebastian Reitenbach]

Hi,
discuss@opengroupware.org wrote: 
> >>> 1.1 a popup could show up, containing a summary to the called
> >>> number/person/company
> >>> 1.2 the popup should allow making notes to the phone call, saving it in
> >>> OGo
> >> There is an enhancement open for OGo about this,  to make OGo support a
> >> journal like ACT.
> 
> http://bugzilla.opengroupware.org/bugzilla/show bug.cgi?id=39
> http://bugzilla.opengroupware.org/bugzilla/show bug.cgi?id=370
> http://bugzilla.opengroupware.org/bugzilla/show bug.cgi?id=599
> 
> > I was not aware about that enhancement request, and I have no clue   
> > what ACT is,
> 
> A very popular general-purpose CRM PC application.
ah, ok.

> 
> >> >2. on incoming calls, open a popup window on the users desktop with
> >> information
> >> >about the   caller taken from the ogo contacts database
> >> I don't see this as part of OGo but as an application where OGo is a
> >> possible backend. sure, it was just an idea i had. when I see how  
> >> ogo works, i think it would be hard t
> > integrate it right now. If it would directly come from ogo, it would  
> >  have to use some kind
> > of an asynchronous web communication protocols, like these web2 thingies.
> 
> Seems like a listener that looked up the info in OGo and sent the  
> message to a user via IM would be simpler and more reliable;  and it  
> would work without the user being logged into the OGo webui.
I have a script written in php, to generate a popup on the users desktop on
incoming 
calls. Astrisk has the notify module, that sends out basic info to the called
person about 
the incoming call. I have a script running locally on the asterisk, receiving
the info, 
digging into the ogo database for more, and then sending it to the client, where
a similar 
php script listens and takes the data, creates a .html file on the filesystem
and uses a 
web browser to open the .html file.


> 
> >>> 5. for OGo accounts, a new tab, voice mail records should be added, where
> >>> the user can manage its voice mails
> >> I completely disagree.  The move is clearly toward "Unified Messaging".
> >> Integration for voice mail should be via the mail/imap server.  Messages
> >> belong in the INBOX.
> > Ok, if configured, asterisk sends voice mails to the users e-mail   
> > addresses with  a .wav file attached, containing the message. I get  
> > my voice mails via mail too. but personally I do not really like it  
> > that way, I like to have them separated from mail.
> 
> But most users don't, and don't want to.
yes, therefore I think, in the personsUI, having a tab, "voice mails", where
these users 
could manage their voice mails would be great. maybe activateable via a Default,
as an 
alternative to managing the mails in the imap server.

> 
> > normally, the user listens via telephone to the voice messages, directly by
> > using the phone when in office, the other messages, via mail are  
> > more or less only used when on the  road and checking mail.
> > Therefore it is impractical to send out all voice messages via mail   
> > and remove them immediately from the asterisk, removes the ability  
> > to listen to the messages viathe telephone. just sending te messages  
> > to the user, without removing them from the asterisk,
> 
> All this is because Asterisk and the mail server are *NOT* integrated.  
>   Sending a copy of the voice mail as a MP3/WAV as an attachment is a  
> hack - not integration.

exactly. if it only were recieving voice messages from the telephone system,
that would easily filterable, due to the subject of the mail. but when these
mails get 
forwarded between users, the messages will end up in the inbox, in a subfolder,
catched by 
other filters than the one for voice mails....

I think adding mail headers to the mail, e.g.:
X-Asterisk-VoiceMail
X-Asterisk-Caller
X-Asterisk-Callee
and maybe others, that can be filtered via sieve filters, would be useful.

maybe then defining one subfolder of the users inbox as special "Voicemail" root
folder,
so that all folders below it, are considered containing voice mails.

entering one of these folders will change the view, from a mail list, to a
special 
voice-mail list. all incoming messages could then be filtered via sieve and put
into the 
top folder of the voice mail store. other voice mail filters could only work in
this 
folder, not in the INBOX of the user. These could be configured on the filter
tab of the 
ogo webmail application. 
When a user edits, forwards, ... a voice message, then it should keep the
X-Asterisk 
headers intact.

kind regards
Sebastian