Written on Jul 7, 2020.
At every opportunity I always tell new VoIP enthusiasts that one of the true advantages of switching to a VoIP platform is the fact that you don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket. Just this morning, I read a Facebook post from one of the elders in my family lamenting the fact that her MaBell landline had failed in the midst of this week’s snowstorm in North Carolina. Her local WiFi and cable TV still worked but not her landline or cellphone.
With that background, we are pleased to introduce BulkVS trunking as another option to add to your collection. Unlike Skyetel, ClearlyIP, Vitelity, and VoIP.ms, we receive no commissions from BulkVS so chalk this article up as a good example of biting off your nose to spite your face. There is a PayPal link to the right if you’re feeling grateful. ??
Why does BulkVS matter? In the words of Alex Trebek, it’s The 3 P’s: Price, Price, and Price. An inbound US48 Tier0 phone number (DID) will set you back 6¢ a month with a 25¢ setup fee. And calls are billed at $.0003 per minute. Toll-free numbers in the U.S. and Canada are 14¢ a month with a per minute rate of $.0055. CNAM lookups are $.002. Outbound calls are $0.004/minute. E911 service is 49¢/month. Billing increment: 6 seconds. Those aren’t typos.
Getting Started with BulkVS
To get started, click the sign up link on the main BulkVS page. Then fund your account with $25 using PayPal. Or you can sign up for Net 15 billing and pay by check or credit card if you’re not in a rush to get started.
BulkVS offers two ways to set up your BulkVS trunking: IP-based authentication and SIP registration. If you don’t have a firewall which means you’re not using Incredible PBX, the first method is a little safer because nobody can spoof the IP address of your Asterisk® PBX. But it’s not for everyone. For example, if you’re behind a NAT-based firewall or if your server has a dynamic IP address, then IP-based authentication really isn’t an option. Similarly, if you don’t have control of the router that your PBX is sitting behind, then IP-based authentication won’t work since you have to forward both the SIP port (UDP 5060) and the RTP ports (10000-20000) to your PBX. The beauty of SIP registrations is they work from almost anywhere including double-NAT environments. So today, we’ll cover the SIP registration approach which will work for everyone.
There are three setup procedures: one using the BulkVS Control Panel, a second using the Linux CLI, and a third using the FreePBX® GUI included in Incredible PBX®.
BulkVS Setup with SIP Registration
Step 1: Go to Inbound -> DIDs – Purchase and buy one or more DIDs for your PBX.
Step 2: Go to Interconnection -> Host – Add and add your PBX’s public IP address. Leave the port as 5060 for both chan_sip and chan_pjsip setups.
Step 3: Go to Interconnection -> Trunk Group – Add and create a Trunk Group.
Step 4: Go to Interconnection -> Trunk Group – Manage and add the Primary IP Address for your new Trunk Group. Set Delivery Type to 11DIGITS.
Step 5: Go to Interconnection -> SIP Registration and write down the credentials for one of the SIP credentials you wish to use to register your new trunks.
Step 6: Go to Inbound -> DIDs – Manage and select each telephone number. Then set the Trunk Group to the SIPREG Trunk Group you chose in the previous step. Click Update button.
Step 7: Wait 15 minutes for the new IP and Trunk Group settings to propagate to SBC nodes.
Linux CLI Setup for BulkVS
First, log into your server as root and edit iptables-custom in /usr/local/sbin. Add the following just above the # End of Trusted Provider Section marker:
# BulkVS WhiteList
/usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp -s 199.255.157.198 --dport 5060:5069 -j ACCEPT
/usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp -s 162.249.171.198 --dport 5060:5069 -j ACCEPT
/usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp -s 69.12.88.198 --dport 5060:5069 -j ACCEPT
/usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -p udp -m udp -s 76.8.29.198 --dport 5060:5069 -j ACCEPT
For chan_sip trunk implementations, while logged into your server as root, edit sip_custom_post.conf in /etc/asterisk. Add the following:
[bulkvs1](bulkvs);
host=199.255.157.198
[bulkvs2](bulkvs);
host=162.249.171.198
[bulkvs3](bulkvs);
host=69.12.88.198
[bulkvs4](bulkvs);
host=76.8.29.198 ...
Click on read more for the full article from Nerdvittles. Compare Incredible PBX vs Freepbx, review the Freepbx Firewall and Incredible PBX Default Password. Find why Bulk Solutions makes telephone calls easier to setup than Vitelity LLCc Phone Calls and others.
