How to start applications

This explains how to start an outbound application using Aculab Cloud and how inbound applications are started by Aculab Cloud when an inbound call is received.

• Outbound Applications
• Outbound Parameters
• Inbound Applications
• Dialled Number
• SIP Address
• Application Parameters

Outbound Applications

1. You use a Web Service to start one of your Outbound Services.
2. Aculab Cloud looks in the Outbound Service for the type (REST or UAS) and name of the application it needs to start.
3. For REST: Aculab Cloud will place the outbound call and, once answered, will request the First Page of your application. It may also classify the far end (human, answering machine, fax machine) if you selected this advanced parameter on your Outbound Service.
   For UAS: Aculab Cloud will select an available UAS, running on one of your platforms, and start an instance of the application on that UAS, passing it the outbound parameters. The application will typically extract the destination from the outbound parameters and place the call.

Outbound Parameters

When starting an application you may supply an Outbound Parameters string that Aculab Cloud passes to your application. The content of this string is entirely up to you.

When starting REST API applications, the Outbound Parameters is a property of the JSON object passed to the service_start web service.

When starting UAS applications it will typically contain a destination telephone number or SIP address which the application may extract and call.

Inbound Applications

1. An inbound call is made to one of your Inbound Services.
2. Aculab Cloud looks in the Inbound Service for the type (REST or UAS) and name of the application it needs to start.
3. For REST: Aculab Cloud will request the First Page of your application.
   For UAS: Aculab Cloud will select an available UAS, running on one of your platforms, and start an instance of the application on that UAS.
4. The application may then determine whether to answer or reject the call.

Your Inbound Service name determines how to dial or make a SIP call into it:

Dialled Number

When Aculab Cloud receives an inbound call via an Aculab PSTN provider, it attempts to match the number dialled, full international excluding any leading +, with the name of an Inbound Service.

For example, an Inbound Service called 441908273800 can be dialled using +441908273800 outside the UK, 01908273800 in the UK, or 273800 in Milton Keynes UK.

The Inbound Service naming required to match calls via your inbound PSTN providers will depend on each provider. It will normally be as above but may require a preceding + or, for a provider serving just one country, the omission of the the country code.

SIP Address

The Inbound Service name is the SIP address username, and the Cloud Id is the SIP address hostname, required for incoming calls.

For example, an Inbound Service called freds_beds on the USA-East cloud can be called using sip:freds_beds@sip-1-2-0.aculab.com.

Application Parameters

For both Outbound and Inbound Services you can enter a string of parameters that will be passed to the application each time it is run. This is called the Application Parameters and is accessed in the REST or UAS tab of the Service.