DID Failover
VoIP Innovations provides several options for failover in the event you have an issue with your switch. We offer IP address failover as well as DID failover. This article outlines our DID Failover option covers how to configure this in the Back Office, how calls are billed, and what occurs when a call fails over to a specified destination. DID Failover is available on both local and Tollfree DIDs.
It is important to note from the outset that VoIP Innovations' DID Failover is not an option for forwarding numbers. If you are interested in Call Forwarding options, click here. Our DID Failover option is designed so that IF your server does not respond to an INVITE, for an inbound call, we will forward that call to a number of your choosing. There are two situations that would cause the failover to kick in.
- We get no response from your switch resulting in a timeout
- We get a straight rejection from your switch
VoIP Innovations will send a total of three INVITEs before canceling the call, if we get no response from your switch. If you have only one IP address in an Endpoint Group, have a DID configured for failover, and we receive no response from your switch, we will forward the call to the designated number you have configured. If you have multiple IP addresses in an Endpoint Group, we will advance to each IP address in the group before forwarding the call to the designated number. Please note that the DID Failover option may not work if you have more than four IP addresses in a group as multiple IP address failover will cause the call attempt to timeout before reaching the DID Failover option.
If we get a straight rejection from your switch we will immediately begin the failover process as outlined above. The only difference between a non-response and a straight reject is whereas a non-response will cause multiple INVITEs before attempting failover, a straight reject immediately advances to the next IP address in the group (if present) or advances to the DID Failover option. A straight reject means we received a specific SIP response from your switch (namely 4xx, 5xx, and 6xx level responses). Some of the most common SIP responses that would cause failover are 404 (Not found), 503 (Temporarily unavailable), and 603 (Declined). ***DID
*Failover will not kick in on 401 SIP responses. A 401 SIP response is used as a challenge for a un/pw; as we authenticate on IP address only, this causes failover to not kick in on a 401 so be aware. ****
Once the inbound call to your switch has advanced past your IP address failover, we send a termination call to the designated number for the DID. IF the DID Failover option is used, you will be billed for both an inbound and an outbound call. Standard Tiered Origination prices will apply for the inbound portion of the call and can be viewed in the Back Office by clicking Billing > Packages and Pricing > Origination. To view outbound rates, please see the T38 Term Rate Deck located on this same page under Termination, as this is the rate deck that failover uses.
To configure a DID to use the DID Failover option click the DIDs Tab and select Manage DIDs from the menu options. Use the search filter options to locate the desired DID from your available pool. Once you have located the number you wish to configure, click 'Configure DID' to open the DID Configuration Wizard. When you see 'Failover Number', input the 10-digit US number you wish to forward to and click the 'Save Changes' button to complete the process'.
***As always with all update functions, this requires 10-15 minutes of propagation time for the change to take effect***
****Also, please note that only one DID Feature can be enabled at any given time. ****
To completely remove the DID Failover option from a DID, clear out the field and click 'Save Changes'.
To view the list of numbers you have configured for DID Failover, click the DIDs Tab and select Manage DIDs under the Management list. Now, on the 'Search Filters' box, place a check mark in the 'Failover' box. You will now see a list of displayed DIDs that have failover enabled.
You are also able to add failover numbers in bulk. You can set up to 100 combinations at a time using the bulk tool. You could set multiple DIDs to failover to multiple failover numbers or multiple DIDs to failover to the same failover number. The only stipulations when using the bulk tool is that you can only set failover for DIDs on your account and your entries must be separated by commas. To enter failover numbers in bulk, hover the DIDs tab, and select Tools-> Bulk Failover Number Update. The resulting screen will contain a text box wherein you can place your entries. Simply insert the DID followed by a comma and then the desired failover number and click the Process Bulk Failover Numbers button. Your results will confirm the successful entries or provide any appropriate errors.
*Please note that the DID Failover option will only work if we are receiving Origination traffic from our underlying carriers. This option is ineffective during a carrier outage as VoIP
*Innovations would not be receiving traffic from the carrier. The DID Failover option is provided if YOUR server cannot accept the call. **
Navigate to your local DIDs by clicking the DIDs Tab and selecting Manage DIDs from the menu
Use the search filter or scan the pages to locate the desired DID, then click the 'Pen & Paper'.
On the 'DID Configuration Wizard, You'll see 'Failover Number" and enter a 10-digit failover number, then click 'Save Changes'.
To remove the failover option from a DID, simply clear out this field and click "Save Changes".
To enter failover numbers in bulk, you will want to go to the DIDs tab -> Bulk Update Tools -> Failover Number
Enter the DID and Failover number separated by a comma for each failover selection. You can enter up to 100 at a time. By clicking the 'Process Bulk Failover Numbers' button will return successful results and any appropriate errors
To view all numbers on your account configured for failover, we will want to go back to the DID Management Page. In the search filters, we will want to check the checkbox for Failover.