Configuring PIAF, IncrediblePBX and Blueface

seedubya

I run two small businesses from the same office and am fairly technical. I've used Blueface with a couple of desktop phones and an ATA for the last 8 or 9 years. I have 2 Geo numbers with BF, one for each business, and 2 O76 which are never used. I have 5 BF SIP accounts i.e. username, username1, username2 etc. each with their own BF extension. I'm on Freedom Basic + 1 extra Geo. My ISP is UPC Business and I'm getting around 50/10 consistently. I have a fixed public IP address.

I'd like to do more with my telephony - for example
- answer incoming calls appropriate to which Geo number is being called i.e be able to know from my deskphone\softphone which number is being called so that I can answer it Hello, Business Name 1 or Hello, Business Name 2
- be able to transfer incoming calls internally between extensions regardless of which Geo number was called originally
- possibly use an IVR
- have custom messages when all lines\extensions are busy and for voicemail
- have custom out of hours messages
- have a couple of remote extensions so that myself or my staff can work from home some days or even take a phone on a trip!
- be able to choose which CallerID calls go out from i.e. if I'm calling from Business1 then I want Business1's CallerID to show and the same for Business2
- be able to route outgoing mobile calls via a different provider
- I probably need to plan for 4-6 simultaneous calls (incoming\outgoing\internal)

I can change VOIP provider if necessary and can even pay more but would prefer not to do either. If I do change I need to port both Geo numbers and keep them working (or forwarding calls) as long as the port is going through. Hardware can be purchased if necessary also.

Given my limited knowledge and some reading I believe I can achieve this with Asterisk and have downloaded and have running PIAF-Green-32 on VMware ESXi 5.5. I have also installed IncrediblePBX 11 and have updated everything to the most recent versions.

Now I'm a bit stumped, though. I have seen Mr. G's sticky on configuring Blueface as SIP trunk in FreePBX but I'm afraid to try this as I may end up with NO incoming calls if I do it wrong which would screw me entirely.

Anyone go any advice on how to proceed?

TIA

CW

Mr. G

seedubya wrote: »

I run two small businesses from the same office and am fairly technical. I've used Blueface with a couple of desktop phones and an ATA for the last 8 or 9 years. I have 2 Geo numbers with BF, one for each business, and 2 O76 which are never used. I have 5 BF SIP accounts i.e. username, username1, username2 etc. each with their own BF extension. I'm on Freedom Basic + 1 extra Geo. My ISP is UPC Business and I'm getting around 50/10 consistently. I have a fixed public IP address.

I'd like to do more with my telephony - for example
- answer incoming calls appropriate to which Geo number is being called i.e be able to know from my deskphone\softphone which number is being called so that I can answer it Hello, Business Name 1 or Hello, Business Name 2

This is possible. Get a FreePBX distro and install it, have it working 100% with a test Blueface or Goldfish number before you add your main numbers to the setup.

You can simply register 1 SIP account (or many if you want different Caller ID's from different handsets/numbers dialled etc.). If you setup 1 SIP Account from Blueface, set all the DDIs on the Blueface Toolbox to the format: [sip account username registered with PBX]/[The DDI number], so for example: username/353761234567.

On the PBX side then just add all the DDIs as Inbound Routes. Don't forget to add a default route to overcome any issues should you forget to add a number.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=90017045&postcount=2

If you are using FreePBX (I strongly recommend you use FreePBX by the way), set SRV Lookup under Settings > Asterisk SIP Settings to Enabled.

seedubya wrote: »

- be able to transfer incoming calls internally between extensions regardless of which Geo number was called originally

Yeah that's possible, and if you use a blind transfer (unattended transfer), it will send the original caller ID (and not the caller ID of the person that transferred the call).

seedubya wrote: »

- possibly use an IVR

Yep, under Applications > IVR, you may need to add the feature under the Admin > Module Admin section.

seedubya wrote: »

- have custom messages when all lines\extensions are busy and for voicemail

Yeah that's possible. It's even possible to have a centalised mailbox but different greetings depending on the number called or type of call etc.

seedubya wrote: »

- have custom out of hours messages

Possible. People often use empty call queues as they can be forwarded to. There are other ways also depending on what you want to achieve, e.g. time based routing.

seedubya wrote: »

- have a couple of remote extensions so that myself or my staff can work from home some days or even take a phone on a trip!

That's possible. You will need to open a port for this, so make sure not to use 5060..5069 as these are often suspectable to hacking. Use a random port, very strong passwords, Fail2Ban (easy to setup, but important), limit on your account just in case etc. Fail2Ban is included with the FreePBX Distro, make sure to set it up with very strict policies. I have seen several times businesses leave their phone system wide open not knowing that weak passwords (e.g. username: 100, password: 100) and they get hacked because they have ports open. Once the system is secured up and up-to-date, you should not have a problem. I don't mean to scare you but this is something I cannot stress enough.

Having a Static IP is recommended but not essential, it will help if you have one.

seedubya wrote: »

- be able to choose which CallerID calls go out from i.e. if I'm calling from Business1 then I want Business1's CallerID to show and the same for Business2

Yes, this is possible. You will need to add two SIP accounts, one with the Caller ID for Business 1 and the other with the Caller ID for Business 2. You can set up different Caller ID's to show on different outbound routes/destinations or from particular phones. It's even possible to have the outbound routes setup so dialling 8 before the number will show Business 1's Caller ID and dialling 9 before the number will show Business 2's Caller ID. It's quite flexible this way.

seedubya wrote: »

- be able to route outgoing mobile calls via a different provider

Yes. Through 'Outbound Routing', set calls to [08XXXXXXXX], [00447x.] (UK mobile) and [003538x.] to be routed through a particular provider. Be sure to set this as the first route before the other providers so that this is selected as the first available route and correctly routed through that provider.

seedubya wrote: »

- I probably need to plan for 4-6 simultaneous calls (incoming\outgoing\internal)

Yes, your speeds are well capable for this. I would set up QoS on your router just in case somebody rips the connection. You won't have a call quality issue due to the connection. Once your hardware is capable (and very low spec hardware is needed for this, even a Raspberry Pi would do), that should not be a problem.

seedubya wrote: »

If I do change I need to port both Geo numbers and keep them working (or forwarding calls) as long as the port is going through.

This is something to suss out with the provider you are moving to. I would suggest testing the system before you port away to ensure it is working 100% correctly, and the numbers to the Inbound routes and so once it ports over it will be seamless.

seedubya wrote: »

Given my limited knowledge and some reading I believe I can achieve this with Asterisk and have downloaded and have running PIAF-Green-32 on VMware ESXi 5.5. I have also installed IncrediblePBX 11 and have updated everything to the most recent versions.

Some say that running Asterisk on a virtual server is not a good idea. I have done it and have never had an issue. Magnet for example use Amazon Web Services and their service (for the most part) works fine.

Obviously if the machine running PIAF fails, you will have no service so it may be no harm to have an emergency mobile phone to divert the lines to just in case something happens your broadband connection, electricity failure etc. These things happen. With UPC if there is a power outage, having a backup powersupply is not going to be much use as it is likely the local UPC node is out too.

seedubya wrote: »

Now I'm a bit stumped, though. I have seen Mr. G's sticky on configuring Blueface as SIP trunk in FreePBX but I'm afraid to try this as I may end up with NO incoming calls if I do it wrong which would screw me entirely.

Anyone go any advice on how to proceed?

TIA

CW

I think I have answered your questions above. I would highly recommend if you want this to be seamless get a few DID's with your new provider, add them to the PBX and have everything working correctly- extensions, trunks registering, call quality, etc. Then add the numbers to the inbound routes, port them over (assuming these are landline numbers) and it should be seamless.

Setting up FreePBX is fairly easy.

Do your research and keep an eye out for security. Only once it is working correctly would I port over the numbers. I would train staff how to use the phones before the numbers are ported over/registered on the new system.

Feel free to ask any questions you may come across or if you get stuck, don't be afraid to shout for help. If you need extra advice, again ask.

seedubya

Thank you Mr. G for such a detailed reply! It's been a month and I've only just managed to start setting this up today.
I have a spare 076 number with BF that I'm using for testing and so far so good. Thanks to you, I have both incoming and outgoing calls working as they should on my test number. Now I just need to figure out the advanced features!!

Thanks again and if anyone else has Blueface \ FreePBX setup questions I'll row in if I can!

CW

Mr. G

seedubya wrote: »

Thank you Mr. G for such a detailed reply! It's been a month and I've only just managed to start setting this up today.
I have a spare 076 number with BF that I'm using for testing and so far so good. Thanks to you, I have both incoming and outgoing calls working as they should on my test number. Now I just need to figure out the advanced features!!

Thanks again and if anyone else has Blueface \ FreePBX setup questions I'll row in if I can!

CW

No problem at all. It's a great system when you get used to it. If you've any questions about those advanced options ask away.

Make sure you patch up your security for it. Like a PSTN phone system it can get hacked. Some of the important ones:

Lock down your extensions to specific IP addresses,
Apply a limit on concurrent calls through your sip trunks,
Apply IP address filters from your firewall if you need to forward a specific port for another office/provider,
Do not allow guests and do not allow anonymous sip calls (not the same as private numbers from Blueface),
Very secure passwords on extensions,
If you really want to you could use SRTP and TLS to encrypt your calls between the PBX and the phones (so a virus couldn't snoop on calls), an alternative is to use a VLAN which separates the data and voice traffic and can't talk to each other at all. I have yet to see phones being snooped by unauthorised or viruses though. Just like your landline could be tapped, much harder with VoIP when encrypted.

seedubya

Ok, back to the lab. After working last night for a couple of hours the incoming calls suddenly stopped working. Now I get a get the Asterisk voice "the number you have dialled is not in service. Please check the number and try again". When I look in CDR reports I see the call noted with the CallerID of the mobile I'm calling from but under the App column is Congestion.

Really stumped here, if you can shed any light I'd be very grateful!

Mr. G

seedubya wrote: »

Ok, back to the lab. After working last night for a couple of hours the incoming calls suddenly stopped working. Now I get a get the Asterisk voice "the number you have dialled is not in service. Please check the number and try again". When I look in CDR reports I see the call noted with the CallerID of the mobile I'm calling from but under the App column is Congestion.

Really stumped here, if you can shed any light I'd be very grateful!

Have you set a default incoming route? (leave DID blank)

Have you set the DID number in incoming routes?

Are you on too many concurrent calls? (hence congestion)

For now you could try allowing anonymous calls while you figure out what's happening.

Did you change any of the sip trunk settings?

seedubya

Mr. G wrote: »

Have you set a default incoming route? (leave DID blank)

Yes. I have two extensions set up 235 and 236 which work internally. I have terminated the default route at 236 and it worked a few times the first night.

Mr. G wrote: »

Have you set the DID number in incoming routes?

No, I couldn't get any specific incoming route to work. I was putting the number in the format 353123456789

Mr. G wrote: »

Are you on too many concurrent calls? (hence congestion)

I don't believe so. This was late at night. Zero incoming calls at all. And as soon as I redirect the calls to my normal voip phones everything works immediately.

Mr. G wrote: »

For now you could try allowing anonymous calls while you figure out what's happening.

I'll try that.

Mr. G wrote: »

Did you change any of the sip trunk settings?

Nope. I have

host=cust.ie.blueface.com
fromuser=myusername
username=myusername
secret=mypassword
insecure=invite
deny=0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0
permit=194.213.29.0/24
type=peer


Should I have ports forwarded to the PBX? I'm on UPC Business for internet who also do their own voip - which I'm not subscribed to - could that be an issue? Dammit, this should be easy! I'm an IT pro.

Mr. G

seedubya wrote: »

Yes. I have two extensions set up 235 and 236 which work internally. I have terminated the default route at 236 and it worked a few times the first night.


No, I couldn't get any specific incoming route to work. I was putting the number in the format 353123456789

I don't believe so. This was late at night. Zero incoming calls at all. And as soon as I redirect the calls to my normal voip phones everything works immediately.


I'll try that.


Nope. I have

host=cust.ie.blueface.com
fromuser=myusername
username=myusername
secret=mypassword
insecure=invite
deny=0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0
permit=194.213.29.0/24
type=peer


Should I have ports forwarded to the PBX? I'm on UPC Business for internet who also do their own voip - which I'm not subscribed to - could that be an issue? Dammit, this should be easy! I'm an IT pro.

You need to send the calls from the Blueface control panel in the format: SIP/bluefacesipaccusername/35311234567

And then configure that inbound did as 35311234567. UPC aren't the problem, Blueface use them.

You shouldn't need to forward any ports. If you do, that should only be when not registering with Blueface, which I presume you are doing. You could try getting Blueface to allow your IP address to send calls to directly and then forwarding a port (doesn't have to be 5060), and only allowing Blueface's IP block.