Location Based Call Routing

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Last updated: May 25, 2011Version comment
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sipXecs Location Based Call Routing

sipXecs has the ability to route calls based on the Branch Location of a calling phone. This allows for flexibility in routing calls for certain dial patterns out of specific gateways based on which groups and gateways are assigned to a particular branch.

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Branches

By themselves, branches are little more than descriptions of locations. Branches become useful by assigning groups, gateways, and servers to each branch.

Setting Up Branches

To set up a branch in sipXecs browse to System >> Branches. To add a new branch, click the Add Branch link. You will need to enter the following information:

Field

Data

Name

Branch Name (NO SPACES ALLOWED) such as AdminBldg

Description

Description of the branch, such as Administration Building

Street

Physical street address of the branch

City

City of the branch

State/Province

State or Province of the branch

Country

Country of the branch

Zip/Postal Code

Zip Code of branch

Mail stop

Unknown, not used

Phone

Main phone number for branch

Fax

Main fax number for branch

Click OK to save the location.

Adding Groups to a Branch

Assuming you already have a group created:

  1. Browse to Users >> Groups
  2. Select the group you wish to modify
  3. Select the branch you wish to assign to the user group
  4. Click OK

Adding Gateways to a Branch

There are two ways a gateway can be configured for a branch, exclusive and shared. Exclusive gateways can only be used by members of the branch that is assigned to the gateway while shared gateways can be used by anyone on the system provided they have proper permissions for the dialplan the gateway is assigned to (more on this later), but members of the location assigned to this gateway will use this gateway first in the dialplan should there be multiple shared gateways assigned to different branches.

Assuming you already have a gateway set up in sipXecs:

  1. Browse to Devices >> Gateways
  2. Select the gateway you wish to modify
  3. In the Location drop down menu select the branch you wish to assign to the gateway
  4. If you wish to make this gateway a shared gateway, select the Shared checkbox.
  5. Click OK

Dialplan Configuration

In general, it is best practice in the dialplan order to set exclusive gateways to come before shared gateways so that calls will be attempted through exclusive gateways before they are attempted through shared gateways. For example, you always want users to be able to dial emergency services such as 911 even if the local voice gateway is malfunctioning or otherwise offline.

As a configuration example we'll create a fictitious 3 branch system, with branches AdminBldg, IT, and Warehouse, each with an FXO gateway. The branches and gateways would be configured as follows:

Branch

Gateway

Shared

IT

IT-FXO (10.1.10.5)

Yes

AdminBldg

Admin-Bldg-FXO (10.1.11.5)

No

Warehouse

Warehouse-FXO (10.1.12.5)

No

Now you'll need to edit the appropriate dial plan rule (in this example, Emergency Dialing) under System >> Dial Plans and add the gateways by selecting the More Actions dropdown menu and adding them in the following order:

  1. Warehouse-FXO
  2. AdminBldg-FXO
  3. IT-FXO

Notice how the shared IT-FXO gateway is last in the list. This is so that if a call cannot be placed through one of the location specific gateways then as a last resort the call will be routed through the IT-FXO gateway.