astGUIclient 2.0.1 review

astGUIclient is a GUI client application for the Asterisk open-source PBX. This is a suite of programs that are designed to intera

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Matt Florell

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astGUIclient is a GUI client application for the Asterisk open-source PBX.

This is a suite of programs that are designed to interact with the Asterisk Open-Source PBX Phone system at a client computer level to extend the functionality of your phone and system.

The suite of software is designed to work with an Asterisk system that has Zap(T1/E1/PSTN),IAX or SIP trunks and SIP/IAX/Zap phones.

The main GUI application, astGUIclient, is a set of PHP web-based scripts utilizing Javascript and XMLHTTPRequest functions that work through a browser to give real-time information and functionality with nothing more than an internet browser on the client computer.

Another component included with the astGUIclient package is the VICIDIAL auto-dialer. This is a list dialer(another real-time web-client) that can be added to Asterisk and is highly configurable with detailed logging. VICIDIAL can dial one-call-at-a-time or you can put it in auto-dial mode and it acts as a predictive dialer. VICIDIAL also can function as an ACD for inbound calls or for Closer calls coming from VICIDIAL fronters and even allows for remote agents that may only have a phone.

The software suite also includes a from-scratch software installation document, full English and Spanish versions of the web-clients and admin pages, and the Asterisk Central Queue System(ACQS) which allows for optimized and streamlined Asterisk integration.

This group of applications is designed to run on top of just about any version of Asterisk so no messing around with the Asterisk source code is necessary. For more information see the system requirements. astGUIclient is not an Asterisk configuration utility, it is an end-user Graphical User Interface.

All astGUIclient software elements are distributed freely through the GPL with no warranty.

Here are some key features of "astGUIclient":
Grabs live call info from a DB updated every second
Displays live status of users phones and Zap/IAX/SIP/Local channels
Allows calls to be placed from GUI and directed to phone
Allows intrasystem calls at the click of a button
Allows call recording at the click of a button
Allows conference calling of up to 6 channels through GUI
Administrative Hangup of any live Zap/IAX/SIP/Local channel
Administrative Hijack of any live Zap/IAX/SIP/Local channel
Administrative switch user function
Call Parking sends calls to park ext and then redirects to phone ext
CallerID popup with buttons to open custom web pages
Voicemail display and button to go right to check voicemail
Allows Blind listening of calls on Zap channels
Allows Blind transfers of calls to specific voicemail boxes
Allows Blind transfers of calls to intrasystem extensions
Allows Blind transfers of calls to external numbers

Additional Features available only in the web version:

More than 6 channels in the conference room
Send to Voicemail directly from the inbound call popup window
All client phone connections are shown not just the first
Allows transfers to conferences
Call parking with callerID

Requirements:
Asterisk 1.0.7 recommended but will work with older versions and 1.2
Zap trunks(T1/E1 or PSTN lines), IAX2 trunks or SIP trunks required
Client phones can be SIP/IAX/Zap
In extensions.conf you must use the 'o' flag on your outbound extens
In php.ini you must have uploads turned on to use the web lead loader
SoX 12.17.5 or greater must be installed
GNU screen 3.9.15 or greater must be installed
ntp must be installed and syncing to same time source as clients
Perl5 with several CPAN modules(Time::HiRes, Net::MySQL, Net::Telnet, etc)
Access to MySQL server, must be version 4.0.X or higher
Access to Apache/PHP webserver

What's New in This Release:
All Perl script have been changed to use DBI instead of Net::MySQL.
There is a completely new interactive install script with a new astguiclient.conf file.
The ability to turn off or on logging of server scripts.
The ability to redirect AGI output to file, STDERR, both, or nowhere.
Code and process optimization of many of the server-side scripts.
A predictive outbound dialing algorithm with many user-defined settings.
A new BASE_INSTALL.txt doc for simple installation is included, as well as sample conf files.
There are many other changes and bugfixes.