Hi there,
I am writing software to replace a setup of Fidelio (hotel management software) at a large international conference center. There is a Sopho is3030 setup, which links to the Fidelio system for recording of FDCR data (so we can charge guests for their phone calls). The Fidelio collector gets its information through a serial cable connected to a new Windows 2000 server, which runs TABs and the OM command interface.
Obviously, I will need to write a new collector for my software. I could write something that emulates the Fidelio software (i.e. that would collect the information through the serial link to the Windows 2000 server), but I'd rather bypass that box entirely and get the FDCR data directly from the PBX.
Here's why. We used to have an old DOS machine in the place of the Windows 2000 server, which gave us essentially zero problems with the collection of FDCR data over a period of 10 years. Last spring, the machine was upgraded to Windows 2000. The upgrade cost quite a lot, was done by Philips, and the collection of FDCR has been unreliable ever since. The TABs collector will just stop, loose lots of data, die after an automatic windows update, etc. Philips has looked at it several times, and while the situation is slightly better now, the bottom line is that this software is flakey. We want to get rid of this Windows server (we're pretty much an all-Linux server shop otherwise).
We figured out that we could replace the OM command interface by simply telnetting to the IP address of the PBX, and issuing hex OB (ascii 11) to start an OM session. So that part of the reason for the Windows server is gone.
The remaining bit is the TABs collector. From what I can tell, it communicates with the PBX through TCP/IP. It somehow retrieves new call records, and it also tells the PBX that it is alive (because closing down TABs leads to an error on the operator's Sopho console).
Essentially, I want to write a reliable version of the TABs collector. All I need is enough information about how TABs and the PBX communicate to do it. Unfortunately we don't have a test Sopho system to experiment with.
I have contacted Philips directly, but all they were willing to give me was some information about the structure of the data records, which is useful but not quite enough. Essentially they sent a few pages from a technical manual, describing the STANDARD and ACCOUNTING records. There was no information on how to get to these records
If I succeed, I am going to release the software (which will run on Linux - possibly with a small web interface) as Free Software, under the GPL. This means I can not sign any NDA's.
Any ideas, pointers, thoughts are most welcome. I'm particularly interested in any technical documentation about the TABs software and the collection of FDCR data.
I think it's about time we get some decent Free Software to interface with Sopho PBX'es!
Thanks in advance,
Ward.
I am writing software to replace a setup of Fidelio (hotel management software) at a large international conference center. There is a Sopho is3030 setup, which links to the Fidelio system for recording of FDCR data (so we can charge guests for their phone calls). The Fidelio collector gets its information through a serial cable connected to a new Windows 2000 server, which runs TABs and the OM command interface.
Obviously, I will need to write a new collector for my software. I could write something that emulates the Fidelio software (i.e. that would collect the information through the serial link to the Windows 2000 server), but I'd rather bypass that box entirely and get the FDCR data directly from the PBX.
Here's why. We used to have an old DOS machine in the place of the Windows 2000 server, which gave us essentially zero problems with the collection of FDCR data over a period of 10 years. Last spring, the machine was upgraded to Windows 2000. The upgrade cost quite a lot, was done by Philips, and the collection of FDCR has been unreliable ever since. The TABs collector will just stop, loose lots of data, die after an automatic windows update, etc. Philips has looked at it several times, and while the situation is slightly better now, the bottom line is that this software is flakey. We want to get rid of this Windows server (we're pretty much an all-Linux server shop otherwise).
We figured out that we could replace the OM command interface by simply telnetting to the IP address of the PBX, and issuing hex OB (ascii 11) to start an OM session. So that part of the reason for the Windows server is gone.
The remaining bit is the TABs collector. From what I can tell, it communicates with the PBX through TCP/IP. It somehow retrieves new call records, and it also tells the PBX that it is alive (because closing down TABs leads to an error on the operator's Sopho console).
Essentially, I want to write a reliable version of the TABs collector. All I need is enough information about how TABs and the PBX communicate to do it. Unfortunately we don't have a test Sopho system to experiment with.
I have contacted Philips directly, but all they were willing to give me was some information about the structure of the data records, which is useful but not quite enough. Essentially they sent a few pages from a technical manual, describing the STANDARD and ACCOUNTING records. There was no information on how to get to these records
If I succeed, I am going to release the software (which will run on Linux - possibly with a small web interface) as Free Software, under the GPL. This means I can not sign any NDA's.
Any ideas, pointers, thoughts are most welcome. I'm particularly interested in any technical documentation about the TABs software and the collection of FDCR data.
I think it's about time we get some decent Free Software to interface with Sopho PBX'es!
Thanks in advance,
Ward.
