I'm up for a brainstorm/whiteboard on this.

I figure we'd need between 2 and 4 hours to flesh it out.

Not sure we should do it at the pub, unless someone is good at taking notes.

Jim


> -----Original Message-----
> From: philip mullis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> Sent: July 25, 2007 12:48 PM
> To: Jim Van Meggelen
> Cc: 'John Lange'; [email protected]
> Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> 
> Perhaps we should have a sub-pub meeting on this :) and work 
> it out as a group. 
> 
> Phil.
> 
> 
> On Wed, 2007-07-25 at 12:39 -0400, Jim Van Meggelen wrote:
> > I think those comments are very helpful, and for the most 
> part I agree 
> > that this is what voicemail in Asterisk should aspire to.
> > 
> > But, from what I know of IMAP (which is admittedly not much), it is 
> > not fully fleshed-out or supported yet. And, since I believe that 
> > there are plans to work on voicemail as part of the core asterisk 
> > product, I would rather keep things simple for now, and address the 
> > really simple and untenable shortcomings.
> > 
> > For me, a dialplan-based voicemail would serve several goals.
> > 
> > 1) quickly deliver a voicemail system that would present a user 
> > interface that would meet the needs of the customer and be 
> extensible. 
> > Some of the things that could be changed include:
> > -- allow for remote remote notification, which most 
> voicemail systems 
> > enable through the user interface.
> > -- remove the extra folders such as "friends" and "family", 
> which many 
> > businesses do not understand the purpose of
> > -- too many to list
> > 
> > 2) get something going quickly that anyone with a knowledge of 
> > dialplans would be able to understand, work with and add to
> > 
> > 3) get some feedback from the community along the lines of 
> "I could do 
> > better than that", which will stimulate development
> > 
> > 4) complement what Olle is trying to do with Minivm
> > 
> > My concern with what you are suggesting is that if we start getting 
> > into the list of all the things it should do on the network, we are 
> > looking at quite a different beast. Personally, I just want 
> to address 
> > the basic functionality. From there, all kinds of things 
> are possible.
> > 
> > And if you want to use Microsoft for voicemail, that should be 
> > do-able. Do they not have a SIP interface in their LCS product? The 
> > way I see it, if a more advanced voicemail is desired, it 
> can be had 
> > from a 3rd party, as long as there is a way to deliver MWI 
> to the sets 
> > (CallExpress is working on SIP/Asterisk functionality, I 
> spoke to them about it).
> > 
> > I totally agree with what you are saying, but I am coming 
> at this from 
> > a different perspective. I am not looking to build the perfect 
> > voicemail, but merely to get something simple for asterisk 
> that is not 
> > totally frustrating to the users.
> > 
> > Jim
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: John Lange [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > Sent: July 25, 2007 12:06 PM
> > > To: [email protected]
> > > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > 
> > > If I may chip in with my $0.02.
> > > 
> > > First, I believe a completely new Asterisk voicemail 
> system would be 
> > > great because the existing one leaves a lot to be desired 
> especially 
> > > when it comes to customization or removing useless menu items.
> > > 
> > > However, my comment is on the backend storage. There seems to be 
> > > some discussion on how to manipulate the file system for messages 
> > > and so-on with the implicit assumption that the file 
> system is the 
> > > appropriate place for message storage.
> > > 
> > > Using the file system for storage immediately implies your voice 
> > > mail system will not support "unified messaging".
> > > "Unified Messaging" is clearly the future so any discussion of 
> > > voicemail storage should start there. (And no, voicemail 
> to email is 
> > > _not_ unified messaging.)
> > > 
> > > Personally I wouldn't even bother with the file based system and 
> > > skip straight to IMAP. Many of the questions you are 
> pondering about 
> > > file naming, locking, "deleted" flag, etc.
> > > are exactly what IMAP already does. Combine that with 
> existing MTA 
> > > (Postfix) and you now have a simple mechanism for moving messages 
> > > between voicemail systems.
> > > 
> > > And as long as the interface layer is abstracted someone 
> can write 
> > > one that works with Exchange.  Like it or not, Microsoft 
> is making 
> > > VoIP systems now and they are integrated with Exchange so any 
> > > business that uses Exchange will expect that as a minimum.
> > > 
> > > I hope these comments are helpful.
> > > 
> > > Regards,
> > > 
> > > John Lange
> > > 
> > > On Wed, 2007-07-25 at 09:44 -0400, Jim Van Meggelen wrote:
> > > >  
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Dave Bour [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > Sent: July 25, 2007 8:04 AM
> > > > > To: Jim Van Meggelen; Philip Mullis; Simon P. Ditner
> > > > > Cc: [email protected]
> > > > > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > > > 
> > > > > Regarding the delete on logout, how about a long term 
> archive.  
> > > > > I can't think of the number of times I've been asked if a 
> > > > > voicemail can be recovered, after someone has hung 
> up.  Make it
> > > like exchange
> > > > > or something...change a flag to mark deleted..move it 
> a deleted 
> > > > > folder on logout or something...deleted folder not
> > > "playable" from
> > > > > dial plan but maybe available via web or "admin login".
> > > > 
> > > > That is a very interesting idea indeed. Some sort of purge 
> > > > schedule could be devised.
> > > > 
> > > > > A goto message number would be nice as well as 
> first/last message
> > > > > option.   In my old folder, I have typically 25-50 messages 
> > > > > stored until
> > > > > the event relating to it has passed.  This is tedious moving
> > > > > 1 at a time through them on any system, Octel or *.  
> > > > 
> > > > Good idea. Are you sure the Octel doesn't have it? I think
> > > that is one
> > > > of those features that don't get used/documented.
> > > > 
> > > > > Another feature...sending messages between systems...much
> > > like Octel
> > > > > can message another Bell customer, regardless of the 
> switch it's 
> > > > > on...I've multiple office clients where this has been 
> requested 
> > > > > before.  Today, they can email the message (assuming they're 
> > > > > configured for it) but it'd be nice to simply forward to the 
> > > > > extension of the other office and it goes.
> > > > 
> > > > The VPIM protocol was created for just that purpose. The
> > > industry has
> > > > largely abandoned it, but most voicemail systems 
> suppport it. It 
> > > > shouldn't be too hard to make asterisk VPIM compliant, 
> since it is 
> > > > based on SMTP/MIME
> > > > 
> > > > > And message pickup between systems.  Today, some ITSP's
> > > let you have
> > > > > a "backup" voicemail like lesnet, or even the Bell octel
> > > system as a
> > > > > backup if all lines are full...to be able to pickup 
> from one of 
> > > > > those
> > > > > systems...and dump into a "common" mailbox for an 
> office.   The
> > > > > receptionist or someone could gather those, and 
> forward to the 
> > > > > appropriate person...
> > > > 
> > > > Putting voicemail into the dialplan makes all kinds of nifty 
> > > > things possible.
> > > > 
> > > > > Shared voicemail....one voicemail between multiple
> > > lines...today I
> > > > > simply link the folders...
> > > > 
> > > > Nice!
> > > > 
> > > > > Group voicemail... A group voicemail account that can be
> > > seen by a
> > > > > collection of users...think call center such that
> > > whoever's free can
> > > > > grab it...maybe as a folder in their own (yet MWI work if it's
> > > > > there) as well as maintaining their existing private mailbox.
> > > > > 
> > > > > That's all my thoughts for now.
> > > > > Dave
> > > > 
> > > > Nice stuff, Dave.
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > From: Jim Van Meggelen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 11:38 PM
> > > > > > To: 'Philip Mullis'; 'Simon P. Ditner'
> > > > > > Cc: [email protected]
> > > > > > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I've brainstormed this a few times with Leif and Andrew.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > If I recall, the problems we anticipated were MWI (which
> > > > > now appears
> > > > > > to be
> > > > > > solved) and file/message management (which is still a 
> > > > > > potential problem, especially if we want to do it 
> all in the dialplan).
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Solve that, and the dialplan work doesn't seem so daunting.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > It'd be pretty cool to be able to release something that
> > > > > people could
> > > > > > build on. A dialplan-based voicemail would allow people to
> > > > > modify the
> > > > > > voicemail to emulate their favorite traditional
> > > voicemail system. 
> > > > > > I picture some sort of central repository that contains
> > > packages
> > > > > > of various voicemail types; all community-built.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Off the top of my head, here are some things that we'd need
> > > > > to figure
> > > > > > out.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > - how do we track messages? I log in, have 20 messages in
> > > > > my INBOX. I
> > > > > > want to delete message 3, 7 and 15. What happens 
> when I log out?
> > > > > > -- can I undelete in the same session? (in other words,
> > > > > don't delete
> > > > > > the message until I log out)
> > > > > > -- when I listen to a message, it can't move from the
> > > INBOX to Old
> > > > > > unless one of two events happen:
> > > > > > -- 1) I move it manually
> > > > > > -- 2) I log out
> > > > > > -- when I move it, it has to be re-numbered
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > And so on.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Frankly, I don't think that we should be a slave to the way
> > > > > asterisk
> > > > > > does things, but just trying to replicate the current 
> > > > > > functionality helps to understand the file management
> > > challenges.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Perhaps we have to use the database, but the masochist in
> > > > > me wants to
> > > > > > see if it can be done in the dialplan.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Since the most popular voicemail system in North
> > > America is Octel
> > > > > > (unless something huge has changed since I last
> > > checked), it may
> > > > > > be that this is the system we should select as our
> > > first effort. 
> > > > > > (not sure how the copyright works on that, so we'd 
> better call
> > > > > it CrocTel
> > > > > > or something).
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I found a user guide online that would serve as a pretty
> > > > > good starting
> > > > > > point for the user features we'd want to emulate.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Google for 'octel user guide' and the first link has a PDF
> > > > > that'll get
> > > > > > us started. The Octel system is really quite a bit more
> > > > > flexible than
> > > > > > that, so we may want to compare a few user guides.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > I can write this up into something that's not a PDF if
> > > you want. 
> > > > > > We can then work through it and decide what to prioritize.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Jim
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > Jim Van Meggelen
> > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2177
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > "A child is the ultimate startup, and I have three. 
> > > > > > This makes me rich."
> > > > > >                     Guy Kawasaki
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > > From: Philip Mullis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > > Sent: July 24, 2007 10:39 PM
> > > > > > > To: Jim Van Meggelen; Simon P. Ditner
> > > > > > > Cc: [email protected]
> > > > > > > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Any suggestions for a draft on what would make up a great
> > > > > > replacement
> > > > > > > :) im willing to start stabing at some coding.
> > > > > > >  
> > > > > > > Regards
> > > > > > >  
> > > > > > > Philip Mullis
> > > > > > >  
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > ________________________________
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > From: Jim Van Meggelen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > > Sent: Tue 7/24/2007 10:31 PM
> > > > > > > To: 'Simon P. Ditner'
> > > > > > > Cc: [email protected]
> > > > > > > Subject: RE: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > That MWI bit is pretty handy, and makes the concept worth
> > > > > > looking at
> > > > > > > again.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > But message management is still a problem. Asterisk
> > > > > doesn't really
> > > > > > > have much for working with files.
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > Jim
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > > > From: Simon P. Ditner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > > > > > > Sent: July 24, 2007 8:55 PM
> > > > > > > > To: Jim Van Meggelen
> > > > > > > > Cc: [email protected]
> > > > > > > > Subject: Re: [on-asterisk] replacing app_voicemail
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Hi Jim,
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > It's very easy. There are really only three parts:
> > > > > > > > - MWI, which can be taken care of with a short 
> script [1]
> > > > > > > > - voicemail -> email; again, very easy to do 
> with a short 
> > > > > > > > Perl/Python/PHP script
> > > > > > > > - IVR design for message management
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The actual implementation is a couple hours of writing
> > > > > > > dialplan, and
> > > > > > > > debugging the routing.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > [1] http://asterisk.mdaniel.net/?p=14
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On 7/24/07, Jim Van Meggelen
> > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > > > > > Have any brave souls out there tried replacing
> > > > > app_voicemail.so?
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > > > Jim Van Meggelen
> > > > > > > > > Core Telecom Innovations [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> > > > > > > > > www.coretel.ca
> > > > > > > > > 416-425-6111 x6001
> > > > > > > > > 877-CORETEL x6001 (Canada)
> > > > > > > > > IAX2:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/6001
> > > > > > > > > www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/2177
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > No virus found in this outgoing message.
> > > > > > > > > Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> > > > > > > > > Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.16/914 -
> > > > > Release Date:
> > > > > > > > > 23/07/2007
> > > > > > > > > 7:45 PM
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > 
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> > > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > > | It ain't what you don't know that gets you into
> > > > > > trouble. It's what
> > > > > > > > | you know for sure that just ain't so.   -- Mark Twain
> > > > > > > > |
> > > > > > > > | The Toronto Asterisk Users Group Join the
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>  
> 

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