HS/FS Cisco 7970 + Asterisk + HS + Visu

[Warichet]

Hi,

Cisco IP phone 7970 & 7960 + Asterisk + HomeServer + Visu

Did already someone explore this field ?
There has been some post about Asterisk but I wonder if there is some practical experience with the Visu.
Having a phone in each room, I though it could be nice to use the display and buttons of the phone to somehow build a knx display

As far as I know, it doesn't support Ajax, just plain html.
I'll try to get the SDK.

[NilsS]

Hi,

do you mean that xml structure for the menu's? http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/A...X+XML+Services

you should use the KO-Gateway with some php code on the asterisk server.

[Warichet]

do you mean that xml structure for the menu's? http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/A...X+XML+Services

you should use the KO-Gateway with some php code on the asterisk server.

Well, with limited/no knowledge of the problem at hand, I would say:
On one hand, there is a phone
- the phone has a (color) display and buttons
- buttons can be associated with actions via ad-hoc programming
- the display can be programmed (right now it's a static image of my house)
- the Asterix server can play the role of web server
- so, we are here in a +/- classic situation of a web server & client

On the other hand, there is a HomeServer
- the server can have a web client

The idea is to combine the 2.

To answer your question: well .... yes ... that's the idea of the project.
Sounds crazy ?
Please understand, I'm still at step zero
What I intend to do:
* first try to get the SDK
* see if it's feasable/reasonable at reasonable time & effort

Maybe

"with a little help of my friends"

(well known tune )

[MarkusS]

Getting the Cisco-SDK is easy http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/coll...0800925a8.html or http://developer.cisco.com/web/cuae/...play/CUAE/Home (you've to register to get access).

The IP-Phone-SDK is free although the registration page states that there is a fee.

There is a book http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/...sbn=1587050609 (out of stock) available but this is quite old, I don't know if it's still worth the money.

As far as I know, the services-implementation differs from SCCP- to SIP-Images, the SCCP-Image for the IP-Phones contains a complete services-functionality, the SIP-Image has reduced functionality. Somewhere in the release notes for the software images is information about this.

You'll need a webserver that can present the services to the phones, the webservices can be implemented as CGI or as ASP.Net (Microsoft IIS only). AFAIR, Cisco recommends using C# or Java.

As far as I see, you have three tasks:

1. Getting/writing information from/to the Homeserver
2. Getting/writing information from/to the Asterisk
3. Having a webservice handling this information to and from the phones

Sounds like you're quite busy for the next year or so

[Warichet]

As far as I see, you have three tasks:

1. Getting/writing information from/to the Homeserver
2. Getting/writing information from/to the Asterisk
3. Having a webservice handling this information to and from the phones

Given the sharpness and pertinence of your analyze, I suspect you've been here (long) before me.

Sounds like you're quite busy for the next year or so

Oh well, as mentionned in the base post

Did already someone explore this field ?

I was looking for some help.
This kind of project sometimes requires various skills not always found in the same person ... but no problem.

Bye
(See you next Christmas.)

[makki]

I implemented several Cisco-phones in a completely different environment, but my 5 cents: I wouldn't put efforts in getting these to be used as "Visu-clients". It's a propretary platform, not very handy and easy to implement and finally limited in funtionality.
If still interested, next christmas sounds quite realistic

Makki

[teichsta]

I wouldn't put efforts in getting these to be used as "Visu-clients". It's a propretary platform, not very handy and easy to implement and finally limited in funtionality

probably not as "real" visu-client but i could imagine the situation where i put off the light by switching the scene "good night" on the phone (which could be located beside my bed).

Why using an expensive KNX-Sensor when there is a phone capeable off using URL's anyhow ... i like that idea. Probably there is a another/better hardware solution (VOIP with touchscreen - no iPhone ;-) )

[Warichet]

Probably there is a another/better hardware solution (VOIP with touchscreen - no iPhone ;-) )

The Cisco IP phone 7970 is with touchscreen.

[teichsta]

The Cisco IP phone 7970 is with touchscreen.

yes, i know! but assuming that the 7970 is not the best solution (due to propietary implementations - which i have not reviewed i am just repeating makki's comment) which other (phone/voip) hardware could i place beside my bed to control some of my homeautomation functions. I'd try to activate an open mind discussion. Surely the iPhone/iPodtouch is a solution but ... i'd like to find others.

[Warichet]

assuming that the 7970 is not the best solution .

Absolutely, no doubt about that.
But my starting point was: I already have a couple of 7970 (one in each room) + Asterisk + HS + Visu. Wouldn't it be fine to have some Visu on it ? (besides another more functional Visu like the EloTouch+HS)

I'd try to activate an open mind discussion. Surely the iPhone/iPodtouch is a solution but ...

OK, but the interested audience is rather limited, and the ones willing to venture into cold water are even fewer. So far I've counted 1.

[MarkusS]

There are several solutions available which can connect Cisco phones into building automation but they are designed for really large building and they have a large building price tag, fitting the price tag of a Cisco Call Manager environment.

There aren't many SIP-Standard IP-Phones with a touch screen. There aren't many IP-Phones that can be customized to present and handle almost any information you would like to see on them. This is a "business feature", implemented in "business phones" like

• Aastra
• Cisco
• Siemens OpenStage
• Snom
• Polycom

but not in all phones of said manufacturers, usually they implement these features only in their flagship-models - did I already mention price tags?

The next problem is that there is no standard to handle the information between phone and server. Most manufacturers use some kind of XML, but every manufacturer uses a different implementation, so a solution for Aastra doesn't work with Snom or Polycom ... - and to make bad things worse: they tend to change their implementations in newer firmware releases.

The task is not trivial. You need to:

• control the phone display content (keeping in mind that there are differences in resolution, grayscales, color-displays ....)
• control the behavior of soft keys
• implement some navigation within the phone
• control physical keys and lamps
• have 2way-communication between phone and KNX incl. feedback for changed states
• handle the problem that no phone api - at least no that we know about - can differentiate short and long key strokes

So, you would need a kind of server that can:

• read and write information from and to KNX
• convert this information into a phone-useable format
• read an write information from and to phones (display, soft keys, keys and lamps)
• can handle about 10-15 different phone types (manufacturers, models)
• can handle 1-XXX phones - you don't need all and any information from your KNX on every phone - the phone in the living room will present different information as the phone in the kitchen
• reduces network overhead

Perhaps there is a upcoming product that can almost fully integrate some IP-Phone models into KNX.

[makki]

From MarkusS very comprehensive comments I read that he also already did it

Sure, it would be really nice (I have a 7960 on my desk) *but* pain is no word for this "little thing", it's very complicated, very obscure and requires many additional things in the background. If someone takes more than 1€/hour I'd really suggest for quantities below 20 to go and buy an N800,ipod,touchpanel or something similar and put it beside the phone; much easier and cheaper

Currently playing around heavily with eibd&co and knowing asterisk and some of these XML-phones I'd have some ideas on how to implement this as Markus described (maybe xmas 2010), but my "5 cents" say it's a horrible big effort without a noticeable audience (rembering the price tag of these phones)

Makki

[MarkusS]

From MarkusS very comprehensive comments I read that he also already did it

Not really. At least nothing usable outside a development environment. But we're working on something.

The plan is to have something in Beta around March, a stable commercial release could be available in summer - but there will be no support for Cisco-Phones, that's for sure. Perhaps in a later version.

There are still many loose ends.

I don't want to discourage anyone to develop his own solution but we know at least the phone-part really well from many years of development. There are many pitfalls and integrating something like KNX into a phone is quite different from polling a stupid LDAP-Directory as a phone directory or a weather report. If you want to do this right this is a lot of work and needs in-depth knowledge of the various phones.

[Warichet]

I don't want to discourage anyone

I wonder to whom this is intended

we know at least the phone-part really well

That was quite obvious from your previous comments

There are many pitfalls and integrating something like KNX into a phone

I start to realize this and the previous comments make sense
but I've already reached a major mile stone .... issuing a "Hello World" to the phone


Still 359 days to go


PS: would someone be so kind to post an eibd command line to switch on a lamp ?
(I know there are several instances of it in the forum, but my lack of knowledge of the right keywords prevents me from doing a correct search.
Please accept my apologies.)

[makki]

Assuming eibd is running and startet with "-u" that's easy
groupswrite local:/tmp/eib 1/1/11 1 (send 1 to GA 1/1/11)
Alternatively through IP (-i)
groupswrite ip:127.0.0.1 1/1/11 1

If writing values of more than 6 bits length use "groupwrite" without the s

The whole story here

Makki