Nice Idea Scott, thanks for this opportunity for all of us to help shape the future features of the product.
Things that I would like to see put into the product that makes it easier for users, admins, technicians, etc. are below. I numbered them 1-5 so I don't go over my limit like Picher did, but you may find more than one idea under each number, so I am a being a hog - like Picher. :) 1) Installation / Home Page - Pre-flight screen on first boot within a summary screen. When the product boots up for the first time, rather than present the GUI with no configurations in it, a first boot screen with items the system recognizes are completed adequately versus those that need attention. For example - run the diagnostics and display the deficiencies with a link to suggested help to fix. A summary section of items that need attention - no trunks configured, no users configured, can or cannot reach the Stun server, etc. A summary screen under diagnostics that develops a list of possible issues based on error codes received, mis-configurations identified, etc. This ensures the critical issues get resolved before people try to troubleshoot why a phone isn't working. The Home page could be used much more extensively much like a summary screen. The Gateways could be shown in their own box, Users in their own box, Phones in their own box, Current Auto attendant being used, music on hold configuration being used - internal, external, etc., network parameters, etc. There seems to be a lot of wasted browser space that could be improved for easier viewing, less clicking, and quicker access to the area you need to go. 2) Configuration - Wizards are nice for configuring things - phones, trunk groups, etc. and ensure essential steps are not missed. Increased documentation of some of the features and what they do with popups or help button (link to wiki page - so end user community can assist in development of more extensive documentation). It might be nice to setup a Configuration section of the Wiki, specifically for creating links to areas of the GUI to go to for detail documentation. 3) Help - Configurable Help Location. A place to specific the URL for help functions. This will allow an administrator to configure their own internal help screens, customized for their local policies, procedures, etc. Default to Sipfoundry Wiki, but able to change to one's own when required. This would allow for a company to create their own training video, user docs, etc. 4) Troubleshooting - Access to underlying data from the Gui. Example - able to request a tail of the proxy from the gui so it can be viewed remotely when limited access is provided by IT department. Ability to execute CLI parameter from the gui and have them displayed in a popup. Ideally, rather than enter the cli command, it is a link that is provided, or a script, which drills down to what you are looking for. Start with a subset of the most asked for items, and then improve over time. One great example is the ability to clear logs, ability to merge logs, and a link to download it for viewing in sipviewer. This is one example, others should be considered, with links for downloading files, etc. simply. 5) Tools - a single screen to be able to watch a call flow would be nice - empty screen that requests what extension to watch. Shows phone is registered, shows call off hook, shows digits dialed as they are dialed, shows the gateway access, shows the call progress through sipxbridge, shows invite status to carrier, shows progress of call to far end, shows termination, and many more details in between. This could be a vital tool for troubleshooting for those that lack much of the skills to troubleshoot at a packet level. It can help to pinpoint dial plan issues, gateway issues, phone issues, etc. Then - on call termination, a file is created that can be downloaded and viewed automatically in sipviewer or pcap software. Clear button to start the next call progress, or does this automatically with a list of the files available on the screen. Thanks again for an excellent product! Hopefully we are giving some ideas to the developers and their gears are turning, seeing some easy, practical solutions to put into a quick user experience release package. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Scott Lawrence Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 1:24 PM To: sipXecs users Subject: [sipx-users] Simplify, Simplify, Simplify As we begin to home in on release 4.2, we're starting to formulate plans for what comes next... First, I want to reassure the community - Avaya is very much committed both to the SCS commercial product (see roadmap announcements made this week), and to leading, contributing to, and materially supporting the sipXecs open source project. There most assuredly will be versions beyond 4.2, and we're committed to making them better with every release. Which brings me to the Subject of this request for community input. One of the major strategic goals of the release after 4.2 is to make sipXecs simpler. Simpler to install, simpler to administer, simpler for end users to use. Nice goal, huh? Motherhood is good, Apple Pie is very good, and Simplicity is great - I'm glad we all agree :-) Now comes the challenging part - what is simplicity? We'd like to hear what the community thinks... Specifically, what are your top 5 suggestions for how to simplify sipXecs? For this thread, we are _not_ asking for what your favorite missing power telephony features are (we'll do some of those too) - we want to know how to make the features we've got easier to understand and use. What are the things that you have to jump through hoops to do (especially if you have to do them more than once)? What are the things you constantly have to explain to users? What are the things you know how to do but it's just a little irritating ever time you have to do them? Try to think back to your first experiences - what was hard before you knew what you were doing (newbies - this is your chance to jump in and contribute even before you know what you're doing!) ? This is not like those dumb Microsoft advertisements where one doofus after another takes credit for Windows 7 (really - would anyone actually want to take _credit_ for Windows?) - we really want to know. I'm going to suggest one more thing for this thread - that developers just read and not post. In particular, in this thread: don't explain that something our users think is hard is actually easy, or tell them why it's hard, or suggest how we might fix it, or chime in here and now with your ideas. We'll have our turns to process all this more actively later and elsewhere - this thread is about listening to our users pain. Hear, be inspired, and get motivated. _______________________________________________ sipx-users mailing list [email protected] List Archive: http://list.sipfoundry.org/archive/sipx-users Unsubscribe: http://list.sipfoundry.org/mailman/listinfo/sipx-users sipXecs IP PBX -- http://www.sipfoundry.org/ _______________________________________________ sipx-users mailing list [email protected] List Archive: http://list.sipfoundry.org/archive/sipx-users Unsubscribe: http://list.sipfoundry.org/mailman/listinfo/sipx-users sipXecs IP PBX -- http://www.sipfoundry.org/
