by Pete | Oct 12, 2014 | Acarda Outbound, Dialing Devices, IP-PBX, outbound calling
There are two methods for Acarda Outbound to dial out with the AltiGen phone system. The first is via the AltiGen MaxAgent softphone and the second, is directly with the AltiGen Phone System through AltiGen’s SDK. This blog will explain how to configure Acarda Outbound for each of these two approaches.
These instructions apply to both the Team and Solo Editions of Acarda Outbound. For Acarda Outbound Team: In Acarda Outbound Agent click on the Tools menu up the top right side of the screen and select the Dialing Device submenu. For Acarda Outbound Solo: Click on the Agent View tab and in the top right, click the Tools menu and select the Dialing Device submenu.
AltiGen MaxAgent Softphone
Dialing out via the MaxAgent softphone does not require the AltiGen edition of Acarda Outbound. AltiGen’s MaxAgent must be installed, running and logged in before continuing. Select AltiGen MaxAgent from the drop down list and click the Test Connection button. You should see feedback on screen saying that the connection was successful. Click Save to select this option and close the Dialing Device screen.
Figure 1: The AltiGen MaxAgent dialing device selection.
AltiGen Phone System through AltiGen’s SDK
Dialing out directly with the AltiGen Phone System is only available in the Acarda Outbound – AltiGen Edition from an authorized AltiGen Reseller Partner. This is a much tighter integration and requires an AltiGen SDK license (Client Application SDK Session License). The advantages of this approach include the ability to dial out with both physical desktop phones connected to the AltiGen Phone System in addition to the MaxAgent softphone, being able to set the outgoing caller ID number, optional do not disturb mode, and a greater level of line status detail. This is our recommended way to dial out with an AltiGen phone system.
Figure 2: The AltiGen Phone System dialing device selection.
When you select the AltiGen Phone System for the dialing device you need to enter the phone system’s server address. If you want to prevent inbound calls being sent to this extension then check the Do Not Disturb Mode check box. There are three login options: The first, Prompt, will ask you to provide login details every time you start Acarda Outbound Agent, the second, System, will save the extension and password for any Acarda Outbound username, the third, User, will save the extension and password on a per user bases so each user logged into Acarda Outbound can have a different extension and password set. These settings are saved onto the Agent station only – you will need to reconfigure your login if you change Agent computers.
For more details on Acarda Outbound please see http://www.acarda.com/live-outbound-calling/. You can download an Acarda Outbound trial via http://www.acarda.com/outbound-calling-downloads/
by Pete | Sep 23, 2014 | Acarda Outbound, Dialing Devices, outbound calling, Softphones
2017-10-03 edited: Note the HTTP API is no longer available in the latest versions of 3CX, please refer to How to dial out with 3CXPhone for Windows.
This blog will explain how to connect up Acarda Outbound Agent to dial out with 3CX’s IP-PBX. Acarda Outbound can dial out via phone systems that support RESTful API’s and HTTP URL’s; and so with 3CX’s IP-PBX it dials via their HTTP API.
These instructions apply to both the Team and Solo Editions of Acarda Outbound. For Acarda Outbound Team: In Acarda Outbound Agent click on the Tools menu up the top right side of the screen and select the Dialing Device submenu. For Acarda Outbound Solo: Click on the Agent View tab and in the top right, click the Tools menu and select the Dialing Device submenu.
Figure 1: The dialing device configuration.
Once you have selected the dialing device menu from the drop-down, you will be presented with the dialog above. You can then select the “HTTP/Web API” from the current dialing device drop-down to use this dialing method.
The HTTP/Web API only supports commands for dialing a telephone number and for hanging up. Not all systems support the ability to end a call via an API. If your system does not support this then leave the hang up address box blank and it will not be used. You will not be able to use our software to hang up – but you should be able to use the phone systems’ phone or proprietary software to hang up.
Figure 2: The HTTP/Web API configuration.
In the Command URLs you are able to set the URL to be requested as well as the HTTP request method (either GET or POST). Most APIs will use the “Get” verb. The dial setting above also treats the [ph] text in the URL as a placeholder for the telephone number needing to be dialed via Acarda Outbound. Other parameters used in the URL should be set according to the phone system’s documentation. In the case of 3CX’s phone system, the URL would look like the one below:
http://<pbx>:5000/ivr/PbxAPI.aspx?func=make_call&from=<ext>&to=[ph]&pin=<ext_pin>
Where the <pbx> is the IP address of the phone system computer, <ext> is the extension number of the device and <ext pin> is the extensions password. The request verb for this would be GET.
Note: Some phone systems will only accept calls to their respective API’s from the local network. This is for security purposes (and applies to 3cx systems). Often this configuration can be changed but you must understand the potential security risks in doing so.
To read up more on 3CX’s integration with HTTP API please refer to their blog at http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/3cx-http-api/
For more details on Acarda Outbound please see http://www.acarda.com/live-outbound-calling/. You can download an Acarda Outbound trial via http://www.acarda.com/outbound-calling-downloads/
