Star Codes

[fisamo]

What is the official status of the * codes? I ask, because I finally moved a Residential line to my PAP2 (registered directly, not through my asterisk server) so I could check out the * codes. Here's what I observed:

*67 does not seem to work at all. My dial plan has a "send anything" pattern, and I disabled all of the "feature codes" (and explicitly removed *67 from the "block CID" field under the Regional tab). When I dial *67 and a 7-digit number, I get reorder tone. When I dial *67 and a 10-digit number, it sometimes gives me ringback, but the number I dialed doesn't ring. When I dial *67 and an 11-digit number, I get reorder tone.

*69 also seems to have issues. Sometimes, it gives reorder tone, sometimes it gives ringback (without actually ringing the target line), and sometimes it actually does ring back the target line. One of the times the target line rang, I decided to hang up the voipo line without answering the (CallVantage) target line. The target line kept ringing...

I haven't tested other * codes, because I'm not sure which ones you intend to support.

[burris]

I just quickly did a test from my Grandstream, server provisioned, dialed *67 and then my cell phone.

Got no ring, but a normal busy signal. Call won't go through.

Both NPAs the same..

[VOIPoTim]

The * codes are not implemented on codeblue. We'll be moving everyone to the production servers soon and those are there along with the near real-time call logs, etc.

[fisamo]

Thanks for the update. Which star codes will be supported? I'd break them down into the following categories:

Must have:
*67 - per call CID block
*82 - per call CID allow (if you add a 'permanent CID block' feature to the vPanel, which I would also recommend)
*69 - Call return

Nice to have:
*70 - per call disable Call Waiting
*66 - busy line ringback (relatively low priority, though, as busy signals are becoming more and more infrequent as more people subscribe to CW and voicemail services)
*71 or *72 - Activate call forwarding (double-check vertical service codes on NANPA--as mentioned before, I prefer the 'standard' codes be assigned)
*73 - Cancel call forwarding
*?? - Enable/Disable Do Not Disturb (Except white list and E911 return calls, all calls are routed directly to VM)

[VOIPoNorm]

A complete Telco list of Vertical Service Codes (star codes) is listed here:

http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource...finitions.html
http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource...signments.html

Not all of the defined services are applicable in a VoIP environment (and some important services are not accounted for). I would submit that this is a good starting point.

In addition, just because NANPA has indicated a de-facto standard, does not mean that any company is required to follow suit.

Regards,
Norm

[fisamo]

Norm,

Thanks for the link--I had seen the NANPA standard, and I agree that while a standard is a great starting point, it is voluntary. I don't think VOIPo should feel obliged to support ALL of those VSC's, by any stretch. My thought is that if you intend to market VOIPo as a POTS replacement, you'd want feature codes to match up as much as possible, as it seems telcos have pretty much followed the standard. It seems that many VoIP companies have gone 'wild West' on the feature codes, and at least respecting the standards (ie. following them when it makes sense, acknowledging that they exist, etc.) is a plus in my book.