Asterisk as an IVR system?

I would like to hear opinions on the merits of implementing an IVR
system using Asterisk. My initial IVR won't have a lot of traffic, so
it will not need any extra hardware, but that can be added later on.

My real concern is the programmability. Can Asterisk implement a real
like IVR with many options, loops (3 strikes you're out), subroutines,
collecting a certain number of digits, etc.? Additionally, I will need
to perform database lookups while the caller is waiting and exec some
external Unix program to send a fax or e-mail.

Is Asterisk up to the task?

Thanks for sharing your insight in this matter.

-Ramon F Herrera

Ramon F Herrera

Ramon F Herrera wrote:
> My real concern is the programmability. Can Asterisk implement a real
> like IVR with many options, loops (3 strikes you're out), subroutines,
> collecting a certain number of digits, etc.?

It can -- but the question is: Is it stable enough, or does it offer
enough "power" to handle it?

Maybe this will give an insight about the pros and cons of Asterisk
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/06/23/pbx.html

Frans Keijer

I guess I should have started with this question:
Can anyone please point me to documentation specific for IVR on
Asterisk?

-Ramon

Ramon F Herrera

Ramon F Herrera wrote:
> I guess I should have started with this question:
> Can anyone please point me to documentation specific for IVR on
> Asterisk?

Ehhh : http://www.google.com -> type 'Asterisk IVR' -> press 'Search'

Results 1 - 10 of about 38,100 for asterisk ivr. (0.21 seconds)

Among others:
http://users.pandora.be/Asterisk-PBX/IVR.htm
http://www.pasewaldt.com/cme/cme_index.htm
http://www.voip-info.org/tiki-search...ages&search=go

Arnold.

Arnold Ligtvoet

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:22:35 -0700, Ramon F Herrera wrote:

> I would like to hear opinions on the merits of implementing an IVR system
> using Asterisk.

Opinion: I would say this is one of the areas where asterisk shines. The
question of stability and reliability will depend a lot on what POTS
hardware you use, line quality, country and PSTN standards.

The main caveat I'd offer is that one shouldn't underestimate the time and
effort spent getting the system running the way you want with the right
hardware and version and using a minimum of add on and other software
running on the same box. I had an experimental IVR running (with "3
strikes" as you mention) in the first weeks I set it up. My current system
has been running for 15 months, running on a P-II 800M with 512Megs RAM.
I've had to restart about three times to recover dialtone on the FXS card.

You'll also want a decent UPS and if this box will be mission critical,
swap in replacement hardware.

The rest is in googling for the many disparate sites about asterisk IVR,
reading voip-info.org wiki web pages, the asterisk mailing list,
dslreports and voip sites in general.

hth

BlueRinse

[Andrew Kern]

It is probably much easier to implement an IVR system separately. The focus of a PBX system is very different from an IVR system. For example, the capability of linking website or customer database is important to almost all IVR applications but not necessarily to PBX system.

It is actually easy to add IVR capability to your Asterisk box, all you need to do is connect an IVR system to it. For example, use Voicent IVR Studio to design your IVR application, then set it up as extensions to the Asterisk PBX.

Andrew Kern