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obi callback feature

Started by Andrew0027, October 16, 2013, 12:09:02 AM

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Andrew0027

What I'm looking to do is have my obitalk 110 call me without me calling it first. Maybe a webui of some sort....

My Current situation is:

My dad lives in Thailand and wants to call me,
1) He goes out and gets a calling card
2) Calls me
3) Obi askes him what he wants to do (trusted caller menu)
4) He pushes #3 (call back)
5) Puts in his number
6) Hangs up
7) Obi calls him
8) OBI asks him what he wants to do (Trusted Caller Menu)
9) either calls me or uses it to call someone else

What I'm looking to do is get rid of step 1 to 6 and replace it with something else so he does not have to go and buy the calling card. Any ideas?

ianobi

Andrew0027 – welcome to the forum.

Your OBi does have the facility to call back without the original call being answered, so the call should not be charged for. Let's assume that your dad calls in on your PSTN number:

1. Dad calls in. When he hears ringing tone, he hangs up before the OBi answers.

2. The OBi auto attendant calls him back and offers the usual three options.

To make this work you need to set up a rule such as this:

Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute:
{(12222222222):aa($1)},{ph}

Where 12222222222 is you dad's number. The ($1) after the aa tells the auto attendant that this is a call requiring a callback to the same incoming number. The auto attendant will use its Primary Line to make the call. (This can be changed.)

One potential problem with this for international calls is that the incoming number CallerID might not be exactly the same as the required outgoing call. Your OBi can callback using a different number. Simple example:

Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute:
{(12222222222):aa(13333333333)},{ph}

Where 12222222222 is the incoming CallerID and 13333333333 is the number to use for callback. Again the auto attendant will use its Primary Line to make the call. (This can be changed.)

Try it out with your cell phone number and see how it works. If you call in via PSTN, then you need to listen to ringing for 3 or 4 seconds to give the OBi long enough to detect CallerID. This is OK as the auto attendant answer delay is lengthened to ten seconds if this callback feature is in use.


Other ways may be by using OBiON if your dad has a cell phone with wifi, or OBiAPP if he has access to broadband and a PC.


drgeoff

I don't know about Thailand to whatever country Andrew0027 is in but I do know that here in the UK on a BT line, CallerID is not always present on incoming calls from foreign countries.

Rick

Or he buys an OBI 100 or 110 and calls OBi to OBi for free, no games involved.

Andrew0027

Thanks for the suggestions but I was really hoping to avoid the first phone call by using some sort of website, sms, or even a PC app that you just need to click a button and have it call a specified number. OBiAPP is not really what I'm looking for though I will play around with it a bit more and see what I can do.

Quote from: ianobi on October 16, 2013, 05:38:30 AM
Physical Interfaces -> LINE Port -> InboundCallRoute:
{(12222222222):aa($1)},{ph}

Where 12222222222 is you dad's number. The ($1) after the aa tells the auto attendant that this is a call requiring a callback to the same incoming number. The auto attendant will use its Primary Line to make the call. (This can be changed.)

I do not have a PSTN line I just have voip.ms (SP1) and Google voice (SP2) but this is interesting idea! I'll have to play around with this but like drgeoff said the incoming number is not always the same (I live in Canada). I'm not sure if this is because of the calling card or what but maybe I can use x.12222222 so it does not have to be an exact match?

Andrew0027

Quote from: Andrew0027 on October 16, 2013, 02:01:24 PM
Thanks for the suggestions but I was really hoping to avoid the first phone call by using some sort of website, sms, or even a PC app that you just need to click a button and have it call a specified number. OBiAPP is not really what I'm looking for though I will play around with it a bit more and see what I can do.

Looks like this option is not going to work, I've set up OBiAPP with X-Lite as suggested on the web site with no problem. speed dial #2 presented me with the trusted caller menu and any time I try to make a selection it does not notice that I've pushed a number.

Andrew0027

I've found something pretty interesting and thought I'd share. I have two Gmail accounts and when I log into my secondary one (the one without GV) it shows my primary account as "Voice only". When I call it my phone starts to ring and shows my secondary Gmail ID on the caller id of my phone. I then added the Gmail id as a trusted caller and tried again.... This time it looks like I picked up but I cant hear anything. I then type 3 and hit enter and it says "OBI OK" so then I do 4# and hit enter and it hung up on me. a minute later my cell phone is ringing!

Andrew's new status message - Voice Only   2:24 PM
me:  3
Andrew:  OBi OK
me:  4#
Andrew:  OBi OK
Andrew ended the voice chat at 2:25 PM.


I think I can work with the above though it would be great to see obihai implement something like this into their software!

azrobert

You could try the following:

Use a different softphone with the OBiApp.
I like Phonerlite or 3CX with a PC.

or

You can register your softphone on VOIP.ms as a subaccount. I don't have a VOIP.ms account, but I assume you can call your main account from the subaccount and be connected to the Phone Port or the AA. 


ianobi

QuoteI do not have a PSTN line I just have voip.ms (SP1) and Google voice (SP2) but this is interesting idea! I'll have to play around with this but like drgeoff said the incoming number is not always the same (I live in Canada). I'm not sure if this is because of the calling card or what but maybe I can use x.12222222 so it does not have to be an exact match?

No problem - it works fine on any InboundCallRoute. Using x.12222222 is also fine, so long as you are picking numbers that are likely to only select your dad's number. However, if the calls come in with slightly differing numbers, then don't us the ($) format. ($) calls back whatever digits it received as CallerID. Use:

-> InboundCallRoute:
{(x.12222222):aa(0114412212222222)},{ph}

Where 0114412222222222 is the exact number you would dial from the phone port to call your dad. If you don't wish the auto attendant to use its Primary Line, then simply put a star code in front such as:

-> InboundCallRoute:
{(x.12222222):aa(**20114412212222222)},{ph}

Andrew0027

Thanks azrobert, I have a sub account on my cell phone and I can call that extension for free and get it to call me back easily enough so this is definitely an option.

Quote from: ianobi on October 17, 2013, 03:47:06 AM
-> InboundCallRoute:
{(x.12222222):aa(**20114412212222222)},{ph}

I have this set up using my cell phone number though it took a little of messing around to get it to work how I want it to work. I call my GV number and hang up, AA calls me back with my Voip.MS number and it then calls out using my GV number!