Click to call automation? Possible? Work together on this?

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Posts: 12

Hey guys, I am the owner of a small company and we do lots of software writing. Several questions:
Can the click to call be made to:
1 - click on phone numbers and automatically go to the phone number you are dialing without picking up the ringer of the line you are calling from? Ie... from a remote location? When we call using the API from click to call you have to pick up the phone to get the call to go through to the number you are calling?
2 - is the actual source code for this avail somewhere so we can make this better? If so, I would love to put a team together to do this with our programmer and some of you possibly
3 - Would love to also be able to turn existing browser phone numbers into clickable numbers that dial via Vonage like skype does without have to use a highlight deal unless I am missing something about this way this works
4 - is there an API that would allow us to pull in the Vonage voice mail right into our business app?
Thanks guys and you can email me directly at tw@thesaabsite.com

Posts: 1424

protech wrote:

Hey guys, I am the owner of a small company and we do lots of software writing. Several questions:
Can the click to call be made to:
1 - click on phone numbers and automatically go to the phone number you are dialing without picking up the ringer of the line you are calling from? Ie... from a remote location? When we call using the API from click to call you have to pick up the phone to get the call to go through to the number you are calling?

You must pick up a phone connected to your Vonage device for Click2Call to work. If you have call forwarding or simulring enabled your other devices will ring, but they will not be able to establish the call.

protech wrote:

2 - is the actual source code for this avail somewhere so we can make this better? If so, I would love to put a team together to do this with our programmer and some of you possibly

Information on the REST commands available can be found at https://secure.click2callu.com

protech wrote:

3 - Would love to also be able to turn existing browser phone numbers into clickable numbers that dial via Vonage like skype does without have to use a highlight deal unless I am missing something about this way this works

This is of course a browser function, there is a greasemonkey script for this for Firefox. Additionally I developed and have unfortunately neglected an extension for both Firefox and Thunderbird that allows you to right click to establish calls.

Recently another developer and I have started a sourceforge project to update this work.

protech wrote:

4 - is there an API that would allow us to pull in the Vonage voice mail right into our business app?

No, you can however accomplish the same functionality via screen scraping or email integration. One commercially available tool VMRover has been developed that acts as a desktop answering machine for Vonage voicemail. You may be able to license the code from them.

I have used screen scraping in the activity download tool and provided a custom integration of call activity into a database for one customer.

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Posts: 12

Great info. That should help. One thing I cannot quite get past. What is the point of having click to call which shows the ability to call from anywhere on any computer using your Vonage if you are not at the room where the Vonage box is or the phone to which the number is attached to if you have to pickup the ringer to activate the process of calling the persons number you clicked on. I must be missing something here. Lets re-evaluate?
Click on the number and it rings your phone number you pickup and then it rings the number you clicked on? Seem odd? I must be missing something? Again, thanks. We would certainly be interested in working with some developers if some have interest.Thanks, Tim

Posts: 1424 · Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject:

Click2Call's usefulness is less obvious in a web browser than in a PIM (Outlook or Thunderbird). If I am sitting at home near my phone and want to call someone, I can look them up in my address book and click the number to call them.

It's usefulness in a web browser, in my experience, has been when I am looking up a local business online and can call them using Click2Call rather than dialing the phone manually.

The third option of publishing a Click2Call button so people can call you is great in situation where you can either guarantee someone will be at the phone (business) or can control the state of the button based on your availability (this is the concept of presence that is currently handled by IM systems).

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Posts: 12

I understzand that aspect completely but I still don't get how it is advertised as being able to call from anywhere from any computer. Unless I am missing something completely then how can you do this when someone has to hit the button on the phone where the Vonage modem is before the call will go through to the number you click on?

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

protech, i don't understand what you don't understand.

Click2Call has exactly ONE function. It's purpose is for you to make a call from your own Vonage phone to any other number. It is designed to be independent of the device you have, i.e., to not require your device to have any control functions.

So it calls your phone, and when you pick it up, it then calls the number you've requested.

And I also don't understand what you mean about "highlighting". I have a little script I wrote which reads a list of names and phone numbers, and takes each name/number pair and makes it a clickable link -- I can open the html file with this list in a browser, and I don't have to highlight anything, and I can just click on it.

And there are people who have integrated click2call with things like the MacOS X address book application.

This is all really easy.

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Posts: 12

Here is why. This is how it is advertised" With Click-2-CallSM you can call any number, in any location, on any device - without even dialing the number. And it's included at no charge. I understand how it is setup and the script etc... but you cannot do what is described if you have to pickup the headset to start the phone call to the number you have called. I appreciate your responses though. I guess maybe I am looking for too much. I was hopeing to be able to go somewhere and call our clients via a laptop by integrating the click to call features in our business app. We allready setup the click to call deal out of our app and it works only if you pickup the handset to initiate the call. I guess the real reason that this has to be done it activate or deactivate the call process. Hopefully this gives a little more of an explanation. Just wanting a way to check voicemail, make and receive calls using Vonage from remote locations using each of our Vonage accounts. Maybe I am just asking for too much. Thanks, TIm

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

protech wrote:

Here is why. This is how it is advertised" With Click-2-CallSM you can call any number, in any location, on any device - without even dialing the number. And it's included at no charge.

Immediately (really immediately) followed by:

Quote:

You simply select a number from your contact list or anywhere on your computer, press the Hotkey or click the "Place Call" button - and we dial the number for you, instantly. Your Vonage phone rings first. When you pick it up it, it rings the number you clicked to call.

protech wrote:

I was hopeing to be able to go somewhere and call our clients via a laptop by integrating the click to call features in our business app.

No problem. Install V-Phone or a Softphone client on the laptop. Or if you don't want to do that, just take the Vonage device with you, and plug it in next to the laptop if you're using a wired connection, or through the laptop if you're using a wireless. I do the latter all the time. Just enable sharing of your internet connection, wireless to ethernet. But the V-Phone or Softphone is easier and less stuff to carry around.

Posts: 12 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 29, 2007 Posts: 12

Good thoughts. I was really hopeing to integrate an application into ours. We will begin sales within the next year. Is the Install V-Phone or a Softphone client something that Vonage offers or a generic product? Again, Thanks, Tim

Posts: 153 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 11, 2007 Posts: 153

look here http://www.vonage.ca/features.php?feature=softphone for Softphone information and here http://www.vonage.ca/device.php?type=VPHONE for V-Phone information.

All you have to do to integrate use of these products with your application is (1) buy the product and install it on the necessary laptops and (2) arrange for your application to submit Click2Call commands of the form https://secure.click2callu.com/tpcc/makecall?username=username&password=password
&fromnumber=fromNumber&tonumber=toNumber