Route Calls from a Branch PBX to Cloud Voice

Once a branch office PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the on-site phone system) is interconnected with your headquarters Cloud Voice system, you still need to tell each side how to move calls across the link. This page walks through the route settings that let anyone on the branch PBX dial a headquarters extension on Cloud Voice.

Note

This procedure assumes the trunk between the branch PBX and your Cloud Voice system is already in place. A trunk is the connection that carries calls between the two systems. The routes below only decide which calls travel over that existing trunk; they do not create it.

How the call flows

Two pieces of configuration work together for a branch-to-headquarters call:

Where	What to do
Branch PBX	Add an outbound route that sends the call out over the trunk to Cloud Voice.
Cloud Voice (headquarters)	Add an inbound route that accepts the call and delivers it to the matching headquarters extension.

Both routes must be in place. The branch side alone will send the call out, but without the inbound route on Cloud Voice there is nothing to answer it.

Note

These routes cover one direction only: branch extensions calling headquarters. To let headquarters extensions dial the branch as well, set up the mirror image: an outbound route on Cloud Voice and a matching inbound route on the branch PBX.

The diagram below shows the path a call takes from a branch extension to a headquarters extension.

Step 1. Add an outbound route on the branch PBX

An outbound route decides which calls leave the branch PBX and over which trunk. This one hands calls from branch extensions to the trunk that reaches Cloud Voice.

1. Sign in to the branch PBX web portal and go to Call Control > Outbound Route.
2. Click Add.
3. Fill in the route:

   1. Under General, give the route a name you will recognize later.

      Tip

      Name the route after the system it reaches, for example To-Cloud-Voice-HQ. On a busy PBX with many routes, a descriptive name saves time when you need to find or edit it.

   2. Under Dial Pattern, set the dial rules that decide which dialed numbers use this route. For this example, leave the defaults as they are.

   3. Under Trunk, move the trunk you created for Cloud Voice from the Available box to the Selected box.

      

   4. Under Extension/Extension Group, move every extension from Available to Selected so that all branch users are allowed to call Cloud Voice.

      Caution

      Selecting every extension lets all branch users place these calls. If only certain people should be able to reach headquarters, move only those specific extensions into the Selected box instead of all of them.

4. Click Save, then Apply.

Caution

Changes stay pending until you click Apply. If you click Save but skip Apply, the route will not take effect and test calls will fail.

Step 2. Add an inbound route on Cloud Voice

An inbound route decides what happens to calls arriving over a trunk. This one receives the branch call and points it at the right headquarters extension.

1. Sign in to your Cloud Voice web portal and go to Call Control > Inbound Route.
2. Click Add.
3. Fill in the route:

   1. Under General, give the route a name you will recognize later.

   2. Under DID Pattern, define how the dialed number is matched. DID stands for Direct Inward Dialing: it is the number the branch caller dials, which Cloud Voice uses to pick the destination extension.

      

      • DID Matching Mode: Select Match DID Range to Extension Range.
      • DID Range: Enter the headquarters extension range. In this example, enter 1000-1200.

      When a dialed number falls inside the DID range, the call is sent to the extension it maps to.

   3. Under Caller ID Pattern, set any caller ID matching you need. For this example, leave the defaults as they are.

   4. Under Trunk, move the trunk you created for the branch PBX from the Available box to the Selected box.

      

   5. Under Default Destination, choose where matched calls land:

      

      1. In the Default Destination drop-down list, select Match Extension Range.
      2. In the extension range field, enter the headquarters extension range. In this example, enter 1000-1200.
4. Click Save, then Apply.

Caution

The DID Range and the Default Destination extension range must be the same, and both must cover extensions that actually exist on the headquarters Cloud Voice system. If a dialed number matches the DID range but has no real extension behind it, the call has nowhere to land and will fail.

Test the connection

Place a call to confirm the routes work. For example, when extension 2000 at the branch office dials 1000, extension 1000 at headquarters should ring.

Note

If the test call does not connect, check three things first: both routes were saved and applied, the same extension range was entered in the DID Range and Default Destination fields, and the correct trunk is selected on each side.