Orchid V4, V4+ Programing Tool Support

Heinz

shilcor wrote: »

Sorry - bit of a long post and possibly a question for Heinz!

I've recently moved my phone line rental over to Sky Talk because I threatened to move my broadband to Plusnet so they offered me a year's free broadband and Sky Talk with Line Rental Saver.

I have a couple of VoIP lines using Sipgate accounts via a VoIP adapter attached to my router so use that for outbound weekday calls and just use Sky for the free weekend calls. We also use a THREE PAYG mobile for calls to mobiles at all times so my Orchid dialler doesn't really do much routing any more.

However, I'd like to re-configure it so that if someone accidentally tries to make an outbound call via the phones attached to the Orchid during the week, it will prevent them doing so. The Call Barring Routing code can only block selected calls at ALL times rather than weekdays only so that's no good. Translate will only translate an exact dialled number (like 192 to the free 0800 Directory Enquiries number for example) and can't translate anything with a wildcard character like 084* .
The best solution I can think of is to use a carrier code prefix that will always fail so because Sky don't allow 1899 or 18185 I guess I could use one of those but is there a better solution?
I mainly want to block normal landline numbers and 0870 numbers except weekends and any 084* numbers all the time.

Also, a previous post mentioned that all service providers MUST allow free 080* numbers so the direct access prefix numbers for 1899 and 18185 (08081703703 and 08081708708) should be free but their price list suggests otherwise. Can anybody confirm that?

There is no need to attempt to use a * as a wild card in a Routing Rule to achieve what you want - simply inserting a translate rule for the dialling of 01 numbers (without the *) will route all 01 calls to a 'translate to' number if you want (I use 08000182190 because it has a "Sorry, the number you have dialled is not in service" message). Then, because Orchid Routing Rules work on a 'longest string' principle, you could even have another rule allowing, for example, calls to a specific 01 number (or even calls to a specific STD code). This will, of course, allow you to configure the translate routings on a day/night/weekend basis (effectively, time-dependant barring).

I think you're misunderstanding the charge of 1p per minute for 01/02 calls via the 0808 170 3703/0808 170 8708 access numbers. Your calls provider does not charge you for that but, as when BT users dial 1899/18185, merely enables 1899/18185 to 'see' your call and charge accordingly. The 0808 number costs them money so they charge 1p/minute for 01/02 calls instead of 0p/minute via the short prefix.

shilcor

Heinz wrote: »

There is no need to attempt to use a * as a wild card in a Routing Rule to achieve what you want - simply inserting a translate rule for the dialling of 01 numbers (without the *) will route all 01 calls to a 'translate to' number if you want (I use 08000182190 because it has a "Sorry, the number you have dialled is not in service" message). Then, because Orchid Routing Rules work on a 'longest string' principle, you could even have another rule allowing, for example, calls to a specific 01 number (or even calls to a specific STD code). This will, of course, allow you to configure the translate routings on a day/night/weekend basis (effectively, time-dependant barring).

I think you're misunderstanding the charge of 1p per minute for 01/02 calls via the 0808 170 3703/0808 170 8708 access numbers. Your calls provider does not charge you for that but, as when BT users dial 1899/18185, merely enables 1899/18185 to 'see' your call and charge accordingly. The 0808 number costs them money so they charge 1p/minute for 01/02 calls instead of 0p/minute via the short prefix.

Hiya Heinz,
Good to hear from you again - it's been a while.

Yep, just tried it and your translate works fine without wildcards so I can just push any landline numbers called to an invalid number although the one you suggest asks for an authorisation code!!! I now need to update my user guide to reflect that you can use translate like that

Having checked with Sky's pricing guides again, I've found that 0808 numbers are indeed free so I've been playing with routing landline calls 01/02/03 via 08081703703. If I do it all manually, I get the recorded message from 18185 that asks me for the number I want "followed by a hash" and if I dial that, it works fine (with the 1p/minute message) as I would expect - I've been calling one of my local Sipgate VoIP numbers which has a local STD code.

Even if I dial the landline number straight after the "welcome" and leave the hash off it still works.
However, when I just dial the landline number, the Orchid does patch me through to 18185, I get the initial "welcome" part of the message at which point I can hear the Orchid immediately dialling the landline number as I would expect it to. I then get the "1p/min" message followed by "please wait" and then I get a ring tone but not from the number I dialled and the call doesn't ever complete. Below are the routing and carrier codes I'm using.

Routing Code for 01 numbers (code 15 in my table)

*###01#4550#15#

Carrier Code 5 in my carrier code table

*#**08081703703#####*5

Heinz

shilcor wrote: »

However, when I just dial the landline number, the Orchid does patch me through to 18185, I get the initial "welcome" part of the message at which point I can hear the Orchid immediately dialling the landline number as I would expect it to. I then get the "1p/min" message followed by "please wait" and then I get a ring tone but not from the number I dialled and the call doesn't ever complete. Below are the routing and carrier codes I'm using.

Routing Code for 01 numbers (code 15 in my table)

*###01#4550#15#

Carrier Code 5 in my carrier code table

*#**08081703703#####*5

I occasionally get that too (using the 18185 short code). In fact, I sometimes get a continental ring tone even when I'm dialling a UK number.

I don't see anything wrong with those programming strings.

shilcor

I'm glad it's not just me then. I'll try the 1899 access number to see if that's any better but an alternative is to simply translate landline numbers to the access number rather than adding it as a prefix, then dial the required number manually.
I only want this setup as a precaution in case someone tries to call a landline number from a sky phone during the week because sipgate is so much cheaper at just over 1p per minute and no connection fee :-)

charlieheard

blanik wrote: »

The only issue I had with Truecall and Orchid was the Truecall dialing out to do it's web update. This BT implementation looks like simplified, self contained version , so I don't see you having any issues. A good value purchase.

A quick update on the BT8500. It seems to work fine as I've had no issues. It's blocked loads of sales calls from people who can't be bothered to go through the Call Guardian process - it's gone from 2-3 cold calls a day to none:) The only downside is that BT told me I can't have a separate, corded phone plugged in to another socket as it might mess up the delayed ringing, so we'll have to turn the functionality off when my wife's on call

shilcor

shilcor wrote: »

I'm glad it's not just me then. I'll try the 1899 access number to see if that's any better but an alternative is to simply translate landline numbers to the access number rather than adding it as a prefix, then dial the required number manually.
I only want this setup as a precaution in case someone tries to call a landline number from a sky phone during the week because sipgate is so much cheaper at just over 1p per minute and no connection fee :-)

A quick update - I tried the 1899 access code instead of the 18185 one (very similar and process sounds exactly the same) and it seems to work fine - on a sample of one call! Orchid added the access code as it should and the call went through. I'll probably add a bit more delay to the carrier code, maybe an extra 5 seconds to allow most of the recorded message to complete before Orchid adds the required number.

Edit: Appears that 5 seconds is the max delay because if I add any more hashes in the carrier code, it doesn't program properly.

shilcor

For anyone interested, I've just updated my Orchid V4 Dialler Manual Programming Guide to reflect changes in the section describing the Translate function. Also confirms that the maximum delay you can put in a Carrier Code is 5 seconds (#####). The new version is V1.26 and can be downloaded from here :-


http://thespringers.me.uk/mse/V4_Dialler_Programming_Guide.doc

seanhodges

I finally ditched Sky and switched to PlusNet. I edited the spreadsheet ready to reprogram the Orchid for the changeover and then discovered that my modem no longer works on any of the laptops in the house (they are Windows 7 & 8 and the drivers for my modem only go up to Vista). Rather than fork out for another bloody modem, which I will only use once a year, I think I could manage with just using one of the online DTMF tone generators, eg
http://dialabc.com/sound/generate/index.html?pnum=*%23%23%23*2*9%234222%2301%23&auFormat=wavpcm44&toneLength=300&mtcontinue=Generate+DTMF+Tones

These allow you to paste in a string of characters and then makes the beeping noises so you can play it into the phone and reprogram the orchid.

Can anyone tell me what I need to do to complete the task?

I reckon I need to;

Clear all the existing codes
Set the time
Set the weekend days & weekday hours for charging purposes
Set the area code
Set the carrier code table
Set the routing table (28 separate strings!)

Have I missed anything?
Has anyone managed to link Heinz's spreadsheet to a tone generator so the whole thing is automated?



****edited to say, I just found Roger Shilcock's excellent V4 Guide (http://thespringers.me.uk/mse/V4_Dialler_Programming_Guide.doc), and it answers almost all my questions. I'll wait until everyone is out (to avoid background noise and awkward questions, not to mention taunts from my girls about extreme nerdery) and have a go at the reprogramming.

shilcor

I still use the spreadsheet to keep a manual record of what I program into my orchid and update it when I make any changes. As long as you know what code strings are stored in the various carrier and routing code tables, you can overwrite them with new code strings any time you like.
When I altered my orchid after moving to sky talk, I just made the changes I needed to and didn't change anything that was still valid. This was mostly to disable making outbound calls to some numbers during the week and routing some calls via 1899. Virtually all weekday outbound calls are now made using my VoIP phones, only using sky at the weekend when free. We have a dedicated Three PAYG phone for calling mobiles, cheaper than 1899, 18185 or Sipgate.

seanhodges

Well I tried using the computer to generate the DTMF tones and then playing them down the phone line but it kept causing the 'phone lady' to pop up and tell me she didn't recognise the dialled number, or the 'phone off the hook too long' sound would start.

In the end I hand-dialled most of the codes, and I'm not sure what worked and what didn't.

Also, the time code and one of my routing codes were too long for the online dtmf generator.

I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get a new modem. Bum.