I signed up for mweb's voip service today.
Having had my spa 3000 for about two weeks now, and having a bit of free time today, i thought i had better get my head around understanding dial strings.
Up till now I have been using a very generic string that came as default - worked but a bit clunky if you know what i mean.
So this is what i have come up with. Please remember it is a work in progress and any advice is greatly appreciated.
<*,:>xx.<
gw0>|xxxxxxxxxxxx.|<#3:>[x*].<#:>S0 <fwd.pulver.com> |<#4:>[x*].<#:>S0 <gw1>|<:031>xxxxxxx<gw0>|>xxxxxxxxxx<gw1>|<911:2677347>S0<gw0)
Unless you have one of these beasts(and even if you do) that looks like a load of gibberish, let me try and explain.
<*,:>xx.<gw0> this means if i dial a * then any number of digits, the digits(not the star) will be dialed through Gateway 0 which is the pstn(telkom) line.
xxxxxxxxxxxx. This means if i dial 12 or more digits it will get dialed through line 1(note no gw) ie the voip provider registered on line 1. Since all international calls are 12 or more digits all my international calls will be routed via my voip provider. (currently voipdiscount)
<#3:>[x*].<#:>S0 <fwd.pulver.com> This one is a bit tricky but shows how clever this ATA is. If i dial #3 any number#, it send the call to free world dial (fwd). This is helpful when you want to check things are working as FWD have a echo service the number is 613. So dialing #3613# will call FWD echo test. Obviously i could also call someone on FWD if i knew someone with a FWD number!!
<#4:>[x*].<#:>S0 <gw1 Similar to above. #4 any number # will route that number to gateway 1 which my Mweb voip service. Again mainly for testing purposes.
<:031>xxxxxxx<gw0> Here is where it starts to get interesting. If i dial any 7 digit number(ie local number) it will add 031(durban code) and send it to gw0 ie telkom line. Thinking about it i guess i did not really need to add the 031 but it makes it look better!!
>xxxxxxxxxx<gw1> Ok so now we have a 10 digit number (ie national or cell no). We send it to gw1 - Mweb voip.
<911:2677347>S0<gw0 Hehe i like this one!! If i dial 911 it will immediately(ie not wait for any more digits - S0 tells it to do that) replace 911 with 2677347 (which is the number of the local police charge office) and dial it via gateway 0 (ie telkom).
The net effect of all of this is that:
local calls go through telkom (R0.38c/min)
National call / Cell calls go through Mweb (R0.50 / R1.45 per min)
International call go via Voipdiscount (Free).
The big question is, is the quality of Mweb voip such that it can replace my pstn line for national and cell calls? My criteria is that the person i am calling should not notice any difference. I have tried using voipdiscount for local calls, while the sound quality is very acceptable their is noticeable latency. This is not surprising as the sip server is in germany so my call is being routed SA - EU Server - SA and the reply is doing the reverse.
I am hoping that the call routing and termination on mweb voip remain local, as then latency should be well less than 250ms which is where it becomes noticable.
Will do some testing tomorrow and post
Having had my spa 3000 for about two weeks now, and having a bit of free time today, i thought i had better get my head around understanding dial strings.
Up till now I have been using a very generic string that came as default - worked but a bit clunky if you know what i mean.
So this is what i have come up with. Please remember it is a work in progress and any advice is greatly appreciated.
<*,:>xx.<
gw0>|xxxxxxxxxxxx.|<#3:>[x*].<#:>S0 <fwd.pulver.com> |<#4:>[x*].<#:>S0 <gw1>|<:031>xxxxxxx<gw0>|>xxxxxxxxxx<gw1>|<911:2677347>S0<gw0)Unless you have one of these beasts(and even if you do) that looks like a load of gibberish, let me try and explain.
<*,:>xx.<
gw0> this means if i dial a * then any number of digits, the digits(not the star) will be dialed through Gateway 0 which is the pstn(telkom) line.xxxxxxxxxxxx. This means if i dial 12 or more digits it will get dialed through line 1(note no gw) ie the voip provider registered on line 1. Since all international calls are 12 or more digits all my international calls will be routed via my voip provider. (currently voipdiscount)
<#3:>[x*].<#:>S0 <
fwd.pulver.com> This one is a bit tricky but shows how clever this ATA is. If i dial #3 any number#, it send the call to free world dial (fwd). This is helpful when you want to check things are working as FWD have a echo service the number is 613. So dialing #3613# will call FWD echo test. Obviously i could also call someone on FWD if i knew someone with a FWD number!!<#4:>[x*].<#:>S0 <
gw1 Similar to above. #4 any number # will route that number to gateway 1 which my Mweb voip service. Again mainly for testing purposes.<:031>xxxxxxx<
gw0> Here is where it starts to get interesting. If i dial any 7 digit number(ie local number) it will add 031(durban code) and send it to gw0 ie telkom line. Thinking about it i guess i did not really need to add the 031 but it makes it look better!!>xxxxxxxxxx<
gw1> Ok so now we have a 10 digit number (ie national or cell no). We send it to gw1 - Mweb voip.<911:2677347>S0<
gw0 Hehe i like this one!! If i dial 911 it will immediately(ie not wait for any more digits - S0 tells it to do that) replace 911 with 2677347 (which is the number of the local police charge office) and dial it via gateway 0 (ie telkom).The net effect of all of this is that:
local calls go through telkom (R0.38c/min)
National call / Cell calls go through Mweb (R0.50 / R1.45 per min)
International call go via Voipdiscount (Free).
The big question is, is the quality of Mweb voip such that it can replace my pstn line for national and cell calls? My criteria is that the person i am calling should not notice any difference. I have tried using voipdiscount for local calls, while the sound quality is very acceptable their is noticeable latency. This is not surprising as the sip server is in germany so my call is being routed SA - EU Server - SA and the reply is doing the reverse.
I am hoping that the call routing and termination on mweb voip remain local, as then latency should be well less than 250ms which is where it becomes noticable.
Will do some testing tomorrow and post