Configuring Thirdlane Dialer

To configure Thirdlane Dialer, right click on it and choose the "Options" menu item. Note that this can be performed either in standalone mode or on the Outlook toolbar.

General

Check if you want to run Thirdlane Dialer at Windows startup.



Connection


Thirdlane Dialer can communicate with Asterisk using Thirdlane PBX as a proxy or directly via Asterisk Manager Interface (AMI). You can choose the type of connection on the Connection tab.

For the Thirdlane PBX connection type, the required parameters are:

  • Host - host name or IP address of the machine running Thirdlane PBX.
  • Port - Thirdlane PBX / Webmin port (typically 10000).
  • Use https – check this on if your Webmin is configured to use secure http (HTTPS).

For the Asterisk Manager Interface connection type, the required parameters are:

  • Host - host name or IP address of the machine running Asterisk.
  • Manager Port - port for communicating with Asterisk Manager Interface as defined in /etc/manager.conf or Thirdlane PBX -> System Settings -> General Settings. Typically 5038.
  • License Key - license key provided by Third lane based on MAC address of your desktop.
User Information

User information specifies the user-specific settings that Thirdlane Dialer will use when initiating calls. When using the Thirdlane PBX connection type, this information is also used to automatically login into the Thirdlane User Portal.

When using the Thirdlane PBX connection type, the required parameters are:

  • User - your user name for accessing Thirdlane's Thirdlane PBX's User Portal.
  • Password - your password for accessing Thirdlane PBX's User Portal.

When using the Asterisk Manager Interface connection type, the required parameters are:

  • Manager User - user name for connecting to Asterisk Manager Interface as defined in /etc/manager.conf.
  • Manager Password - password for the user above. It is defined in /etc/manager.conf.

  • Phone (Channel) - this has to be entered as Technology/Extension. For example, if your phone is a SIP phone and your extension is 100, than the channel will be SIP/100.
  • Context - context to initiate calls from. When Asterisk is managed by Thirdlane PBX, this will typically be from-inside.
Dialing Rules

The Dialing Rules settings provide users with a way to alter the numbers stored in the Outlook or Thirdlane Dialer databases prior to dialing as well as to specify whether the intercom should be used (if configured for their phone).


  • Prefix for External Calls - some offices require that a digit (typically 9) be prepended to all dialed numbers. This should be coordinated with Asterisk dialplan, Outbound Routes and trunks.
  • International Access Code - your contacts and email may have international numbers prepended with "+". Thirdlane Dialer will replace "+" found in the phone numbers with this string.
  • List of replacements - allows to specify simple rules to replace/remove/add strings in the phone numbers.
  • Use intercom if available - when checked, allows the phone to automatically answer the call. This also requires that the phone is properly configured - this varies depending on the phone model.
Notifications

The notifications tab allows users to specify how to handle screen pops for the incoming calls.
Note that Notifications are only available when Thirdlane Dialer is configured with the Thirdlane PBX connection type.


  • Show small window for - will show a small pop-up window for a specified time.
  • Display Outlook contact by searching these fields - allows to specify which phone numbers in the contact are matched with the incoming caller id.
  • Try to find caller in a web directory - if checked, allows to specify whether the web directory search will be performed always or only when contact is not found in Outlook.
  • Search directory - specifies which web directory to search.
  • URL - allows to specify a custom URL for searching.
  • Execute this command - allows to specify a custom command that will be executed.

The following variables can be specified as part of the URL or custom command and will be subsituted by the Thirdlane Dialer:

  • ${npa} - first 3 digits of the caller id number (area code).
  • ${nxx} - next 3 digits of the caller id number.
  • ${station} - last 4 digits of the caller id number.
  • ${calleridnumber} - caller id number.
  • ${calleridname} - caller id name.
  • ${dialednumber} - dialed number (your DID).

So for a caller id 415 721 7767, the ${npa} is 415, ${nxx} is 721 and ${station} is 7767.

Examples of how custom URLs can be specified:

Google's URL could be specified as:

http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=phonebook:${calleridnumber}

Anywho directory search as:

http://www.anywho.com/qry/wp_rl?npa=${npa}&telephone=${nxx}${station}

Please consult your CRM documentation for the appropriate number formatting.






Loading Contacts

When using Thirdlane Dialer as a standalone application, you must first load your contacts into its internal database.

You can load contacts by importing them from Outlook or from a CSV (comma separated) file.

To load contacts from Outlook - right click on the dialer and select the "Load Contacts from Outlook" option on the pop-up menu.

To load contacts from CSV file - right click on the dialer and select the "Load Contacts from CSV file" option on the pop-up menu and select an appropriate file.

The format of the CSV file is simple:

First Name,Last Name,Business Phone,Home Phone,Mobile Phone

Here is a sample file:

Gary,Jones,"eTech, Inc",4157217754,4152508788,4152509805
Martha,Davis,"eTech, Inc",4157217755,5104658899,5104658100

Installing Thirdlane Dialer
Using Thirdlane Dialer