Tone Capture on Existing Phone Call

[speedware]

We are in the USA. I have a customer who has about 40 operators that process incoming calls for their product.

 

We are looking to capture a code, entered by digital tones into an application that each operator has running on their desktop (all are XP SP2). I have downloaded IVM and looked at the payment center example. I have also looked at some of the capabilities of the IVM API.

 

Here's what we'd like to do:

 

1. Operator answers the call and receives details of the business transaction which are entered into a desktop application.
   
2. At an appropriate point the operator presses a button on that desktop application which uses the IVM API to start playing a script.
   
3. "Please enter your code, followed by the # key" - caller then enters their code, # key and this is captured by IVM.
   
4. IVM API returns the results of this entry to the desktop application.
   
5. Operator and caller continue their conversation of the details of the business transaction until the call is ended.
   

It strikes me that this is possible with IVM (the desktop application can be customized as needed to call the API).

 

Three questions:

 

1. If so, which version do I need (my thought is the basic one, one per operator since there is one line and no outgoing calls)?
   
2. For an analogue phone line, I need one voice modem per operator?
   
3. What do I need, in addition, if the phone is connected to a digital PBX?
   

Thanks in advance for your help,

 

Steve

[pythonpoole]

1) You'll need more than just a basic license sine that license does not permit any OGMs. The OGMs (out-going-messages) are what drive your call-flow applications. They play recordings, collect and process user input. Without any OGMs, your system would just be an answering machine. You'll need a bare minimum of the small business license, still with only 3 OGMs, there is not much room to play with.

 

It is possible for you to use one IVM installation for a system of operators however, so you can do that to save on costs and upgrade to one of the higher Interactive or Enterprise licenses.

 

2) There are some professional telephony boards that support 4, 8 or even 16 lines on a single PC (usually a maximum of 4 lines per card installed on the PC). Compared to voice modems, telephony boards are much more expensive however. You are correct that most voice modems only support 1 line.

 

Voice Modem / Telephony Board Comparison

1 Line per card / up to 4 lines per card

Average voice quality / Better voice quality

Suitable for answering machines / Can be used for all sorts of applications including integration with a PBX for call routing and transfers

 

3) If you are using a digital PBX such as Axon or Asterisk, you'll need to connect the phone lines using either

a) Telephony Board

FXO Adapter

 

A Voice Modem would not be suitable for this application. Telephony boards are discussed above. FXO adapters essentially convert your analogue line into a digital VoIP line that can interface with IVM and most digital IP PBX systems. FXO adapters are not too expensive however usually only support 1 line per device. Each FXO adapter requires a free Ethernet port on your network and requires some time to configure properly.