Make Outbound Calls from an Analog Phone Connected to a TA FXS Gateway

Once your Cloud Voice PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the system that manages your phone extensions and routing) is linked to a TA1600, TA2400, or TA3200 FXS gateway, the analog phone attached to an FXS port behaves like any other extension. To let that phone reach external numbers, add an outbound route on the PBX that routes calls over a trunk and grants the extension permission to use it.

Note

An FXS (Foreign Exchange Station) port is the socket on the gateway that a standard analog phone plugs into. A trunk is the connection that carries calls between your PBX and the outside phone network. An outbound route ties the two together: it decides which dialed numbers leave the system, over which trunk, and which extensions are allowed to use it.

This assumes you have already registered an extension against one of the gateway’s FXS ports. Without that registration, the analog phone has no identity on the PBX and no route will apply to it.

Step 1: Create an outbound route

Build the route on the PBX and authorize the extension tied to the FXS port.

1. Sign in to the PBX web portal and go to Call Control > Outbound Route, then click Add.
2. Fill in the route settings:

   • Name: A label that makes the route easy to recognize later.

   • Dial Pattern: Define how dialed digits are matched and rewritten before the call leaves. In this example, set Pattern to 9. and Strip to 1, so callers prefix the destination number with 9 and the PBX removes that leading digit before dialing. To reach 15880123456, the user dials 915880123456.

     

     Note

     In a dial pattern, the . acts as a wildcard that matches one or more digits, so 9. matches a 9 followed by any number. Strip is the count of leading digits removed before the call is sent to the trunk. Here Strip is 1, which removes only the 9 prefix and passes the real number to the carrier.

     Caution

     Set Strip to exactly the number of prefix digits in your pattern. If it is too low, the prefix stays on the number and the call fails. If it is too high, real digits get cut and the call reaches the wrong destination.

   • Trunk: Choose the trunk the calls should go out on.

   • Extension / Extension Group: Select the extensions allowed to place calls through this route. In this example, add extension 1000.

     

     Tip

     Only the extensions you list here can use this route. Leaving an extension off is the simplest way to block it from making these outbound calls.

3. Click Save, then Apply.

Caution

Changes to an outbound route do not take effect until you click Apply. If a test call still fails after saving, confirm you applied the change.

Danger

A dial pattern that requires a 9 prefix can block emergency calls if 911 is not separately handled. Make sure a route exists that lets the analog phone dial emergency services (for example, 911 and 9911) without depending on the prefix. Test emergency dialing after any routing change, because a misconfigured pattern can silently prevent 911 from connecting.

Step 2: Place a test call

Pick up the analog phone and dial an external number using your dial pattern. Following the example above, dialing 915880123456 places a call to 15880123456, which then rings.

Tip

If the call does not go through, recheck that the extension is listed on the route, the trunk is selected, the Strip value matches the prefix length, and you clicked Apply.