Configuring Blueworx Voice Response to get the called and calling numbers

How you get the called number depends on what information about the call is available, in your country, from the switch. These methods are available:

In addition, unless you decide to use the System Default Application Profile, you should assign a number to each channel for use when the called number is not available (for example, because it was never sent to your switch). This number is known as:

Dialed number (DID or DNIS)

The called number can be provided by the dialed number identification service (DNIS) or direct inward dialing (DID). Blueworx Voice Response can receive and use the called number if the information is transmitted by the switch as DTMF or MFR1 tones in the voice band or as dial pulses on the signaling channel. The called number might not be available, depending on the switch to which Blueworx Voice Response is connected and how the trunk interface is configured.

This applies to channel associated signaling (CAS) protocols only.

Use Configuration —> Pack Configuration to configure for dialed number (see Setting address signaling parameters and Setting the telephone numbers for instructions).

Common channel signaling (CCS) Link

Messages can be passed across a common channel signaling link if you are using a protocol such as Signaling System Number 7 or ISDN. The called number is provided by a signaling process: either one of those supplied as optional features of Blueworx Voice Response such as SS7 Support for Blueworx Voice Response, or a custom-written one. (For information about writing signaling processes, see the Blueworx Voice Response for AIX: Programming for the Signaling Interface information.

Use Configuration —> Pack Configuration to configure for CCS (see Setting the signaling protocol and Setting the telephone numbers for instructions).

When using a signaling process, the area code is always concatenated to the beginning of the called number. If you do not want this to happen, do not specify an area code.

Exchange data link

If the switch does not support DID or DNIS, and you are using a CAS protocol, the called number can be sent on an exchange data link. The exchange data link can be a direct physical connection between the switch and the RS-232 serial port on the pSeries computer, or a connection between the switch and Blueworx Voice Response using a local area network and CallPath Server. At the Blueworx Voice Response end, the exchange data link is implemented by a signaling process. You can use a custom-written signaling process, or one of the following exchange data link signaling processes that are provided with Blueworx Voice Response: SMDI, SMSI, VMS, ACL, or CallPath_SigProc.

Fixed or variable length format:

With SMDI, SMSI, and VMS, the called number, calling number (originating number) and the message waiting indication (MWI) number can be transmitted in one of two formats (fixed length or variable length), depending on the switch type and exchange data link signaling protocol selected. With other exchange data links, variable length formats always apply, and no parameters need to be set.

Typically, the switch and the Blueworx Voice Response applications are both configured to handle the same type of format; for example, both expect fixed length. Sometimes however, depending on the switch and your Blueworx Voice Response applications, applications might expect variable length phone numbers, but the switch sends and expects only fixed length numbers. When this happens you can set parameters to ensure that Blueworx Voice Response does the following actions:

  • It strips fixed length numbers that it receives from the switch. This action makes the numbers suitable for the applications.
  • It pads variable length MWI numbers to a fixed length before it sends them to the switch.

Use Configuration —> Pack Configuration (see Incoming Address Signaling and Setting the exchange data link parameters for instructions) and then Configuration —> System Configuration (see Setting the exchange data link parameters for instructions).

When using an exchange data link, the area code is always concatenated to the beginning of the called number. If you do not want this to happen, do not specify an area code.

Channel identification

Unless you decide to use the System Default Application Profile, you should set up channel identification even if the called number is normally available from the switch. The channel identification can then be used to select an application profile to answer calls for which no called number is unavailable.

Although the channel identification is referred to as “Area Code and Phone Number”, it is not necessarily an area code and phone number. What is important is that it corresponds to the profile ID of an application profile that identifies a state table that can handle the call. For example, in the absence of called number, you might need a state table that asks the caller to choose the required service from a menu.

Therefore, before you can assign values to the Area Code and Phone Number parameters, you need to know what application profile IDs are going to be used. Application profile IDs can be any combination of digits 0 through 9 and the letters A, B, C, and D.

The Area Code is shared by all the channels in a channel group, and is prefixed to the Phone Number. The Phone Number can be unique to each channel, or it can be the same for more than one channel; it depends on which application profile ID you want to associate with that channel.

The composite number (channel group area code concatenated with channel phone number) is handled as the number dialed by a caller only if no other way exists to provide the information.

Use Configuration —> Pack Configuration to set up the channel identification (see Setting the telephone numbers for instructions).

Channel identification for exchange data links :

In addition to the area code and phone number, for an exchange data link, you also need to set up a line identifier for each channel.