VoipNow Professional 2.5.1 Release Notes

Requirements

Hardware requirements are strongly related to the expected load and concurrent calls. We recommend using quality server hardware with a redundant storage system.

The minimum suggested hardware configuration is:

Intel x86 compatible PC server 2Ghz clock speed
1 GB of RAM
36 GB RAID storage system
100 MB/s network card

This minimal hardware configuration can handle around 1500 registered extensions and over 50 calls simultaneously.

VoipNow Professional is shipped in ready to install Virtuozzo templates.

VoipNow Professional is also available in VMware image format, which can be run under VMware Server, VMware Workstation or VMware Player. It can also be converted to run on VMware ESX using VMware Converter. This image is based on CentOS 5.5 operating system.

Installation

Installation can be performed in three ways:

Using the Command line installation script (see this article for more details)
Using the ISO Image (see this article for more details)
Using a Virtuozzo server (see this article for more details)
Using a VMware Server, VMware Workstation or VMware Player. Also on VMware ESX, deployed with VMware Converter.

Read Before the Upgrade

Warning

We highly recommend you to read the advices listed below before upgrading to VoipNow Professional 2.5.0 or later!

Do not attempt to upgrade VoipNow Professional HA on your own. Contact 4PSA for technical assistance before attempting to do this.

The check list you have to verify when upgrading from VoipNow Professional 1.x to 2.x contains the following:
- If your customers use SIP:Register and send SIP:Invite requests to your server hostname (instead of the IP), then you must add this hostname to the Accepted SIP Domains list from the Unified Communications >> System Preferences >> SIP Preferences page.
- VoipNow Professional does not accept by default the incoming calls from channels (SIP trunks) if you do not configure the IPs that are allowed to send these calls to the server. You can configure them following the next steps:
  - Click the Channels link available in the left navigation panel.
  - Choose the desired channel from the list and click its name link.
  - Next, click the Edit channel icon and set up the allowed networks using the controls available next to the Accept calls from IPs/network option.
- In VoipNow Professional 2, it is possible to process dialed numbers in outgoing routing rules before and after the call cost is interrogated according to the cost set up for the channels. When you Route a number through a channel (or through the best cost), the call cost is retrieved from the database at that time. The input for the call interrogation procedure is the processed number (the number can be modified using process directives). If you want to further process the number after the cost is interrogated and settled, you can use the basic number processing available in the Route type rules. In VoipNow Professional 1.x, the number processing was always performed before cost interrogation and even the processing on the Route rules (previously called Transfer rules) was applied after call cost interrogation. If you want to preserve the same behavior, modify the number using process rules.
The check list you have to verify when upgrading from any other VoipNow Professional version to 2.5.0 or later contains the following:
- VoipNow Professional 2.5.0 and later requires a new license key. DO NOT upgrade to VoipNow Professional 2.5.1 if your perpetual license is not actively maintained using SUS (Software Update Subscription) or your leased subscription is not current. You will no longer be able to manage your service until you don not upload a correct license.
- Always use the latest version of the installer available here to upgrade your installation.
- Make sure that your machine hostname resolves, otherwise daemons will start very slowly. Minimally, you can add to /etc/hosts a static entry for your machine's hostname.
- VoipNow Professional licenses issued by 4PSA's reseller Parallels are not compatible with latest versions of VoipNow Professional. If you use such a license, do not upgrade to VoipNow Professional 2.5.0 or later!More details about upgrading these licenses can be obtained from the Parallels sales team.
- The Queue type extension has been redesigned in VoipNow Professional 2.5.0. When the software is upgraded from a previous version, all agents will lose their queue registration. You will have to log the agents into the queue again over the phone or by using the management interface. Also, pay attention to the queue options because several new parameters were added in order to control the queue behavior when all the agents are logged out from the queue.
- The structure of the language packs was changed in order to increase the speed of API calls. In order to take advantage of the translation performed for previous versions of VoipNow Professional, you will have to migrate to the new structure. If you have any questions about this process, please open a support ticket at http://help.4psa.com.
- The concurrent calls limit was split into two limits, one for internal calls and one for public calls. By default, they are both equal with the old value of the concurrent calls limit. This might not be exactly what you want, so you should adjust them manually.
- A new CallAPI was introduced. For more details check the Developer's Guide. For compatibility reasons, two legacy REST methods are still available: NewCall and Test. All old CallAPI methods will be removed in VoipNow Professional 2.6.0.
- VoipNow Professional exposes an Asterisk Manager compatible interface. Due to its limited scalability and because it does not provide a consistent programming environment for third party developers, this interface is going to be removed in VoipNow Professional 2.6.0. If you still want to login to the Asterisk manager interface, you can so by using an extension level account only. You are highly advised to change your application so that it will use the new CallAPI REST HTTP interface and the CallAPI Events.
- The Cascade, Ring All and Authentication to reach extension settings previously available in the phone terminal properties configuration page were moved to the Incoming Call Rules (ICR). The old Cascade action is now an incoming call rule, while the Ring All functionality is achieved using a Transfer rule. Although the upgrade script will convert the old properties to incoming call rules, there is no warranty that the new behavior is absolutely identical. However, by changing the ICR, you can achieve any behavior you want.
- When trying to use the SOAP engine from PHP over SSL, you might experience connection issues. These are caused by a PHP bug; a workaround is to download the WSDL before loading it into the SOAP connection method. More details are available in the 4PSA Knowledge Base.
- The CallerID control is more complex. It is advisable to check CallerID settings for your extensions after the upgrade to make sure that the CallerID behavior did not change on your environment. The newly introduced CallerID management permission also allows you to restrict users to perform CallerID changes.
- The old SOAP API was renamed to SystemAPI. Many methods changed, mainly due to the new properties introduced in VoipNow Professional 2.5.0. If you connect to an old version of the SOAP server, default values will be used for the newly introduced fields that were not defined on that version. This might lead to unexpected results and therefore it is highly recommended to update your client software. In the new version, it is also possible to enable/disable the SystemAPI access on an user level.
- VoipNow Professional contains references to MyVoipNow, an upcoming 4PSA product. All settings related to MyVoipNow should be ignored until the new product will become available. They do not impact the functionality of VoipNow Professional. VoipNow Professional 2.5.0 contains references to MyVoipNow, an upcoming 4PSA product. All settings related to MyVoipNow should be ignored until the new product will become available. They do not impact the functionality of VoipNow Professional.

Version History

Warning

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE to upgrade from older versions of VoipNow Professional to VoipNow Professional 2.5.0 or later by using the web interface updater! Please use the command line installer for this upgrade.

What is new in VoipNow Professional 2.5.1 M1 release 110316.15

[+] New provisioning option to facilitate the import of provisioning templates. #VNP-40397, #VNP-40450

[+] Implemented UpdateClientPL/UpdateResellerPL SystemAPI methods. #VNP-40583

[=] Added Snom M3 provisioning template and mechanism. #VNP-40406

[=] Added Grandstream HT502 provisioning template. Added option to configure 2 lines on the same device. #40412

[=] When a client is moved to another reseller, only the DIDs used by that client are moved the reseller receiving the client. #VNP-40416

[=] Improved error reporting on upload DID numbers. #VNP-40446

[=] No longer ignoring empty publishes. Improved how the internal publish information is stored and how matching is performed. #VNP-40448, #VNP-40452

[=] Customized upload button on custom buttons. #VNP-40457

[=] Added Cisco SPA504g Provisioning template. #VNP-40480

[=] Updated OpenID protocol. #VNP-40550

[=] Improved manual, help and developers documentation. #VNP-40391, #VNP-40393, #VNP-40424, #VNP-40425, #VNP-40428, #VNP-40429, #VNP-40431, #VNP-40496, #VNP-40505, #VNP-40563, #VNP-40591

[-] Fixed SQL error if you have too many devices in provisioning. #VNP-40390

[-] Fixed upgrade issue for provisioning locations that use TFTP protocol. #VNP-40394

[-] Fixed ringing timeout on CallAPI calls. #VNP-40396

[-] Fixed outgoing routing rules aspect on user level. #VNP-40399

[-] Fixed pagination setting not being saved during a session. #VNP-40407

[-] Fixed multiple issues when the original caller is anonymous. Preserved original callerid correctly when: privacy is sent and no headers callerid is present. #VNP-40408

[-] Fixed channel costs upload. #VNP-40411

[-] Fixed saving provisioning password when it is autogenerated. #VNP-40419

[-] Fixed updated components number not being displayed properly on upgrades. #VNP-40420

[-] SQL views dropped in previous versions are also dropped when a clients performs the upgrade. #VNP-40422

[-] Fixed incorrect email encoding on voicemail notifications. #VNP-40430

[-] DID costs are no longer visible for non-admin accounts. #VNP-40432

[-] Fixed call not being hanged up when we have several incoming call rules. #VNP-40433

[-] Maximum public concurrent calls can now be set to unlimited from SystemAPI. #VNP-40444

[-] Fixed Calling card sounds not being heard when transferring from an IVR. #VNP-40445

[-] Fixed validation of friendly device name in provisioning. #VNP-40458

[-] Fixed Send Remote-Party-ID SIP header on SIP channels. #VNP-40464

[-] Fixed Recording twice calls initiated with CallAPI. #VNP-40473

[-] Fixed outgoing routing rules problems related to portability engine and callerID matches when position is changed. #VNP-40475

[-] Fixed sounds not being played on CallBack calls. #VNP-40481

[-] Fixed anonymous enabled/disable using *85/*65. #VNP-40492

[-] VoipNow now accepts VoipNow 2.5 license keys issued in Parallels KA. #VNP-40504, #VNP-40578

[-] Fixed Ejabbered status check when MySQL server is not local. #VNP-40518

[-] Clients cannot assign stacked numbers if numbers are not assigned to resellers. #VNP-40525

[-] Fixed "Do not send CallerID" not being saved in extension templates. #VNP-40553

What is new in VoipNow Professional 2.5.1 GA release 110130.09

[+] Added GetOpenID, myID, MyOpenID, MySpace, Orange, VeriSign, Vidoop, AOL, Blogger, chi.mp, ClaimID, Flickr OpenID providers. #24825

[+] CallerID can be now modified using outgoing routing rules. #24894,#24893,#25572,#25576

[+] Added a warning when the user defines conference size larger than the concurrent calls limit. #24975

[+] Redesigned the provisioning mechanism to be focused on equipment rather than on extension. #25010,#25011,#25012

[+] Introduced mechanism to allow external targets of ICRs to make call transfers as normal extensions. #25013,#25014,#25015

[+] Added CallerID options for IVR, Queue, Conference, Callback, CallCard extension types. #25016,#25017

[+] Added session timer settings for SIP channels. #25018

[+] Added support for external SIP MWI servers. #25020, #25021

[+] Introduced service provider templates to simplify SIP channel configuration. #25022,#25281

[+] Added method to identify call source in CallAPI call list. #25023,#25024,#25116

[+] Added license management methods added to SystemAPI. #25028

[+] Added the Cancel button in add OpenID panel. #25086

[+] Added *998 whisper feature for agents. #25256

[+] Added 'Transfer source' and 'Transfer destination' to Call Reports table for all accounts. #25261

[+] Added support for latestversion in SystemAPI SOAP schema location. #25280

[+] Added ability to control queue agents from CallAPI (login, logout, pause). #25533

[+] Added provisioning support for Linksys SPA2102 and Linksys SPA8000. #25559

[+] It is possible to find out from SystemAPI if a user has access to CallAPI or not. #25618

[+] Changed the SIP trunking licensing policy, for more details check the new licensing policy. #25724

[+] Added hosted based Automation licensing based on number of extensions. #25724

[+] License SUS compliance is now enforced. #25807

[+] Added the 'Require confirmation on taking calls' option for remote queue agents. #25810,#25811,#25811

[+] Tuned SIP services TCP parameters to prevent performance issues. #25822

[+] Check license limit for calling card codes and callback numbers against active ones. #25858

[+] Added Google Analytics in VoipNow to allow 4PSA to track public information about the VoipNow web interface usage. #25264

[=] Calling card balance report improved, the money unit is now played. #19922

[=] Improved panels in CallAPI events pages. #24010

[=] Only enabled extension groups can be seen in extension overview. #24049

[=] Extension overview does not display groups line if extension is not part of any group. #24055

[=] max_destination parameter can be setup now only on ENUM channels. #24122

[=] Updated VoipNow 2.5.1 CLI reference guide. #24123

[=] When an extension calls itself, the call is directed to voicemail center. This also improves usability on Snom phones.

[=] Improved CallAPI behavior under load. #24544

[=] Error reporting improved for files uploaded to be sent as faxes. #24748

[=] Improved incoming call rules by setting "Is any" as default for CallerID. #25115

[=] Added the Conference ID in the recorded conferences table. #25262

[=] All deprecated tables, which are no longer used since VoipNow 2.5.0 were dropped. #25574

[=] Old ICR rules that contained "rejected call" are replaced with "call not answered". "Reject call" removed from the ICR options. #25714

[=] If multiple files are added to music on hold, they are played in a random order. #25781

[=] Improved presence mechanism performance and reliability. #25783

[=] Improved extension overview display. #25284

[=] Improved the command line tools available for translators.

[=] The first leg of the CallAPI Makecall now follows ICR rules if defined. #26115

[=] CallNow interface allows calls to unregistered extensions if ICR exists. #26114

[=] <!FIRMWARE!> tag added to Cisco 7940/7960 provisioning template. #25854

[-] SystemAPI: GetTimeIntervals returns correct details at extension login level. #23277

[-] Fixed SystemAPI: GetChargingPlanDetails not returning values for fixedCharge or inheritedCharge. #25161

[-] Fixed SystemAPI GetAgentStatus at extension level. #25670

[-] Fixed management interface login from remote application form. #25690

[-] Assigning agent to queue using SystemAPI was fixed. #25780

[-] Fixed pathbar and uplevel when F5 button is pressed. #25827

[-] Livemonitor displays the correct number of registered extensions. #25855

[-] Terminate the fax transmission when receiving ENOENT. #25946

[-] The language selected on the user login is now preserved. #25959

[-] Fixed format in ast_queue_log for COMPLETETRANSFER to be consistent across uses. #26149

[-] Fixed SystemAPI GetDestinationExceptions SOAP Method on extension level. #26090

[-] Fixed language for calls invited to the conference. #25962

[-] Improved Cascade Incoming Rule validation. #25841

Legend:

[+] new feature

[-] bug fixed or removed

[=] bug fixed or improved functionality

Known Limitations

There are no known limitations in VoipNow Professional 2.5.1.

Contact and Support

For online help and support please visit:

Support Zone: https://help.4psa.com
Knowledge Base: http://kb.4psa.com
Documentation: http://help.4psa.com/docs/

For mailing addresses and phone numbers from our offices:

http://www.4psa.com/contactus

If you have any question, do not hesitate to contact us.