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Asterisk, developed and released by Digium, Inc., is the world’s leading open source telephony engine and tool kit. Asterisk empowers communication with it’s flexibility. Whether working as a simple office telephone system, a robust Call Center platform, or anything in-between, Asterisk provides advanced features at a very low deployment cost.  Asterisk is released as open source under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and it is available for download free of charge. Asterisk is the most popular open source software available, with the Asterisk Community being the top influencer in VoIP.

UPDATE April 4, 2009 — Frank (user comment) let us know that AnyWho had changed their website. As a result the code has been updated. Thanks Frank!

UPDATE November 18, 2009 — Robert (user comment) let us know of another change. As a result the code has been updated. Thanks Robert!

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
use LWP::UserAgent;
$|=1;

my ($cidnum,$cidname,$npa,$nxx,$station,$name);

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# get asterisk initial info
#----------------------------------------------------------------

while(<STDIN>) {
	chomp;
	last unless length($_);
}

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# check if we have a caller id
#----------------------------------------------------------------

if ($ARGV[0]) {
		$cidnum = $ARGV[0];
	} else {
		print qq(VERBOSE "ERROR: no callerid provided" 2\n);
		exit(0);
}

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# check caller id and split into npa, nxx, and station
#----------------------------------------------------------------

if(substr($cidnum,0,1) eq '1'){
	$cidnum=substr($cidnum,1);
}

if(substr($cidnum,0,2) eq '+1'){
	$cidnum=substr($cidnum,2);
}

if ($cidnum =~ /^(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{4})$/) {
		$npa = $1;
		$nxx = $2;
		$station = $3;
	} elsif ($cidnum =~/\<(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{4})\>/) {
		$npa = $1;
		$nxx = $2;
		$station = $3;
	} else {
		print qq(VERBOSE "ERROR: unable to parse caller id" 2\n);
		exit(0);
}

print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: CID is $npa-$nxx-$station" 2\n);

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# check npa, nxx, and station for cid name
# 1 = check. 0 = skip.
#----------------------------------------------------------------

my $AnyWho = '1' ;
my $Google = '1' ;
my $www411 = '1' ;

if ($AnyWho > '0') {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: checking AnyWho for name lookup" 2\n);
		if ($name = &anywho_lookup ($npa, $nxx, $station)) {
				$cidname = $name;
				print qq(SET VARIABLE CALLERID\(name\) "$cidname"\n);
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: AnyWho said name was $cidname " 2\n);
				exit(0);
			} else {
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: unable to find name with AnyWho" 2\n);
		}
	} else {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: AnyWho lookup disabled" 2\n);
}

if ($Google > '0') {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: checking Google for name lookup" 2\n);
		if ($name = &google_lookup ($npa, $nxx, $station)) {
				$cidname = $name;
				print qq(SET VARIABLE CALLERID\(name\) "$cidname"\n);
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: Google said name was $cidname " 2\n);
				exit(0);
			} else {
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: unable to find name with Google" 2\n);
		}
	} else {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: Google lookup disabled" 2\n);
}

if ($www411 > '0') {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: checking www411 for name lookup" 2\n);
		if ($name = &www411_lookup ($npa, $nxx, $station)) {
				$cidname = $name;
				print qq(SET VARIABLE CALLERID\(name\) "$cidname"\n);
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: www411 said name was $cidname " 2\n);
				exit(0);
			} else {
				print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: unable to find name with www411" 2\n);
		}
	} else {
		print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: www411 lookup disabled" 2\n);
}

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# return results and exit
#----------------------------------------------------------------

print qq(SET VARIABLE CALLERID\(name\) "$cidnum"\n);
print qq(VERBOSE "STATUS: Unknown name for $cidnum " 2\n);
exit(0);

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# parse anywho
# http://whitepages.anywho.com/results.php?qnpa=$npa&qnpanxx=$npa$nxx&qnxx=$nxx&qp=$nxx$station&qstation=$station
# Find More Information for First Last</a>
#----------------------------------------------------------------

sub anywho_lookup {
	my ($npa, $nxx, $station) = @_;
	my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new( timeout => 45);
	my $URL = 'http://whitepages.anywho.com/results.php';
	$URL .= qq(?qnpa=$npa&qnpanxx=$npa$nxx&qnxx=$nxx&qp=$nxx$station&qstation=$station);
	$ua->agent('AsteriskAGIQuery/1');
	my $req = new HTTP::Request GET => $URL;
	my $res = $ua->request($req);
	if ($res->is_success()) {
		if ($res->content =~ /Find More Information for (.*)<\/a>/) {
			my $clidname = $1;
			return $clidname;
		}
	}
	return "";
}

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# parse google
# http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=phonebook:$npa$nxx$station
# <td>First Name<td>(<b>$npa
#----------------------------------------------------------------

sub google_lookup {
	my ($npa, $nxx, $station) = @_;
	my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new( timeout => 45);
	my $URL = qq(http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=phonebook:$npa$nxx$station&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8);
	$ua->agent('AsteriskAGIQuery/1');
	my $req = new HTTP::Request GET => $URL;
	my $res = $ua->request($req);
	if ($res->is_success()) {
		if ($res->content =~ /<td>(.+)<td>\(<b>$npa/) {
			my $clidname = $1;
			return $clidname;
		}
	}
	return "";
}

#----------------------------------------------------------------
# parse 411
# http://www.411.com/search/Reverse_Phone?phone=$npa$nxx$station
# View map, driving directions, and more">Name</a>
#----------------------------------------------------------------

sub www411_lookup {
	my ($npa, $nxx, $station) = @_;
	my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new( timeout => 45);
	my $URL = qq(http://www.411.com/search/Reverse_Phone?phone=$npa$nxx$station);
	$ua->agent('AsteriskAGIQuery/1');
	my $req = new HTTP::Request GET => $URL;
	my $res = $ua->request($req);
	if ($res->is_success()) {
		if ($res->content =~ /View map, driving directions, and more\">(.*)<\/a>/) {
			my $clidname = $1;
			if ($clidname eq "Listing Detail") {
				if ($res->content =~ /Type: <strong>(.*)<\/strong>/) {
					$clidname = $1;
					if ($res->content =~ /Location: <strong>(.*)<\/strong>/) {
						$clidname = $clidname . " $1";
					}
				}
			}
			return $clidname;
		}
	}
	return "";
}

This perl script will work well as an AGI script — checking AnyWho, Google, and then 411 for a caller’s name or location. If all else fails, the callerid name is set as the callerid number.

The perl script was designed to only use the Internet with minimal installation; so it will work without a database, Perl Asterisk module, or locally hosted NPA / NXX (phone number to region) file.

Team Forrest recommends using a subroutine context to get the callerid when needed; calling the script with either a GoSub or GosubIf command, such as:

exten => s,n,Gosub(cidname-lookup,s,1)
exten => s,n,dial(${PHONE},30,t)
...

...
[cidname-lookup]
exten => s,1,NoOp(looking up callerid name)
exten => s,n,GotoIf($["foo${CALLERID(NAME)}" = "foo" ]?getname)
exten => s,n,GotoIf($["${CALLERID(NAME)}" = "${CALLERID(NUM)}" ]?getname)
exten => s,n,NoOp(caller id name exists as ${CALLERID(NAME)})
exten => s,n,Return
exten => s,n(getname),AGI(calleridname.pl,${CALLERID(NUM)})
exten => s,n,NoOp(Caller ID Name is now ${CALLERID(NAME)})
exten => s,n,Return

Enjoy the file (download here) and remember, Team Forrest is here to assist you will all of your Asterisk, VoIP, or technical needs.

VoIP Tech Chat posted an opinion piece regarding Level 3′s handling of the outage. And, as with most opinion pieces from VoIP Tech Chat, we like to pass it on.

Enjoy.

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