Glossary

[KitchM]

A Glossary thread might be nice where everyone could add words and definitions as they go.

 

[KitchM]

What does "context" mean in a dialplan. It appears to mean a branch, but could mean section from what I've read.

 

[DigitalDaz]

Look at Freeswitch documentation, many of your questions are already answered there:

XML Dialplan | FreeSWITCH Documentation

About

freeswitch.org

Maybe even invest in a book: https://www.packtpub.com/product/freeswitch-1-8/9781785889134

 

[KitchM]

That's kinda like saying RTFM. Well, I already read the FM and it doesn't have that in its glossary. Go figure. I find it very incomplete if they documentation includes:

Dialplans can be separated into contexts, allowing calls to follow different pathways for different kinds of calls. Calls can be handed-off to other contexts as well.

There was also the fact that it says a dial plan can be handed off to another dialplan, making their definition of the word even more confusing. ????

But thanks for your link. I had only used https://docs.fusionpbx.com/en/latest/ and https://freeswitch.org/confluence/display/FREESWITCH/Glossary. I guess there are a plethora of places to look, and if one is not familiar with all of them, one will never find the answer.

By the way, I went the book route on another server software package. I now have three huge tomes and they are as worthless as tits on a boar hog. They are so geek-laden that they are of no earthly use at all. Never again! Programmers and techies simply can't write well. That's just how it is

In any case, is there a reason we cannot have our own glossary? Or do you know of a good place to centralize all the info?

 

[KitchM]

So, after reading it over again a couple times, the definition seems to be that a dialplan is made up of one or more contexts and contexts are a logical grouping of extensions. Therefore, a dialplan is a logical grouping of extensions. More than that, more than one group of extensions are the sections of a dialplan. Seems a little convoluted to me.

If that is so, then following that logic brings us to a dailplan being a list of extensions. That doesn't seem to work.

Let's try the documentations own text: "Dialplans can be separated into contexts, allowing calls to follow different pathways for different kinds of calls."

Therefore, "Dialplans can be separate into logical groupings of extensions, allowing calls to follow different pathways for different kinds of calls."

Does that sound right?

 

[KitchM]

Also, is there a definition for "extension"?

 

[phonesimon]

https://freeswitch.org/confluence/display/FREESWITCH/Dialplan may have the higher level you want.

 

[KitchM]

I was able to search the FS and Fusion documentations and found that there was no glossary entry defining the term. However, there were a couple sentences in the Fusion docs I was able to find:

Extensions

define the information needed for an endpoint such as a hard phone, soft phone or some other device to connect to the SIP server. The extension is the SIP username and the password is the secret used for authentication.

I found that to be a little imprecise. I checked a dozen telephony glossaries and found no listing for extension. But when searching for definitions, I got these:

Noun 1. telephone extension - an additional telephone set that is connected to the same telephone line

The definition of an extension is an addition such as to a building, an extra phone line connected to the main line or an extra amount of time given to someone to pay a debt.

telephone extension
noun
1Extension of the telephone network so as to connect a new town, region, etc. (now rare).
2A subsidiary telephone, either attached to the main line or on a line leading from the main switchboard in a large building.

Extension (telephone)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In residential telephony, an extension telephone is an additional telephone wired to the same telephone line as another. In middle 20th century telephone jargon, the first telephone on a line was a "Main Station" and subsequent ones "Extensions". Such extension phones allow making or receiving calls in different rooms, for example in a home, but any incoming call would ring all extensions and any one extension being in use would cause the line to be busy for all users. Some telephones intended for use as extensions have built in intercom features; a key telephone system for a small business may offer two to five lines, lamps indicating lines already in use, the ability to place calls on 'hold' and an intercom on each of the multiple extensions.

In business telephony, a telephone extension may refer to a phone on an internal telephone line attached to a private branch exchange (PBX) or Centrex system. The PBX operates much as a community switchboard does for a geographic telephone numbering plan and allows multiple lines inside the office to connect without each phone requiring a separate outside line. In these systems, one usually has to dial a number (typically 9 in North America, 0 in Europe) to tell the PBX to connect with an outside landline (also called DDCO, or Direct Dial Central Office) to dial an external number. Within the PBX, the user merely dials the extension number to reach any other user directly. For inbound calls, a switchboard operator or automated attendant may request the number of the desired extension or the call may be completed with direct inbound dialing if outside numbers are assigned to individual extensions.

An off-premises extension, where a worker at a remote location employs a telephone configured to appear as if it were an extension located at the main business site, may be created in analog telephony by using a leased line to connect the extension to the main enterprise system. Voice over IP makes the creation of off-premises extensions inexpensive and trivial as broadband Internet and virtual private networking can extend local network access anywhere in the world. In either system, an off-premises extension is reachable from within the same enterprise simply by calling its extension number directly; for inbound and outgoing calls, it functions as if it were located at the main place of business.

I think I'll go with "a telephone extension may refer to a phone on an internal telephone line attached to a private branch exchange (PBX)" and "an additional telephone set that is connected to the same telephone line". Does anyone think differently?

 

[phonesimon]

I think I'll go with "a telephone extension may refer to a phone on an internal telephone line attached to a private branch exchange (PBX)" and "an additional telephone set that is connected to the same telephone line". Does anyone think differently?

I said this in another thread and I think I need to repeat it here. Use the software and figure it out through trial and error and the documentation that exists. That's what we all do. Trying to precisely define every term you see is going to be a frustrating and futile effort. (and you'll quickly wear the community thin with this line of questioning) If you work with it you will understand it better.

 

[KitchM]

Sorry to bother. Was just looking for an expert.

 

[mat1010]

Sorry to bother. Was just looking for an expert.

No, you are looking for someone who will answer you every tiny basic question which you could answer yourself by a little bit of effort and the ability to analyze errors correctly. Many people in this forum are willing to help and have expert knowledge in freeswitch, fusionpbx and general hosting on linux, but your way to ask questions is just exhausting for everyone here.