On occasion, when using complicated dialplans you may wish for a variable's value to be kept as the call progresses. This is achieved by adding a _ [underscore] or a __ [double underscore] before the variable name.

A single _ will cause that variable to be inherited into the channel that started from the original channel, for example:

Set(_name1=value1)

If you want the variable to be inherited to all child channels indefinitely, then add __ before the variable name. For example:

Set(__name2=value2)

This should not be confused with setting the variable with the g option, as this sets it as a global variable. Doing so makes the variable available to all channels globally.

So, you may ask "why might we store dial strings as a variable?" The simple reason is that it allows a minimal amount of code for dialing all numbers, but still allows for different classes of restriction, by which we mean allowing different users to have different restrictions in what they can and cannot dial.

To pass these variables we will use a macro. Macros are like a template that we can use for repeated tasks, and they allow the passing of variables in an ordered fashion to the macro context. The call will jump to the s extension. The calling extension, context, and priority are stored in ${MACRO_EXTEN}, ${MACRO_CONTEXT}, and ${MACRO_PRIORITY} respectively. Arguments passed are accessed as ${ARG1}, ${ARG2}, and so on within the Macro. While a Macro is being executed, it becomes the context, so you must be able to handle the h, i, and t extensions if required within that context.

Let's build our small macro dialplan. We have a variable defined in the globals section of the extensions.conf file as follows:

[globals]
INT_CALL=IAX2/username@peer_out/
INT_CALL_ID=01234123456 ; default international callerID
INT_CALL_LIMIT=5 ; Limit on the number of calls

In the context that we use for dialing, we have:

; International long distance through trunk
exten => _90.,1,Macro(outdial,${INT_CALL})

Here, we have defined the macro we are going to pass the call to, along with a single variable we defined in the globals section (the value of the calling extension can be retrieved within the macro by using ${MACRO_EXTEN}).

The macro context looks like this:

[macro-outdial]
exten => s,4,Dial(${ARG1}${MACRO_EXTEN:1},180)

This is the same as the dial string:

exten => s,4,Dial(IAX2/username@peer_out/01234123456,180)

We have seen that we can pass one dial string, but let's now pass other variables to the Dial() application, such as a backup route for outgoing calls, and the caller ID we want to use for the call.

exten => _90.,1,Macro(outdial,${INTCALL},${INT_CALL_ID},${INT_CALL_LIMIT})
[macro-outdial]
exten => s,1,Set(GROUP()=OUTBOUND_GROUP) ;Set Group
exten => s,2,GotoIf($[${GROUP_COUNT(OUTBOUND_GROUP)} > ${ARG3}]?103) ;Exceeded?
exten => s,3,Set(CALLERID(num)=${ARG2})
exten => s,4,Dial(${ARG1}${MACRO_EXTEN:1},180)

Now it's time to bring some .conf file variables into the mix. Using the setvar facility in the sip.conf, iax.conf and chan_dahdi.conf files, we can set variables specific for every user such as unique caller ID, call limits, whether we want to record the call, account codes. Basically, anything that will help you handle calls more efficiently.

setvar=account_code=2206
setvar=callidnum=01234123456
setvar=tenantID=2

You may think that all this variable use is over-complicated, but consider a system that supports multiple tenants. Using these techniques, you will only need one dialplan for multiple tenants instead of one per tenant. Simply set the tenantID in the relevant .conf file and then store the tenants' features in the globals section of the dialplan and in the AstDB, and all calls will go out as that tenant group. The concept is the same for other scenarios, such as departments that require cross charging of telephone costs.

Set(DB(family/variable)=value)

Set(result=${DB(family/variable)})

INT_CALL1=IAX2/username@peer_out_1/
INT_CALL2=IAX2/username@peer_out_1/
INT_CALL_LIMIT1=5 ; Limit on the number of calls
INT_CALL_LIMIT2=5 ; Limit on the number of calls
exten => _90[1-2]XXXXXXXXX,1,Set(INTCALL=INTCALL${tenantID})
exten => _90[1-2]XXXXXXXXX,n,Set(INT_CALL_LIMIT=INT_CALL_LIMIT${tenantID})
exten => _90[1-2]XXXXXXXXX,n,Macro(outdial,${INTCALL}, ${callidnum},${INT_CALL_LIMIT})