Distinctive Ringing

[Don]

Is there a way to produce distinctive ringing from a unique called party number? Distinctive Ringing is a rather common telco feature that allows the user to place a fax machine (or other device that can detect DR) on a shared extension with a phone.

 

The IAD that we use supports it if the PBX sends the appropriate code. Do you support multiple distinctive ringing patterns in the Alert-Info Header in the Invite message? If so, how is this invoked? Please be as specific as possible.

 

Thanks for any assistance in this matter.

 

Don

[Vodia PBX]

Is there a way to produce distinctive ringing from a unique called party number? Distinctive Ringing is a rather common telco feature that allows the user to place a fax machine (or other device that can detect DR) on a shared extension with a phone.

 

The IAD that we use supports it if the PBX sends the appropriate code. Do you support multiple distinctive ringing patterns in the Alert-Info Header in the Invite message? If so, how is this invoked? Please be as specific as possible.

 

The PBX already supports distinctive ringing, for example in a hunt group you can select that DR you want to use. There is a XML file ringtones.xml (see http://forum.pbxnsip.com/index.php?showtop...ed&pid=2246).

 

I don't understand how you want to use DR to make the FAX selection. I also don't understand why you want to use the same extension number both for FAX and voice.

[Don]

The PBX already supports distinctive ringing, for example in a hunt group you can select that DR you want to use. There is a XML file ringtones.xml (see http://forum.pbxnsip.com/index.php?showtop...ed&pid=2246).

 

I don't understand how you want to use DR to make the FAX selection. I also don't understand why you want to use the same extension number both for FAX and voice.

 

I understand the hunt group situation you describe.

 

In our application we supply phone service to multi-tenant buildings using PBXNSIP as our PBX. Many customers have only one physical line (or extension) in their home. The ability to use distinctive ringing to differentiate between services is widely used in the US.

 

To quote Wikipedia in the ringtones article:

 

"A service akin to party line ringing is making a comeback in some small office and home office situations allowing facsimile machines and telephones to share the same line but have different telephone numbers; this CLASS feature is usually called distinctive ringing generically, though carriers assign it trademarked names such as "Smart Ring", "Duet", "Multiple Number" and "Ringmaster." This feature is also used for a second phone number assigned to the same physical line for roommates or teenagers, in which case it is sometimes marketed under the name teen line."

 

Accordingly we have a need to provide distinctive ringing on a given IAD terminal based upon the dialed number. We would like to be able to use a different alias for a given extension and then have the PBX supply a distinctive ring to allow the services mentioned above.

 

Again, if you can support this please provide specifics on how it can be implemented. If not then please consider this as a potential feature for a future release. Clearly this feature has significant merit for the CLEC market place that we arr serving using PBXNSIP.

 

Thank you.

 

Don

[Vodia PBX]

Okay, but then we are talking about the called number indication. The time between the first ring and the second ring on FXO is used to send additional information, e.g. the time/date, the caller-ID and it can also indicate the called-party (see DDN, for example http://www.nmscommunications.com/manuals/6709-13/appc.htm).

 

That information is in SIP carried usually in the To-header, not in the Alert-Info header. If you are using a ATA, check the options to send the called number on the FXS using the MDMF format.

[Don]

That information is in SIP carried usually in the To-header, not in the Alert-Info header. If you are using a ATA, check the options to send the called number on the FXS using the MDMF format.

 

The IAD can only associate one called number with one extension. To be able to change the ringing cadence there must be some indication in the ALERT-INFO field. In RFC3960 this is mentioned in Section 5. The entire document is at: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3960.txt

 

The pertinent section reads:

 

5. Alert-Info Header Field

 

The Alert-Info header field allows specifying an alternative ringing

content, such as ringing tone, to the UAC. This header field tells

the UAC which tone should be played in case local ringing is

generated, but it does not tell the UAC when to generate local

ringing. A UAC should follow the rules described above for ringing

tone generation in both models. If, after following those rules, the

UAC decides to play local ringing, it can then use the Alert-Info

header field to generate it.

 

One example of how this field could be coded is described in : http://sofia-sip.sourceforge.net/refdocs/s...lert__info.html

 

Just to be clear. The PBX would need to indicate in this field that for a given call that a different ringtone is required thus telling the IAD to send distinctive ringing to the extension.

 

Based on this exchange and further reading I am fairly sure this is not supported by PBXNSIP. If I am missing something please let me know.

 

FYI, we are using the Audiocodes MP-124D which supports distinctive ringing. Note that the datasheet on this IAD is available at :

 

http://www.audiocodes.com/objects/30010_DS...D.pdf

 

Best Regards,

 

Don

[Vodia PBX]

I think the easiest is to just try it out. You can just edit the ringtones.xml file and set the Alert-Info header as you like. All you need it to edit the file and load it through the web interface (admin/settings/configuration at the bottom).

 

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ringtones>
<tone name="custom1">
<vendor type="alert-info"><http://127.0.0.1/Bellcore-dr4></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="custom2">
<vendor type="alert-info"><http://127.0.0.1/Bellcore-dr4></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="custom3">
<vendor type="alert-info"><http://127.0.0.1/Bellcore-dr4></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="custom4">
<vendor type="alert-info"><http://127.0.0.1/Bellcore-dr4></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="internal" type="internal">
<vendor type="alert-info"><{to-uri}></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="external" type="external">
<vendor type="alert-info"><sip:1234567@test.com></vendor>
</tone>
<tone name="intercom" type="intercom">
<vendor type="call-info"><{from-uri}>;answer-after=0</vendor>
</tone>
</ringtones>

 

Try an internal or external call and you should see the Alert-Info header set in the INVITE. You can modufy the ringtones.xml file on your own and see how the INVITE changes. Maybe we don't haveto change anything in the PBX to support this feature.