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Unread 04-09-2006, 12:24 AM   #2
DracoFelis
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
1) I have set up my own VoXaLot number. Now what can I (should I) do with it?
What do you want to do with it?

Voxalot can be your main VoIP provider (using the other providers via Voxalot), or you can just use Voxalot for those things your current VoIP company doesn't do. Since either way works, it's mostly a "ease of setup" and "personal preference" issue.

At the present time, I'm personally just using Voxalot for those things that are "Voxalot only". But I can do that, as I own an SPA-3000, which allows for lots of VoIP accounts to be setup "at the same time" (provided you can handle the advanced config "tricks" on that adapter). So I really don't gain much by routing all call through Voxalot, and therefore only route "Voxalot specific" calls via Voxalot.

However, its also possible to make Voxalot your main VoIP provider, and then have Voxalot let you access your other VoIP accounts via the Voxalot "dial plans" and "providers". And this is very handy for those people with adapters that can't handle as many VoIP accounts as my SPA-3000 can. And it's also handy for those people who just want a "central location" to manage all their VoIP accounts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
Can people call me using this number?
If you either: A) "Register" your VoIP adapter with Voxalot, or better yet B) "Forward" your Voxalot account to some SIP URI that will "ring" your adapter, than "yes".

Specifically, while your Voxalot "number" isn't a "real number" (i.e. can't be called from the telco directly), it can be reached by: 1) Anyone on Voxalot itself (just dial the Voxalot number), 2) Anyone on a VoIP service that "peers" with Voxalot (for example: "SIP Broker" users can dial: *010voxalot_number ), and 3) Anyone that can reach a service that "peers" with Voxalot (for example, people could use these SIP Broker PSTN dialin numbers to reach you from a normal phone: http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/pstnNumbers ).

But again, the point is that for any such "call me", you either need to "register" your adapter with Voxalot (i.e. no SPA-3000 "gateways", or similar "tricks"), or you need to forward your account to some SIP URI that will "ring your adapter" (the latter is the approach I took, to allow Voxalot inbound calls).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
Why would I want them to do that, given that they already have my PSTN and Engin DID number. BTW, I have set up ENUM (see below).
For many people it may be cheaper. For example, if someone is a local call to one of these SIP Broker PSTN numbers, they can call you "for free" (even if/when they are in a different country):
http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/pstnNumbers

Likewise anyone who can make free VoIP SIP calls (from ANY country) can call your Voxalot number "for free". Which means that someone like me could call your Voxalot number "for free" from my VoIP adapter (assuming you told me your Voxalot number, and had your adapter setup to accept inbound Voxalot calls)(assuming you are setup to receive Voxalot calls). And remember, such calls are FREE, even when another country is being called!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
2) I have registered my PSTN and Engin DID at e164.org to be redirected to my Engin DID number. Is this the best thing to do? Reading on this forum, I am beginning to think that I should route the calls to my VoXaLot number. Should I make this change? If so, why? What is the benefit of doing this?
You want your e164.org number to point to some SIP URI that will actually "ring your VoIP adapter". That could be Voxalot, but it could easily be some other service.

The only real "advantage" I can see to pointing your e164.org number to Voxalot specifically, is that you could then control how the call is handled based upon who is calling you. This would be done, by setting up custom "Forwarding" in Voxalot, based upon the "number" of the person calling.

NOTE: I personally don't bother getting this fancy. In my case, I only have the "default" forwarding rule setup in Voxalot (and forwarded to my SIP Broker "alias", if you were wondering). But the extra fancy "forwarding" is an option (if you have any need/desire for it), if you run your e164.org entry via your Voxalot account.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
My understanding is that by registering at e164.org, anyone that uses a participating VSP (ie one that checks for ENUM) will be able to call me for free. Is this correct?
Sort of.

e164.org doesn't allow your VoIP adapter to be called, if it wasn't callable before. i.e. there has to be a "SIP URI" way to "ring your VoIP phone". And e164.org won't magically give that to you.

What e164.org does, is a lot like an automated "phone book". e164.org allows you to "publish" that the person at some number is also reachable via some specific VoIP call path (and what that path is). As a hypothetical example, lets say my number was 1-555-555-1234 and my VoIP call path is *011188888@sipbroker.com. I could then setup an e164.org record for 1-555-555-1234, and point the entry at sip:*011188888@sipbroker.com. Once I do this, people using an ENUM enabled service trying to dial 1-555-555-1234 would automatically have the call redirected to the free location *011188888@sipbroker.com "for free". But it would still be my responsibility to assure that *011188888@sipbroker.com actually reached my VoIP adapter. All ENUM does, is "publish" the fact that the person who owns telco number 1-555-555-1234 also can be reached by *011188888@sipbroker.com.

NOTE: The above is just an example, to explain how ENUM works. If you actually called those "numbers", you would discover that 1-555-555-1234 is a bogus number (not on the PSTN), and *011188888@sipbroker.com actually reaches a test recording (not my account). But the point is, ENUM doesn't let you receive inbound VoIP call "for free" by itself, it just makes it EASIER (by the "phone book" like features) for others to discover how you can already receive inbound VoIP calls. But this is still very handy, as it means that anyone using an ENUM enabled service, can simply look up in ENUM if there is a free (and "published") VoIP calling route alternative for any given PSTN number.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
I also assume that their is no saving to me, but then again you have to contribute so others can save. Is this also correct?
Yes.

ENUM really helps those trying to call you, more than it helps you. OTOH it helps you some too, as people may be more inclined to call you (and chat longer), if they know that the call will be "free"...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
Now Engin doesn't allow inbound SIP calls which doesn't affect me but does prevent others (not on the Engin network) from calling me for free. So is there anything here at Voxalot that gets around this? If so what and how?
Voxalot does accept inbound SIP calls.

So if you have setup Voxalot to allow inbound calls (i.e. either "register" with Voxalot, or do proper forwarding), than it's easy. In that case, you just let the people call via yournumber@voxalot.com. Or, they could just as easily call via *010yournumber via the SIP Broker service.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
3) I have set up my SPA-3000 to use VoXaLot and added <#1,:>[x*][x*].<:@gw1> to my dial plan. I have tested this and it works. Now how should I use this in normal life? Should I send every call through to Voxalot, or should I only send calls to people that have a DID from a VSP other than Engin?
I would personally only send the calls to people with a DID not on Engin. But that's me, and this is a personal preference thing. And remember, you should be able to setup Voxalot to be able to call via Engin, if that is your wish. So sending all calls to Voxalot (and having Voxalot send some calls onto Engin) is also an option.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
ie I can call Engin to Engin free anyway. I assume if I send every call to Voxalot, that Voxalot will route the calls for me.
It won't happen "by default", but it is an option.

i.e. if you want that to happen, you have to decide how you want Voxalot to do this, and then tell Voxalot to do what you want.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
I have registered Engin in the setup at Voxalot as per the instructions, but haven't added any dial plans.
If you want Voxalot to handle the routing, you NEED to setup those "dial plans" to do what you want. However, if you are planning to handle "Engin" calls directly (from your adapter to Engin), you can ignore this.

The point is, the "routing" that you want/desire Voxalot to do, is controlled by those "dial plan" entries...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mallycat
If I am to send all calls to Voxalot first (other than 000 etc that are coded in my SPA-3000 dial plan), then I assume I could remove the <#1,:> from my SPA dial plan and hence send all calls to Voxalot. Once again, please confirm if this is what I should do to get the most from this service.
Again, personal preference. Since the SPA-3000 is one of the more "advanced" of the cheap VoIP adapters, it can directly handle many (but by no means all) of the things that Voxalot would be needed for with a more limited VoIP adapter. So in your case, it's personal preference as to controlling the dialing in your SPA-3000's "dial plan" directly, or doing this with the Voxalot "dial plans" (and routing all calls via Voxalot). Either will work in your case, so its a question about which you prefer.

NOTE: THe SPA-3000 is also my primary VoIP adapter, so I really have a good idea how powerful it is, compared to many of the devices on the market!

BTW: Here's a cute "trick" to allow you to get inbound VoIP calls (on your SPA-3000), even when your "registered" VoIP provider (for example, Engin) doesn't allow SIP calling:
http://faq.sipbroker.com/tiki-index....%20or%20Sipura
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