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Introducing U-Rang II: Windows Desktop Screenpop Utility for Asterisk

It’s been five days since U-Rang hit the street and, with over 1,000 downloads, it seemed like a good time for an update. After all, it’s a new year so out with the old, and in with the new. Version 2 introduces an entirely new user interface (see inset) and an intuitive calling log based upon (what else) phone slips, two of the most requested additions from the early adopters.

All of the functionality of version 1 has been retained so you still can monitor multiple extensions on your Asterisk® system if you want to. When an incoming call arrives, the ubiquitous phone slip will pop up on your desktop with the time and date of the call as well as CallerIDname and number information of the caller. And, if you’re using the Nerd Vittles CallerID enhancements, then your Asterisk system will check the Google Phonebook, AnyWho, and AsteriDex for supplemental CallerID information in addition to what’s provided by your local phone company. The easiest way to get CallerID enhancements is to install either our PBX-in-a-Flash script for TrixBox 1.2.3 or the VMware version of TrixBox 1.2.3. Both are available by clicking the links at the top of this page.

We’ve also refined the user interface a bit so that the application can be installed on Windows systems in an office environment with no end-user ability to disable or terminate the application. And, yes, we know some of you want a SugarCRM link to the screen pop. But we had to save something for version 3. So stay tuned.

To download U-Rang II and for complete installation instructions, just visit our almost-ready-for-prime-time Best of Nerd Vittles site. Enjoy!


13 Comments

  1. Nice job as usual. I’ve installed the first version and look forward to the latest update. I was wondering if it is possible to pass the "CID Name Prefix" within the Ring Groups parameters to the screen pop. Right now I have two trunks, one toll free and the other a local number, when the phone rings I would like to be able to see which ring group it’s coming from like on the GXP-2000 phones.

    Thanks,

    Spencer

  2. Thanks for the neat software. Is the source code available? I’d like to modify the popup screen so that it has a URL pointing to our Intranet.

    [WM: Still deciding.]

  3. Watch out for mem use, after some days, urang1 had mem usage 27 MB and vm size 47 MB.

    [WM: Download the latest update. It resolves some, if not all, of the memory leak issues.]

  4. It is a great Application. However, I am using aah 2.7 and when I installed U-Rang, on my desktop, when I receive the calls the slip does POP up with the correct phone number, but the name is always Mine, unless someone is calling from a local extension in the network. I checked the reports in AAh and there it shows the correct name. How to solve this problem?
    Thanks in advance.

    [WM: Post your setup in the TrixBox forum topic on U-Rang and we’ll have a look.]

  5. Thanks for all you’ve done….it’s magical…
    I’m sorry to disturb this subject with something that has nothing to do with it….but have you noticed that Digium has made quite the same as Trixbox (owned by Fonality) ? Have you consider using this instead of TRixbox in your All-In-Voip-Solution ?

    [WM: We’re keeping a close eye on AsteriskNow. It’s going to be a great product, but they’re just getting started. This User’s Guide will give you an idea of what AsteriskNOW can do, but it also demonstrates how primitive the product is at the moment. But, yes, we’re always looking for a better idea!]

  6. Works great! What is feeding the source info. Sometimes I get my account username or an IP Address?

    [WM: Nothing, of course, is documented. But it seems to depend upon the type of call and whether it is outgoing (using a trunk) or inbound (using an extension). Asterisk basically treats them both the same way, just different. That should clear things up.]

  7. I wonder if you could add some sort of blue tooth detection to this so that you could have it tell the pbx a user is away from his desk

    like the current follow me does but from remote desktops I’m not sure how hare this would be to implament but could be kinda cool

  8. This is very cool, but there are some drawbacks.

    It doesn’t behave like a user would expect a windows application to behave:

    1) This should just be a window with regular windows controls on it to minimize to tray.

    2) You should be able to right click the icon in the tray to exit or configure.

    3) It should not be in both the tray and in the task bar if the display window is closed.

    4) You have to double click the window to close it. This is counter-intuitive, as is the right click to exit.

    5) When you start the application it displays the notepad, and behind the note pad is a small window that says "click ok to start the program." It’s hidden, you can’t close the notepad to get to the requester. It’s an unnecessary requester anyway, the user has already indicated that they want to run the application by, you know, running it, this does not need to be confirmed.

    If I were to set a regular windows user down in front of this they would be hopelessly confused.

    I’m not wanting to diminish you accomplishment with this little app — it’s great, but you should code to the standards. They exist for a reason.

    [WM: We confess. Windows programming isn’t our bag. We built this because no one else has. We’re approaching 50,000 downloads since it was released. Hopefully not all of those folks are hopelessly confused. The idea was to make it look like a phone slip, not a Windows application. Lucky for you, the price is right. So if it’s too painful, just don’t use it.]

  9. Nice work ward. Is it possible to get the source, like one user said i would like to pull up pages from my intranet based on the information on the popup. If not the code, can an api be provided that can be used.

    Thanks – appreciate you hard work.

    MK

  10. Excellent piece of work, have been using it since it was launched. Would like to suggest one possible update. Would it be possible to have the number matching based on a pattern starting from the right, not entire number. I have multiple incoming DIDs from different providers. Depending on where folks are calling a particular DID, their CLI appears with or without the international dialling code, with or without the preceding 0 etc. The same number can appear as:

    021 123 456
    21 123 456
    92 21 123 456
    +92 21 123 456.

    I think Cellphones do number to phone book entry matching like this, allowing numbers to be matched to names irrespective of the prefix on an incoming number.

    Thanks.

    [WM: Good idea. Thanks.]

  11. Btw, I switched to Elastix 0.8.1 (Asterisk 1.4.4) for a laugh over the weekend… and… Urang works like a charm!!!

  12. Another nice feature for URang III would be either an automatic re-connect to Asterisk when the server reboots, or an indication on the URang slip indicating connection status…

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