CFD: Check for Presence of Unheard Voicemails Using CFD?

[zebis]

Hello,

I know from this thread 3CX no longer creates XML files for voicemails. We are in the process of updating a system from v16 to v18 and we currently use a CFD to check the XML files for the presence of unheard messages. If unheard messages exist, an action is taken. This process does not modify the XML files.

Per the above linked post, v18u2 has relocated the XML info to the DB.

My question is:

Would anyone be able to provide an example CFD that simply checks if there are any unheard voicemails for an extension and, if yes, proceeds?

@StefanW in the above post mentions "in each DN you can get some information from "VoiceMailBox" which tells you how many VMails an extension has and how many are unread". Would this be the best approach and, if yes, what is the suggested practice to use this conditionally in a CFD? Would you be able to provide an example condition retrieving and using the info?

Is there any other method that would be preferred? I don't need to know the quantity or any details about the voicmails; I only need to know if mailbox x has any unheard voicmails. If yes, an action is taken. We have been accomplishing this for years with v16. Is this possible with ≥ v18u2?

If there is no way to accomplish this with ≥ v18u2, is there any option for us to install an earlier release of v18 that still utilized the XML files? This deployment would be on prem Debian 10. The current v16 deployment is on prem Debian 9.

Thank you for your help, time, and perspective.

Much appreciated!

Direct link to above referenced thread: https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/voicemail-xml-files-no-more-v18u2.86344/

 

[cobaltit]

There is a CFD section which would be more appropriate for this post.

 

[zebis]

Thank you, @cobaltit. Should the post be added to the CFD section at this point? If yes, should this post be moved or should the post be added again to the CFD section while keeping it in the PBX section? In the case of the former, how can the post be moved? I didn't see a method at first glance. If the post is moved, would the question regarding explicit version download still apply?

Thank you!

 

[VoIPTools]

As suggested by @StefanW, the Call Control API does expose the DN (essentially an extension) object, and there you can get the number of unheard voicemails. You cannot get which voicemails were unheard, just that there are X number of unheard voicemails. Perhaps Ernesto can offer how you could get this information within a CFD application. But this is going to be C# code.

 

[SweetAction]

Just a random idea:
Maybe get the total number unheard and store it. When a new message is left that number will go up - check again and if it goes down then message is heard, if not it's unheard. Or maybe you just have a policy that no unheard messages should exist - then if the number is greater then 0 you take your action.

Also versions in v18 older then u3 will have activation problems.

 

[zebis]

Hello MATTHEW @VoIPTools and @SweetAction,

Thank you for these thoughts. We do have a policy of "no unheard messages should exist" so, would either of you be able to provide an example of how I could retrieve that status using a CFD even if C# is required?

Thank you for your time and answers on this; much appreciated!

-M

 

[VoIPTools]

I would suggest you take a look at our 3CX Voicemail Manager tool. We include a voicemail escalation feature that automatically forwards voicemails to a manager if it the voicemail goes unheard for a longer than is permitted. How long the voicemail is permitted to go unheard is configurable by 3CX extension group. For example, for extensions in the Sales group you may only allow a voicemail to go unheard for 15 minutes, while extensions in the Support group may be permitted to have voicemails go unheard for an hour.

 

[zebis]

Hi Matthew,
Thank you. Just so I can make sure I'm on the right page, does this require the $1,000 / year item I saw on the VoIPTools site or would this be a different amount? For this particular use case, we don't actually need escalation capability,etc. if that makes a budget difference. In the current scenario, the CFD simply checks for the presence of a file (which is created by 60 second crontab if any unheard voicemails exist) and, if the file exists, kicks of a dialer. If you were going to help with this, what would the cost be to replace the file presence check with something else?

Thank you!

 

[VoIPTools]

Please contact me directly (see signature below)

 

[zebis]

Thank you, Matthew. I just sent you an e-mail. Also, you mentioned @Ernesto. Does he work for 3CX and would he be able to provide a way to retrieve that info from directly within a CFD application?

Thx!

 

[VoIPTools]

That's a question for Ernesto.