Auto-Dialer Addon
Auto-Dialer addon lets you call an array of numbers automatically. When they are answered, it plays back a prerecorded message to the receiving end of the call.
It can be used in telemarketing.
Overview
When Auto-Dialer (AD) is installed, every user can use it.
The user can find the AD menu under PERSONAL MENU – Auto Dialer.
The main window shows the user's campaigns:
The user can Activate or Stop the Campaign by clicking the 
or 
button near the Campaign's status.
A Campaign can only be Activated if it has free (not-called) numbers AND some Actions.
So please, before activating a Campaign, import some Numbers and create Actions.
Add a new Campaign
Add new campaign let's you add a new campaign:
The important fields here are:
- Start/Stop Times – when calls will be made.
- Max Retries – how many times to retry an unsuccessful call.
- Retry Time – after how many seconds should system retry the call?
- Wait Time – how long to wait till the call is answered.
- Device – each Campaign should be assigned to a Device in order for MOR to bill the call.
- CallerID - what CallerID to put on calls.
Numbers
Click on 
in the Numbers column to check campaign numbers:
The user can import phone numbers from a TXT file. Numbers should be in correct format.
In a new Campaign there are no numbers, so click on 
Import numbers from file and you will have to select the file to upload:
After uploading the file, you will see status of imported numbers:
You can delete all numbers by clicking 
Delete all numbers.
If a number is Completed, it is possible to reactivate it (tell the system to call it again) by clicking the 
icon near the number.
Actions
Click 
in the Actions column to access the Campaign's actions:
In this window, the user programs the Actions for the Campaign:
Types of Actions:
- WAIT – how many seconds to wait.
- PLAY – play a file.
- IVR - send call to IVR. It can be used to connect to a real person and give the callee a greater choice. For example, it is possible to play an advertisement and tell the user to press '1' to talk with a real person about this advertisement or similar.
- NOTE: This action is only available for admin, not for users (they can't have their own IVRs).
Admin interface
When Auto-Dialer (AD) is installed, Admin can find Auto-Dialer under the SETTINGS – Addons – Auto Dialermenu. Here he can get a view of all users' campaigns:
The important information for each Campaign is:
- Status – is the Campaign Active or Stopped?
- Run time – tells when calls will be made.
All other fields are self-explanatory.
It is possible for admin to see the Actions for users' Campaigns. Just click on the Actions button.
Workflow
Each 5 minutes, cron job is activated to check whether any campaigns are activated.
If there are some active campaigns, the script creates call files for the future.
It puts calls in Time Period in equal time periods, to balance the workload for Asterisk.
For example, if you have 10 calls to make, the script will execute them in 6s intervals to start all calls in 1 min time.
Variables in /var/lib/asterisk/agi-bin/mor.conf:
calls_one_time - how many calls to distribute per one minute. (PLEASE NOTE, this value is not for simultaneous calls! It has a very different meaning, which is explained below).
cron_interval - the interval of time (in minutes) in which we should 'put' calls.
Example #1:
calls_one_time = 10. cron_interval = 1.
That means that in 1 minute the script will put 10 calls. So each call will be executed at a 6s interval:
1st call: 0s 2nd call: 6s 3rd call: 12s .... 9th call: 54s 10th call: 60s
Example #2:
calls_one_time = 5. cron_interval = 2.
That means that in 1 minute the script will put 5 calls and it will do so for 2 minutes. So each call will be executed at a 12s interval:
1st call: 0s 2nd call: 12s 3rd call: 24s 4rd call: 36s 5th call: 48s 6th call: 60s 7th call: 72s 8th call: 84s 9th call: 96s 10th call: 108s
NOTE: Auto-Dialer is not the tool to generate a lot of calls simultaneously. Auto-Dialer distributes calls in even intervals in a particular time period to minimize the load on Asterisk.
