I did not say it was in any way any where in the OP. Please read it again. If your point was lack of discussion on the Asterisk forums makes sense somehow, I do not agree. For example, I think support for Geolocation SIP headers per RFC6442 is certainly within scope of discussion for many, many VoiP projects, including both FreePBX and Asterisk.
Also, I wanted to provide some updates on the most recently released version of Already Be Conferencing v16e, which I am pleased to report did since vitiate (love that word thanks @AdHominem) many of your other concerns expressed elsewhere in this post on the main thread.
Quite Simply – putting on my Tin Can here – there are new facts in the ABC configuration that I hope you’ll consider more fully, as work continues on changing and improving the work.
To help you this month, dear reader, and if properly configured, ABC can streamline notifications to people you choose whenever what you define as an emergency number is dialed – be it 911/922/933/999/etc. is called for testing, or whatever your locality uses if outside the USA, up to you you how you configure it in FreePBX/Asterisk – by way of the following notification methods, again, depending on your specific configuration needs:
-
Conference Calls. Between the caller; remote end eg. PSAP; and on-site staff such as Security, Mental Health, Front Desk, etc., allowing quicker rendering of local assistance - sometimes before remote end even answers the phone, let alone roll the truck. This somewhat novel approach might work well for rural areas and other locations where it is still legal (but it is not completely unheard of.)
-
Voicemail. First 30 seconds of call are recorded (configurable time limits coming in next version.)
-
Email. Via voicemail-to-email trigger/feature already inside Asterisk that you can manage from stock FreePBX GUI eg. for IT alerts. (Admittedly this exists in many other options.)
-
SMS. Via voicemail-to-email-to-mobile using carrier gateways like “vtext.com
” and such. (This too exists elsewhere.)
To help this month and into the future, and if properly configured, ABC includes support for dispatchable location transmission (see also “Dynamic Location Routing” in your web searches) via GPS co-ordinates packed inside some of the basic Geolocation SIP headers defined in RFC6442 - which a small handful of SIP providers can already accept. (Others require street address and additional information - planning this for the next version - still testing providers.)
But ABC strives to go above and beyond the minimal requirements, in many ways.
The latest versions include options for in-band audio messages to announce the location via Text-To-Speech using existing stock Asterisk voice prompts, either automatically upon remote end answer or whenever a call participant presses the * key - SPLAT - YOU ARE HERE. This may be helpful for deaf callers; or others unable to speak; or mis-directed VoiP calls from children that end up in the “national PSAP” call centers; or those in rural areas that lack E911-enabled PSAPs, such as remote mining facilities with no street address to send the helicopter to.
Location information is stored in encrypted format while at rest on the PBX, but transmitted in the clear as-needed, such as the following scenarios:
-
GPS is sent during call flows you initialize according to your custom emergency dial plan rules in FreePBX/Asterisk (there’s test examples included with ABC and even a mini-HOWTO for FreePBX users to help get started in v16e.)
-
GPS is spoken when users are self-updating their GPS data internally, direct on a phone call from their soft/hard phones to the specialized IVR menus included in ABC.
-
During separate IT testing and verification processes, etc.
Also, to be very clear, I AM NOT A LAWYER, and the choices you make in customizing Already Be Conferencing configuration for your specific environment – from redirecting 922 calls to 933, to choosing between the ever-popular Tin Can Mode vs. more modern Simple Mode – are yours to keep with your free gift copy of Already Be Conferencing v16e, and do with as you like for your own purposes.