1. Swyx Technology Conference 2011
„Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables“
Tom Wellige, Swyx Solutions AG

2. This session is going to be webcasted.
Because of that I would kindly like to ask you to switch off your mobile phones (really off - not just silent) to prevent any negative interference on the audio recording.
THANK YOU!
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

3. Agenda The main tool - the Graphical Script Editor (GSE)
Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code
If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing
Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions
Spread your work! - Install own rules/actions using the IpPbx File Explorer
Put everything together! - e.g. Persistent Variables
Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables
Don‘t invent the wheel a second time! - some examples
Want more? - hints and help
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

4. Maintool is GSE
But from my point of view it only gets interesting beyond the GSE, beyond it‘s standard features
This session is about to show the possibilities to extend functionality, to make the most out of the GSE, to show the additional tools.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

5. The main tool - the Graphical Script Editor (GSE)
The GSE is the tool to build Call Routing Scripts, from simple to highly complex.
Lots of so blocks provide a huge set of functionality.
The blocks are graphically connected.
Build in functionality includes announcements, recording messages, connect a call, voic s, remote inquiry, call queues, etc.
Missing functionality can be extended!
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

6. Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code (1)
Behind the scenes Call Routing Scripts are compiled into VBScripts, so it is quite natural that it is also possible to add own VBScript code into a Call Routing Script.
Use the Insert Script Code block to paste in pieces of code anywhere into the script.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

7. Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code (2)
Use the Start block to paste in your VBScript functions.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

8. Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code (3)
Call your VBScript functions from nearly everywhere from within the Call Routing Script.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

9. Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code (4)
Call your VBScript functions from nearly everywhere from within the Call Routing Script.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

10. Extendability - How to add own VBScript Code (5)
GSE Build In Functions
Server Script API
VBScript Build In Functions
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

11. If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing (1)
Standard error handling disconnects a call on any “run time” error within a Call Routing Script.
Run time errors can occur in many situations like database access, file access, invalid calculations, and so on.
To be able to create some proper error handling into a Call Routing Script the standard error handling has to be disabled
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

12. If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing (2)
Proper error handling in Call Routing Scripts depends on the script itself.
Runtime errors occur in the VBScript code part of this script.
So, how to get the error from the VBScript code part of the script back into the graphical part of the script ?
The most easiest way is to:
Write a function around a “run time error” endangered code snippet. This function returns either true or false, depending if an error occurred or not .
Use an Evaluate block to route the result into the graphical part of the script
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

13. If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing (3)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

14. If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing (4)
How to figure problems on a running system ?
Make use of SwyxWare’s trace mechanism.
Trace as many information as necessary/possible.
Do not only trace errors but also success.
The more information you trace the more easy it will become in the future to figure what’s going wrong
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

15. If things do not work - Error Handling and Tracing (5)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

16. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (1)
Make re-useable rules.
Values that need to be modified per user/usage should be extracted from the rule and made rule parameters.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

17. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (2)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

18. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (3)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

19. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (4)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

20. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (5)
An action can be seen as a subroutine.
It can be easily used in many different scripts of different users.
It encapsulates complicated stuff in just one GSE block, e.g. the remote inquiry
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

21. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (6)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

22. Get organized! - GSE Rule Parameters and GSE Actions (7)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

23. Spread your work! - Install rules/actions using the IpPbx File Explorer (1)
After having finished a rule export it as RSE file.
To install it for another user create a new rule and import the RSE file.
There is no other way to distribute rules!
After having finished an action download two files from the database by using the IpPbx File Explorer:
actionNAME.ase
actionNAME.vbs
To install it for another or all users use the IpPbx File Explorer to upload these files into the USER scope or the GLOBAL scope.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

24. Spread your work! - Install rules/actions using the IpPbx File Explorer (1)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

25. Put everything together! - e.g. Persistent Variables (1)
After having seen how to extend GSE functionality, how to do it in an organized way and how to distribute this new functionality on other SwyxWare machines it is time to take a look on some examples doing exactly this.
There are lots of such extensions already available (for free or commercial).
One of the freely available extensions are the so called
Persistent Variables
A persistent variable keeps it’s content even after an application/script has been terminated, while a common variable will loose it’s content and is empty on the next start of an application/script.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

26. Put everything together! - e.g. Persistent Variables (2)
The persistent variables are implemented as a GSE Action and can therefore be used in any extended call routing script.
One step of installing them on a SwyxWare machine is to upload two files (ase and vbs) into the SwyxWare database using the IpPbx File Explorer.
By uploading these files into the global scope the persistent variables can be used in any script of any user.
There is of course a little bit more to do to install them, but that’s just related on how these persistent variables work and have nothing to do with SwyxWare.
You will get everything you need (setup, documentation, examples) from the Swyx Forum page:
Projects - Call Routing Extensions - Documentation - Persistent Variables
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

27. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (1)
The project provides an easy to use VBScript class (PersistentVariable) which stores it's content into a database and retrieves it from there.
The visibility, i.e. scope, of a persistent variable can be configured finely grained:
User
Global
Namespace
A variable with the scope User is accessible form all scripts of the current user. A user scope variable of another user with the same name does not interfere.
A variable with the scope Global is accessible from all scripts of all users.
A variable with the scope Namespace is accessible from any script (of any user) defining the same namespace. A variable being stored in another namespace but with the same name does not interfere.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

28. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (2)
The default scope is User, i.e. each user has his own set of persistent variables without need to worry to interfere with other user's scripts.
So, how to use them?
Put the Persistent Variables GSE Action into you call routing script.
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

29. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (3)
Afterwards you can declare a persistent variable more or less just like you would declare a common VBScript variable:
To store something in it, just do it like you would do it with a common variable:
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

30. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (4)
And reading from a persistent variable works the same:
Or directly within a GSE block:
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

31. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (5)
Example: Night Switch
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

32. Make it easy! - usage of Persistent Variables (6)
Example: Night Switch Manager
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

33. Don‘t invent the wheel a second time! - Some examples… (1)
There are lots of examples available!
The SwyxPEDIA wiki tries to gather all of them together at one single point:
SwyxWare Development
Just a few examples…
IsAgentFree
IsCallTransferred
IsExternalRedirectionConfigured
IsRedirectedFrom
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

34. Don‘t invent the wheel a second time! - Some examples… (2)
And even more examples…
Call logging into database
Caller verification against database
Twitter incoming calls
Launch command line application from within an ECR script
Launch an URL from within an ECR script
Conference Room Manager
Open Queue
Longest Idle
And much much more!
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

35. Want more? - hints and help (1)
The Swyx Knowledge Base!
Scroll the page down!
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

36. Want more? - hints and help (2)
Swyx Forum
SwyxPEDIA - Wiki (examples)
Forum (help/discussion)
Projects (inspiration/examples)
Swyx Partner Net Forum
SwyxECR for Developers Training (2 days, instead of 1 hour)
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables

37. Thank you for your interest!
Join me between the sessions for a chat
Meet me in the forums
Take part in my training
Smart Call Routing with Persistent Variables