Set up a callshop

At the end of this tutorial a shop operator can log in, start a booth with a prepaid amount, let the customer call, stop the booth and print the receipt. Allow about 30 minutes. The example creates the shop Corner Callshop with three booths.

Before you start

• You have Administrator access, a routing group that reaches your vendors and a retail tariff plan, as in Quickstart: retail.
• The booth phones are SIP devices that can register on the switch, or ATAs connected to ordinary phones.

Step 1: Create the callshop customer

1. Open My Customers → Resellers and click Add Reseller.
2. Enter Reseller Name: Corner Callshop, note the Web Login and Web Password: the operator signs in with them.
3. Select the Tariff you charge the shop with and set the shop’s Credit Limit or Balance.
4. On Advanced Parameters check Callshop Enabled.
5. Click Save & Close.

Result: the customer is listed; its portal has the Callshop and Callshop Preferences screens.

Step 2: Add the booths

1. In the Resellers list open Actions → Login as for Corner Callshop. A new window opens with the shop’s portal.
2. Open My Customers → Accounts and click Add.
3. Enter Account Name: booth-1 and Description: Booth 1, note the Password for the phone, keep Registration Allowed checked.
4. Select the Service Plan the shop sells calls with and the Routing Group.
5. Set Balance 0 and Credit Limit 0. The session sets them when the operator clicks Start.
6. Click Save & Close and repeat for booth-2 and booth-3.
7. Register each booth phone with its account name and password. See Register an account on the Zoiper softphone.

Result: three accounts with zero balance, each phone registered. See Accounts.

Step 3: Set the callshop preferences

Still in the shop’s portal:

1. Open My Customers → Callshop Preferences.
2. Under Defaults enter a Prepaid Amount and a Credit Limit used when the operator starts a booth without typing an amount.
3. Under Behaviour choose On Start: Enter Credit/Deposit asks the operator for the amount on every start, Use Default Credit/Deposit applies the defaults silently.
4. Choose On Stop: Open Receipt shows the receipt to print, Do Nothing just closes the session.
5. Check Start on Stop to let the operator stop a booth and start a new session for the next customer in one click.
6. Set Booth Name to Account Description so that the screen shows Booth 1 instead of booth-1, and Refresh Interval, secs to 5.
7. Click Save.

Result: the Callshop screen behaves as the shop wants on every Start and Stop.

Step 4: Run a session

1. Open My Customers → Callshop. Each booth shows Status, Timer, Cost, Available Credit and Prev. Cost.
2. Take the money from the customer, click Start in the row of Booth 1, enter the Prepaid Amount and confirm Start Timer.
3. Let the customer call. The row updates the Timer and Cost while calls run; the switch cuts a call when the prepaid amount is used up.
4. Click Stop. With Open Receipt the receipt opens; print it and hand it over. View CDRs lists the calls of the session, View Receipt reopens the receipt later.

Screenshot "admin-panel/callshop" has not been generated yet — see scripts/screenshots/screens.yml.

Result: the booth is back at zero balance and ready for the next customer; the session’s calls are in the shop’s Call Records (CDRs).

Tip

Give the operator a web user of the callshop customer with an access level limited to the Callshop page instead of the customer’s main login, so that nobody at the counter can change accounts or prices. See Web users and permissions.

What’s next

• How callshop works: prepaid and postpaid flows.
• Service plans: the prices the shop sells at.
• Customers: the callshop customer’s own balance and the Callshop Enabled flag.