Our number range hosting service is available to communications providers with their own number range allocations from Ofcom. We can host your numbers and access codes within our own BT interconnected, highly reliable and secure IP network.

Our hosting service is offered without any set-up, monthly port rental charges or management fees. We simply take a share of any revenue paid by BT Wholesale for terminating your calls on our network, the remainder is paid to yourself on a monthly basis.

Please contact us to discuss or call +44 (0)121 4000 000

Industry forum 25th October 2011

Overview

Telephone numbers are a national resource. We are always managing the supply of phone numbers to ensure that they are used effectively and efficiently

CPs demand for phone numbers continues to grow year-on-year and we predict could exceed number block availability in some areas of the UK

Shortages will occur soon in some areas – such as the 01202 Bournemouth code area

We might be able to drive more efficient use of numbers in some areas through administrative measures (e.g. smaller number blocks in areas with five-digit codes)

However, ultimately, in some areas we will need to make more numbers available to ensure that all CPs that would like to compete in that area have access to numbers

We will only make changes in areas where required to create more numbers

Shortages will occur soon in some areas

Bournemouth 01202
Aberdeen 01224
Bradford 01274
Brighton 01273
Cambridge 01233
Milton Keynes 01908

Solution- Closed local dialling

Example Bournemouth 01202

This would mean dialling the 01202 code for all calls, even when making a local call (i.e. to another 01202 number). This is know as “closing local dialling”, as residents would not be able to use the local dialling facility for any calls.

Recent testing of the Asterisk platform has found an issue that relates to Codecs, Asterisk can’t ignore unsupported codecs in the “m” like as RFC 3267 says it should.

As a work around we have developed a solution to describe the m-line we should offer using codecs separated by a semi-colon., within the translated to tab in Selfcare.

For example for calls terminating to sip.abctelecom.net but only using PCMA and PCMU then you can put:

sip.abctelecom.net~m=PCMA;PCMU

We support any combination of the following codecs:

G722
G726
AAL2-G726
PCMA
PCMU
ILBC
GSM

0800 Numbers

Three new freephone 0800 codes granted by Ofcom, will be available by the end of August.

08003 20 2x xx
08008 20 2x xx
08009 20 2x xx

There’s plenty of new memorable numbers that will be available. Starting with 08003 202020, 08008 202020 and 08009 202020. Please contact sales@numbergoup.com to reserve these.

Price comparison sites are money making businesses, they are brokers who earn money for passing your business on and therefore offer the most profitable packages as the “consumer best”.

Most Internet industry awards are paid for, the people who produce the awards have never seen or used the product they are offering the award for. You receive an “Award” email and if you respond to “collect your award” you are informed of the “Award claim fee”, you get your award when you have paid your fee. It’s got nothing to do with how good the product is.

The ITSPA are not a regulator, they are a club.

The UK regulator is Ofcom, they determine the best practises and regulate the industry. None of the “practises” set our by the ITSPA exceed those set out by Ofcom.

At Numbergroup we don’t need a pretend badge, we are a licensed Ofcom operator; something which most of the ITSPA members simply cannot achieve, because they don’t actually have a network to speak of in order to license.

We don’t believe in false advertising, false branding or price fixing. We believe in a level playing field where operators can be chosen based on the quality of their product and the fairness of their price. We certainly don’t believe in standing behind a false symbol, fronted by a conglomerate which operates a closed door policy and who’s administration are actually members of the club rather than regulators in their own right.

Account Tab:

Account Name: Numbergroup (or whatever you like).
Allow this account for: Call yes, IM/Presence no.

User ID: {Numbergroup trunk Authorisation ID}
Password: {Numbergroup trunk Password}
Display Name: The Numbergroup Number you want to send as your calling number

Register with domain and receive calls: Yes
Proxy: sip.numbergroup-services.com

Topology Tab:

Firewall traversal method: None (use local IP address)

Andrew Cassidy, Numbergroup Customer SIP setting blog

I’ve been asked to write this up in a bit more depth using SIP trunks, Inbound Numbers and Asterisk as a PBX. So I decided to come up with a number of use cases for them and detail how to get going.

For the purposes of this document, I’m going to use numbergroup.com as the example provider, as they provide whole ranges of numbers, cheap outbound calling services and most importantly, are flexible in how you set up your equipment.

Before we begin, I’m aware that some devices support multiple lines. For the purposes of this document, each line should be considered a separate device. A device could also be any computer with a SIP softphone.

Simple Setup (no PBX)

This is the simplest setup to get you started in the world of VoIP, you have a single VoIP device that you’d like to make and receive calls to and from PSTN with over the Internet. For this, we’ll use a SIP trunk.

Get started by heading over to numbergroup.com and creating an account (if you haven’t already) and getting yourself a number. I recommend starting with either an 033 number of a geographic number as these are free to receive calls to and are included in most call packages making them easy to test.

Now head over to the ‘SIP Trunks’ section, click ‘New Trunk…’. Give it a name, choose it’s caller id. Click create, then select it from the list on the left of the page. The first option you should change immediately is the ‘NAT Support’ option, set it to YES (chances are you’re behind NAT if you’re only using a single device), and click ‘show’ under the password field. Click ‘save’ to save the settings.

Now, on your SIP device, you’ll need these settings from the Trunk settings page and set them up in your SIP device:

●     Server/Domain: sip.numbergroup-services.com

●     Username: the value of the ‘Authorisation ID’ text box

●     Password: the value of the ‘Password’ text box

Save the changes on your sip device and it should now register. Click ‘refresh’ on the numbergroup trunk settings page and the ‘Registered’ field should now read ‘Yes’. You should now be able to dial out to PSTN at competitive rates.

The final thing to do now is to direct the number to the SIP trunk. Go back to the ‘Numbers’ section and select your number from the list. Change the drop-down box of ‘Translates to’ to ‘Trunk’, then select the trunk from the list and click ‘Save’. That’s it, give it a go!

You can of course manage multiple numbers and multiple devices, just create a trunk for each device and set up the trunks and numbers accordingly. If you’re a small company just starting out wanting multiple phone numbers, this is a good way to start.

Advanced Setup (with Asterisk PBX)

If you are reading this, I’m going to assume you know how to use asterisk and your devices to use it, so am going to omit that section. All I’m going to cover is using numbergroup to provide PSTN access with your asterisk setup. Now there are two different ways of achieving this, and the best one to use will be dictated by your situation. If you are behind a NAT firewall and do not have a static IP address, use the registration method (similar to the setup without a PBX); otherwise use the direct addressing method. Outbound calling will however require you to use at least one registration.

The first thing you’ll want to do is set the following options in the [global] section of sip.conf:

allowguest=yes

insecure=invite

context=sip-in

These options allow inbound calls from callers unknown to the PBX, and direct them to the [sip-in] context in extensions.conf.

Sign up for a numbergroup account and one or more numbers, if you haven’t already. As before, geographic and 033 numbers are best for testing. For this example, we’ll use the number 03300333000 (which I just made up, but might be a real number). I’m also going to use this number as the extension, but that’s not required.

So in extensions.conf, add this

[sip-in]

exten => 03300333000,1,Dial(SIP/device)

add an exten line for all numbers you want to act individually.

Outbound Calls

To do this you’ll need at least one trunk. Create one as above. To register the trunk, add a line similar to this to your sip.conf [general] section:

register => (trunk authorization id):(trunk password)@sip.numbergroup-services.com

You’ll also need to set up a peer so that asterisk can route the calls correctly. Create one in sip.conf by adding the following:

[numbergroup-out]

type=peer

username=(trunk authorization id)

fromuser=(trunk authorization id)

secret=(trunk password)

host=sip.numbergroup-services.com

Finally, add a rule to your dialplan somewhere that matches all unmatched numbers, and passes them out via the numbergroup trunk.

exten => _X.,1,Dial(SIP/numbergroup-out/${EXTEN})

Inbound via Direct Addressing

This is the easier of the 2 to set up. Go back to the numbergroup control panel, set the ‘Translates to’ drop-down to ‘SIP’ and put 03300333000@yourasteriskserveraddress in the text box. That’s it.

Inbound via Registration

If you want all of the numbers you have to point to different sip devices or menus, you’ll need to repeat this process for ALL different destinations. For each destination you’ll need to create a trunk as detailed in the ‘Simple Setup’ above. Set the destination of each number to the trunk you created for it.

For each trunk, add a register line to sip.conf as in the ‘Outbound Calls’ section above, with one difference, you need to add the contact number to the line. This is due to a limitation in the way sip registration works which I won’t go in to here. To specify the number to direct to, add it after a forward slash at the end of the line, for example:

register => (trunk authorization id):(trunk password)@sip.numbergroup-services.com/03300333000

That’s pretty much it. 3 different mechanisms to get you started with PSTN access with SIP via numbergroup.

We considered that it was likely that readers of the ad would infer from the claim “Free 0800 Numbers UK” that anyone could obtain an 0800 number for absolutely no cost. We noted that, although UK2Numbers had said that they would offer any number of free 0800 numbers to any organisation that truly required it, they had not provided any documentary evidence to that effect.

We noted that, notwithstanding their statement that their services catered for small businesses, sole traders and other entities, they had previously told us that because their services were designed specifically for medium and large businesses, many customers would not be able to benefit from their services at all. We noted that, notwithstanding their statement that they did not place limitations on the quantity of 0800 numbers supplied for free, they had told us that their guidelines to their support staff were that free numbers were limited to one per customer. We also noted that they had told us that the free numbers were subject to a strict credit check and that they reserved the right to refuse to provide a free number if they did not think that a business met their service requirements.

Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told UK2Numbers that they should include significant terms and conditions in the ad.

Sip trunking is supplied for totally free, without having connection or leasing costs.

What is SIP Trunking ?

SIP Trunking is a new method of communication that allows businesses to make and receive telephone calls over a regular Internet Broadband connection using the same technology large telecom operators employ. SIP Trunking is now commonly supported on newer PBX and consumer equipment, plus a wide array of options exist for adding SIP Trunking to older PBX equipment. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is the method the majority of telecommunications networks use to exchange calls, it forms the backbone of BT’s “21CN” network and you probably make and receive calls using SIP at the moment without knowing it.

Why would we want SIP Trunking ?

There are many reasons to use SIP Trunking. SIP Trunking dramatically reduces your calling costs by routing calls over the IP network as opposed to the traditional public telephone network. SIP Trunking also allows you to use more than one provider and does not limit you to making and receiving calls using the company who provided your phone or Internet service. By switching from exchange lines or ISDN to SIP trunking, businesses also save on the associated line rental costs. SIP trunking is provided for free, without any connection or rental charges. Other benefits include increased mobility, unlimited number of lines, the ability to use any geographic or non-geographic telephone number i.e. 0203, 0121, 0141 or 0800 as both your inbound and outbound number.

What sound quality does SIP Trunking provide ?

As a minimum, an IP telephone will provide an ISDN sound quality service. In some cases, where both you and the person you’re calling are using SIP Trunking the sound can be CD quality, vastly exceeding traditional phone services. SIP Trunking is not to be confused with Peer To Peer services or Internet based pre-paid services which offer substandard voice quality and does not project a professional image.

How reliable is the service ?

Our network is built on a fully redundant network, any issues are alerted automatically to our dedicated Network Operations Team while service is maintained through back-up equipment and/or networks. As SIP Trunking uses the Internet Protocol, network issues encountered are automatically re-routed through alternate networks without you noticing, which is simply not possible using traditional phone services. Additionally, NumberGroup numbers can be re-routed in the event of equipment loss to an alternate SIP Trunk or even a regular phone number like a switchboard or mobile phone.

Will my customers notice ?

No, the experience to your customers and to you is the same. Callers hear the same normal ring tones and you don’t have to change any of your dialing habits. In most cases you can keep using the same telephone, if you’re attached to it. Of course NumberGroup provides an array of innovative features like IVR Menus, Call Recording, Voicemail & Missed Call alerts and Multi-Ring, all of these features are available for calls sent to a SIP Trunk in the same way as regular destinations.

Are emergency services supported ?

Yes, we support calls to 999 emergency services. However this is subject to your phone and internet equipment having power.

What equipment do I need ?

A SIP enabled device such as a Softphone/PBX/IP Telephone and a Broadband Internet connection. Although we don’t provide Customer Equipment ourselves, we would be delighted to share our experience with you or put you in touch with a partner who may be able to help if you need assistance.

Can we keep our old number(s) ?

Yes you can, we can port any existing UK telephone number from any supplier onto our SIP Trunking service. You can also make calls over our SIP Service sending any number you may already have registered with another telecom company, without moving these to us or alerting the phone company.

Can we have a different telephone number ?

Using our selfcare portal you can assign multiple 01/02 geographic area codes, 0800 freephone numbers, 03 UK Wide and 084 business numbers.

Can I hide my number to the people I am calling ?

Yes, there are specific ways SIP Trunking allows you to do this and we support them all, you can also override these in the usual way though with 141 in front of the number to hide your number, 1470 to reveal your number.

Do you support encryption?

Yes, we support both encrypted signalling and media. Our SIP Trunking service uses high strength Transport Layer Security (TLS) to encrypt the registration and call control protocol and optionally enables use of SRTP to encrypt voice communications for calls made and received. These technologies are widely deployed on most commercially available IP PBX products as well as certain Open Source solutions.

Do you provide Voicemail ?

Yes, all of the inbound features NumberGroup provides are supported on SIP Trunking, even Call Recording and IVR Menus. We send all Voicemails to an e-mail address provided with all the details of the call, the voicemail itself is sent as an MP3 file.

What does SIP Trunking Cost ?

We provide the sip trunking service for free, simply charging you for any calls that you make.

How do I start using NumberGroup SIP Trunking ?

If you’re already a NumberGroup customer, log in to our portal and create a Trunk from the SIP Trunks section. Once you have a SIP Trunk and have set up your equipment, simply send calls to your Trunk by changing the destination on your number in the Numbers section, your Trunk will be listed as an available destination.

If you’re not yet a NumberGroup customer, sign up for an account choosing “SIP Trunk” as your destination for receiving calls, we’ll create a trunk automatically.

Ofcom today announced a reduction in mobile termination rates – the wholesale charges that mobile operators make to other operators to connect calls to their networks – designed to benefit UK consumers.

From 1 April, Ofcom will place a cap on the rates charged by all four national mobile network operators – 3UK, O2, Everything Everywhere and Vodafone. This will lead to around an 80% reduction in termination rates over the next four years.
Benefitting consumers and promoting competition

Lower termination rates are designed to benefit landline and mobile customers in two ways:

* Cheaper landline services: Lower termination rates reduce the cost to landline companies of passing calls to mobiles. Ofcom expects these savings to be passed on to consumers in the competitive UK landline market. Some operators have already promised to lower their charges.
* More choice: Lower termination rates promote competition in the mobile market, providing customers with more choice. Operators will have more pricing flexibility and will be able to increase the range of packages available to consumers.