...

...

What is an Endpoint Group?

An endpoint group is basically a SIP trunk. It is a collection of one or more static IP addresses (that you register in the Back Office portal), and defines how to route inbound and outbound calls.

The Endpoint Groups section has always been a part of the Back Office but we have recently added enhancements to make it even better. These include additional reporting and the ability to calculate Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin per Group for a specified date range. You always had the ability to change Strip Plus and Strip CC from this section and that remains, but we have also made allowances for changing priority or setting an IP address active/inactive status from within a group (previously only available in the Endpoints section).

Let's begin by covering the basic settings that can be changed regarding Endpoint Groups. VoIP Innovations can deliver inbound calls to your switch with 10, 11, or 12 digits. Twelve digits is the default format and is called E.164 format. An example of this is 1NPANXXXXX (+14125321207). Calls delivered with 11 digits would be in this format: 1NPANXXXXXX (14125321207) and calls with 10 digits would be NPANXXXXXX (4125321207). We leave this option up to you and this is editable using the Strip Plus and Strip CC options. In our examples, the leading '1' is the country code (the number '1' is the country code for the United States). One thing you cannot do is strip the country code and leave the plus (for example, +4125321207). You will receive an error if you attempt to configure an Endpoint Group in this manner. Choosing Strip Plus strips the '' and Strip CC strips the leading '1' from the beginning of the DID on an inbound call to your switch. You will need to use these check-boxes in accordance with how you have your inbound route configured on your switch. The options you choose in the Back Office should match exactly to how you have it configured on your switch to accept the call. If you have your inbound route for a specific DID set for 10 digits, use both Strip Plus, and Strip CC, etc.

Please note that you cannot use the Strip CC option if you have an International DID. This is because the country code must stay intact when delivering an international call to differentiate between domestic and international calls. For example, United Kingdom DIDs will always have 44 prepended, Spain will always have 34 prepended, etc. This is important to remember if you already have the group set up using the Strip CC option and you are purchasing your first international DID as well.

You can also change the Name of the Endpoint Group to whatever you like. Naming an
Endpoint Group is simply used to identify it using an easy to remember name. Each Endpoint Group created is given a number ID in our system that we use for internal purposes (this number is NOT editable). So, while you can refer to the number in correspondence with us, it is much easier to give the group a friendly name since this is easier to remember (as well as making it easier on you as you manage your account day-to-day). You can edit the name once a group is created from the Endpoint Groups Section.
You can change the signaling port for calls in the Endpoint Groups section as well. The default signaling port for SIP is 5060 but you are free to customize this as you see fit. You will obviously want to ensure that you are configured on your network to accept traffic from our IP address on the port you specify here. If you choose to set the port in the Back Office as 5040, that means we will send calls to your IPADDRESS:5040; you will therefore need to configure all your network settings to allow our IP address access to that port.
Any time you add a new group you need to configure the fields. Some of the fields can be left blank but some are required. You will always need to supply the desired port number and IP address but the Strip Plus and Strip CC options default to unchecked. If you make no changes to these we will therefore route calls in E.164 format. The Prepend Digits field can also be left blank. This field is simply used if you want your calls prepended with specific digits in the INVITE. For example, if you enter 432002 in this field, we will deliver calls as 432002NPANXXXXXX (provided Strip Plus and Strip CC are also checked of course). This field is used by some customers to differentiate things on their end for billing purposes.
Two more things you can change from this section are the priority of a current set of IP addresses (at least two must be in the group) and the active/inactive status. Once you drill down into a group you will see arrows for changing the priority of the IP address which moves them up or down in the group. An edit option (pencil icon) is also present and clicking this icon will open a window with an 'Active' check box. Removing a check already present will set the IP Address to 'Inactive' status. Just like from the Endpoints-> Endpoints path, you can release IP addresses from a group by clicking the orange 'X' to the far right of the IP address.

*Groups with multiple IPs will have always have the orange 'X' visible; groups with a single IP address and NO DIDs assigned will also have the orange 'X' visible but single IPs with DIDs assigned will not show the orange 'X'.

If you wish to remove an IP address with DIDs assigned to it, you must first move (or release) those DIDs to make the orange 'X' visible.

Some of our more recent features are also editable from the Endpoint Groups section including Advanced VI Server Configurationand Inbound IP Address Hunt Groups. Please view the respective articles to learn more about these functions and the necessary settings to configure these options to suit your needs.
If you are familiar with DIDGroups you will certainly appreciate how managing data on your account can assist you with the day-to-day operations of running your business. We have included this same type of feature under the Endpoint Group Management section of the Back Office. From here you can view totals regarding Cost, Minutes, and Calls for both Origination and Termination as it relates to the specific Group. You can also view overall totals for all Groups providing you with even more essential information to assist you. One thing you will want to remember with these totals is that moving a DID from one group to another will affect the totals. Also, potentially affecting these totals is adding or removing an IP address. The following disclaimer is posted under the Groups section so keep this in mind: *Endpoint totals may not match group totals due to endpoint changes in given time* You can export the returned information via CSV or Excel format.

Just like DIDGroups, you are able to enter your expected or known Customer Revenue and use the VoIP Innovations' cost information to calculate Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin for a given Endpoint Group. This is completely optional but we certainly recommend taking advantage of this valuable tool. The same caveat mentioned in the DID Groups article applies here as well regarding skewed information: *We caution you to be aware of the date range you choose to use to compare *data as this can greatly affect the results. ** You are only able to select date ranges on a full month basis (for instance, 1/1/13-1/31/13,1/1/13-3/31/13, 2/1/132/28/13, and so forth). If you are therefore viewing data at the beginning of the month your profit statistics will be skewed as the usage will likely increase as the month goes on.


To navigate to the Endpoint Groups section, hover 'Endpoints' and select 'Endpoint Group Management' from the drop-down menu

The resulting page is an overview with various information and functionality.

...