SIP.US understands that end users will place many types of outbound calls with our service, so this guide explains how to successfully dial to all destinations, how to use the SIP.US Customer Portal to look up call record details (CDRs), check rates, and enable Trunk changes to allow for international calling.
This guide covers general information, so we recommend viewing our Device Setup Guides for additional help with your specific PBX model.
North American Dialing
Whenever you place an outbound call, we require that you send 11 digits for the number you are dialing TO. Likewise, you need to ensure you send us a legitimate 10 or 11-digit caller ID in your FROM header.
The number of digits is in reference to the standard North American format:
- Industry format: 1NXXNXXXXXX (1-NPA-NXX-XXXX)
- In more plain terms: 18005669810 (1-800-566-9810)
In other words, we require all outbound North American traffic to start with a 1 for the country code (US and Canada share the same country code as part of the NANP), followed by the rest of the number.
Note: Do not send any dashes, parentheses, stars, or other characters in the dialing pattern.
SIP.US will automatically FAIL a domestic call that is not dialed in an 11-digit format. However, it is not so simple with your caller ID (Source #). SIP.US may still successfully pass your call to one of our pier networks, but upstream carriers may reject your call if the caller ID is not legitimate. Please see this article on Setting Up Caller ID for more info.
You can review your call traffic on the CDRs page to ensure your configuration sends us what you intend and to rule out basic issues. To view CDRs, navigate to SIP Trunking and click Call Detail Records in the submenu.
Correct:
18005669810
14706102875
Incorrect:
8005669810
1-800-566-9810
*8005669810
5669810
If you are certain your call is in the US 48 or Canada and it still doesn't seem to be going through, you may want to test it on your cell phone or a different carrier to see if it's a valid number. If it's valid and it's not going through, contact support@sip.us and our team will look into the issue further.
International Dialing
When dialing to international destinations, you simply need to send us the destination number beginning with the respective country code. We do not need 011 to make your international call. So if you are seeing “011NXXNXXXXXX” in your CDR at SIP.US, and the call is failing, we need you to strip the 011 from your dial pattern. For instance, a call to Mexico should look like:
GOOD EXAMPLE: 526241431234 (Broken out for readability: 52-624-143-1234)
BAD EXAMPLE: 011526241431234 (011-52-624-143-1234)
BAD EXAMPLE: 1526241431234 (1-52-624-143-1234)
The SIP trunk will also need to be configured to allow for international calls, and the maximum call cost on your SIP trunk will need to be greater than the per-minute rate to call the destination number. Per-minute rates apply to all calls to countries outside of the continental US and (most of) Canada. Refer to the article How to Check International and Per-Minute Outbound Rates for more information.
If you experience issues with placing successful outbound international calls, please refer to this article on Cannot Place International Calls for fixes to common issues.
The Four Categories of Outbound Calls
SIP.US defines all outbound calls into four categories and defines each as a "Term Rate Plan" which acts as a security measure to prevent unauthorized calls to high-cost areas. SIP Trunks are assigned the "US 48 and Canada" Term Rate Plan by default and must contact the Support team for any changes. Familiarize yourself with each of the following Term Rate Plans:
1. US 48 and Canada (this does not include the Northwest Territory of Canada)
2. US 50 and Canada (charged per minute for Hawaii and Alaska)
3. Default International (all international calls are charged per minute)
4. Blacklisted International Countries (requires waiver and all international calls are charged per minute)
NOTE: SIPTRUNK recommends setting up Auto Replenish and Low Balance Notifications, especially with per-minute cost calls to avoid negative account balances and potential service disruptions.
1. US 48 and Canada
This is the default SIP trunk Term Rate Plan for SIP.US and includes the mainland US and most of Canada.
2. US 50 and Canada
The Term Rate Plan “US 50 and Canada” will need to be enabled on your SIP trunk by our Support team.
Includes:
- 907 (Alaska)
- 808 (Hawaii)
- 867 (Northwest Territories)
3. International Default Worldwide
The Term Rate Plan “International Default Worldwide” will need to be enabled on your SIP trunk by our Support team.
Includes:
- 787 or 939 (Puerto Rico)
- 52 (Mexico)
- 649, 242, 441, 876, 345...etc. (various Caribbean islands)
- Any other countries (excluding blacklisted countries)
4. Blacklisted International Countries
We blacklist calls to certain countries where fraud is prevalent (e.g. Pakistan, Cuba, Egypt). The blacklist can be removed from your account, however, we will require you to sign a document saying you will accept all charges for international calls on your account whether they are fraudulent or legitimate. Open a ticket at support@sip.us to begin that process.
Refer to the article Blacklist Country Destinations for the complete list of countries.
3-Digit Dialing
SIP.US supports 3-digit dialing to 711, 911, 933, and 988.
Dialing Patterns Explained
A dialing pattern relates to the digit string sent in the TO header of the SIP Call INVITE. All North American calling is done using 11 digits. However, phone equipment can add or remove digits for you via custom dialing patterns so that you only have to dial seven digits, 10 digits, etc. Dialing patterns are also in effect if you have custom rules for dialing out of your company to external numbers.
You may customize your dialing patterns however you wish. As long as you send eleven digits to SIP.US for a North American call, we will try and send your call to the destination address.
Some sample dial patterns for general use:
| PREPEND | STRIP | DIGITS DIALED | HUMAN MEANING |
| 1 | NXXNXXXXXX | Dial 10 Digits and add a 1 | |
| 1404 | NXXXXXX | Dial 7 digits and add 1 and 404 | |
| 1NXXNXXXXXX | Dial 11 Digits | ||
| 011 | . |
Dial 011 and any number, remove 011 |
|
| . | Dial any amount of digits | ||
| ! | Dial anything | ||
| NXX | Dial 200-999 (think 911 or 933) |
X = Any Number
N = Any number 2-9
. = Any number and any amount of numbers, but at least 1 number
! = Anything
Prepend = Add a number onto what was dialed
Prefix = This is allowed to be dialed, but take off these digits
Strip = Remove this number of digits