TIPS Incredible PBX and Vitelity, Trunk Confusion - No Incoming Calls

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Problem: Can make calls but not receive them. When my DID is called they get a busy signal. SIP debugging does not seem to show the incoming call.

Software/Hardware: Running Incredible PBX 11.16-05, 1 CPU, 2GB RAM, 30GB HDD, on CentOS 6.5, behind hardware firewall on Comcast residential connection....

Okay, I know how to configure PiaF. But, the interface of IncrediblePBX has me confused. Questions:

1) Under the "Incredible PBX Apps," you can configure 9 providers (including Vitality). Does that automatically add both the incoming and outgoing Vitality servers? If not, where do I put them? (I just used the Vitality registration server, which says "inbound31.vitality.net")?

2) There are a ton of Trunks already in my fresh install. Do I need to delete any? It seems if I delete, then I cannot undelete?

3) Under "SIP Settings" and "NAT" and then "Local Network Address" it has prepopulated "192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0,10.0.0.0/255.0.0.0,172.16.0.0/12,169.254.0.0/255.255.0.0." Do I need to add anything more if I use 192.168.1.1 addressing?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
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Some more information...

Just for troubleshooting, I correctly configured a VirtualBox instance of PBXinaFlash. As I understand the general steps for Vitality:

1. Setup Trunks
1.1. Incoming Trunk​
1.1.1. Add CID​
1.1.2. Add Channels​
1.1.3. Add Dial Number Manipulation​
1.1.4. Configure Trunk Name Peer Details​
1.1.5. Add Register String​
1.2. Outgoing Trunk​
1.2.1. Add CID​
1.2.2. Add Channels​
1.2.3. Add Dial Number Manipulation​
1.2.4. Configure Trunk Name Peer Details​
1.2.5. Add Register String 1.1. Incoming Trunk​
2. Setup Extension (1 as a test)
3. Setup Ring Group (Add test extension)
4. Setup Routes
4.1. Incoming Route​
4.1.1. Add Description​
4.1.2. Add DID​
4.1.3. Set Destination - Ring Group​
4.2 Outgoing Route​
4.2.1. Add Description​
4.2.2. Add DID​
4.2.3. Add Dial Pattern​
4.2.4. Set Trunk Sequence​

Okay, so that seems to be the general steps to get Piaf 2.0.6.4.5 working for me. Now, I am stumped on IncrediblePBX...

Where do I go to connect my Trunks with Extensions? I cannot find the "Incoming/Outgoing Routes" section. I can only find "Outgoing/Incoming Calling Rules." Is that the proper area?

Thanks!
 
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So, my outgoing and incoming calls work on IncrediblePBX. Here are some things I learned (playing with two IncrediblePBX virtual machines and a PiaF virtual machine!!!):

1) To setup Vitality on the IncrediblePBX, just click the "Incredible PBX Apps" on the left side, then click "Vitality," then add your username, password, and for "host," add the Vitality registration server name. There is no need to manually add trunks (steps 1.1 and 1.2 listed above, as per the setup for PBX in a Flash). You will be able to make and receive calls properly.
2) Since two extensions are already created, Step 2 listed above is not necessary (you can use the default password to demo your system).
3) And, since a Ring Group is already setup, no need for Step 3 as listed above.

Okay, so here was my big problem: You must dial a 8 plus the 1 + area code + number to dial out! Once I did that, I was able to dial out! It looks like the system was setup to encourage using multiple SIP carriers (1 through 9, it seems). The place to find that stuff is in "Outgoing Call Routes," where you must scroll down many pages to the end, and you will see the following: "OutVitelity_8NXXNXXXXXX."

Also, I rechecked my Vitality Routing settings (on vitality.com), and I had to direct it to my new PBX. That was apparently the other problem.

Now, I am investigating how to simplify my outgoing dialing (I use Vitality as my primary 99% of the time, so I don't want to keep using the "8" prefix. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
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Yup, except... I actually did (like 6x). But, I noticed a couple things that you could add..

1) During the GUI install of CentOS you should select and activate networking. That's not mentioned, and if you forget, you have to bring your eth0 up manually be editing text files (Whoops! Then, I got to learn vi to fix it).

2) Coming from the FreePBX GUI world, IncrediblePBX is both easier and harder... For example, in the Vitality FreePBX tutorial (
) you add both trunks manually. It was not obvious to me that you only needed to add the Vitality registration server. That's brilliant. It reminds me of doing things on Apple's OSX (like Airdrop, which is simple once you "get it," but can be hard to figure out first time).

Not so good: the Trunks page is confusing in that it is not obvious whether one should delete or keep the other providers. Perhaps you could add/delete those providers via a add/delete module (maybe those providers could also send some $$$ your way for doing that)? Or, perhaps you can add "recipes" like the app IFTTT? Too much stuff for the average person and it clutters the "Status" page. Also, it's not obvious that there is no undelete once you delete them. Finally, the "Dial Number Manipulation" page is overwhelming for a newbie. I don't wanna touch that page because it looks so complicated!

For an expert like you (and others on this forum), this stuff is probably super easy! But, I've only been learning this by making mistakes and banging my head against the wall! I can follow 85-90% of these guides, but its the little stuff that sometimes trips me up. And, little fun things that Vitality does that other VoIP providers do not (like, if you delete an subaccount you must reset all of your routing tables for each DID or calls go into the abyss!).
 
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Oh, one other thing... Did you manage to get your vMobile working with IncrediblePBX? I found the entry for the special host "...mobilet101.sipclient.org" in the advanced settings after you add the extension.

Also, I could not get my vMobile to consistently work behind my NAT (this was a test server, as I did not want to bork my hosted server). I reviewed your original articles about that topic and it seems you gave up in favor of a server with a static IP. Has that changed for you?
 

MGD4me

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Coming from the FreePBX GUI world, IncrediblePBX is both easier and harder...

It's neither. It is just slightly different. It's somewhat like buying a new keyboard for your computer (or, a new computer for your wife). It's going to BE different, FEEL different, and will take some time to get used to. Neither one is either good nor bad.

Having pointed out the obvious, there is no substitute for having some prior knowledge. Personally, having a Telco background, then in networking, I can easily run through the documentation and get things up and running in short order. If you are still learning the basics, then you likely will have to re-read the tutorials many times in order to "get it". That's life. Because one has the money, does not mean they could purchase an airplane and become a pilot overnight.

You are expressing your frustration at learning a different way of doing things. Be patient, and things will fall into place. There are many roads to Rome, and you certainly have choices.
 

wardmundy

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1) During the GUI install of CentOS you should select and activate networking. That's not mentioned, and if you forget, you have to bring your eth0 up manually be editing text files


Huh?

B_AxftuXAAAG8VZ.jpg:large
 

wardmundy

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Not so good: the Trunks page is confusing in that it is not obvious whether one should delete or keep the other providers. Perhaps you could add/delete those providers via a add/delete module (maybe those providers could also send some $$$ your way for doing that)?


As the tutorial says, stay away from messing with the default trunks. They're there, they're preconfigured, and they're all disabled unless you add credentials via Incredible Apps tab.

Not sure how much easier we could make it...

Have I signed up with [Provider Name]?

If YES, enable trunk by inserting credentials in [Provider Name] under Incredible Apps tab.

If NO, don't do (or improve) anything.
 
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My apologies! Yup, it is there! :oops:

Also, having spent some hours tinkering with IncrediblePBX, I see what MGD4me is talking about the interfaces being difference and not necessarily better. He's exactly right.

The frustration I was feeling reminds me of a post I read on Joel on Software (http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html). It's a long, but worthwhile read. The highlights:


...I started to learn that the days when I was happiest were the days with lots of small successes and few small frustrations.... Years later, when I got to college, I learned about an important theory of psychology called Learned Helplessness, developed by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman. This theory, backed up by years of research, is that a great deal of depression grows out of a feeling of helplessness: the feeling that you cannot control your environment.

And, as this relates to computers and user interfaces:

UI is important because it affects the feelings, the emotions, and the mood of your users. If the UI is wrong and the user feels like they can't control your software, they literally won't be happy and they'll blame it on your software. If the UI is smart and things work the way the user expected them to work, they will be cheerful as they manage to accomplish small goals. Hey! I ripped a CD! It just worked! Nice software! Wooooooooooo!

To make people happy, you have to let them feel like they are in control of their environment. To do this, you need to correctly interpret their actions. The interface needs to behave in the way they are expecting it to behave.

Thus, the cardinal axiom of all user interface design:

A user interface is well-designed when the program behaves exactly how the user thought it would.

As Hillel said, everything else is commentary. All the other rules of good UI design are just corollaries.

Perhaps the average user really will never get heavy into this stuff.... I, however, find it pretty fascinating (frustrations and all), because it touches so many other technical areas (encryption, TCP/IP, GNU/Linux, etc...). But, there still seems to be a great deal of required prior knowledge before many of these assumptions seem obvious. The barriers are lowering (thanks to this community and others), but more progress remains (at least, IMHO).

Cheers,

MS
 

wardmundy

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One of the objectives of the new platform was to encourage a better understanding of Asterisk internals. Different is always difficult so hang in there.
 

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