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[Question] How to use voice mailboxes...?
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lisak
Boot


Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 59
Location: Prague

 		[Question] How to use voice mailboxes...?
I would like to ask about your experiences/suggestions with using voice mailboxes. I find them quite cool and very suggestive way of delivering content to players, but the problem with standard voice mailbox is that once players retrieve password, they can basicaly do whatever they like - delete messages, change password etc. - and I am quite convinced that somebody would try that sooner or later. Well, sooner, probably. Smile

Another problem is that somebody can actually leave the messages in the mailbox, which could other players lead astray.

4orty2wo in Cathy's book uses "voice mailboxes" all right, but those definitely aren't your run-off-the-mill machines - there's no chance to perform delete or do anything smart, you just automaticaly listen to stored messages and that's that (not to mention they are always "new" every time you call).

Is there any easy way how to deal with it/emulate this behavior (easy != "implement your own voicemailbox and chain X modems to your PC")? Maybe with Skype there might be easier way how to manage this...?

Of course I can always create "false" way how to pick up messages from the boxes via some web page (also seen in CB as a backup way that can save long distance call charges to ones like me who live outside US), but we all know it's just not the same...

PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 7:31 pm
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Ehsan
Entrenched

Joined: 09 May 2003
Posts: 992

 		The trick here is not to look for a Voice Mail system, because that's the complete bells & whistles package you don't want your players to access.

You can "simulate" a Voice Mail system by creating a fake IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system. Using the IVR, you can program any set of inputs to any set of audio outputs, and create your own flowchart of events.

It's a bit trickier if you want it to be easy. I'm sure you've already heard about Asterisk, which has a built in IVR and can be customized any way you want. But that's not easy to do at all. It doesn't require modems or anything like that though, just a SIP gateway will do, so it'll work off Skype or any other SIP provider's phone number.

I looked around some more and found a couple of IVR solutions for Skype. Voxeo seems to have some integration with Skype, and claims to be free, but I'm not sure how it all works and it seems complicated. Angel.com have a customizable platform which you can easily manage and build using a web interface, but it comes at the price of $.12 per minute.

Finally, to borrow off the designers methodology: Easy, good or cheap. You can only pick two.

You want something easy, and definitely good to meet your initial set of requirements. That means you'll have to pay some money to get what you want, or spend some extra effort to program things around.

My recommendation would be to go with Asterisk. To make it easy for yourself, just find an online freelancer to customize and install it for you. I can't see it costing any more than $200-$300, which is a reasonable amount to pay within ARG development costs.

PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 4:07 am
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lisak
Boot


Joined: 08 Nov 2006
Posts: 59
Location: Prague
Ehsan wrote:

It's a bit trickier if you want it to be easy. I'm sure you've already heard about Asterisk, which has a built in IVR and can be customized any way you want. But that's not easy to do at all. It doesn't require modems or anything like that though, just a SIP gateway will do, so it'll work off Skype or any other SIP provider's phone number.

I looked around some more and found a couple of IVR solutions for Skype. Voxeo seems to have some integration with Skype, and claims to be free, but I'm not sure how it all works and it seems complicated.


Excellent tips, many thanks! I'll start with voxeo; they have IVR written in Perl which has <50kB and seems to be fairly easy to understand & tweak. Maybe the result might be interesting for other PM as well, if voxeo really integrates itself with Skype as they claim. Asterisk will come to play later, if I encounter problems. That's a mighty beast, and dealing with full-fledged PBX component would sure be pain if I need just about 0.5% of things it can do.

Anyway, once again thanks for the guidance!

PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:02 am
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darkling
Boot

Joined: 25 Jul 2006
Posts: 45

 		Maybe
Hello,

Try www.privatephone.com. They give you a free phone number in any area code that you choose, as well as allow lengthy passwords and voicemail delivery via e-mail.

-H

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:21 pm
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JohnLockeGuy
Decorated


Joined: 15 Oct 2006
Posts: 181

 		Re: Maybe
hudey123 wrote:
Hello,

Try www.privatephone.com. They give you a free phone number in any area code that you choose, as well as allow lengthy passwords and voicemail delivery via e-mail.

-H


Excellent, thanks a lot for sharing that. I've used aimphoneline before, but that doesn't have a customizable voicemail message, so it seems kind of robotic and impersonal. But privatephone lets you do a whole bunch of extra things... and it really is free! I was skeptical at first, but it works. Thanks.

EDIT:

Oh, and then there's this:

http://www.funphone.com/old/
_________________
Played: The Lost Experience // CassieIsWatching // The 4400
Made: Free! Psychic Readings // The Night People // Reindeer Games
Playing: Cathy's Book

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:08 pm
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darkling
Boot

Joined: 25 Jul 2006
Posts: 45

 		Re: Maybe
Hello,

I don't see how the service at funphone is of any use. It apparently is some sort of joke.

-H

JohnLockeGuy wrote:
hudey123 wrote:
Hello,

Try www.privatephone.com. They give you a free phone number in any area code that you choose, as well as allow lengthy passwords and voicemail delivery via e-mail.

-H


Excellent, thanks a lot for sharing that. I've used aimphoneline before, but that doesn't have a customizable voicemail message, so it seems kind of robotic and impersonal. But privatephone lets you do a whole bunch of extra things... and it really is free! I was skeptical at first, but it works. Thanks.

EDIT:

Oh, and then there's this:

http://www.funphone.com/old/


PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:07 pm
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JohnLockeGuy
Decorated


Joined: 15 Oct 2006
Posts: 181

 		Re: Maybe
hudey123 wrote:
Hello,

I don't see how the service at funphone is of any use. It apparently is some sort of joke.

-H


Razz That was the point... but it had me going for a while, until I realized they wanted me to talk right at the monitor.
_________________
Played: The Lost Experience // CassieIsWatching // The 4400
Made: Free! Psychic Readings // The Night People // Reindeer Games
Playing: Cathy's Book

PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 8:37 pm
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