Create a SIP Trunk from a Template

A SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunk is the connection that carries calls between your phone system and your telephone provider over the internet. Cloud Voice ships with ready-made configuration templates for a wide range of internet telephony service providers (ITSPs) that have been tested and certified. When a template exists for your provider, most of the connection details are filled in for you, so you can stand up a working SIP trunk in a fraction of the time it takes to configure one by hand.

Before you begin

• Confirm that your ITSP is among the providers Cloud Voice has tested and supports. If your provider isn’t covered, you’ll need to build the trunk manually instead of from a template.
• Make sure your system can reach the ITSP over the network.
• Verify that your account can add trunks.

Note

If the Add button under Extension and Trunk > Trunk is greyed out, your account doesn’t have permission to add trunks. Contact your service provider to have it enabled.

Create the trunk

1. Sign in to the web portal and go to Extension and Trunk > Trunk, then click Add.

2. Under Basic, fill in the following:

   • Name: A label that helps you recognize the trunk later.
   • Trunk Status: Set this to Enabled.
   • Select ITSP Template: Choose your country.
   • ITSP: Choose your provider.

   Once you pick the template, the matching connection settings appear automatically in the Detailed Configuration section. What you do next depends on the trunk type shown there:

   • Register Trunk: supply the credentials your ITSP gave you:
     • Username: The username from your ITSP.
     • Password: The password from your ITSP.
     • Authentication Name: Optional. Used for SIP authentication. Enter it only if your ITSP issued an authentication name.
   • Peer Trunk: leave the settings at their defaults.

   Note

   The template decides the trunk type for you, so you don’t choose it yourself. A Register Trunk logs in to the provider with a username and password (much like signing in to an account). A Peer Trunk is trusted by its network address instead, so no login credentials are needed.

   Caution

   The username, password, and authentication name must match exactly what the ITSP issued, including capitalization. A single mismatch stops the trunk from registering and it will stay offline. If you were not given a value, leave that field as the template set it.

3. Optional: If you bought DID numbers from the ITSP, open the DIDs/DDIs tab to attach them to the trunk. A DID (Direct Inward Dialing) number, also written DDI (Direct Dialing In), is a public phone number that outside callers dial to reach you.

   Note

   This step is required when the trunk type is Register Trunk or Peer Trunk (DID Based).

   a. Click Add and enter the numbers you need:

   • To add one number, set Create Method to Single DID, then complete:
     • DID/DDI: The DID number your provider assigned.
     • DID/DDI Name: Optional. A label that identifies inbound calls arriving on this number. When the number is dialed, this name shows on the called party’s device.
   • To add a block of numbers, set Create Method to DID Range, then complete:
     • DID Range: The first and last number in the range.
     • DID/DDI Name: Optional. A label that identifies inbound calls arriving on these numbers. When a number is dialed, this name shows on the called party’s device.

   b. Click Confirm.

   Tip

   For a fuller explanation of DID options, see Configure DID Numbers on a Trunk.

4. Click Save, then Apply.

   Note

   Your changes are only staged until you click Apply. Nothing takes effect on the live system until you apply them.

Check the result

Return to Extension and Trunk > Trunk and look at the trunk’s status in the list.

A green status icon means the trunk registered successfully.

For details on what each state means, see SIP Trunk status.

Next steps

• To take inbound calls over this trunk, assign it to one or more inbound routes. See Set up an Inbound Route.
• To place outbound calls over this trunk, assign it to one or more outbound routes. See Set up an Outbound Route.