Comments on: Introducing Nerd Vittles Phone Genie for Asterisk

By: John

John — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:45:58 +0000

The freepbx site has an article on how to lock extensions,
http://www.freepbx.org/forum/freepbx/users/locking-and-unlocking-a-phone

It works by writing a value to the asterisk database. I modified this a lot for my needs, and then I remembered that the Phone Genie can access the database remotely. So now I can lock and unlock extensions remotely rather than by keying in a feature code directly on the phone. And it works in parallel with the local application, so a phone can be locked locally and unlocked remotely and vice-versa.
Thanks, Ward!

By: vccs

vccs — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:31:43 +0000

Are there more Family keys I can use with this? Like CF, CFD etc. I would like to see some for Incoming and IVRs [WM: From the Linux command prompt, type asterisk -rx "database show" for the complete list. Don't cut-and-paste this. Use regular quotes!]

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 22 May 2007 20:21:58 +0000

Excellent: I have about 40 snom phones setup and will use the action url settings in SNOM administration to set DND in asterisk as well as at the phone. This will allow the salesman to ‘Turn Off’ the follow me function when in meetings or on holidays.

By: David

David — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:48:52 +0000

This is great! And I am totally on the same track as Jalapeno. As a quick test, I changed the action URL of the DND button… I just wish there was a more comprehensive list of things we could do with the Phone Genie…

By: michael

michael — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:41:15 +0000

All is very nice and well. Just one thing is missing: I would like to use the web interface for calling and receiving calls fromm my Asterisk PBX rather than to use a softphone..is it possible to add to that application?
It may be of use when using a PDA or Symbian based web smartphones without installing a softphone.

By: Ward

Ward — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:40:40 +0000

Version 1.2 is now available with full support for every Asterisk CLI command. Just download the application again and replace the original. Complete documentation on the new feature set is available at the Best of Nerd Vittles.

By: Ward

Ward — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:35:56 +0000

Version 1.1 was released today. In addition to the admin password, it provides individual password support for every extension on your Asterisk system. For those with security concerns, this greatly reduces your exposure to damage over the Internet. Using an extension password, a user can only execute commands pertaining to the individual user's extension. For complete documentation, read the Best of Nerd Vittles writeup on Phone Genie 1.1.

By: Michael Hayden

Michael Hayden — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 00:21:25 +0000

Thank you for this group of functions. They work very well. I’m actually working on getting this into trixbox. I have one comment/question:
Any ideas on how to make the scripts respond a little quicker? I’m working out a strategy using xajax. Peace.

[WM: Beefier machine works wonders.]

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:30:18 +0000

Nifty idea, there. Given that your hack encodes all the information in the URL, it would be pretty trivial to setup some other interactions with the Asterisk database. For example, Snom phones have an "Action URL" which can be assigned to a button. Many companies aren’t crazy about the idea of time conditions controlling how incoming calls are handled, and if they go to a Ring Group or IVR, it’s tricky to just use *72 forwarding since you really want to change the ring group or ivr, not your individual extension. Your Genie could certainly take control over those as well. I dig it! My customers who like their legacy systems and manual control will appreciate this very much.

– Jason

[WM: Good point. Cisco phones could also do something similar assuming you could ever find a version of their SIP software where the web stuff actually works.]

By: Jalapeno

Jalapeno — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:18:52 +0000

Ward, great job, can’t wait to try it out. One question though. Is that you in the Genie costume?

[WM: Heh, heh. That’s no costume. You gotta believe.]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:41:15 +0000

Ward, your articles are getting better with each one. Thanks for sharing this one with us.

Andrew