microsoft teams, Misc, News, privacy, WebRTC, Websites

Microsoft Teams Phone System, Direct Routing, and SBCs, a journey. (pt.2)

by admin

June 1, 2020

In the last post, we talked about Microsoft’s Business Voice offer and why it’s not always a practical solution. Today we get a bit more in-depth on the Direct Routing components and what’s required for external Teams telephony and the associated SBCs.

Direct Routing and Session Border Controllers

Direct Routing is Microsoft’s way of saying, external SIP connectivity. It allows admins of Teams to create interconnectivity with the outside VoIP and PSTN world without using Microsoft’s calling plans. From the Microsoft website…

Direct Routing lets you connect a supported Session Border Controller (SBC) to Microsoft Phone System to enable voice calling features. You can view information about SBCs and online voice routes; add, edit, or delete an SBC; add, edit, and specify priority of online voice routes; and manage online PSTN usage records.

So, here we know that in order for us to connect our own VOIP phone system, I needed an SBC in the middle. Here’s a quick reminder of what an SBC does in a VoIP network…

SBCs, or Session Border Controllers, are network elements that help protect VoIP networks from malicious attacks. They also serve as a point of NAT traversal and media transcoding, to aid in the connection of VoIP endpoints.

Well, it’s not the end of the world. My favorite CPaaS has plenty of SBCs in-network so that shouldn’t be an issue. Not so fast. This particular SBC needs to be set up with some specific configuration including TLS + SIP Options, specific Contact Headers & audio codecs, and few more fiddly bits. Time to dust off my SIP tools and get started. Let’s start by seeing what happens when we try and point Direct Routing to my CPaaS SBCs…

Nope, no go. Now what’s this about the domain not being setup? O365 admin says my DNS configuration is fine, so what gives?

After spending some time with Microsoft Support, the fellow I was speaking to said he copied my setup and his config wasn’t working until he enabled Exchange and Outlook MX records in his DNS. Hmm, that didn’t sound right. I didn’t want to point all my MX records to Outlook for this test, I only want Voice and Teams chat to work. Then I noticed there is a “Skype For Business / Voice” only option when verifying your domain.

I added the DNS records and it gave me the all green as you can see above, but it still wasn’t allowing me to add the SBC.

Tech Tip: I had to actually assign a user to that domain before it would recognize that domain as being active. After doing that I was able to add my SBC domain.

Down the SBC rabbit hole

The SBC in my chosen CPaaS was not directing calls to the proper Microsoft SIP signaling servers, looks like I will definitely need an SBC in between my CPaaS and Microsoft’s SIP servers.

I had no choice, if I was going to get this working I would have to use one of the certified Teams SBCs, or build my own. The certified SBCs were relatively expensive and required licensing based on per channel usage or per minute metering if you used one of their cloud images eg. Azure, Amazon. That would not fly for my friend’s business, he is very cost-conscious, not unlike most business owners.

Down the rabbit hole we go, I bit the bullet and began building up a server. The first objective was getting outbound calls to the PSTN/outside world from Teams users. From past experience, it’s always easier to start with outbound calling first, when you get that working move on to inbound. The reason being is that NAT firewalls and SIP don’t mix well, especially if they are blocking certain traffic. Sending traffic out of a NAT was always easier than getting past the firewall inbound.

I set to work on building my SBC also known as a B2BUA (Back to back user Agent). This is not brain surgery but it does take some VoIP network know-how and a good understanding of Linux.

My first stop was Kamailio.org. A great open-source SIP server project that is used in countless commercial deployments. I found some recent articles on their mail-list talking about how to setup up Kamailio with Teams, which was a great start. Before we can proceed we must address the elephant in the room, TLS.

More on that in the next “Microsoft Teams Phone System, Direct Routing, and SBCs, a journey. (pt.3)”, to be published next week!

I hope you found this article interesting.

If you have any questions or comments or want your own SBC for Direct Routing, get in touch via erik@snapsonic.com or give us a call 1.877.897.1952

Misc

Wind Mobile wins over CRTC Ruling. Canada to see first new independent mobile operator in more than 10 years.

by admin

December 11, 2009

Woot! Well it’s a happy day in Canada. This is good news for all Canadians, except maybe the few carriers making up the communications oligopoly of today.

Wind Mobile received the green light from the Canadian Minister of Industry today after making some changes to their share structure and foreign ownership within the company.

From their website (and over the wire) this morning

Globalive Welcomes Gov’t of Canada Decision and Prepares to Bring WIND Mobile to Market

TORONTO – December 11, 2009 – WIND Mobile declared a new day for wireless in Canada today, in response to an announcement made by the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, to vary a recent decision of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

The Government of Canada variance is effective immediately and provides a clear path for WIND Mobile to enter the Canadian wireless market and to become Canada’s first national wireless alternative in over a decade.

“This is a new day for wireless in Canada. This holiday season we will start to provide Canadians with the competitive choice that they want and deserve,” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive and WIND Mobile. “We thank the Government of Canada for a decision that will serve the best interests of Canadian consumers.”

In its decision today, the Government of Canada concluded that Globalive is a Canadian company that meets the Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act by varying an October 29 CRTC decision (Telecom Decision CRTC 2009-678).

“For too long, Canadians have suffered from higher prices and an underwhelming customer experience,” said Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND Mobile. “We look forward to offering the most unforgettably positive mobile experience in Canada. In return, we’re asking Canadians to make a new choice in wireless and sign up on WINDmobile.ca today.”

A national survey found that 60 per cent of Canadians are frustrated when dealing with service providers due to factors like a lack of unbiased advice, inability to change their service plans, and in particular, hidden service fees. In addition, Canadians pay an average of 60 per cent more for wireless than Americans.

“For over a year, we’ve been engaged in conversation with Canadians who have been telling us they want more from their mobile experience,” said Lacavera. “But the conversation isn’t over – it’s just beginning. We will always be listening, always inviting thoughts, comments and opinions about how to make things better.”

About Globalive and WIND Mobile

Globalive provides voice, text and data services to Canadians under the brand name WIND on a next-generation wireless network and is committed to offering a level of wireless service presently not available in Canada. WIND is built on actual conversations that are happening with Canadians who are passionate about wireless and creating a better mobile offering nationally. For more information about WIND Mobile, visit our About Us page.

For more information, please contact:

Rick Byun
Narrative Advocacy Media
416.644.4124 or rick.byun@narrativeadvocacy.com

The CRTC – Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, had put the kibosh on Wind Mobile’s progress. This action was prompted by the other mobile operators (surprise surprise) who argued against globalive’s entrance due to the company not adhering to the the Canadian foreign ownership rules. Globalive had invested 442 million dollars to buy spectrum in the last auction.

There is at least one question to ask, were there any changes made to the foreign ownership rules to accommodate this ruling? If so does that leave the door open for the other carriers to by swallowed up by even larger carriers elsewhere?

Interesting times.

Misc

It’s official, Nortel is finished.

by admin

January 14, 2009

After billions of dollars lost in the past few years, Nortel is bankrupt. It’s the dawn of a whole new era, bring it on!

Bloomberg

Globe & Mail

gdpr, Misc

SMB Phone Inc. Obtains Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) Certification For New Microsoft ‘Response Point’ Small Business Phone System

by admin

December 8, 2008

SMB Phone Inc. obtains Microsoft certification for Response Point and announces early release of SMB Digital Voice™

SMB Phone Inc. (SMBPhone.ca) announced today it has obtained certification as an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) for Microsoft’s small business phone system/IP PBX “Response Point”. This certification marks the beta service offering of SMB Phone’s digital telephone service: SMB Digital Voice, made specifically for Microsoft Response Point phone systems.

“We are very excited to be able to bring our new SMB Digital Voice service to small and medium business in Canada,” said Trent Johnsen, Founder & VP Sales. “We believe our certification will help us achieve the goal of becoming the de-facto telephone service provider for Response Point in Canada. Until recently the only way small business in Canada could integrate scalable and reliable telephony services was through acquisition of expensive equipment and analog circuits from old-school telephone companies. SMB Phone has removed those barriers by integrating with Response Point and allowing our customers to leverage our national access to the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).”

SMB Digital Voice™ features:

$29.95 Digital Business Telephones Lines
Competitive Long Distance (North America)
Competitive International Long Distance Rates
Free calling between offices on SMB Phone network
Free inter-branch call transfer
Free local calling
Free Caller ID
Burstable Voice Channels (Auto-expandable phone service)
Local Number Portability (Transfer your existing phone number)
e911
611 (direct support number)
Multiple regional phone numbers (get a phone number almost anywhere in Canada)
SMB Anywhere™ (support for remote users)

Customers interested in participating in the early release program for SMB Digital Voice™ will receive 30 days free and a 50% monthly discount off the subscription rate. For more information please call +1 (866) 473-0516, ask for ‘sales’.

About SMB Phone Inc.
SMB Phone is a premium Canadian business telephone company designed exclusively to serve Microsoft Response Point customers. SMB Phone services are created just for Response Point and the way Small Medium Business work today. Response Point makes it easy to use, grow and manage your small business communications needs. SMB Phone make it easy to obtain accompanying business quality telephone service. Order Response Point online.

For more information about SMB Phone Inc. :
Email | +1 (866) 473-0516

Misc

Jeff Pulver Comments on FCC’s Single National Framework for VoIP

by admin

July 11, 2008

Let me first say that Jeff Pulver’s and his FWD network/service (Free World Dialup) was instrumental in contributing to the early growth of Xten (now called Counterpath). FWD provided the platform where the X-Lite SIP softphone flourished. It was a great litmus test for us and created incredible awareness for our product. I don’t think I ever thanked him properly for that.

VON might be history, but Jeff is far from done.

In his last blog post, Jeff talks about exclusive federal jurisdiction for VoIP and how important this is to the communications industry as a whole.

It’s a good read, here is an excerpt…

Yesterday six major high-tech associations collectively representing the growth engines of the economy (generating billions of economic activity every year, employing millions of workers, and representing thousands of companies) filed a friend of the court brief in support of the FCC’s decision to provide a single national policy framework for VoIP.

This is a big deal, and a part of a broader effort to remove barriers that could determine how and when consumers benefit from the lower prices, new services, and advanced communication features that VoIP can deliver.

Check out the entire post: http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/008352.html

Microsoft Teams Phone System, Direct Routing, and SBCs, a journey. (pt.2)

Direct Routing and Session Border Controllers

Down the SBC rabbit hole

Wind Mobile wins over CRTC Ruling. Canada to see first new independent mobile operator in more than 10 years.

Globalive Welcomes Gov’t of Canada Decision and Prepares to Bring WIND Mobile to Market

It’s official, Nortel is finished.

Jeff Pulver Comments on FCC’s Single National Framework for VoIP

Archives

Categories

Meta

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Contact