Inbound Calls

How do i setup my extensions.conf file if i want an all incoming calls to be answered automatically by the system and say something to the effect “Thank you for calling, if you know your extension please dial it now or wait and it will be answered in a moment”.

You need to specify what happens to inbound connections. The best method is to send them to a context of their own. So in your extensions.conf you could have something like:

[default]
exten => 2125551223,1,goto(inbound,5000,1)

The 212 etc is your incoming number indentifier. You can watch the call come in and see what it is. The goto sends it to the inbound context, as if it were extension 5000, starting at step 1. Then:

[inbound]
exten =>5000, 1, Ringing
exten => 5000, n, Wait(1)
exten => 5000, n, background(custom/greeting)
exten => 5000, n, WaitExten(15)

This will ring, wait 1 second, play the sound file greeting on the custom folder, then wait 15 more seconds for a response.

Then you need to continue with what happens when they press an extension.