BlackGATE
XP Bytes helped Blackgate build a CMS on top of a legacy system using Ruby on Rails, Bootstrap and custom scripts, initially to ease the workload of their technicians but quickly turning into an amazing tool for their end-users.
BlackGATE is a Telecom organisation specialised in VoIP and networkservices.
Challenge
VoIP software isn't somehing readily available. One of the software implementations of PBX is called Asterisk. Its first release was in 1999 and although releases have been coming out steadily, it does not provide a User Experience to rejoice.
This is why BlackGATE was looking for something better and more importantly something that could be used by their customers, reducing the need for an extensive helpdesk to set-up call forwarding or other complicated recipes.
Solution
XP Bytes, in conjunction with the now defunct Things Implied, designed and developed a content management system, which the end users of BlackGATE could use to accomplish various tasks such as:
- setting up the rules, triggered during the weekend or national holidays
- changing the forwarding number
- connecting new phones (devices)
- managing which public number calls which internal phones (devices)
We accomplished this by using JavaScript and a pragmatic design that quickly gave an overview what happens if a call comes in. The data for the various pop-ups and selection elements comes from the Rails API.
Additionally, the system can output the configuration in a format propiertary to Asterisk and the other moving parts in the BlackGATE ecosystem. This means that the technicians no longer needed to handcraft configuration files once a new client comes onboard.
Results
Due to the closure of Things Implied and miscalculation of the work-load, the project was not finished by us in its entirety, but the system has been in production for at least 5 year, is still being used and developed internally.