Call barring allows you to prohibit outgoing calls to specific destinations for all customer accounts as well as for individual accounts. The main difference between call barring and blocking rate codes in a tariff is that the latter applies to all accounts using a given tariff plan, while call barring can be activated and configured for an individual account. Another difference is that only the administrator can manage a tariff plan, while call barring can be provisioned by end users themselves (e.g., parents prohibiting calls to a dubious premium number on their child’s phone or a small business owner blocking outgoing international calls on a public phone in their coffee shop).
Call barring rules
A call barring rule is a set of phone number patterns based on which calls are prohibited.
When call barring is activated, the system checks, during a normal call authorization, whether the dialed number matches a pattern specified in the call barring rule. If it does and if call barring has been activated for that call barring rule, the call is rejected.
Call barring rules are ignored for calls between accounts of the same customer. Thus, if PBX phone lines start with a 1206 prefix and 1206 is included in their call barring rules, calls between those accounts will still go through.
A call barring rule defines a specific set of phone numbers that the customer may be denied access to. In this regard, a call barring rule is very similar to a code group. The difference is that while a code group can only contain pre-defined rate codes, the call barring rule operates with a mixture of patterns (e.g., 448% – any number starting with 448) and actual phone numbers (e.g., 44810010099). This allows you to fine-tune call barring options without creating extra rate codes.
Various barring rules (for example, “Mobiles” or “International”) are defined on the Number patterns list panel of a call barring rule page. Specific barring rules can then be enabled or disabled for a customer and all their accounts, or for individual accounts.
Barred by default rules
You can create call barring rules and set them as barred by default. Such rules are automatically applied to new customers and accounts when the call barring feature is enabled for them on the product level. This eliminates the need to manually assign barring rules each time; simply enable call barring for the product, and the default rules will be activated automatically.
A service provider, Owl Telecom, signs a contract with ABC Coworking, a US company that provides shared desk phones for employees and visitors in its coworking space. The ABC Coworking admin asks Owl Telecom to block calls to premium-rate numbers for all phones, since it is not yet clear which ones need restrictions.
The Owl Telecom admin creates a “US premium numbers” call barring rule and selects the Barred by default option. In the product settings for ABC Coworking, the admin enables call barring and allows the customer to edit it. Then Owl Telecom admin creates accounts for all coworking phones, and each account is automatically assigned a “US premium numbers” rule.
As a result, visitors can make local and national calls but cannot dial premium-rate numbers. Internal calls and emergency numbers (for example, 112) remain available.
Later, ABC Coworking admin disables the call barring rule for top management phones, allowing them to place calls to any destination permitted by the tariff plan.
Configuration
To configure call barring:
- Create a new call barring rule, e.g., “Block premium numbers”.
- After creating the rule, you can assign it in two ways:
- Automatically – select the Barred by default option in the rule and enable the call barring feature in the product. The system will apply this rule automatically to all new accounts that use that product.
- Manually – assign the rule directly to a specific customer or account in their call barring settings.
By default, an account inherits a customer’s set of call barring rules and product settings (enabled/disabled). When an account makes a call, PortaBilling first tries to apply the account’s call barring settings. If these are not defined, PortaBilling applies the customer’s settings.
