Switchvox - How do I configure my T1 PRI card with Switchvox?
Table of Contents
Before you begin configuring your T1 PRI interface in Switchvox, it is very important that you obtain all of the configuration information from your T1 provider.
Installing your T1 Card
First make sure your machine is completely shutdown and the power cord is removed from the machine's power supply.
Make sure the correct jumper setting is selected on your card if applicable (T1 or E1).
Install necessary card(s) and line(s) to your PBX server. If it is an Analog FXS card, make sure the power molex is connected to the card before attempting to configure.
Start up your PBX.
Configure the Card
To start configuring your T1 card, login to the Switchvox admin section (https://your.pbx.ip/admin) and go to Server → Maintenance → Telephony Cards.
Click the "Scan for New Devices" button.
Locate the T1 card in the list and click the Modify, "yellow pencil", button.
Under Configure Span Options, enter in your T1 information exactly as it is specified by your provider. Click Save Settings and after the reload modify the card as you did in the above step. Then select the Configure Channels button. This will take you to the Channel Group settings that you will use to configure your T1 cards channels.
Configure the Channels
The next step is to configure the channels of your T1 card in the Channel Groups section. PRI T1s have two groups, the data and bearer channels. The data channel is a single channel, most often on channel 24 that provides signaling for the PRI line. Bearer channels are the channels that you use to place phone calls. For a full voice T1, channels 1-23 are all part of the bearer group. Partial T1 lines have some subset of this group.
Data Channel
To add the Data channel, click Create New Channel Group.
Select a name for your group. "Data" is a reasonable choice. For multi-span setups, you may want to specify the span in the group name (ex. Data Channels Span 1).
Under Device Type select PRI T1/E1 D (Data) Channel.
Secondary Device Type should be set to No signaling (PRI D channel).
Next, scroll down and check the 24th channel on the card and click Save Channel Group.
Bearer Channels
Next comes the bearer channel group.
Click Create New Channel Group and fill in the Group Name (ex. T1 Voice Lines or T1 Voice Lines Span 1).
Under Device Type, select PRI T1/E1 B (Bearer) Channel.
For Secondary Device type, select from the two PRI (Primary Rate Interface) options: CPE Side or Network Side. Your T1 provider should supply you with which setting to choose, but most providers use CPE Side.
Select your Callback Extension. The Callback Extension is the default extension to ring for incoming calls on these lines.
Ask your T1 provider about your settings for the PRI Switch Type, Overlap dial, and PRI Dialplan settings. (Note: For most North American PRI providers the default settings in Switchvox should work.)
Change the setting, Use Caller ID Presentation to Yes. Next, fill in the caller id settings that you would like to appear on outbound calls through this T1.
Lastly, check the channels that apply to this T1. For full voice T1s, check channels 1 through 23. For partial T1s, check the appropriate subset of channels. Click Save Channel Group and your T1 should now be configured.
Finally, check your Server-Connection Status-Hardware Devices page to make sure your newly created channels are working properly when things are hooked up. They should be checked green and say No Alarm if it configured properly.
Multi-span users
For multi-span cards, you'll see the full consecutive listing of channels. You'll need to create multiple channel groups accordingly. Here is an example.
Group Name: T1 Voice Lines Span 1 - choose channels 1-23
Group Name: T1 Data Line Span 1 - choose channel 24
Group Name: T1 Voice Lines Span 2 - choose channels 25-47
Group Name: T1 Data Line Span 2 - choose channel 48 and so on...
Configure Outgoing Calls
Now navigate to Setup-Outgoing Calls.
Click the Create Outgoing Call Rule button and fill in the required information.
Set the Primary Call Through Provider as your T1 Channel Group name.
In the Rule Final section, Enable both settings. ("Is this Rule Final", and "Allow All Existing Extensions To Use This Rule"). Save the call rule.
You can also modify the existing outgoing call rules and just change the Primary Call Through Provider if you would like to use the default outgoing call rules.
Configure Incoming Calls
Navigate to Setup-Incoming Calls.
Click the Create Single DID Route button.
Fill out the Rule Name section and Note if desired.
Set the Incoming DID to Match. This will be the phone number that is assigned to your T1. You will need a single DID route for each number you have assigned to your T1. This needs to match the caller ID number that is received from the T1 provider. Some providers will send the entire 10 digit number, others will only send the last 4 digits, so check with your provider to make sure this is set correctly.
The Incoming Provider can be left on the default setting, or it can be set to the T1 channel group.
Leave the Incoming Call Type on Voice Calls unless you are going to be accepting faxes. Then you can set it on Voice Calls and Faxes. On later versions of Switchvox, this setting is enabled by default and you will not need to change this setting.
Extension to Route call will be the extension that all incoming calls on this number are routed to. Save the call rule.
