Docnotes

Free CallerID Reverse Lookups Mashup

As avid readers know - we use the Switchvox VOIP PBX in our office. It's been up about 18 months now .. and despite some hiccups - we're happy. It's flexible and reliable.

If our phone company was sending us the callerID names with the calls - we'd see them .. but they don't.    There are a few ways to get this - including some expensive solutions and some less expensive ones .. but I've spent some time tonight (this morning?) getting a little "mashup" to do this for free.

Overview:

Switchvox allows you to send or revieve information with a URL when certain events occur.

So every time a call comes in - SV can send the CALLERID to a URL somewhere. It expects an XML document back with the data. Using Dappit, I made a little application that goes and does a reverse lookup and returns the name(s) associated with that number.

Next - I had to make a stylesheet to turn that output into the XML form that SV wanted. FInally - I had to put it into the "default URL" field in the Switchvox URL manager page.

The URL for Switchvox is:

http://www.dappit.com/transform.php?dappName=RLK&transformer=XSL
&variableArg_0=%CALLER_ID_NUMBER%&extraArg_xslUrl=
http://www.docnotes.net/phone/phone2.xsl 

Don't click that - as it' will cause an error since there is no phone number.

You can use this link to see what it returns

Avaya SoftPhone

Avaya is giving away their SIPSoftphone for free.

SwitchVox Review - Part I

9-12-05  Update: I've posted an introduction to this review - as I had some feedback that I didn't introduce the concept of VOIP very well (at all).

Tom's Hardware Guide recently reviewed the Asterisk @ home system.   AAH was the first system that I used to implement Asterisk, and enabled me to learn about this wonderful open-source PBX.  This review will cover a commercial implementation of Asterisk - SwitchVox - from Four Loop Technologies

Implementing Asterisk with AAH is reasonably easy for someone with moderate technical skills – and I have previously been able to set up a home phone system without too much trouble.  Over the course of a few months last Spring, I learned enough about the innards of Asterisk to understand the potential of the software, and developed a rough model for how it might be used to enhance  the functions of a medical office. ...