Baffled by "Trusted Caller"

[mrcinaz]

Can one of the OBI experts please explain in simple English exactly what "trusted callers" is supposed to do?  I am surely not understanding something.

I entered two cell phone numbers into the Obitalk trusted caller dialog. (My cell, and my wife's) I checked out the OBI locally and the numbers had been added to SP1, SP2, and SP3 X_InboundCallRoute. So far, seemed like what I expected.  Special handling for those two numbers. [aa]

Next, I dialed my primary line (the number configured on SP2). Phone answered on third ring and attendant asked me to leave a message.

I am a reasonably intelligent person with advanced degree in computer science,.  Yet, somehow I fail to see a difference from dialing the number from any phone on the planet. 

Baffling.

[azrobert]

Trusted callers will be routed to the Auto Attendant. The AA prompt will offer 3 options:
Enter 1 to continue the call - This option will ring the OBi phone port
Enter 2 to make a new call - Caller enters a number and the OBi will call that number for the trusted caller.
Enter 3 for a callback - Caller enters a number and after they hang up, the OBi will call that number. The person answering the call will be presented the same 3 options.

It sounds like you are getting your providers voice mail and not the AA.

See:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=13969.0

[mrcinaz]

Trusted callers will be routed to the Auto Attendant. The AA prompt will offer 3 options:
Enter 1 to continue the call - This option will ring the OBi phone port
Enter 2 to make a new call - Caller enters a number and the OBi will call that number for the trusted caller.
Enter 3 for a callback - Caller enters a number and after they hang up, the OBi will call that number. The person answering the call will be presented the same 3 options.

It sounds like you are getting your providers voice mail and not the AA.

That does appear to be what is happening. 

See:
http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=13969.0

Changing "x. " to "+ " broke it completely. With that change, calls end instantly on first ring. Changed it back and at least my Phonepower voicemail setup answers. If I knew what the "x. " and "+ " actually meant, I might have some clue as to what to tweak.  I have a nomorobo fork on the Phonepower account. With the "+" prefix on the numbers, it seems like that may cause nomorobo to kill the call.

But, on the other hand, if "x. " is wrong and "+ " is correct, then why on earth would Obitalk be generating the former? Doesn't make sense. 

What is needed is for the OBI to send trusted callers to AA at least one ring before Phonepower voicemail answers. Seems simple enough, but I haven't the time right now to learn all the intricacies of OBI's answering mechanism.

Mainly what is needed is for Obihai/Polycom/Plantronics to stop pretending that features like this just magically work by adding some phone numbers to a list on Obitalk.com. Unless or until that actually is the case. Until that nirvana, they need to include guidance as to why it may not work and (in simple English) which settings to tweak and why. With a link right on the page with the trusted number list.

Sigh.   

[azrobert]

Service providers normally send a 10 or 11 digit callerid. The obi generated rule for Trusted Callers looks something like this:
{(x.8005551212):aa}

"x." will match zero or more digits, so the above rule will match the Trusted Caller with or without the country code. I don't know why you are having problems with this.

You can see what format your provider is send by viewing the call history. It will show the callerid. You need to sign into your OBi via the local interface, click Status then Call History.

After Google Voice switched to the SIP protocol, they started sending a 12 character callerid, a plus sign followed by 11 digits. This caused problems for several people. I didn't know your service provider and thought this might be your problem. That is why I supplied that link.

[mrcinaz]

Service providers normally send a 10 or 11 digit callerid. The obi generated rule for Trusted Callers looks something like this:
{(x.8005551212):aa}

"x." will match zero or more digits, so the above rule will match the Trusted Caller with or without the country code. I don't know why you are having problems with this.

You can see what format your provider is send by viewing the call history. It will show the callerid. You need to sign into your OBi via the local interface, click Status then Call History.

After Google Voice switched to the SIP protocol, they started sending a 12 character callerid, a plus sign followed by 11 digits. This caused problems for several people. I didn't know your service provider and thought this might be your problem. That is why I supplied that link.

azrobert: Thanks much for the reply.  I apologize for not replying sooner.

As it happens I managed to find my "Device Administration Guide" and had found the meaning of "x.".  I had entered 11 digit numbers, as they are dialed in North America, which should work with the x. I think the problem may be that Phonepower is sending caller ID text ahead of the number, so the rule actually needs to account for that in addition to any extra digits to match. (The caller id text that appears on my handset.)  Whatever the reason, The OBi is routing the call to the fallback rule route (ph1,ph2) instead of the intended aa for the trusted number rule.

I have since deleted my wife's number and shortened mine to the last 7 digits, since x.5551212 should match 8005551212 or any other ddd5551212 number.  (There is basically about one chance in a million that someone with the identical 7 digit number in a different area code will dial my home phone from a phone having those last 7 digits.  Either by accident or design.)

I will figure it out someday, but presently have some higher priority work to do.