D.I.Y. (Build Your Own Dialer)

You can download the CD image below and "burn" it into a CD. Then install the CD in a server, boot off it and it will create a ready to go dialer. Once the install is complete you need to complete the configuration. 10 Agent logins, 10 phone extensions and one manual dial campaign are automatically created by the install process.

The Operating System is based on the i386 version of RedHat/CentOS 5.2 with a patch to recognize all RAM. (I.e. above the ~3GB limit.)

See a feature list of OSDial.

The hardware requirements for a reliable dialer are higher than a media server. It quickly reaches thousands of read / write operations per second.
Please note that our specifications are aimed towards a higher standard of operation, lesser components may work for low load or testing.

•  Only use SCSI or SAS Drives. SATA drives will wear out prematurely (6-10 months)

•  If you record calls use an archive server to process and store the audio files on

•  Archive server can use SATA drives, always use best drives available

•  More cores are better than a faster computer, use a minimum of two cores

•  SQL servers can utilize a lot of memory, minimum 4GB

•  Depending on load you may need 4GB RAM on the dialer, minimum 2GB

•  The Agent computer should have 1GB RAM, minimum 768MB

•  Over a few agents requires a timing source like Sangoma UT51/51 or A200 (FXO)

•  When using a single server it has the requirements of a SQL server

Please note that our license has certain requirements, but the limitations applies mainly if you redistribute the software or provide it as a hosted service. In the case of the latter you may need a different agreement.

Know the FCC Telemarketing rules.

Download OSDial images here: OSDial Ver 2.2.
NOTE: As soon as the install is completed, update to the latest version by logging in as root on the server and run:

  yum clean all;yum update

Verify the downloaded iso file is not corrupted.

View the Basic Operations Manual.

Update instructions and Announce List.

Support is also available, including training, customizations, and certified hardware.

NEW! OSDial forum! Post questions and answers to the community.

To add a carrier two files needs to be modified (until we integrate the function).

Do Not Alter Anything Else, unless you really know what you are doing.
If you Do make other changes and call us for help, make sure to have full documentation of your changes to make debugging go faster. Said differently, document all your changes.

(Note: In this example we are using the custom config file as the others will be updated, and overwritten by OSDial in the future.)

/etc/asterisk/osdial_sip_custom.conf
Here you need to add the carrier configuration. A typical one may look like this:

[nameofcarrier]
type=friend
host= (Enter carrier's IP, or domain name, that they give you)
context=incoming
nat=no # could be yes
tos=0x18
dtmfmode=rfc2833
disallow=all
allow=ulaw
trustrpid=yes
sendtrpid=yes
trunk=yes
qualify=3000

nat=no when you are directly connected to the internet

allow=ulaw is allowing specifically g.711. To allow g.729 add a line, below 'disallow=all', that says 'allow=g729'.

qualify=3000 means it will not only block any connection with a 3 second delay, but also tell you what the delay is with that carrier when you run 'sip show peers' from the Asterisk Command Line Interface (CLI).

Next, we need to assign a dial prefix to the carrier. The default prefix is 9. Edit /etc/asterisk/osdial_extensions_outbound.conf
and locate the line that reads:

exten => _dial9.,1,Dial(SIP/binfone/${EXTEN:5},60,os)

'_dial9.' Means that having a 9 as prefix is going to result in this line being used to dial out. _dial8 means the same but for the dial prefix 8. The prefix is set in each campaign. This also have the added benefit of allowing you to change carrier mid-dialing. It will take effect on every new call it makes once you press Submit. Calls in progress will obviously not be affected.
You can add support for several carriers by using other prefixes:
exten => _dial8.,1,Dial(SIP/carrier2/${EXTEN:5},60,os)
exten => _dial7.,1,Dial(SIP/carrier3/${EXTEN:5},60,os) etc.

'binfone' Is the name of the carrier the defult configuration uses. Change this to match 'nameofcarrier' from osdial_sip_custom.conf above.

${EXTEN:5} means we are stripping off the first 5 characters (dial9) so that it does not try to dial 'dial9' but only the number that follows immediately after. With some carriers you need to only send ten digits, and not a 1 plus the number. If so then the line would look like this:

exten => _dial9.,1,Dial(SIP/binfone/${EXTEN:6},60,os)

Note how the 5 has become 6. Also, be sure not to add spaces or alter anything by mistake as it is likely to crash the dialer.