Control Group Blog

Control Group has rolled out a number of Call Manager Express systems for our clients, and one issue that frequently comes up is what to do with callers on hold. While most companies – ours included – work to avoid putting people on hold, it does happen. The easy options offered by the Call Manager Express are a double beep at regular intervals or a ‘Music on Hold’ file that you can store in the host router’s flash memory. I have received many complaints about the beeps and even a single repeating music file can be insufficient for some users.

When I started searching for a way to connect an audio feed to a gateway router, I found that there were no great turnkey solutions. What I did find is that there is a way to make use of an available FXO port to bring a live feed into the system with some inexpensive parts. The solution I have deployed requires a surface mount RJ 45, a chassis mount RCA jack, and a stereo 1/8″ mini to RCA adaptor. All of these pieces can be found at a nearby electronics parts store and purchased for under $20. The FXO port and an iPod will set you back some but if you want easy control of your hold music it may be worth it.

Build the Adaptor

To make the adaptor, open up the surface mount box and figure out how you will attach the RCA jack. In one case I used a drill bit to make a hole for it, in another case I found a form factor where the notch for a cat 5 cable fit the connector perfectly. You may also find a general purpose surface mount with modular fittings where an RCA “snap in” would snap right in.

Once you’ve sorted that you will need a pair of wires from either a solid or stranded piece of cat 5. Punch these down to pins 4 and 5 of the RJ45 and solder the other side to the RCA jack.

When you are done it should look like this.

Adaptor wiring detail. Though the jack in this configuration is an RJ 45 you can use a standard RJ11 phone cord to connect between the adaptor and the FXO port.

Configuring the Voice Gateway

Configuring the voice gateway is pretty straightforward:

1. Create a DN for the MOH call out with an unused multicast address

ephone-dn 274
number 1 no-reg primary
moh ip 239.12.13.1 port 2000 out-call 899

2. Configure the available FXO port remain open to the iPod

voice-port 0/3/3
signal loopStart live-feed
input gain 2
description To MoH Live Feed

3. Create a dial peer to connect to the FXO port

dial-peer voice 55 pots
destination-pattern 899
port 0/3/3

4. Configure CME to use the multicast for MOH

telephony-service
multicast moh 239.12.13.1 port 2000

Then Shut/No shut the voice port to invoke the change.

I have been using one of the built in USB ports on our gateway here at Control Group to power the iPod which turns out to be very convenient.

Safety and Other Considerations

There are some very important caveats.

1. The adaptor I describe is potentially dangerous. If you were to connect an iPod to a POTS line or an FXS port feeding a battery signal you could damage the iPod or the device connected to it. You could also receive a serious electrical shock.
2. The use of copyrighted material for Music on Hold can be a violation of the rights of the copyright owner.
3. The adaptor will only work with one channel of audio from the iPod. If you use a mono 1/8″ to RCA cable it will short out the other channel.

These issues need to be minded if you would consider this solution. Also, keep in mind that people’s taste in music varies widely. Implement Music on Hold and you will find out just how much!

Miles Green is a Senior Network Engineer at Control Group and worked as a Musician and Recording Engineer in a previous life.

Check out this great video that our friends at SPIN put together to show off the new SPIN Mobile iPhone app. Read more about how we built the app, and download it for free from iTunes!

SPIN publishes some of the best editorial content out there. They’ve been doing it since 1985: topical, not mainstream, but still accessible. When we heard they wanted to jump into the mobile “space race” with an iPhone application — and that they wanted CG to take that first step with them — we were pretty fired up.

So it is with great excitement that we announce the SPIN Mobile iPhone application. It’s available today for free at the iTunes Store. (Update: check out this great video that our friends at SPIN put together!)

SPIN Mobile iPhone Application

For this initial release, we wanted to accomplish something really simple: get the writing, pictures, and music that makes SPIN one of the top music magazines in the world into the palm of its readers’ hands. We wanted to push the fresh daily content, and close the loop on the complete experience: from the music news, to the latest reviews, and photo galleries of shows we wish we had been at. We also wanted to add direct downloads from iTunes, letting users listen to and purchase the albums and songs that they were experiencing on their iPhones.

With things changing at the rate they are, there was a heavy emphasis on getting an app out there quickly, staking a claim in the App Store land rush, and building from that stake down the road with a killer app for the iPhone OS 3.0 launch.

We developed the core app in four weeks with a small group of our dev team members, meeting with Spin’s design team on a weekly basis. Adjusting plans mid-flight, in a truly agile way, we changed designs, integrated with their publishing workflow, their CMS (Drupal) and added a few new tweaks in the process. I won’t say it was all roses — developing an application in four weeks on a new platform, with a full page ad in the presses can put some pressure on the team — but we got it done, and SPIN was right there with us, positive and understanding the whole time.

It’s hard not to get a little sentimental and think about my first Walkman, a bulky yellow Sony thing that was supposed to be waterproof. I used to wait weeks to get the latest copy of SPIN and then run to The Garage in Harvard Square to find the latest tape from the band they were raving about, pop it in and walk around, knowing I was up on the latest thing. Here we are 20 years later with that complete experience condensed down to just few seconds, anytime, anywhere I want. That’s what mobile is all about.

With all the turmoil in the publishing world, its so refreshing to have a client who really ‘gets it’ — understands what its base wants, knows how to monetize without being offensive, and has a plan for the future. I’m glad we could be part of the team that got this out there, and I’m looking froward to all the cool stuff we have cooking for the 3.0 release this summer.