DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| [Equipment] Useful Sipura tricks...
While the Sipura SPA-xxxx VoIP adapters appear to be very powerful (and inexpensive), getting the most out of them is non-obvious. So I thought I would start a thread where we could post various "tricks" (non-obvious ways to enable useful features), that we have working on our Sipura adapters.
If you have a useful Sipura "trick", please post what it does and how to do it here. If there are any restrictions on your "trick" (for example, if your "trick" only works on a specific model of SPA adapter), please also include that info. Hopefully, by building up a list of Sipura "tricks", we can all get the most out of our adapters... |
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rjackson
Premium,Mod
join:2002-04-02
Ringgold, GA
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| This works on my SPA-2000, but I would assume other models as well.
Dialing **** takes you to the Sipura configuration menu, and then from there you can enter options. I don't know them all but 110# will read you your adapter's current IP address. Handy when troubleshooting networking issues. |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
edit:
June 14th, @10:21PM
| reply to DracoFelis
Since I started this thread, I thought I would post a few "tricks". All of the "tricks" in this note work by adding things to the "Dial Plan" for the line in your SPA. If you have an "unlocked" SPA you can use these tricks. However, if you have a "locked" SPA, the provider may prevent you from editing the "Dial Plan" (and thus prevent you from using these "tricks").
NOTE: Per the Sipura SPA-xxxx manual, all dial plan patterns need to be separated from each other by a "|" (vertical bar) character. So when I say to add a pattern to your dial plan, don't forget to separate it from the rest of the dial plan by a "|" character!
BTW: In my case, I have tested these tricks on "line 2" of my SPA-2000 (which is currently setup with the $11.99/month DialPad.com outbound VoIP service). Since these tricks do work on my SPA-2000, and they appear to follow the syntax that is common to the Sipura adapters, they should work with pretty much any SPA model. However, I have only tested them on my SPA-2000, so YMMV.
Trick 1: Do your own "911" support.
This can be useful if/when using a provider that doesn't provide 911 (for example dialpad.com). This does NOT give you E911 (just normal "speed dialing"), but it is better than nothing. You first decide which number you would like to "speed dial" when 911 is entered on a phone connected to that SPA-xxxx line. IMHO the "best way" to get the number, is to call the non-emergency number for your area (usually listed in the front a phone book), and ask them what number to call in an emergency when using a phone that can't directly dial 911. You can then make an automatic "translation" in the dial plan, so that 911 is turned into your own custom "speed dial". For example, if your emergency number is 319-555-2222 (no that's not a real emergency number, use the real number for your area), than the following added to your "Dial Plan" will enable custom 911 services:
NOTE: Replace the dummy number after the : (above), with your real emergency "speed dial" number (before adding this code to your SPA's "Dial Plan")!
Trick 2: Calling Free World Dialup from a line provisioned to another provider.
The Sipura has a little understood "IP dialing" feature, that can be usefully combined with the FWD SIP gateway (and no you do NOT have to turn on "IP dialing" in the Sipura to use this trick). When you have a line provisioned to another provider (for example my "line 2" is setup for DialPad.com), you can still make outbound FWD calls (including calling the FWD "Service numbers", and calling "FWD partners") from that line for only 3 extra keystrokes. Once the following code is added to your line's "Dial Plan", FWD calls are as simple as pressing: #3 fwd_number # (for example, the FWD time number would be reached by calling #3612#).
<#3:>[x*].<#:>S0 <:@fwd.pulver.com>
Trick 3: Transparently use FWD for USA "Toll Free" numbers, instead of using your provider:
This is a variation of trick 2 (above). Some "pay as you go" VoIP providers not only charge for normal LD calls, but also charge for "toll free" calls. And other providers (such as DialPad.com), don't officially "support" calling toll free number via their service. In such cases, it could be useful to have toll free numbers automatically go via FWD, instead of dialing through your VoIP provider. You can easily force 1 (800/888/877/866) xxx-xxxx numbers to use FWD, by putting the following (long string) in your "Dial Plan" BEFORE (to the left of) the pattern that would normally dial LD numbers:
<:*>1800xxxxxxxS0 <:@fwd.pulver.com> | <:*>1888xxxxxxxS0 <:@fwd.pulver.com> |
<:*>1877xxxxxxxS0 <:@fwd.pulver.com> | <:*>1866xxxxxxxS0 <:@fwd.pulver.com> |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| reply to rjackson
said by rjackson  :Dialing **** takes you to the Sipura configuration menu, and then from there you can enter options. I don't know them all but 110# will read you your adapter's current IP address. Yep, handy to remember.
BTW: Both the "****" sequence, and the various codes you can follow it with are documented in the Sipura user manual. You can download the user manual (and upgraded firmware versions) from this web page: »www.sipura.com/support/index.htm |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| reply to DracoFelis
Here's a couple more that I was able to figure out today. I was experimenting to see if there was some way I could forward incoming calls on my SPA-2000 "Line 1" (FWD), automatically to "Line 2" (my DialPad.com line). I wanted to do this, so that I didn't need to have a phone hooked up to the Line1 port of the SPA, in order to receive FWD calls (remember, I can already DIAL FWD calls from "Line 2", that "trick" is shown in a previous note in this thread).
Call one line of the SPA from the other line:
This is not especially useful (more of a "parlor trick"), but it was a good "learning experience" in trying to get "forwarding" to work. Believe it or not, the SPA-2000 can directly call one line from the other (by using the internal "loop back" IP address)! Here's how:
First make sure that each "Line" on the SPA is setup with a unique SIP port, and a unique userid (i.e. make the settings for these two values different for each line). You will also need to set "Make call without reg: Yes" on the calling line, and "Ans Call Without Reg: Yes" on the line receiving. And you will also have to make sure that the lines have at least one CODEC in common (it might as well be "G711u", since the "call" is "internal" to the SPA). Finally, you will have to setup a "dial plan" to call the other line, at "userid@127.0.0.1:sip_port".
For example, if the other line is on SIP port 5063, and is userid "testing", than you can call that line (from the other one) by pressing #1 if you have the following as part of your "dial plan":
<#1:> S0 <:testing@127.0.0.1:5063>
And now (drum roll), how to forward all inbound calls to the OTHER line:
This is VERY USEFUL, because it either lets you have a TWO VoIP accounts that both "ring" the same phone, OR lets you use one account for all incoming, and a 2nd account for all outgoing (by putting the "phone" on the line with the outgoing VoIP service, and then forwarding all incoming calls on that other VoIP line to that one)!
NOTE: This theory was tested earlier this evening, by forwarding my SPA-2000's "Line 1" (setup for FWD) to "Line 2" (setup for DialPad.com), and then calling my FWD number from Packet8. After I finally got all the pieces in place, my "Line 2" was happy to "ring", and when I picked up that phone 2-way talking worked fine! So this appears to work (at least for me). But naturally YMMV.
Here are the needed pieces:
1) As in the previous "trick", you need unique SIP ports and unique userids for the two lines. NOTE: It's quite OK to use whatever "userid" the provider on that line supplied (for logging into their SIP proxy). You don't need the UserId set to any specific value, just something unique!
2) Again, the line you are forwarding from will need "Make call without reg: Yes", and the line you want to forward to will need "Ans Call Without Reg: Yes".
3) If you are behind a router (I am), you will need to forward the SIP port of the line you want to ring (the line you are forwarding to) to the SPA. This is probably much easier if you program the SPA for a "static LAN IP" (instead of using DHCP).
4) Your external address will need to either be "static", _OR_ you will need to use a dynamic DNS service (btw: I'm happy with the free dynamic DNS service from »www.no-ip.com ). This is necessary, as you will need to always know the internet address of your SPA-2000 (not the LAN address, the "external address") for forwarding to work.
5) Turn on "Cfwd All Serv: yes" on the line you are forwarding "from" (i.e. if you want calls to the VoIP on "Line 1" to ring "Line 2", than you set this on "Line 1").
6) Go over to the "user" tab for the line you are forwarding from, and setup the "Cfwd All Dest:" field as "userid@external_address:sip_port". For example, if your dynamic DNS entry is "dummy.no-ip.com", your target line's userid is "testing", and the target line's SIP port is 5063, than you would want to "Cfwd All Dest:" to "testing@dummy.no-ip.com:5063".
NOTE: I was NOT successful in getting the loopback address (127.0.0.1) working for call forwarding (even though it worked for calling one line from the other, above). I had to use the "external address" for the SPA, to get forwarding to work (even between one line and the other on the same Sipura adapter)!
7) Test the setup. The easiest way is to get a friend to call the VoIP number you are forwarding from, and see if the forwarded to line "rings". In my case, I verified the setup by using my Packet8 account (and the Packet8 to FWD gateway) to call my FWD line (line 1 of my SPA-2000), and have the DialPad.com line (Line 2) ring! I then picked up the phones, and verified that two-way talking was working. Success!!!
BTW: So far there has only been one other poster in this thread. I'm sure the two of us can't be the only ones trying to figure out what our Sipura adapters are capable of! So please join in and post your "tricks". I'd hate to have this thread degenerate into just DracoFelis' book of Sipura tricks.... |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15 | reply to DracoFelis
And I found a few useful (and non-obvious) settings in this BBR thread: »[Equipment] Found Critical Sipura Settings |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| reply to DracoFelis
FWIW: I just got a SPA-3000 (I already had an SPA-2000), and I'm running it though its paces. However, many of the "tricks" I would like to do (such as forwarding of calls between Sipuras, direct URL dialing, etc), can't easily be tested by me alone (as they require someone with an unlocked Sipura adapter outside my LAN to test against).
So if anyone is interested in helping me test when I have some free time (and you have an "unlocked" Sipura adapter), could you please PM me with a number you can be reached at (either a normal USA number, or a FWD number will do), and a convenient time to have me call? I'll then give you a ring, and we'll see if we can figure out how to get any of the "more confusing" parts of the Sipura features to work... |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana | I've got a VoicePulse locked 2000 (line2 unlocked). Unlocked 3000 and 1001 to play with.
I made my Sipura's do some tricks too  |
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tlpintpe
join:2002-09-13
Spicewood, TX | reply to DracoFelis
Thanks! This is very useful stuff! I just used the variations for calling FWD with my Sipura 3000 (line 1 is configured with Voxee), and it works very well! |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| reply to digiblur
said by digiblur :I made my Sipura's do some tricks too So please post those "tricks". |
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tlpintpe
join:2002-09-13
Spicewood, TX
| reply to DracoFelis
I have my 3000 using voxee on line 1. I used the voxilla.com SPA 3000 wizard to configure the spa, leaving their dialplan unchanged.
When I try to add the "tricks" to force dialing toll free numbers over the FWD method, the dialplan is truncated and nothing then works.
Is there are 255 character limit per dial plan?
Can I move the voxee line to the PSTN Voip line and thus have access to lots more dial plan lines? |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
edit:
June 26th, @10:29AM
| reply to tlpintpe
said by tlpintpe :Thanks! This is very useful stuff! I just used the variations for calling FWD with my Sipura 3000 (line 1 is configured with Voxee), and it works very well! On an SPA-2000 you can override the proxy via the "dial plan", and thereby allow dialing to open proxies (such as FWD or SIPphone). But don't forget that the SPA-3000 also lets you override the password, and thereby use multiple providers with different passwords (as well as different proxies).
For example: I just got my SPA-3000 today, and (while the process was more painful than expected) I've already figured out how to have both my DialPad.com ($11.99/month) and my Teliax.com (pay as you go) accounts running on "Line 1" (and both accounts have different SIP passwords).
Now if I could just find a reliable way to override the "User ID:" field (the "GWx Auth ID:" fields don't seem to behave as expected in this regard), I would be able to include my other SIP accounts that were done under a different userid (in addition to accounts with a different proxy and password)...
[edit] Just got the solution to my SPA-3000 problem from the Voxilla forums. Instead of putting in my provider's "proxy_address" (i.e. 66.35.222.58 for DialPad.com) in for the value of "Gateway x:" and my userid for the value of "GWx Auth ID:", you put in "userid@proxy_address" (i.e. myaccount@66.35.222.58 for DialPad) for the "Gateway x:" field, and then also put in your "userid" for the "GWx Auth ID:" field. You apparently also need a "new enough" version of the firmware for this to work (my SPA-3000 has version "2.0.13(GWg)", which works fine with this "trick").
But once you get this "trick" to work, you can use the 4 "gateway" fields to totally override your userid/password/proxy settings of "Line 1" (of an SPA-3000). This allows you to easily have line 1 setup for 5 different VoIP providers (the default "Line 1" one being by-directional, and the 4 "gateway" ones being "outbound only"). And those 5 providers are on top of any providers (such as FWD) that you can call out to without "authorizing" (i.e. using the previous described "@proxy" trick to the dial-plan).
BTW: At the moment I only have 3 providers, so I have some room for expansion. My "Line 1" default is currently setup for FWD (this is only so that I can receive inbound calls by FWD, otherwise I would have used the previous FWD outbound "trick"), my GW1 is setup for DialPad.com ($11.99/month "unlimited", and also the provider my dial plan selects for LD calls), and GW2 is my "pay as you go" Teliax account (default dialing for toll free numbers, and can be explicitly used by dialing "# 8 call_digits #"). |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
edit:
June 25th, @11:02PM
| reply to tlpintpe
said by tlpintpe :Is there are 255 character limit per dial plan? I'm wondering if it is your browser doing the truncation on the fields, as my current "Dial Plan" is already well over 255 chars. And from the Sipura SPA-3000 manual, we have this comment:
Notes: - The dial plan length limit for <Dial Plan 1> through <Dial Plan 8>
is 511 characters. This is less than that for the <Dial Plan> under [Line 1],
which is 2047 characters. |
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tlpintpe
join:2002-09-13
Spicewood, TX
| said by DracoFelis :said by tlpintpe :Is there are 255 character limit per dial plan? I'm wondering if it is your browser doing the truncation on the fields, as my current "Dial Plan" is already well over 255 chars. And from the Sipura SPA-3000 manual, we have this comment: Notes: - The dial plan length limit for through is 511 characters. This is less than that for the under [Line 1], which is 2047 characters. I am using Firefox on Linux, but I'll give it a go with Konqourer and see if that helps. |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
| said by tlpintpe :I am using Firefox on Linux, but I'll give it a go with Konqourer and see if that helps. That's odd then, because I do my dial plans with FireFox on Windows (and FF usually behaves pretty much the same cross-platform). Since I'm not getting Dial Plan truncations, I don't know why you would. As I said, odd... |
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digiblur
Got Sipura?
Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana
| reply to DracoFelis
My Sipura trick isn't really like yours but here is mine:
»[Sipura] Make your Sipura Speak! - GetSipura Guide
I haven't had time to work on the project for quite some time but I do plan on working in within a month. I going to be adding some call logging. Hopefully be able to show you your outbound, inbound, and missed calls with name, number, and time stamp. Possibly show the duration of the calls too.
I created a separate plugin for the 841 but I haven't totally finished it due to my 841 being out for repair.
--
FWD#64466(6PM-11PM GMT-5)
»[Sipura] Make your Sipura Speak! - GetSipura Guide
Drop me a PM if you'd like a custom Samurize plugin for your device. |
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yakmandu
join:2001-11-27
Simpsonville, SC
| reply to DracoFelis
Although, these are not actually any "tricks", here is a link to some IVR response codes and also some blink codes that could come in handy.
»www.voipmechanic.com/networkinga···sues.htm |
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tlpintpe
join:2002-09-13
Spicewood, TX
| reply to DracoFelis
said by DracoFelis :said by tlpintpe :Is there are 255 character limit per dial plan? I'm wondering if it is your browser doing the truncation on the fields, as my current "Dial Plan" is already well over 255 chars. And from the Sipura SPA-3000 manual, we have this comment: Notes: - The dial plan length limit for <Dial Plan 1> through <Dial Plan 8>
is 511 characters. This is less than that for the <Dial Plan> under [Line 1],
which is 2047 characters. I finally got it.
I think it was me trying to just cut and paste from your entries (dialing toll free numbers via FWD) that was the culprit. There is a carrage return in there, and when I edited the dial plan in a text editor, and removed the carrage return, then reentered the dial plan, all worked as it should.
Thanks for the great tips! |
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DracoFelis
Premium
join:2003-06-15
edit:
June 29th, @10:56PM
| said by tlpintpe :I think it was me trying to just cut and paste from your entries (dialing toll free numbers via FWD) that was the culprit. There is a carrage return in there, and when I edited the dial plan in a text editor, and removed the carrage return, then reentered the dial plan, all worked as it should. Yep. A "dial plan" for a Sipura should all be on one line. Please ignore any extra "line breaks" in the examples. They are simply because BBR doesn't support 2K long text lines (without wrapping), whereas the Sipura dial plan does...
While we are on the subject of "dial plans", here are a couple of cute ones. Since SIPphone.com accepts inbound "peering", you can directly call any SIPphone.com account (which all have numbers in the form: 1 747 xxx-xxxx) by adding the following to your Dial Plan (before your normal LD pattern):
1 747 xxx xxxx <:@proxy01.sipphone.com>
1 222 xxx xxxx <:@proxy01.sipphone.com> |
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gnexus
join:2005-06-24
| reply to DracoFelis
This stuff is awesome Draco. I never knew a Sipura could do all this!
I'm wondering whether the unlocked Linksys routers would have this kind of capability, since the ATA is a Sipura?
I think really it would be better having a separate ATA, however. That way you can upgrade the router or the ATA to add more features. The only thing is, I want a new 802.11g router. Then I can use my iPaq with an XTen softphone as a TV remote and a cordless.  The unlocked linksys has QOS and it is the cheapest way to go. Provided, of course, if I can get away with buying one wholesale. Linksys shouldn't be allowed to make that such a PITA. Especially since they just bought Sipura. |
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