The SIP.US platform offers multiple options to provide redundancy and reliability for your call traffic to ensure your daily operations remain uninterrupted. These include access to multiple SIP gateways, secondary trunk routing options, HyperNetwork and superTRUNK, PSTN Backup forwarding, and Voicemail to Email. This guide covers the basics of all of these methods and how you can integrate them into your network.
Multiple SIP Gateways
SIP.US hosts multiple gateways which your phone system equipment can register to. We employ an SRV record for SIP.US, so if we're ever experiencing issues with one of the gateways you're registered to, we can redirect your call traffic through an alternate gateway connection. This is why it is crucial to keep your phone system registered with all of our SIP gateways via alternate proxies/redundant registrations or via the SRV record method. Your equipment will need to be capable of supporting multiple SIP connections.
Please see the following article for a list of our SIP Gateways and Whitelisting Guidelines.
For more information on configuration with common SIP devices, view our Device Setup Guides.
Secondary Trunk Routing
A single SIP trunk can only offer a single connection point between our network and a client. Consider just a few of the possible scenarios that could disrupt that connection, such as Internet Service Provider (ISP) issues, power outages, equipment, software issues, or other local network issues. It's easy to understand how secondary trunk routing makes sense to deploy in order to avoid VoIP service and operating disruptions for you or client operations.
Secondary trunk routing is quick and easy to set in the Customer Portal. Note that you will need two SIP trunks on your account to utilize secondary trunk routing. Hover of the SIP Trunking tab and select the Telephone Numbers in the submenu to load the DIDs page. Click the pencil edit icon next to the DID and observe the Primary and Secondary columns in the image above. These indicate which trunks the DID is currently assigned to route through. You can change these routing options at any time and the applied changes will immediately go into effect (be sure to submit the changes).
Contact our Support team if you need an additional SIP trunk for setting up secondary failover routing.
HyperNetwork and superTRUNK
Similar to the secondary trunk routing just explained, HyperNetwork adds inbound redundancy through secondary trunk routing options, but it is far more robust. The HyperNetwork solution leverages the parent relationship of SIP.US with BCM One to provide failover routing through our separate brand networks, but all within the same company. Furthermore, SIP.US now offers superTRUNK which extends failover options for outbound call traffic across multiple networks. There are multiple advantages to incorporating these features into your VoIP deployment, including single vendor simplicity, cost efficiency, and seamless failover.
Learn more about superTRUNK in this blog post, and HyperNetwork by contacting our sales representatives at sales@sip.us.
PSTN Backup
PSTN Backup works just like a hard forward but is ONLY triggered when we receive no response from your server or you do not have an active registration on your trunk. To utilize PSTN Backup, log in to your SIP.US portal and navigate to the DIDs page. Use the pencil button next to the DID to edit it, and place the phone number you would like the calls to forward to in the PSTN Backup field (make sure you include the 1 at the beginning for the country code).
Note: If your trunk utilizes a Channel Rate Plan with unlimited minutes, the forward will use 2 channels (one for the inbound leg and one for the outbound leg). If you do not have at least 2 channels on your trunk this option will not work.
Note: Utilizing a PSTN Forward will prevent the PSTN Backup from engaging.
Voicemail to Email
IMPORTANT: This feature is planned for decommission in Q4 2025. Please take the appropriate actions to implement an alternative redundancy method before then. We will communicate an exact date when it has been determined, and provide notice via email and in this article.
As with PSTN Backup, this option will only kick in if we do not get a response from your server or there is no active registration on your trunk. But, instead of forwarding the call, we will route it to a voicemail system that plays a generic unavailable message. We will record the voicemail and then email the voice recording file to the email address you specify. To utilize Voicemail to Email, log in to your SIP.US portal and navigate to the DIDs page. Use the pencil button next to the DID you wish to enable Voicemail to Email on and input your email into the Vmail-Email box.
Note: We do not offer custom message uploads for voicemail to email.
Note: Utilizing the PSTN Forward or PSTN Backup options will override and prevent Voicemail to Email from engaging.
Maintaining a Positive Account Balance
Lastly, SIP.US recommends establishing an adequate account balance, setting up billing notifications, and enabling Auto Replenish automatic payments for the account balance to ensure continuous VOIP service. Per-minute charges apply to international calls, all calls through SIP trunks in which the prepaid minutes packages have been exceeded, and inbound calls to TF numbers that do not utilize TF-specific minutes packages. A negative account balance can result in service disruption until the balance is paid off. Refer to this article on Setting up Auto Replenish and Low Balance Notifications for more information.
If you have any questions about these options, feel free to submit a support ticket to support@sip.us.