Summary
This document will walk you through configuring various PBX software to successfully place outbound calls using FIVE.
If your PBX is not listed, these instructions should still serve as a useful guide. Please contact us if you have any questions while setting up your PBX.
Applies to
This document applies to Business Gateway and Wholesale Gateway.
Configuring Your FIVE Gateway
We show you how to configure your PBX and FIVE to allow outbound calls from your PBX through FIVE, to the public telephone network. You'll start by creating a free account on FIVE. Then we'll show you how to configure a FIVE gateway (we'll use the free Evaluation Gateway as an example, but the instructions are the same for any Wholesale or Business gateway). Finally, we'll show you common PBX configuration settings that you can use to get up and running.
Step 1
If you don't already have an account on VoicePulse FIVE, head over to https://five.voicepulse.com and register for a free one. All you need is an email address, and you won't be asked to enter any payment information until you decide to upgrade to a non-evaluation account. You can complete this entire HowTo (including making real phone calls to US destinations) using a free evaluation account.
After registering, check your email for a confirmation message. Click the confirmation link in the email, and log back into the FIVE portal at https://five.voicepulse.com.
Once you log back into the FIVE portal, you'll be greeted by a screen like this:
At the top left, you'll see the Org Menu. This is a drop-down menu from which you can select which of your organizations you're currently working with. In our case, we only have one organization, the default "Evaluation Org", and it has been pre-selected for us.
The Gateway Menu is where you select which gateway (within the organization that's currently selected) you're working on.
Finally, the Action Menu is where you select an action to perform. We're currently viewing the Gateway Details for our "Evaluation Gateway".
If you do not have an Evaluation Gateway or would like to create and additional Gateway, click on the Gateway drop-down menu and select "Create Gateway", this will bring you to the gateway creation page. On this page enter a friendly name for your new Gateway and a unique name for your host name. Host names are required to be alphanumeric, between 4 to 30 characters in length, and begin with a letter.
In the service drop-down select either "Business Gateway" or "Wholesale Gateway", then click "Create". Your new Gateway should now show under the Gateway drop-down menu at the top of your screen.
Note the "Host Name" for your gateway. You'll use this later, when configuring your PBX.
Step 2 - Trunk Configuration
If you're using the Evaluation Gateway that was automatically created for you, your trunk will already be configured properly to allow outbound calls and you can skip this step. Otherwise, follow along to create or configure a trunk.
From the Action Menu, select "Trunks". If the option is grayed out, go back and make sure you've selected an Org and Gateway as in Step 1 above.
Here is a snapshot of the Trunks page:
If you don't see any trunks, click the "Add Trunk" button to create one.
Click "Details" next to the trunk, and use the "Edit" option to ensure that "Allow Outbound" is checked, and there is at least one channel on the trunk. The number of channels on a trunk controls the maximum number of simultaneous calls allowed. Note that additional charges may apply based on the number of channels configured on a trunk (see the pricing page details).
Step 3 - Create an Endpoint
Choose "Endpoints" from the Action Menu, and then click "Add Endpoint" to create a new one. Give your new endpoint a friendly name, and then choose "IP Authentication" and enter your PBX server's public IP address. (We're using IP Authentication here because it's quick and easy to set up, however you also have the option to create credentials here to use username/password authentication if you would prefer to do so.)
Step 4 - Configure Your PBX
Now that you've configured a trunk on a gateway in FIVE, all that remains is to configure your PBX to send outbound calls. We assume you are familiar enough with your PBX to have configured an IP phone (or softphone) to connect to it.
Note that, ideally, you should send outgoing calls to FIVE with the number in E.164 format. In short, this means it should begin with a '+' character, then the country code (for US and NANPA numbers, this is the leading '1'), then the number.
If FIVE receives a call that is not in E.164 format (without a leading '+'), it will be handled as follows: Any 10-digit number will be prefixed with a '1' and handled as a US / NANPA call. Any 11-digit number with a leading '1' will be handled as a US / NANPA call. Any number prefixed with '011' will be treated as an international (non-NANPA) call. Any number less than 10 digits (except 911), or greater than 11 digits but not starting with '011', will be rejected as invalid.
Calls to 911 should be sent as "911" and not "+911" or "+1911" or any other format.
E.164 Format Examples: To call VoicePulse Support, you would send "+17323395100" to FIVE. To call a number in the UK, you would send (for example) "+447700900123" to FIVE. When using a leading '+' you MUST include the '1' prefix for US and NANPA calls, and must NOT include a leading '011' on international calls. This means "+7323395100" is invalid (or more accurately, will be treated as a call to Kazakhstan, which has country code 7). A call to "+011447700900123" is also invalid, as there is no country code beginning with 0. The only exception is a call to 911 should be sent as simply "911" with no plus or other prefix.
Non-E.164 Format Examples: To call VoicePulse Support, you would send "7323395100" or "17323395100" to FIVE. To call a number in the UK, you would send "011447700900123" to FIVE, but would NOT send "447700900123" (you must include either a leading '+' or a leading '011' for non-US / NANPA numbers).
PBX-Specific Setup Instructions
We currently only have instructions written for Asterisk, but will be adding more here soon. Please contact us if you have any questions while setting up your PBX.
Asterisk
The gateway "Host name" from Step 1 (above) is the host name portion of the FQDN to where you'll be configuring Asterisk to send calls. In our example, the host name was "kalanadv". The FQDN is:
hostname.proxy.voicepulse.com
So for our example, the FQDN is: kalanadv.proxy.voicepulse.com
Edit Asterisk's extensions.conf file and add a dial statement to the appropriate outbound context as follows:
exten => _1NXXNXXXXXX,1,Dial(SIP/${EXTEN}@<hostname>.proxy.voicepulse.com)
You're now ready to test outbound calls to US destinations. For international calling, modify the Asterisk match pattern to: `_011X.` and dial accordingly.
Additional Information
Here is a sample INVITE (captured using Wireshark on our test Asterisk host) that you can use as a reference (in this example, 54.165.121.30 is the IP address of our test Asterisk host):
Session Initiation Protocol (INVITE)
Request-Line: INVITE sip:18005551212@kalanadv.proxy.voicepulse.com SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP 54.165.121.30:5060;branch=z9hG4bK10f98d0a
Max-Forwards: 70
From: "2124007420" <sip:2124007420@54.165.121.30>;tag=as26e0672c
To: <sip:18005551212@kalanadv.proxy.voicepulse.com>
Contact: <sip:2124007420@54.165.121.30:5060>
Call-ID: 646e075747b0ea1570c249d848e3ba69@54.165.121.30:5060
CSeq: 102 INVITE
User-Agent: Asterisk PBX 11.6-cert4
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 05:04:16 GMT
Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, OPTIONS, BYE, REFER, SUBSCRIBE, NOTIFY, INFO, PUBLISH
Supported: replaces, timer
P-Asserted-Identity: "customer" <sip:+12124007420@54.165.121.30>
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 315