Self-provisioning of programmable phone keys by customers
You can now allow your cloud PBX customers to configure phone keys for specific functions – such as monitoring extensions (BLF), call parking, or speed dialing – and apply this configuration to multiple IP phones via a self-care portal. This feature eliminates the need to contact the service provider or manually configure each phone through its web interface.
It is available in the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal (accessible via the Add-on Mart), or you can implement it in your own portal using the PortaBilling API.
Say Owl Telecom, a service provider, offers cloud PBX service and uses auto-provisioning for Yealink T58W IP phones. ABC Company, a customer of Owl Telecom, has two departments – Sales and Customer service – and wants to configure programmable phone keys as follows:
- For Customer service agents: set up quick access to Call pickup and Call parking.
- For Sales managers: set up BLF for extensions of pre-sales engineers, Speed dial to the Billing department, and quick access to Call pickup.
Adam, the cloud PBX admin at ABC Company, logs into the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal and creates two device profiles: “Sales” and “Customer service”. Within each profile, he assigns the necessary functions (such as BLF, Speed dial, and Call pickup) to specific phone keys. The portal displays the visual layout of the phone model, helping Adam map functions to the keys based on the phone’s actual interface.
When a new employee joins the Sales department, Adam follows these steps:
- Creates an extension for the employee and adds it to the “Sales department” ring group
- Finds the employee’s IP phone in the portal by its MAC address and links the “Sales” device profile to the phone
- Assigns the IP phone to the new extension
Once the phone is connected to the internet and accesses the pre-programmed provisioning server URL, the general and programmable key settings are automatically provisioned. As a result, the employee’s phone is ready to use with the BLF, Speed dial, and Call pickup keys visible on the touchscreen.
- Cloud PBX customers can easily maintain consistent phone setups across the company and speed up employee onboarding.
- Service providers can offer a more competitive cloud PBX service.
- Currently, self-provisioning of programmable phone keys is available only for Yealink T58W (to enable auto-provisioning for this phone model, you need to subscribe to the corresponding Add-on Mart module). Contact our Sales team if you need this feature for other phone models.
- The available functions for phone keys are limited by the phone model and the PortaBilling API, which supports only the most common functions:
- BLF
- Call Park
- Call Pickup
- Conference
- DND
- Forward
- Hold
- Intercom
- Speed Dial
- Transfer
- Voice Mail
- Line
Learn how it works here.
Self-provisioning of corporate phone books by customers
With this release, you can allow your cloud PBX customers to provision corporate phone books on multiple IP phones via a self-care portal, making the necessary contacts easily accessible to employees. Customers can provision two types of corporate phone books (“phone directories”):
- Auto-generated directory – automatically created and updated phone book based on existing extensions in the cloud PBX, requiring no manual input from cloud PBX admins.
- Custom directory – a manually created corporate phone book, where any relevant numbers can be included, such as contacts of suppliers or VIP clients. Contacts can be added individually or uploaded via a .csv file.
This feature is available in the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal (accessible via the Add-on Mart), or you can implement it in your own portal using the PortaBilling API.
Say Owl Telecom, a service provider, offers cloud PBX service and uses auto-provisioning for Yealink T58W IP phones. ABC Company, a customer of Owl Telecom, has two departments – Sales and Customer service – and wants to set up corporate phone books for their employees’ IP phones:
- For Sales managers: A phone book with colleagues’ extensions.
- For Customer service agents: Two phone books – one with the extensions of all colleagues and another with contacts of suppliers.
Adam, the cloud PBX admin at ABC Company, logs into the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal and creates two device phone books: “All extensions” (auto-generated) and “Customer service contacts,” where he uploads a .csv file containing external contacts (first name, last name, mobile number, other number).
Next, Adam links the phone books to the device profiles “Sales” and “Customer service”, which include custom settings for auto-provisioning:
- For the “Sales” profile, he enables the “All extensions” phone book.
- For the “Customer service” profile, he enables both “All extensions” and “Customer service contacts” phone books.
When an IP phone with the corresponding device profile is assigned to an extension, the IP phone connected to the internet automatically downloads the phone books from the remote server. As a result, employees can easily find and call the necessary contacts from their phone’s web interface. Customer service agents can switch between their two phone books.
- Cloud PBX customers can easily maintain corporate phone books across their employees’ IP phones.
- Service providers can offer a more competitive cloud PBX service.
- Currently, self-provisioning of phone books is available only for Yealink T58W. To enable the auto-provisioning of phone books for this model, subscribe to the Yealink T58W module and the free Yealink directory module via the Add-on Mart management portal. Contact our Sales team if you need this feature for other phone models.
- The maximum number of phone books and records per phone book depends on the phone model (e.g., Yealink T58W supports up to 5 phone books, each containing up to 5000 records).
Learn how it works here.
Seamless switching between devices during a call (Call pull)
With this release, an end user can seamlessly switch from one softphone to another during the call. Previously, switching to a different VoIP application required parking the call and retrieving it on another softphone, leaving the other party waiting. This disrupted the conversation and increased the risk of the other party hanging up before the call resumed. Now, users can quickly switch between VoIP applications registered to their account and continue the conversation without interruption.
Users can have uninterrupted conversations while using multiple devices.
To access this feature, the user’s softphone must support:
- BLF functionality
- Sending the INVITE request with the Replaces header
- End users can switch devices only once the call is established.
- The solutions implemented via the Call Control API will gain access to this feature in the next release, along with call pull functionality via programmable softkeys of IP phones.
- If the same account has several ongoing calls and the user wants to switch all of them to another device, the user should click “pull call” for each ongoing call.
Mobile account self-care app
Mobile operators can now save costs and efforts by offering their subscribers a ready-to-use mobile app instead of developing their own app or portal.
This new app enables mobile subscribers to stay in control of their services without the need to send a USSD code, contact customer support, or visit a web portal. In the app, subscribers can track service usage, activate new prepaid or postpaid bundles, purchase individual service top-ups (e.g., 10GB of data), and top up their account balance using a credit card or scratch cards (vouchers).
To offer this mobile app to your customers, subscribe to the corresponding Add-on Mart module. The mobile app can be fully branded with a custom name, and logo, and is ready for publishing on Google Play under your account.
Currently, the app is available for users on Android; an iOS version will be added in the future.
The app offers mobile subscribers the following functionality:
- Secure Access – log in with two-factor authentication (2FA).
- Service Management – check remaining service units in their bundle and activate new bundles.
- Top-ups of Active Bundles – purchase individual service top-ups (e.g., minutes) using the account balance or a credit card.
- Balance Top-ups – add funds using a credit card or scratch cards (vouchers).
- Transaction History – view account transactions, such as top-ups, pay-as-you-go charges, bundle renewals, and more.
SuperTelecom, an MVNO, configures the mobile app and notifies their users via SMS. John Doe receives an invite message with the credentials and a link to the Google Play market. He downloads the app from Google Play and logs in using the provided credentials. Upon logging in, John can view his balance and see that he is currently subscribed to the “Data & Talk Pack” bundle, with 20 out of 100 minutes and 2 GB out of 20 GB available. He can also subscribe to the new “Surf Plan” bundle with a single tap.
- Mobile subscribers can effortlessly manage their services anytime.
- Service providers save money and staff resources by enabling mobile subscribers to manage their accounts independently.
Early renewals of prepaid bundles
With this release, you can enable mobile users to manually renew their prepaid bundles once they are low on or have used up the allocated services, without waiting for the new bundle lifecycle to begin. In PortaBilling, these are the bundles of the “Balance-dependent renewable” type.
Early renewal is available if there are sufficient funds and within a specified (configurable) period before the end of a bundle lifecycle, such as five days. Admins or resellers can renew bundles via the PortaBilling web UI. For customers, you can integrate this functionality into the self-care portals, built in-house or by a third party, using the PortaBilling API.
Service provider offers a bundle that:
- Includes 100 minutes of domestic voice calls, 10 GB of wireless data, and 50 domestic SMS
- Is priced at 19 EUR
- Has a 30-day lifecycle
- Can be manually renewed (a new lifecycle starts)
- Allows manual renewal not earlier than 7 days before the end of the cycle
- Allows rollover of unused service volumes to the next cycle
On November 1st, a customer subscribes to this plan. On November 25th, they still have 100 minutes and 50 SMS messages available but have used up all their data. To continue using the mobile internet service, the customer renews the bundle early, before its expiration. Since the customer has enough funds, the bundle is renewed: 19 EUR is deducted from their balance and they receive another 100 minutes, 10 GB, and 50 SMS.
Since the rollover is enabled, the customer gets 200 minutes (with 100 rolled over), 10 GB, and 100 SMS (with 50 rolled over) for the next 30 days, till December 24th. The next early renewal is possible starting from December 18th (seven days before the end of the bundle cycle).
- Service providers improve their cash flow.
- Users enjoy seamless access to services anytime.
See the configuration details here.
Upload and download origin-based rate decks
You can now manage origin-based rates by uploading and downloading rate decks from/to a file (.xlsx or .xls), just like standard rates.
Suppose a service provider, Owl Telecom, starts working with a new vendor, GlobalNet, that charges a base price per destination and applies surcharges if a call originates from a specific country. GlobalNet sends Owl Telecom an Excel file that includes the following sheets:
- Basic rates per destination code group, e.g., $0.05 per minute for calls to Turkey-Mobile Turkcell.
- Destination code groups with the corresponding phone prefixes, e.g., a code group “Turkey-Mobile Turkcell” includes prefixes like 90530, 90531, etc.
- Origin-based surcharges per origination code group (applied when a call is made to a specific destination from a specific origin number), e.g., a $0.02 per-minute surcharge for calls to Turkey-Mobile Turkcell from the EU and a $0.04 per-minute surcharge for calls from outside Turkey and the EU.
- Origination code groups with the corresponding phone prefixes, e.g., a code group “EU” includes prefixes 31, 32, etc., and a code group “Outside Turkey and the EU” includes prefixes of all other countries.
Adam, an admin at Owl Telecom, sets up a vendor tariff and uploads the received file. The system automatically parses the sheets from the uploaded file and displays them on separate tabs. Adam manually marks the first two sheets as representing “basic rates or groups” (used for destination-based pricing) and the next two sheets as representing “extra rates or groups” (used to apply origin-based surcharges).
Since this is the first time a file in this format is being uploaded, Adam manually matches the columns on each sheet with the corresponding rate parameters, such as codes, rate code group, price, etc. The Origin-based surcharges sheet includes both the “Basic rate code group” and “Extra rate code group” parameters to link surcharges to the destination code groups.
The admin reviews the rates, and clicks “Upload.” As a result, the rate code groups are uploaded, and rates are seamlessly added to the vendor tariff.
Since Owl Telecom wants to use origin-based charging for their customers (large enterprises and call centers with end users in various countries), Adam configures the customer tariff and uploads rates in a similar way. When a customer requests a price list, the admin opens the customer tariff, downloads the rates into a file, and sends it to the customer.
This enhancement streamlines the management of tariffs with origin-based rates.
See the configuration details here.
Time-limited subscription discounts
Starting with this release, when a service provider needs to adjust a subscription fee for a specific customer – such as offering a 20% discount for the next three months – an admin can now schedule the start and end dates for the discounts. This automates the application of time-limited discounts.
Admins can set up time-limited fee adjustments (discounts or upcharges) for already assigned subscriptions for one or more periods in either of the following ways:
- For specific periods, by specifying the start and end date for each period (e.g., from February 18 to May 18). The last period can be without an end date.
- For a set number of billing periods (e.g., 3 months).
Owl Telecom, a service provider, rents Wi-Fi routers to customers for a monthly subscription. To secure a long-term contract with ABC Company, they agree on the following pricing structure:
- First month (February 25 – March 24) – rent is free.
- Next three months (March 25 – June 24) – 30% discount while ABC company launches the service.
- Subsequent months – 10% discount with no fixed end date.
This feature simplifies subscription management, reducing the risk of costly human errors.
- Time-limited fee adjustments work the same way, whether the subscription fee is prorated or not. For example, if an admin applies a 10% discount to a non-prorated monthly fee of $30 for the period from April 1 to April 7, the discount will apply to the daily fee ($30 / 30 days) for each of those seven days.
- In addition to individual discounts, a customer may also receive discounts within a multi-month prepaid plan. If the discount periods overlap, the individual discount will only apply once the customer switches to monthly billing. For example, if a customer has a 5-month prepaid plan (February – June) with a 10% discount, an additional individual discount of 25% for 6 billing periods, and the customer switches to monthly billing in July, the 25% discount will only apply in the sixth month (July).
Extending discount periods for assigned commitments via the API
Service providers can now extend discount periods, including sales discounts, for already assigned commitments via the API. This helps prevent a sudden increase in charged amounts in the invoice and improves customer retention. This enhancement may be particularly useful for service providers who manage commitments externally, e.g., from the CRM system.
To support this, the Account/update_assigned_commitment_record method has been updated, allowing admins to extend the end date of a commitment’s discount period as well as the start/end dates for sales discounts.
This enhancement provides service providers greater flexibility in managing commitments and retaining customers.
Global settings for voice applications
Admins can now configure global settings for voice applications through the new Global voice application settings panel. This panel allows them to manage options for IVRs, personal voicemail boxes, and voicemails/auto-attendants, such as:
- Initial pause – sets a wait time before the prompt starts playing for IVRs, preventing the first words from being cut off due to network delays or the caller adjusting their phone
- No Trash Folder in IVR – enables the permanent removal of messages deleted via IVR for personal voice mailboxes
- Minimum duration – specifies a minimum duration for voicemail messages in voicemail services and auto attendants. Messages shorter than the set duration are automatically discarded.
The configured settings apply system-wide to all voice applications of the corresponding type.
Note that options configured at the application level override the same options set at the global level. For example, if a user accesses their mailbox using the designated access number for a specific voice mailbox application (e.g., *98), the specific application’s configuration applies. However, if the user dials their own extension to reach their mailbox, the global configuration applies.
Say a service provider has many customers who manage voicemails solely via IVR. These customers complain that even after deleting messages, their voicemail boxes remain full, preventing new messages from being left. The admin discovers that deleted messages are moved to a Trash folder, taking up space. To resolve this, they navigate to Voice calls processing > Global voice application settings > Personal voice mailboxes and enable the new No Trash Folder in IVR option. This is automatically applied to all voicemail application instances in the system, ensuring that messages deleted via IVR are permanently removed for every customer.
This enhancement provides admins greater flexibility in managing voice applications.
More intuitive log submission to PortaOne Support
When admins submit a ticket to PortaOne support, they can send the log of the discussed call or internet session directly from PortaBilling. With this release, this process becomes more intuitive. An admin opens the Log viewer page, clicks the Send to support button, enters the trouble ticket number, and clicks Send. Here is what has changed:
- The name of the Send to support button now clearly indicates its purpose.
- A reminder has been added to the sequence of actions: before sending the log, you should create a ticket to PortaOne support.
- A tooltip has been added that explains how to obtain the trouble ticket number needed for sending the logs.
Admins now have a more streamlined and guided process for submitting session logs to PortaOne support.
Starting with this release, admins can quickly check why a call recording is unavailable using the new tooltip. Now, when a customer complains to the service provider about a missing call recording, admins can locate the specific call, open the Session details dialog window, and simply hover over the Info 
to see the reason. The possible reasons are:
- The call recording was off at the time of the call
- The recording is still being processed
- The codec used during the call is not supported by call recording
This enhancement helps admins to save time when troubleshooting missing recordings.
