Hello!
First thank you for answering 
I have been working in different call centers, i am a pc tech but have very limited
experience with voip implementation. Been searching arround for some hardware and asterix
popped out right away, did a little research and i can describe it as a “linux” for voip, right?
So, returning to the topic… I plan to make a home based call center, which would communicate
through a voip line and/or internet connection. The idea is to have the possibility of routing
calls to remote operators, and also the posibility to route inbound calls in different conference rooms, possibly have the option to adress some current session code to these calls and offer
the option to route this calls in a alternative conference room, or redirect and directly connect
two calls on the fly. We would like very much to start with a basic system than could be possibly upgraded/expanded if needed. Are we on the right path with asterisk, we read that there was some skype implementation too…
Thanks in advance, much appreciated!
Miki
If you are looking for a call center solution based on Asterisk my suggestion is VICIDIAL. Very robust and stable , GUI for the administration , a big support community, A lot Youtube video tutorials.
MAJOR VICIDIAL FEATURES:
Inbound, Outbound and Blended call handling and Inbound Email handling
Outbound agent-controlled, broadcast and predictive dialing
Full USA, Canada and UK reegulatory compliance capability
Web-based agent and administrative interfaces
Ability to have agents operate remotely
Integrated call recording
Three-Way calling within the agent application
Scheduled Callbacks: Agent-Only and Anyone
Web-configurable IVRs and Voicemail boxes
Scalable to hundreds of seats
Ability to use standard Telco lines and VOIP trunks
Open-Source AGPLv2 licensed, with no software licensing cost
Related to hardware that is your main concern, VICIDIAL GROUP recommend the Sangoma hardware, but they work with Digium too and others vendors.
But in the Other hand you can develop your own Asterisk Call Center solution and just add what you need. This chapter could help ofps.oreilly.com/titles/97814493 … k-ACD.html
Thank you, very usefull info!
Would you be so kind to specify some more details, about the remote operators, what is
the best way to connect them to the call server? Do i need a static ip adress? And for the
ivr part, it is possible to forward calls to certain conference rooms using ivr, and some way
to route two calls out of a conference room and connect them directly? How good is vicidial
for customization, adding some features that aren’t already packed? The asterisk modules are compatibile? I have no experience in coding, i can say i am a good pc and windows troubleshooter, with some css web experience, can learn pretty fast, but does it make sense? If i need a lot of time
to make some decent program in asterisk, maybe it is better to pay some asterisk coders to customize a program by our needs. Of course, knowing at least the basics is always usefull when, it’s your call center after all. Maybe with the basic course i can get enough skill to learn how to integrate well the premade addons/programs/moduls? What’s your opinion? Thanks!
VICIDIAL is based on Asterisk so you can make SIP and IAX2 Trunk with different VOIP providers. Too you can use telephony cards as Digium, Sangoma for make PSTN connection.
About the Static IP. If you are related to the IT and Networking you should know that is recommendable an static IP on a server unless you setup a DNS server for name resolution.
And yes is possible for the ivr part, to forward calls to certain conference rooms using ivr, etc.
VICIDIAL programming is mainly based on PHP and MYSQL DB. so it is easier to make and customization.
You can purchase the manager manual and the agent manual and you can learn more about the product. i Have implemented more than 20 installations of Call Centers using VICIDIAL and it ROCK. I guaranteed this product. If you need any help send me PM