Setting up Switchvox with SIPStation and SMS

This article is for Switchvox version 7.4 (or later), where the SMS feature is introduced.
For phone users, see How do I Use Chat in the Desktop Softphone App?

You will need SIPStation service with SMS-capable numbers and SMS metered service.

• For SIPStation Retail SIP Service instructions, see
  How Do I Sign Up for SIPStation Service for Switchvox & SMS?
  Switchvox version 7.4 is required.

• For SIPStation Wholesale SIP Service instructions, see
  How Do I use SIPStation Wholesale Service with Switchvox?
  Switchvox version 7.6.1 is required.

For Switchvox phone users to use SMS messaging, a Switchvox administrator needs to do the following:

1. Set up SIPStation as a VOIP Provider in Switchvox.

2. Set up a Switchvox SIP Phone extension to use an SMS DID.

3. Enable User Web Portal in Server > Access Control.

Set Up SIPStation as a VOIP Provider in Switchvox

Setting up SIPStation as your VOIP Provider in Switchvox is simple using your SIPStation Keycode. This unique code can be copied from your SIPStation.com  account page and pasted into the Switchvox admin web suite for automatic configuration. (For SIPStation Wholesale, copy the "Autoconfiguration Key" from the appropriate Endpoint Group, and continue to the Switchvox Admin Web Suite.)

Once your service is established, your SIPStation Keycode is located on SIPStation.com by navigating to My Account > Trunk Groups. Here is an example of how this code will be presented:

Open

When you are ready to set up your SIPStation service as a VOIP Provider in Switchvox, copy this Keycode from SIPStation.com.

Navigate to Setup > VOIP Providers in the Switchvox Admin Web Suite, and click the SIPStation button. You will be presented with the configuration window here; follow the steps below:

Open

1. If you have purchased your SIP Service at SIPStation.com, leave the Wholesale Carrier Services set to NO.

2. Paste in your SIPStation Keycode. (Copied from within your SIP service account setup.)

3. Enter the default extension that calls should be routed to. (Calls from this provider go to this extension, unless you have defined a specific route for a DID in Setup > Incoming Calls on the DID Routes tab.)

4. Indicate whether or not you want an incoming DID route created for each of the DIDs on your account. (If you have sequential DIDs and prefer to create a ranged rule instead, leave this set to NO.)

5. Click Complete SIPStation Setup.

In the background, Switchvox does the following:

1. Creates multiple VOIP Provider entries that comprise your SIPStation service, with the default extension you indicated in this form.

2. Sets the new VOIP Provider on all of the outgoing call rules, but only if you do not already have any VOIP Providers. The new rules use one SIPStation trunk as primary, and the other as failover.

3. Creates an incoming DID route for each DID reported for the SIPStation account, but only if you indicated that YES you want these routes created.

After the setup is complete, in Server > IP Configuration:

• Set Allow Port Forwarding to YES

• Set External IP Address

• Set Hostname

You will not be able to run the SIPStation Setup process again using the same SIPStation Keycode. However, you can change the new VOIP Provider, and the outgoing call rules and incoming DID routes that were created. The setup process is a one-time tool, so you can make any appropriate modifications after it's complete.

The VOIP provider that is your SIPStation Retail service has the field SIPStation Keycode, in case you update your Keycode on SIPStation.com and need to enter the new Keycode in Switchvox.
 

Set Up a Switchvox SIP Phone Extension to Use an SMS DID

When you have a SIPStation VOIP Provider in place, you will see a new tab in the Switchvox administrative web suite: SMS DIDs, on the Setup > Incoming Calls page. On the SMS DIDs tab, you associate one phone extension with one SMS DID. SMS texts to that DID are received in that user’s Desktop Softphone app.

For each SMS DID rule, you enter:

• Provider. This has to be the Switchvox VOIP Provider that is your SIPStation service with this DID attached.

• DID. Enter a 10-digit phone number associated with the SIPStation service.

• Extension. This is the extension of the user who can send and receive SMS messages using the DID.

Once a user's extension has an SMS DID associated, they can receive texts that are sent to their DID, and send a text to an external number. SMS messaging is done using the Chat features in the Switchvox Desktop Softphone. For more information, please see How do I use the Switchvox Desktop Softphone App?

These SMS DID associations are separate from the Incoming DID Routes for audio calls. That means that you can have one DID for which calls are routed to one extension and SMS messages are routed to another. You can have calls and messages routed to the same extension, you just need to define the DID in both places (both DID Routes and SMS Rules).

If you do not see the SMS Rules tab, then Switchvox has not been properly configured for Easy Setup with SIPStation. Please review the steps beginning at the top of this article and repeat the configuration, as needed.