Bounty - Telephone Directory
Submitted by Praeter on Thu, 09/06/2007 - 1:01pm.
In response to Kerry's post I have created a preliminary demo Company Directory module that can be finalized to work in conjunction with trixbox. Here is what is has to offer:
- WEB 2.0 Adobe Flex Flash front end (Now open source). This provides the opportunity to install the GUI in a wrapper of an Intranet web site or just keep it as part of the TB system. Make a change on the TB system, the change is already made to the public, because I read from the asterisk database. Keep in mind, once the data is queried to the flash client all the filtering and printing takes place on the client machine and not the TB platform. This reduces the load on the system to serving up the app and pushing data back and forth. All the rest of the screen updates are gone. Because it is Flash , there are many features not demonstrated in the below demo app to can be used like drag and drop and all kinds of other event based effects all with an pc application like feel.
- PHP backend web services. I have created a php framework that allows easy creation of Flash gui front ends. The framework based on AMFPHP is still under development but far enough along to be able to query and update a mysql database. I have also built in the capabilities for session base security, address level allow/deny, and it is integrated using the new ZEND Framework. This web service framework will also allow me to add Asterisk AGI scripting to be launced on the TB server triggered from the Flash gui.
This is a little forward thinking in respect to the design because it requires PHP 5.1.4 or later. The framework on the other hand allowed me to build the basics of this entire program in about three hours. It took longer to figure how to make it print acceptable than it did to make all the rest and it is a hell of a lot slicker than standard web based forms.
I have a simple demo for your viewing http://demo.praetertech.com/TBDirectory/
This is a starting point for more complex applications that allow relatively easy to create GUI front ends with more complex php back ends. Please offer feedback and whether there is any interest in further development.
Thanks,
Jim
Let me be the first to
Wed, 09/12/2007 - 8:09am
Let me be the first to say.
Cool... (yes I read your other post)
However unfortunately I would not use this feature myself.
You could try asking if fonailty are going to donate a min amount to the projects. and if you developed it yourself then you get that min amount.
However thinking of it from their side, it needs to be stable, fast and easily to develop further.
ElMo2,
Could you expand a
Wed, 09/12/2007 - 8:49am
ElMo2,
Could you expand a little on why you would not use it?
Here are some of my thoughts and reasoning. Today we already have some flash application in use, FOP as an example. FOP is produced with Ming, I believe, and this app is produced with the newly Open Sourced Adobe Flex. Adobe provides a few advantages in my opinion. 1)A payed team of developers creating a stable development SDK. 2) Forward thinking, Adobe also has their new AIR framework that allows you to make flex applications standalone (no Browser dependency). When FreePBX and TB finally get to true user level security, you can lock down the app or distribute the administrative app just to the admins and leave the web interface for user level apps. Also as a standalone app, the demand on the PBX is even less. As far as "easy to develop further", the brunt of the front end Flex programming is in Actionscript. This is not an unknown commodity. With the backend PHP web services framework I designed, the development of this app was very short and I have already got it installed on a working TB box.
Other design criteria I took into consideration are the need for reusable code and the new Zend framework (open source) takes care of many functions and it is PHP 5 Object oriented.
Features I can add in very short order are "Click to Dial" , integrate additional data like Alias phone numbers to redirect to an administrator... without major modifications to existing frontend.
This application can also easily operate in a html wrapper. That is how the demo is executed. You could then add it to an Intranet, not Internet, web site to provide easy access to telephone numbers for employees or clients without having them execute the app from the pbx.
I value all (constructive) input and opinions and look forward to your further input.
Oh yeah, sorry don’t get
Wed, 09/12/2007 - 6:24pm
Oh yeah, sorry don’t get me wrong. it’s awesome.
And I didn’t know how cool flex was until I saw your app, and I recent downloaded the SDK. (And will be looking at all the cool features and using it for some of my upcoming projects)
I think the whole trixbox web gui should be converted to a neat interactive interface similar to that. (but that just my opinion), (There might be real reasons they don’t want to do such a thing.)
I would not use it because of the size of my company (and as per the votes on the side of the site say others are around my same size) i have a small team of people, were only 5-10 large. And this means that we know each other’s extensions off the top of our heads.
And our customers are within a CRM. With click to dial.
The things that were more important to me were like: firewall & backup.
I have received zero
Sun, 12/23/2007 - 7:07am
I have received zero interest from the community and Fonality. If you would like, I can do some touch up work and make it available to you for your use. It would require one of two things:
1) trixbox 2.3.x or greater - because it needs php 5.x to run properly on the backend.
or
2) Another apache web server with php 5.x with database access to the trixbox system you would like to have the directory from.
This directory can be used in an html wrapper from any web site not just the trixbox system.
Let me know.
Just saw the post and looked
Fri, 12/28/2007 - 11:55am
Just saw the post and looked at your site..
It looks really cool.
I have installations running with 50-200 extensions and that would be aninteresting addition to the TB gui .
I m surprised that no one showed interest in that ..
is there anyway I can test it on my systems ???
PM me with your direct
Fri, 12/28/2007 - 1:53pm
PM me with your direct contact information. I need to write a small piece of php code that will recompile the swf based on the system it is installed on. Right now it is a manual compile. It has a client/server based component that needs to tell the swf where the server is. Once I have that written and tested I can get it to you with install instructions.
Flanders is mad that you
Thu, 01/17/2008 - 10:16am
Flanders is mad that you misspelled his name in your Directory, Praeter. :)
The app looks nice and I could see how it would be a nice addition to (for example) a corporate (internal) website. Especially if you add Click-to-Dial functionality. And I think it could be used by a small company. For example, you run a 24-hr business. You keep your website fully up-to-date, so customers are always browsing it. If they decide they want to contact someone at your site, you could have a script running to show the directory entries of any sales people who are logged in and available to take calls. Or, just use this app as a back-end for that same type of function, so you aren't giving out the names and numbers. The person just clicks a button or link and the back-end script polls the directory for who is available.
Yes, I think this is a very nice little app to use. Too bad I don't fit into any niche that would use it.. :(
Undrhil
Undrhil,
The demo was to
Fri, 01/18/2008 - 4:50am
Undrhil,
The demo was to show the potential. Click to dial is a reality in my code, just not in the demo. I am in the process of engineering presence into the app where I can allow users to populate additional information like email, chat, cell phone. Then it can go to ...wherever. The guts of the project is to create a framework for easy future development of maybe a customizable mashup interface. Let the user arrange the dashboard they want all being linked to their information and communication styles and works with an Asterisk based system. It could be trixbox CE or Pro or who knows PBX in a flash and being flash based, it will be pretty much client platform independent.
Been watching this, looks
Sat, 02/09/2008 - 9:32pm
I have someone interested in
Sun, 02/10/2008 - 10:50am
I have someone interested in a much more integrated version adding user level customizations with private lists in addition to what is default in trixbox, group management and building a level of presence. My plan is to make the license a Creative Commons with my business maintaining the code ownership. Or at least the portion that I can maintain. Some parts are not mine like AMFPHP. I can get you a version as it stands today but it does not have all the features as stated above. From the demo you can see on my web site, I have added the ability for you to add your own logo and title. Click to dial could be added with out too much effort, I already have it in some of my other application. To add many of the new features I will need to redesign the look. I am thinking of a tree layout allowing the addition of cell #, email... per individual/group. I am looking to also add aliasing of numbers for those that do not want to be seen.
I have a big project I am focusing on at the moment, looking to offer a new marketing service for real estate agents tied into a trixbox system (more to come on this soon). It uses much of the same technology that the telephone directory will use so time spent on one benefits the other. As far as development financial (bounty) assistance, the need to survive as a business drives the development direction. Money drives priority for the items that I develop. I have already spent countless hours developing a framework that enables me rapid development of new tools. The time already spent, I will not be able to recoup until I have release level applications. I have just recently been queried to begin an additional application for Dentist office use, if money is offered there than that will pull precedence. Regardless, I will be developing this to completion but it comes as time is available.
If you would like a copy, a current 'as is', PM me I can get it to you. I have someone else that already has it.
I have updated the online demo. Nothing amazingly different this one has just added iconized print and refresh buttons, logo that is user definable, and the page title 'Telephone Directory' is also now user definable. The customizations are accomplished in the web services conf files. The other big difference (not seen by the naked eye) is the web services is now a single instance which can handle multiple different applications within the backend.
http://demo.praetertech.com/TBDirectory/
Member Since:
2006-10-26