I have recently embarked on a project to interface an Asterisk(TM) open-source PBX with our existing Iwatsu ECS. One of the functions that this new box will be serving is as a replacement to the ancient 4VML voicemail card currently in the cabinet. I duplicated the functions of the 4VML by writing an Asterisk dial plan, connected the Asterisk box to an eight-port analog card in the ECS cabinet and edited the Iwatsu's Voice Mail Integration settings to use the appropriate ports.

Everything is working well, with one exception. Any transfers, such when the greeting is played and a timeout sends the call to an ACD queue, results in an audible "click" to the caller. The same goes if the caller is transferred to an extension. This is because I'm currently using a flash to get the ECS's attention for the transfer. Obviously, this doesn't occur with the 4VML.

The techs at Morefield, who have been extremely helpful with this project, indicated that the 4VML is essentially a card with embedded analog ports so I'm surmising that it does the same thing.

That said, I want to ask the question: does the 4VML card actually flash to transfer or does it get the Iwatsu's attention via a super-secret in-band DTMF sequence, or perhaps via an out-of-band route included with that card?

I'd appreciate anything that anyone can offer to shed some light on how I can make transfers silent again.

Thanks in advance.

Barry

I service a system that does just what you're doing using a Telekol voicemail instead of the Iwatsu in-skin card, and the same audible click is heard when transferring to the ACD queue. The VMI card is essentially an analog card, but is specifically engineered for the ADIX/ECS system. Being an analog card IN the switch itself, it uses the same switching circuitry a regular analog card uses, so no audible click is heard on transfer, just as no click is heard when transferring a call from an analog phone to another system extension. It's just a benefit of being in the house...

Thank you very much for the quick reply. I was sure that there was something special that the VMI card did. I guess I'll just redesign things a bit so that the Asterisk box does the greeting and if an extension is requested, does some trickery with DNIS numbers to route the calls to the appropriate exension. That will at least reduce the amount of transfers necessary.

Best regards,

Barry

You might want to investigate using SIP stations instead of the analog card. SIP transfers are seemless and I have never heard any noises during a transfer. They are faster to answer also. I am using Asterisk as a conference server connected with SIP ports on my ECS and it answers before even a ring, including CID when using a DID on a PRI

Cferrall --

I wish I had seen your message earlier. I just found it while looking back over my earlier posts. This is exactly what I'm going to do.

Are you using just SIP licenses to do this or did you purchase the CSTA via LAN license?