Unable to make incoming calls/outgoing calls in ERP

This documentation is a guide to solving the issue of not being able to make incoming calls by call operators, managers, and supervisors.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/openerp/server/openerp/http.py", line 407, in dispatch
    result = self._call_function(**self.params)
  File "/opt/openerp/server/openerp/http.py", line 246, in _call_function
    return checked_call(self.db, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/opt/openerp/server/openerp/service/model.py", line 114, in wrapper
    return f(dbname, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/opt/openerp/server/openerp/http.py", line 243, in checked_call
    return self.func(*a, **kw)
  File "/opt/openerp/server/openerp/http.py", line 562, in __call__
    return self.method(*args, **kw)
  File "/opt/openerp/web/addons/web/controllers/main.py", line 1233, in call_kw
    return self._call_kw(model, method, args, kwargs)
  File "/opt/openerp/web/addons/web/controllers/main.py", line 1225, in _call_kw
    return getattr(request.registry.get(model), method)(request.cr, request.uid, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/opt/openerp/addons/bboxx_common/orm.py", line 64, in default_get
    defaults[f] = self._defaults[f](self, cr, uid, context)
  File "/opt/openerp/addons/bboxx_cscc/wizard/incoming.py", line 286, in <lambda>
    'q1': lambda self, cr, uid, ctx=None: self.default_get_q1(cr, uid, context=None),
  File "/opt/openerp/addons/bboxx_cscc/wizard/incoming.py", line 97, in default_get_q1
    value_final = value.replace('[name]', str(name))
UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character u'\xe9' in position 8: ordinal not in range(128)

This is the error message that sometimes shows up when someone tries to perform a given action and fails for instance when one wants to access incoming calls, and outgoing calls and fails.

If this is raised you need to do a proper investigation so as to find the root cause of this.

More about the issue

Possible investigations

Check if the assigned roles are correct
Access the user account to verify and see whether you get the same error
Check of the user’s profile is created
Check if the main role is synced in ERP and also if all the required access to modules is granted.
Check if the call operator/supervisor is in the agent group configured to make certain calls

Note: After checking everything you need to check if the user’s email is well-created with no special characters.

Example: s.télé@bboxx.co.uk

This contains special characters and this can lead to the inability of syncing in ERP hence making the user not able to do some activities.

How to solve the issue

Need to rename, or delete the account from AD/UMP
Create a new account with no special characters
Add all required accesses and log in with the new account
Try accessing again incoming calls in ERP to see if the error persists.

Conclusion: You can see that the error is no longer appearing. If you encounter an issue like this even when performing other actions and the user’s email has special characters. You will need to follow the above procedures and make a change to the account so as to be able to proceed.