SIP trunking for on-premise PBXs capable of digest authentication

This chapter demonstrates how to set up SIP trunking for PBX capable of digest authentication so that:

• A call to one of the DIDs that the customer has purchased is processed by PortaSwitch and routed to the customer’s external PBX.
• Outgoing calls from the customer’s PBX are processed and routed by PortaSwitch to carriers.

Please refer to the Cloud PBX (hosted PBX) solution section for information on how to activate and use the PBX / hosted PBX features available in PortaSwitch.

Use this checklist to check off the operations you have completed while performing the system setup according to the instructions in this chapter. Please be sure to perform all of the operations in the order designated (all of the boxes should be checked), otherwise, the service will not work.

If you have just installed the PortaBilling software or dedicated a new billing environment to configure the services described in this handbook, make sure to first perform the initial configuration of PortaBilling and configure incoming calls from PSTN. To do this, use the PortaBilling initial configuration and Incoming calls from DID provider (manual configuration) handbooks.

You should create two separate tariffs for your PBX customer. These tariffs will be used for charging outgoing and incoming calls.

Follow these steps to create customer tariffs:

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Tariffs.
2. Click + Tariff and fill in the tariff details:
   • Name – type a short name for the tariff object; this is the name you will see in the select menus.
   • Currency – this indicates the currency in which you charge your customers.
     The currency for the tariff is chosen only once, and cannot be changed later.
   • Service –  select Voice calls.
   • Applied to – select Customer as this tariff will be used to charge your customers.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only here, since we are setting up a service without the involvement of resellers.
   • Define prices  – select Per individual rate code.

     

3. Click Save.

You should specify the rates for the two separate tariffs created in the previous section:

• Rates for the first tariff (referred to as tariff B in the checklist) should cover the destinations that your customers can call. They are used to calculate the charges for outgoing calls from the customer’s PBX.
• Rates for the second tariff (referred to as tariff C in the checklist) should cover the DIDs that the customer has purchased.

If you charge the same rate for forwarded calls as you do for outgoing calls and do not charge for calls made on your own network (a very typical case), you may use tariff B for both outgoing and forwarded calls.

 Rates can be managed online and offline. Use the section below to add rates to all tariffs.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Tariffs.
2. Click the customer tariff name, which is also a link that redirects you to the edit tariff panel.
3. On the customer tariff’s panel, click Rates.
4. Click + Rate and fill in the rate details:
   • Rate code – select a rate code from the list or type it directly, e.g., 420 for Czech Republic destination.
     You must create an entry for certain phone prefixes in the Rate code register before creating a rate for them in the tariff.
   • Rating mode – select the Flat rate option here. If you want to enter different rates for the peak and off-peak periods, select the Separate peak/off-peak rate option.
   • Effective from –  if you want this rate to take effect sometime in the future, you can either type in a date manually, or use the calendar (click on the DD-MM-YYYY link).
     When using the calendar, you can specify that the date you are entering is in a different time zone than your present one. PortaBilling will then automatically adjust the time.
   • First interval, seconds – type a first billing unit in seconds.
   • Next interval, seconds – type the next billing unit in seconds.
   • First price –  type a per minute price for the first interval.
   • Next price – type a per minute price for the next interval.

     

5. Click Save.
6. Repeat these steps to enter more rates.

You also can upload rates from a file in .csv, .xls or .xlsx format – please consult the Rate import handbook for more details.

Repeat the Create tariff and Enter rates steps to create tariffs that can be used for charging customers for incoming calls.

Create a SIP trunking product.

1. On the navigation menu, select Service catalog and click Products.
2. On the Product list panel, click + Add and fill in the product details:
   • Name – type an internal product name that will be shown on the administrator interface.
   • Name visible to end users – type a name of the product that will be shown to end users on their self-care interfaces.
   • Product type –  select Main product here.
   • Currency – choose a currency the product will be priced in.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only here, since we are setting up a service without the involvement of resellers.
   • Account default ACL – choose an Access Control List (ACL) for accounts with this product assigned. ACLs control which objects end users can access to and which actions they can perform.
   • Account role – select Phone line since this product is intended for making and receiving calls.

     

3. Click Save.

Define which service types are included in the product. A service type is a description of the physical service provided to end users.

To add a service type:

1. On your product’s panel, click Services.
2. On the Services panel, click Add a service.
3. In the Select services to add dialog box, select Voice calls and click Add.

Please refer to the Basic residential VoIP service handbook for a detailed description of the product creation process.

1. On your product’s panel, click Charges, then click Usage charges.
2. On the Usage charges panel, click Add.
3. Fill in the required information:
   • Service – select Voice calls.
   • Node – select the PortaSIP node.
   • Access code – leave this field empty for the basic SIP service.
   • Tariff – choose the tariff that will be used to calculate the charges for outgoing calls.
   • Overdraft protection – to configure overdraft protection for this product, consult the Configure overdraft protection section within the product section in the Overdraft protection configuration handbook.
4. Click Save.
5. On the Usage charges panel, click Add to add the second rating entry.
6. Fill in the required information:
   • Service – select Voice calls.
   • Node – select the PortaSIP node.
   • Access code – type INCOMING in this field.
   • Tariff – choose the tariff that will be used to calculate the charges for incoming calls.
   • Overdraft protection – to configure overdraft protection for this product, consult the Configure overdraft protection section within the product section in the Overdraft protection configuration handbook.
7. Click Save.

Customer class provides the ability to define a business model and a group of parameters in a centralized way, and then apply those parameters to many customers at once.

1. On the navigation menu, select Sales, then select Customer classes.
2. On the Customer class list panel, click + Add and fill in the customer class details:
   • Name – type a short name for this customer class.
   • Business model –  select which customers this customer class will apply. Select SIP trunking from the list.
   • Currency – specify in which currency you charge the customers of this customer class. When specified, this customer class can only be assigned to customers with the same currency. Note that you can define the currency only when you create the customer class and can't change it later.
   • Managed by – select Administrator only.

     

3. Click Save.

Refer to the Create a customer class section of the Basic residential VoIP service handbook and complete the customer class creation.

1. On the navigation menu, select Sales, then select Customers.
2. Click + Customer and fill in the customer details in the General tab:
   • Balance control – specify the way the customer will pay for the service: Postpaid – after consuming the services; Prepaid – prior to consuming the services. Select Postpaid in this field.
   • Name – type a short name for the customer object; this will be used on the web interface.
   • Currency – choose the currency in which this customer will be billed.
   • Credit limit – assign a credit limit for the customer.
   • Business model ­ – a business model defines what type of service is to be provided to the customer. Select SIP trunking for this customer.
   • Customer class – customer class allows you to define a policy for automated payment collection. By choosing a specific class here the customer will automatically inherit all of the class properties (grace period, invoice template, etc.). Select the previously created customer class.
   • Billing period – choose a billing period for the customer. A billing period defines the frequency of invoicing for this customer.
   • Billing period time zone – choose a time zone in which customer’s billing period will be closed and invoices will be generated.

     

3. Click Save.

Define the customer’s personal information (such as name, email address, and etc.).

On your customer’s panel, go to General info. In the Basic info tab, fill in the customer’s personal information and an email address for the receipt of accounting information. After the billing period is over, a list of xDRs and other statistics will be sent to this address.

Define credentials and preferred settings (such as language, time zone, date input and output formats) for this customer’s self-care interface.

On your customer’s panel, go to General info. In the Web self-care tab, define credentials for the customer self-care interface (such as login, password, time zone) and other preferred settings.

On your customer’s panel, go to Finances. In the Credit limit tab, define the Warning threshold parameter. The customer can be notified by email when his balance is dangerously close to the credit limit and service will soon be blocked. The threshold can be specified:

• As a percentage (e.g., 90%). The warning will be sent when the customer’s balance exceeds that percentage of his credit limit. So, if the credit limit is USD 1000.00 and the threshold is 90%, a warning will be sent as soon as the balance exceeds USD 900.00. This is only applicable when the customer has a positive credit limit.
• As an absolute value. The warning will be sent as soon as the balance goes above the specified value.

Define whether to send this customer their statistics and invoices by email.

On your customer’s panel, go to Finances. In the Financial info tab, set the Send the generated .csv files via email option to Summary only. This delivers a call summary only and do not attach a details file; this could be useful in the case of a large number of calls. Other options are Full Statistics (attach a complete list of xDRs) or Do not send (this option prevents the delivery of event statistics to this customer via email).

On your customer’s panel, go to Service configuration in Voice calls section.

The Service configuration panel provides an access to a group of tabs where you can activate/deactivate various features of the voice calls service provided to the customer.

This is a convenient way for managing parameters which are the same for a whole set of accounts. Instead of trying to configure them for each individual account, you can define them once at the customer level, then specify in the account configuration that the value in the customer’s configuration be used. Should you wish to change this value later, you need only modify it once for the change to be automatically propagated to all accounts.

Please consult the PortaBilling help for a description of parameters available here. For now, you may leave these with their default values. If you change them later, these changes will automatically affect all accounts created under this customer.

Please refer to the Create accounts section of the Basic residential VoIP service handbook for the general steps of account creation. The steps below help you configure accounts depending on the PBX features and preferences.

If the PBX is capable of digest authentication, create its main phone line as an account with the following options:

1. On your customer’s panel, click Accounts / DIDs.
2. Click + Account and fill in the account information.
   • General tab:
     • Type – select Credit in this field.
     • Account role – select Phone line.
     • ID – Click the button to select a DID number from the available DID numbers list:
       • When the Define the search filters sidesheet opens, specify whether to search through DIDs available in DID pool or among the DIDs assigned to this customer. Also, you can specify the geographical location and DID number pattern (e.g., specify 120 to search for DIDs with the prefix 120). Click the Next button.
       • On the Choose number panel that opens, you will see a list of available DID numbers that match your search query and the charges associated with them. The charges for DIDs from the DID pool are pre-populated from the customer’s pricing batch. Select a DID number and click the Assign button.

         

     • Service password – specify a service password for this account.
     • Balance control – define the way the balance of the account is controlled. Subordinate – the balance will directly depend on the customer’s balance (only the customer tops up the balance); Individual credit limit – this account may have its own balance and credit limit (the customer credit limit still applies.) Select Subordinate in this field.
     • Activation date – set the date from which the account becomes active. The default value is Immediately.
     • Expiration date – set the date when the account expires. The default value is Never.

       

   • Products tab:
     • Product – choose the main product, which you would like your account to have (make sure it has the Phone line account role defined within).

       

3. Click Save.

On the account’s panel, go to General info. In the Basic info tab, fill in the account owner’s email address in the Email field. If the account owner ever forgets the password for the web self-care pages, they will be able to reset it, and a new password will be sent to this email address.

On the account’s panel, go to General info. In the Web self-care tab, define credentials for the account self-care interface (such as login, password, time zone, etc.).

On the account’s panel, go to General info. In the Auto-provisioning tab, you can assign a device to an account for automatic provisioning. Leave this option disabled for now.

On the account’s panel, go to General info > Additional info tab. In the Life cycle section, you can fill in the account life cycle information :

• Expiration date – this identifies the date when the account expires. Since a postpaid service is set up, which should function for a long time, leave this option disabled.
• Availability period after first usage, days – this defines the number of days the account remains active after its first use or recharge. Leave this field blank.
• Availability period after last usage, days – this defines the number of days the account remains active after its last use or recharge. Leave this field blank.

Using this tab, you can activate/deactivate various features of the services provided to this account. Note that features are defined per service type (the physical service provided to the user such as Conferencing, Data Service, Voice Calls, Messaging etc.)

Click  Help to find the description of parameters available here. For now, you may leave these with their default values.

Note that you can limit the number of simultaneous calls for a specified customer (for more details, see the …limit the number of concurrent calls for a specific customer? chapter in the How To… section).

The configuration of incoming calls depends on whether the PBX can register with its phone lines on a SIP server.

If the PBX is capable of registering on a SIP server, you may want to use the same account that you already created for outgoing calls.

To create a new account, define the following options:

• Type – select Credit in this field.
• Account role – select Phone line.
• ID – SIP ID, i.e., the DID number to be used for receiving incoming calls.
• Service password –  specify a service password for this account.
• Balance control – define the way the balance of the account is controlled. Subordinate – the balance will directly depend on the customer’s balance (only the customer tops up the balance); Individual credit limit – this account may have its own balance and credit limit (the customer credit limit still applies.) Select Subordinate in this field.
• Activation date – set the date from which the account becomes active. The default value is Immediately.
• Expiration date – set the date when the account expires. The default value is Never.
• Product – choose the main product, which you would like your account to have (make sure it has the Phone line account role defined within).

4. Click Save.

If your PBX supports multiple registrations, repeat steps 1-4 and create accounts for every PBX extension.

If you want to dedicate several DIDs to forward incoming calls to the PBX, use one of the ways described below to achieve this.

Create extra accounts (e.g., 12035556218, 18001111112 and 44201224505) and configure forwarding for these accounts so that incoming calls always go to the main PBX account.

1. On your customer’s panel, click Accounts / DIDs.
2. Click + Account and fill in the account information:
   • Type – select Credit in this field.
   • Account role – select Phone line.
   • ID – SIP ID, i.e., the DID number to be used to register with the SIP server and receive calls.
   • Service password – specify a service password for this account.
   • Balance control – define the way the balance of the account is controlled. Subordinate – the balance will directly depend on the customer’s balance (only the customer tops up the balance); Individual credit limit – this account may have its own balance and credit limit (the customer credit limit still applies.) Select Subordinate in this field.
   • Activation date – set the date from which the account becomes active. The default value is Immediately.
   • Expiration date – set the date when the account expires. The default value is Never.
   • Product – choose the main product, which you would like your account to have (make sure it has the Phone line account role defined within).
3. Go to Voice calls > Service configuration > Call forwarding tab and enable forwarding:
   • Call forwarding – select Simple Forwarding.
     • Maximum forwards – specify the number of concurrently active forwarding destinations allowed.
     • Forward by DTMF – leave the option disabled.
4. In the Simple forwarding settings section, specify the ID of the main PBX account in the Forward to field. Activate the Keep original CLD option to store the called DID. The PBX can then correctly route the calls made to individual phone numbers to their appropriate extensions. (Please consult the Forwarding with the original DNIS (CLD) section in the PortaSIP Administrator guide for a detailed description.)

   

5.  Click Save.
6. Repeat these steps if you need to create more accounts for forwarding calls to the main PBX account.

Please see the …create extra DIDs as aliases? chapter in the How to… section.

Routing incoming calls via the registration account is used for PBXs that can perform registration on the SIP server using their main account (i.e., the registration account), yet use dynamic IP addresses for registration.

To set this up, perform the following steps:

1. Create a customer who represents the owner of the PBX.
2. Create a main account for this customer as described in the Create phone lines section of the Cloud PBX services handbook (the Account ID is the phone number that will be used for registering on the SIP server).
3. On your customer’s panel, go to Voice calls > Service configuration > Incoming calls tab and enable the SIP contact option.
4. Deliver incoming calls to – select Account.
5. Account ID – select the account you created at step 2.

   

6. Click Save.

Let’s consider the example of when it is necessary to use one of the PBX phone lines on a separate SIP phone. To do this, perform the actions as described below:

1. On your account’s page, go to Voice calls > Service configuration > Incoming calls tab and disable the SIP contact service feature.

   

2. Click Save.

For more information about incoming call delivery to a PBX with dynamic IP address please refer to the PortaSIP administrator guide.