Hi all,
I created a simple version of the commercial module Broadcast. It simply dials your list and plays the recording file you uploaded. Great for simple notifications. I’ve only tested it on the latest FPBX 17 version, so older systems may not be compatible.
Figured I’d share it here. Good luck and enjoy!
At my school district, we use a product from our existing PBX company. Basically, one of a few designated users dials a number and then is able to record a message on the fly, which is then broadcast out to specific extensions (and repeats it three times and overflows to voicemail with the same message if the called extension doesn’t answer).
Is it easy to / are there thoughts about adding an option to allow for on-the-fly recording? I added some lines in my FreePBX dialplan a long time ago to do something like that and it worked nicely to call the extensions and play / repeat the recording, but the overflow to voicemail never worked.
I apologize for what is about to be a jumbled question. To clarify you are looking for it to call a preset list of internal extensions instantly (no scheduling delay), if the recorded message doesn’t answer - leave the message in voicemail. I am curious about the reason for the repeat 3 times if you wouldn’t mind elaborating on that use case.
I think it would be fairly straightforward to add, System recordings already has a feature to record from extension, so I could in theory reverse it and have a dialable destination that the user can record their message on, then on hang up, and immediately call the list of extensions for page out.
Currently, the module only supports external numbers via a SIP Trunk, again that isn’t too difficult of a change.
Is that what you are looknig for?
No worries. Yes, that’s essentially it. If it helps, this is what we use it for:
A school goes into lockdown
The school calls our K-12 department and relays the message and reasoning
A K-12 staff member dials #88 which brings them to Alcatel’s broadcast product
They record a message saying “School X is in a lockdown for this reason, we’ll call back with any updates”
Then they launch the broadcast which calls a list of pre-defined extensions
If the extension picks up, they hear the recorded message and can hang up
If the extension does not pick up, the broadcast system leaves the message as a voicemail
It repeats three times just so if there’s something weird with the system, at least one of the messages is heard. It’s just a system they use to keep the people who need to be in the know about lockdowns or 911 calls informed.
Does that help? We’ve been experimenting with FreePBX since 2022, and would eventually like to migrate to it. Honestly, that broadcast module is the one thing of Alcatel’s that I haven’t been able to implement reliably in FreePBX. The Broadcast module from FreePBX didn’t do what I wanted it to do, when I did my month-long free trial.
Thanks!
Oh and the system, if the extension doesn’t pick up, will attempt the call a few times as well, before leaving a voicemail. That I also could not get figured out.
I don’t have the dialplan code handy, but essentially what I had (found it now):
[notifyrec]
exten => start,1,Playback(custom/record-5090-notification)
same => n,Record(custom/VoiceMessage2:gsm)
same => n,Background(custom/record-or-accept)
same => n,WaitExten(5)
exten => *,1,GoTo(notifyrec,start,1) ; re-record
exten => #,1,GoSub(pushnotify) ; accept the recording
same => n(pushnotify),System(/var/www/html/bcast.sh) ; copy call files to outgoing folder, initiating the phone calls
same => n(pushnotify),Hangup()
Testing it, I was able to pick up at one of those test extensions and hear the message. But if I didn’t answer it, it wouldn’t go to voicemail (I can’t recall if it kept ringing, or just stopped the call).
I have a rough version working now, I have a bit more testing to do, then the module install testing, and it should be good to go.