Connection
Connection is a SIP endpoint that can be registered on VoIP Number
Setup your SIP Connections at app.voipnumber.net/connections
VoIP and SIP
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) are sending voice calls in digital packets over the Internet as opposed to sending them as analog voltage signals, as was the case with the old telephony lines. VoIP is based on the SIP protocol, and whenever someone says VoIP you can think of it as SIP. We will name all devices that you can connect to VoIP networks a SIP endpoints, SIP phones, or SIP devices
SIP devices can be divided into 3 categories:
IP phonesSoftphonesand others, like:
intercoms, alarms, doorbells,etc.
IP phones are hardware that you can put on your desk, and so they are frequently referred to as desk phones. The most popular desk phones are produced by Yealink, Cisco, and Polycom
Softphones are similar, but they do not have a handset or headset, they are just programs, a software that uses your computer's or your mobile phone's microphone and speaker as audio interfaces
In any case, SIP device must be registered with VoIP provider to receive calls
It's very simple and it takes less than 2 minutes to get done on VoIP Number
Creating a Connection
When you create a Connection, you define 3 parameters:
NameSIP userSIP password
To create a Connection, go to the Connections tab on VoIP Number (app.voipnumber.net/connections) and click ADD. Fill in these 3 parameters and click ADD or press ENTER
Registering to Connection
Only Name and SIP user are mandatory when you are creating a new Connection but if you want to register to a Connection you should set a SIP password as well (not always you need to register to a Connection, see Virtual Connection below)
Connection's SIP user and SIP password are SIP credentials which let you register from a SIP device ☎️ of your choice as a Connection for making and answering calls
SIP user is just a different name for an extension. This can be any text and it doesn't have to be a number. It must be a unique name on VoIP Number - a notification dialog will inform you if the name is already taken
Once Connection is added, you need to open configuration settings on your SIP device and use the parameters you set up for the Connection (Name, SIP user, SIP password). If it is asking you about a SIP domain (SIP provider, VoIP provider, SIP server, or similar type of thing) type
sip.voipnumber.net
Once it's done, click REGISTER on your SIP device and you will get online immediately ✅
SIP devices differ in how they present these settings to the user on their UI. Check out these quick guides for more details and a handful of examples for setting up Zoiper, Bria, and Yealink IP desk phones:
Virtual Connection
As we said earlier you may want to create Connections only to execute Call Flows. For example to play a text announcement to the call, play an audio file, collect digits (DTMF), or bridge a call to a Connection. In this case, you do not need to register to such a Connection from any SIP device and we call it virtual Connection 👻. It just defines what happens to a call by having a Call Flow attached (or voicemail enabled), no device is needed 😊
Dialing a Connection
To dial Connection from a SIP device registered on VoIP Number simply call a SIP USER NAME associated with the Connection. To dial Connection from the telephony network you need a Number
Inbound Action (Connection's inbound action)
When you dial a Connection, the call is executed according to the Inbound Action set on a Connection. This Inbound Action is either:
default(bridge)Call Flow
By default new Connection has Inbound Action set to default (bridge). That means that by default a call is sent to the SIP device registered on VoIP Number to the Connection's SIP credentials and then to its Voicemail with audio transcription, if the call was not answered
However, if a Connection has Call Flow attached, Inbound Action is changed to Call Flow and a call is running through actions defined in Call Flow instead. Call Flows are very flexible, you can set them up to bridge (transfer) a call to Connection or to play some speech from text before a transfer, or maybe send a call to a voicemail, you got it - possibilities are endless
Number
The other useful change to a Connection that you can easily make is attaching a Number to it, and we will discuss that in next sections 🤓 😊
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