vicidial.org

by **kdc** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:57 pm

We are setting up an initial 5-station call center in Ontario, and one of our business contacts recommended VICIDial. He showed me the stats, and it's very impressive! If this goes well, it will go to 15-stations over the next 12 months, but right now we are setting up from scratch.

Can someone recommend a good service provider for making long distance calls in Canada (about 500 calls a day to start, up to 5000 calls per day), mostly long distance? I'm interested in VOIP, Skype, or T1, but open to suggestions.

Is there someone in the Ontario area that could help set up a VICIDial server and coordinate line service?

Thank you

by **williamconley** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:17 pm

Do yourself a favor (seriously):

1) get an old P4 RIGHT NOW and install vicidial in it for testing (download vicibox from vicibox.com, free, and the manual for installation, free and the manager's manual from eflo.net, also free, but get the paid one before you launch and commit it to memory!)

2) open an account with vitelity (you may or may not use them long run, but it's a tiny investment and will allow immediate testing!)

3) put it online with a single agent (actually, the average P4 would likely hold your first 5 agents, but this exercise it to enable you to be authoritative BEFORE launch because you've already tested it

)

We offer installation, training, and even colocation services, as do many others. three hours of training at $35/hour brings most people up to "I can use my dialer!" quite nicely.

by **kdc** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:24 pm

That's excellent advice, thank you!

What can you tell me about vitelity? I went to their site, but it doesn't have easily accessible details about price, etc.

by **williamconley** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 3:37 pm

their pricing is competitive, not "excellent" but certainly "good". and suitable for a 5 person system.

i DO recommend you have AT LEAST three carriers by the time you launch, but you can start with vitelity and read the forums ... you'll find others online etc.

the goal: 1 cent per minute until you hit "enterprise" level minutes (when you are spending at least $200/week, you can generally negotiate for better pricing ... but right now you are at $0/week, so if you can find 1 cent, be happy!)

by **kdc** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:36 pm

Thanks for the advice ... I'm configuring an old P4 over the next few days, and signing up for Vitelity, and hope to test it by this coming Friday.

Why do you suggest at least 3 carriers? Have you experienced outages or interruptions?

by **williamconley** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:21 pm

when you find out how powerful vicidial is ... within a few weeks you will note that your entire enterprise will "ride" on this money maker.

yes, outages occur. sometimes you dont know if the "bad quality" is your system or your carrier. sometimes it's just that the carrier is down for 10 minutes (but you don't know that during the first minute, do you?)

when everyone around you's paycheck (families to feed!) rides on THIS equipment ... having three providers means you have testing tools (is the problem the provider or the vicidial machine or the network?!?) that are FREE. And it can keep you SANE.

instead of 30 agents staring at you with nothing else to do (that's a great feeling, right? LOL) ... you change an "8" to a "9" and tell 'em to get back to work, then figure out why that provider stopped working ... At Your Leisure.

AT&T, Verizon, every provider I've ever had has shut down at one point or another for some reason. Maybe only for 5 minutes, but eventually. (T1, SIP, IAX ... no matter, they all fail at least once!)

by **kdc** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:15 pm

I've set up a P4 at my house, and I've successfully burned VICIBox as an ISO cd, and completed everything through the base os installation.

Because this is at home, I have not set up a domain, and I've given the machine a local dedicated IP, and pointed to my router to get to the outside.

However, when I attempt to update the OS, I get the following error:

linux-mjm1:~ # zypper refresh
Failed to download /repodata/repomd.xml from ...

Have I forgotten to set something up?

by **boybawang** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:03 am

check if your machine is connected to the internet, if it is then check if it has a dns server under /etc/resolv.conf , this should be under the support forum

by **kdc** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:21 pm

Ok, I confirmed the internet cabling is accurate, however, resolv.conf is an empty commented file.

### /etc/resolv.conf file autogenerated by netconfig!
#
# Before you change this file manually, consider to define the
# static DNS configuration using the following variables in the
# /etc/sysconfig/network/config file:
# NETCONFIG_DNS_STATIC_SEARCHLIST
# NETCONFIG_DNS_STATIC_SERVERS
# NETCONFIG_DNS_FORWARDER
# or disable DNS configuration updates via netconfig by setting:
# NETCONFIG_DNS_POLICY=''
#
# See also the netconfig(8) manual page and other documentation.
#
# Note: Manual change of this file disables netconfig too, but
# may get lost when this file contains comments or empty lines
# only, the netconfig settings are same with settings in this
# file and in case of a "netconfig update -f" call.
#
### Please remove (at least) this line when you modify the file!

I understand a bit of linux, but not enough to set up a DNS policy. I've searched the boards for dns information or resolv.conf information, and came up with nothing, and the VICIDial Manager's Manual doesn't seem to cover machine setup.

I did find the advice to route add default gw 192.168.0.1, which I did, but it didn't help. When I type route, I get the following results back:

Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
link-local * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
loopback * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

Can anyone help with more specific information?

by **boybawang** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:53 pm

what is the output of route -n ?

also populate with your /etc/resolv.conf file with

nameserver 4.2.2.1
nameserver 4.2.2.2

also try doing a ping to the default gateway you have which is 192.168.0.1 if it responses then go ping 4.2.2.1 or 4.2.2.2 if it responses it means you are connected to the internet but cannot resolve hostnames which is simply solved by adding those entries i stated above to your /etc/resolv.conf

they are global dns servers

by **williamconley** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:07 pm

while it resides at your home it's ok to leave it on DHCP (perhaps reserve an ip in your router for it to stop the IP from ever changing). then the resolv.conf will be populated automatically during DHCP acquisition at startup.

then use "ping www.irs.gov -c 2" to demonstrate that you HAVE internet.

do not get overly complex or cute or smart while doing your first install. expect to do it over after you have it working. i recommend 10 or 15 installs so you get over the fear. Remember: There's NEVER enough time to do it right ... but ALWAYS enough time to do it over... in this case the thing that is most important is removing the fear of a full reinstall. Later when you have a functional system, all you'll need is a solid backup of the mysql database and you can reinstall "at will" with no fear. (just verify the validity of the database before wiping OR use a fresh HD in case you need to go back and get the data!).

stop at your first install question and post it if you don't know what the next answer is to the question on your screen. (or do like we do .. guess and then reinstall later and try a different answer, then report any bugs to Kumba

).

by **kdc** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:32 pm

Okay,

I added nameserver 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2 to the resolv.conf file, and still can't ping these ips or cnn.com -- network is unavailable.

I can ping the gateway 16c2.168.0.1

Strangely enough, before I added the nameservers, I could dig sites and get info ...

My route results are

192.168.0.0 * 255.
link-local * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
loopback * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0

Next thing I should try?

by **williamconley** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:51 pm

set dns server to 192.168.0.1
set gateway to 192.168.0.1

also show settings for network in case you just put in something silly (which would be cool right now, easy fixes are always refreshing)

ifconfig

ip route show

by **kdc** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:25 pm

Okay, I tried a new machine, and a fresh setup, and got everything installed.

Now when I go to the ip address, it's prompting me for the admin login and password, and it's not accepting what I thought was the default 6666 (password 1234).

Am I missing something?

by **williamconley** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:17 am

please re-post this in a new thread in the "Support" section (unless you are still asking for Paid support, which is what the requests for consultation are ...). And remember when you post:

when you post, please post your entire configuration including (but not limited to) your installation method and vicidial version with build.

this IS a requirement for posting along with reading the stickies (at the top of each forum) and the manager's manual (available on EFLO.net, both free and paid versions)

You should also post: Asterisk version, telephony hardware (model number is helpful here), cluster information if you have one, and whether any other software is installed in the box. If your installation method is "from scratch" you must post your operating system and should also post the .iso version from which you installed your original operating system.

Similar to This:
Vicibox X.X from .iso | Vicidial X.X.X-XXX Build XXXXXX-XXXX | Asterisk X.X.X | Single Server | No Digium/Sangoma Hardware | No Extra Software After Installation

by **striker** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:47 am

hi KDC

if you have struggle with your internet , while installing vicibox.

better go with Goautodial iso , it doesnt need internet for installation and it will take only 10 min to finish the installtion.

by **williamconley** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:59 am

True. and the "getting started" document available in the GoAutoDial Wiki (link at the top of the page) has graphical step by step instructions that are quite simple.

by **cristian** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:41 pm

Howdy,

I can give you a full server for testing, free of charge. You're also welcome to call me and chat.

Conor C.
Direct: (480) 745-2609

WAS provides full service VICI hosting out of the USA.
We have servers waiting, you can be up TODAY!

by **williamconley** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 3:08 pm

Who pays for the minutes during this test?

What countries can I dial into?

How many agents?

by **cristian** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 3:23 pm

Hey Bill, I'm glad you're interested in testing VICI.

You can dial anywhere you like, with as many agents as you like. There is no cap. More than 50 and I'll have to add more capacity (no charge).

I'll give you $20 in an account for your long distance. Need more than that? We accept ACH (Wells Fargo Partner), Paypal and Credit Cards. Hell, then you're a customer.

Give me a ring, let's get things started. We can have you making calls tonight.

by **williamconley** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:34 pm

whoa, reign it in there a tad. i'm just askin' cuz i'm the devil's advocate in these here parts. LOL

maybe you should drink less coffee.

next question: shall I assume that I have to buy my minutes from you ... and if so what is your pricing in the US per minute, for a "starter" with ... say ... 10 agents?

by **cristian** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 9:05 pm

Well,

This covers 98% of the US and Canada for customers joining by 2011-07. International is also available.

$0.021 for less than 20,000 minutes
$0.016 for 20,000 - 100,000 minutes
$0.014 for 100,000+ minutes
Million plus, we talk.

That's pretty much our whole fee structure. It includes most support, provisioning phones, rackspace and bandwidth. If the rates sound familiar, they're $0.001 higher than the Vicidal group charges for minutes, but we don't charge for bandwidth, servers, etc. We do also offer conventional hosting. Our customer portal provides CDR's, route pricing and usage 24/7.

We have staff that understands what few do, like QOS flows and Cisco/Avaya/Atcom hardware. Servers live in I/O Phoenix (a SAS 70 datacenter) on the best internet access money can buy. Unlike most here, we are an actual full service telephone company.

We are here to win. We mean it.

I'd like to hear your thoughts, Poundteam!

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