On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 6:40 AM, Mark Lindner <[email protected]>wrote:
> We use a predictive dialer on a regular basis, so I can speak with > experience on this. > > > glad to hear someone is. can it be run from or access numbers in a database? > Unless you use very exacting formatting on data input you will need to do a > validation prior to sending the number to the dialer. > i don't much care for those tyrannical forms that require every field to be just so. > > > Aside from format you never know when a user is going to put in something > like x12 or (cell) etc > > > exactly. > Some people make a number invalid by changing the area code to 999 or 000 > or fill in a no phone number field with all zeros etc. so you have to look > for those also. > > > have done that myself. > What I do is to first strip the number of all none integer digits by > passing it through a short loop that looks at each digit and only allows the > correct ones to be dialed or placed in the list. > > > > Then check it for length according to your local dial plan, if length not > equal to 10 digits or not equal to 7 then reject > > > seems simple enough. > Then if appropriate check against allowed area codes/time zones. > Depending on your list you may also want to filter out country codes. > > > yeah, for my app, there is really no reason for autodialing internationally > Depending on you use of the numbers you may have to screen out cell > numbers, but that’s a separate process where you have to validate the number > against outside lists. > > > most of my patient base is using cell phones, many don't even have land lines any more... > Whatever product you use to do the dialing can either add the prefixes you > may need like a 1 or if on a pbx dial 9 first. Most can also tell if local > or not and use the area code. I believe most of the country is moving to 10 > digit dialing. > > > wow. no more 7 digit? all the more reason to have autodialers... thanks for that input > Mark Lindner > Lindner & Associates PC > 400 Hunnewell St, Needham MA 02494 > PO Box 920435 > Needham MA 02492 0005 > 781 247 1100 > Fax 781 247 1143 > EFAX 857 366 9691 > Toll Free 888 658 4269 > Direct 781 247 1160 > > THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR > > -----Original Message----- > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *William > Stacy > *Sent:* Tuesday, March 29, 2011 9:19 AM > *To:* RBASE-L Mailing List > *Subject:* [RBASE-L] - RE: telephone number formatting > > > > Some good points, along with the other responses. For now I'm keeping it > simple. Recognizing that different users will input different formats based > on readability and custom for their area, I'm just going to keep it simple > and leave the phone #s in a simple 15 char text column, along with a similar > text column that will contain an "as dialed" string for the autodialer. > > my own database has about 20,000 phone numbers in it, mostly formatted as > xxx.xxx.xxxx or just xxx.xxxx for local numbers. it should be easy to strip > those dots out for those conforming rows. the rest will have to be done > manually. > > thanks > > bill > > On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 8:08 AM, Hans Manhave <[email protected]> > wrote: > > North East Texas here, we dial 10 digits if it is local . Several area > codes in the local calling area cause this. We do add the 1 in front if it > is outside the local area. Something to unlearn when visiting areas of the > country where they can dial just the seven digits. > > > > Also a good idea to be ready for an area code change/addition at a future > point. > > > > Hans > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *William > Stacy > *Sent:* Sunday, March 27, 2011 2:01 PM > *To:* RBASE-L Mailing List > *Subject:* [RBASE-L] - telephone number formatting > > > > Am restructuring my telephone number table so that just in case there is a > way to direct dial from an Rbase 9.1 application. I'd want it to be > consistent with whatever kind of dialers there are, which means like a 10 > integer string for a cell phone in the USA, adding a 1 if it's a land line > in the usa dialing to another usa long distance, or a 7 int. string if it's > a local call, and something else for each if it's an overseas call. What > else is there? > > Has anyone tackled this question? i'm thinking a tel column that is a text > type of at least 11 chars (any longer ones in existence, esp foreign?) > > I would think that such an autodial column would have to have no hyphens, > parens, etc. > > Thanks. > > Bill > -- > William Stacy, O.D. > > Please visit my website by clicking on : > > http://www.folsomeye.net > > > > > -- > William Stacy, O.D. > > Please visit my website by clicking on : > > http://www.folsomeye.net > > > -- William Stacy, O.D. Please visit my website by clicking on : http://www.folsomeye.net
