Creating a SIP trunk in Selfcare

This guide will go through the process of creating a trunk within Selfcare, along with an outline on the options available.

1. Log into Selfcare and click on "SIP Trunks" at the top.

2. Click on "New Trunk". A pop-up will then open.

The pop-up will look like this...

3. The "Name" section is simply a label for the trunk. Put whatever you require in there, The "Outbound Calls Account" is a drop down menu, which allows you to choose which account is used for outbound calls. Most customers will only have 1 of these, so if you require outbound termination, select this from the list. If you do not want to make calls from the trunk, select "trunk is inbound only". The final section "Default CLI" is where you state what CLI you want us to use by default. This list is populated from your inbound number list. Once all sections are correct, click on "Create".

4. You will now see your trunk listed on the left hand side of the screen. If you select it from the list, the centre of the screen will populate with the trunk settings. There are 4 sections, Trunk, Credentials, Inbound and Outbound.

Trunk

This section contains basic information about the trunk.

Name - This is the label you gave the trunk when you created the trunk. You can alter this whenever you wish.

NAT Support - This allows you to change the NAT traversal options used for the trunk. In most cases, we strongly recommend leaving the option set to "Use Standard NAT Support". The other option should only be used if advised to by ourselves.

Registered - This shows if the trunk is currently registered or not. If there are any registrations present in our database, you can see the details of them by hovering your mouse over the box. 

Credentials

This section contains registration settings for the trunks.

Username - The SIP Username you need to register with.

Allowed IP or DNS Addresses - If you wish to restrict use of the trunk to a particular IP and/or domain, then please add the information here. You can add multiple addresses, separated by commas. This is a very important feature, as it prevents your trunk from being used from unauthorised IP addresses. We would strongly advise setting this option up, if possible.

Password - The SIP password used to register the trunk with. When the trunk has been newly created, this will be visible for 20 minutes, by clicking on the "show" button. After this time, the password is not visible, for security reasons. If you forget the password, you will need to reset it, by pressing the "new password" button. This will generate a new password for your trunk, and you will once again be able to view it for 20 minutes, by clicking the "show" button. As the SIP passwords are encrypted within our database, we cannot recover these for you.

Inbound

This section sets details related to the inbound features of the trunk.

User-Agent Type - This allows you to adjust how we format the SIP packets we send you. Certain PBX's use different structures by default, so this feature is to support this. By default, if you are using a standard PBX, you should use "Generic SIP trunk". However, there are options for Asterisk and 3CX phone system trunks as well. If you are using a single device (such as a VoIP phone) on the trunk, then use the "Generic SIP Phone" option.

Send Numbers As - As most PBX's use pattern matching on inbound calls to decide how the call is routed, it is important that the numbers are formatted in a way that the PBX understands. This option allows you to change the format of the numbers we use in the SIP packets. Please set this to the value you require.

Voice Mode - This sets the RTP method and codecs used on the trunk. "Standard Voice" is the normal operating method, which uses un-encrypted (RTP) audio. If you want to use SRTP, then please select "secure encrypted voice" from the drop down list. The final option is "proxied (Not recommended)". Only use this if you are sending your RTP via a proxy. We would not advise you do this, however. 

Below the drop down box, is another link, called "advanced". Clicking this opens a pop up which allows you to use our default codecs, or if not, allows you to manually specify the codecs you plan to use.

Outbound

This section deals with features relating to outbound calls and features.

Outbound Calls Account - This is the sub-account used to handle your outbound calls, if applicable. If you do not want any outbound calls to be made from the trunk, use the "trunk is inbound only" option. For more information on how our accounts are structured, please see this article.

Default CLI - This option allows you to change the default CLI that is presented on outbound calls. You can change the CLI presented from within your PBX, based upon the numbers linked to your outbound account. If an incorrect or invalid number is provided, we will use the default CLI instead. 

Emergency Services Address -  Please see this article for a full explanation of this feature and how to use it.

Emergency Call Testing - This allows you to test connecting to emergency services, rather than actually dialling them.  

Fraud Detection Simultaneous Calls / Spend - This allows you to specify Fraud prevention limits for your trunk. These settings are important, as they are designed to limit any abuse that may happen via your trunk. The simultaneous calls limit looks for how many calls are occurring at any one time from the trunk and the Spend looks at how much has been spent in the current 24 hour period. If either of these are breached, the system automatically puts the trunk into "inbound only" mode and e-mails the main account e-mail address to advise. Please note - This system is not designed to prevent fraud, but to limit any potential effects. These settings are not a replacement for adequate PBX security measures, which we would always advise customers implement.

Dialling Restriction - This feature allows you to restrict where the PBX can dial to, based on Geographic location. For example, if you never dial international numbers, then you could allow calls to UK destinations only. This is designed to help prevent any potential abuse of the trunk.

DNC List Enforcement Mode - This feature is designed more for call centres, who have to maintain lists of numbers they are not permitted or do not want to call. The drop down boxes are only available if the trunk has an outbound account set. The list allow you to control how the system reacts if a number is called from the Do Not Call list.

Do Not Call List - This is where you can upload and/or change the DNC list that is in use. Please ensure the lists are formatted as per the upload options displayed on the portal. 

Record Outgoing Calls - This option is only present if an outbound account is set and you have call recording enabled on your account. Please select the storage method you wish from the drop down list.

Pause Recordings with **7 - Allows you to enable/disable call recording pausing on the trunk. This is required for PCI compliance if you are taking, for example, card payments over the phone.

These are all the settings available. If you have any further questions or issues with SIP trunks, then please get in contact with us here.