The Further Adventures in A2Billing – To the ‘Ends of the Earth’ with FollowMe
The Further Adventures in A2Billing – To the ‘Ends of the Earth’ with FollowMe
When it comes to offering features that extend the usefulness of the telephone, PBXIAF truly stands alone in a crowd – thanks to the expert blending of FreePBX, Asterisk and operating system. As we’ve learned in this series of articles, when you add A2Billing to the mix – an amazing variety of needs can be met – and billed for – with a little configuration here and there.
One of the coolest, most useful, and from my own experience most asked-for special functions is the FollowMe function – which has been a part of FreePBX for some time now.
Because of some perceived technical limitations in the interactions between A2B and FreePBX – we have have been unable to use FollowMe (and have those calls properly billed) in our Family Phone System. Until Now.
Previously – we counseled you to leave the extensions in your Family Phone System completely barren of follow me settings. By never initializing FollowMe for a particular extension, the VoiceMail Web Interface never allowed the end user to see the FollowMe settings – in other words “out of sight, out of mind”. Therefore, when we activate FollowMe for an extension in FreePBX, the VoiceMail Web Interface will automatically be enabled for your end users to manage and control their own FollowMe settings any time, 24/7.
Preparing System Recordings
When the system begins ringing the “Follow Me” numbers, I would like the system to let the caller know that this is occurring. There is a built in system recording perfect for this – so now we’ll make it available for use by FollowMe.
In FeeePBX, under Setup, System Recordings, select Built in Recordings.
In the drop down box, look for and select the recording called followme/status, and then click Go. From the next screen, Select SAVE.
This puts that recording on the list on the right, making it available to us to use.
Activating FollowMe for a Family Phone System Extension
From in the FreePBX Web UI, Under Setup, Extensions, select the extension for which you want to enable FollowMe. Then, Select Add Follow Me Settings.
Ring Strategy
The FollowMe ring strategy can not be changed from the end–user Web interface – so you will want to determine the way you want to offer Follow Me to the user(s).
Most likely, one of the RingAll strategies will be what you are looking for. Consider how the end user will be using this capability – and make the selection. We use Ringall-prim, which means the system will ring the primary number for the initial ring time, and then sequentially ring all the remaining numbers on the list, unless the primary phone is BUSY (already in use), in which case the remaining numbers will NOT be rung.
The ring times can be changed in the end user web ui.
Announcement
The announcement is played to the caller at the point where the main line has not been answered, and FollowMe is beginning to ring the list of numbers. In the drop down box, select the recording we made available earlier, followme/status.
Music On Hold
You may select any MOH class, NONE for silence, or ring to just have the user listen to ringing while it tries to hunt you down. Make a selection appropriate for your PBX.
CID Name Prefix
Allows you to pre-pend data to the start of the inbound caller id. Some users like the characters “(FM)” – to let them see at a glance that the call is arriving as a FollowMe call.
For the remainder of the setting, select choices that make sense for your PBX and users.
Destination if no Answer
Send it to the extension’s voice mail box – unless you have special circumstances.
When you have all the settings as desired, SUBMIT CHANGES, Apply and confirm your changes.
Special Provisions to Make A2B work correctly with FollowMe Calls
I have discovered that Egg (on my face) and Crow (on my plate) go down much nicer with a little A-1 sauce for flavor. I point that out because I am having an “Egg and Crow” moment right now.
Previously in this article thread – I told you that FollowMe didn’t work correctly with A2B, and that special changes would need to be made. After spending no small amount of time to “make it work” – I discovered, to steal a quote, that “reports of FollowMe/A2Billing issues have been greatly exaggerated”. In other words – the incompatibility was apparently fixed in a previous release of FreePBX – and there is no special code work around required.
As always – I’m interested to hear how your version of the Family Phone Project is coming along - let us know how its working out for you!
Until next time –