In this article, we’ll show you how to set up the following:
- Incoming calls from your Virtual Number(s) to Forwarding Rule (IP-PBX)
- Incoming calls from your Virtual Number(s) to another Number via your SIP Server
- Incoming calls from your Virtual Number(s) to your SIP Server - Dynamic Forwarding
You can receive inbound calls to your MessageBird number from our platform in multiple ways:
- Forwarding to a specific PSTN number in E.164 format e.g. +31612345678 or 31612345678
- Forwarding to a SIP server/node e.g. your Session Border Controller, IP-PBX, SIP Proxy Server, etc.
Requirements
- A MessageBird account
- Add MessageBird's IPs to your firewall or PBX to whitelist them
NOTE: It’s free to make a MessageBird account, but you’ll need to add funds to your account to place calls.
Incoming calls from a Virtual Number to Forwarding Rule (IP-PBX)
Follow these steps:
- Log into your MessageBird Dashboard, then click the Numbers icon on the toolbar on the left-hand side of your screen.
- Here, you’ll be able to see a list of the virtual numbers you have purchased and see the status of those numbers. Find the active number that you want to set up forwarding for.
- Next to the Status column, you’ll see a column titled Edit. Click the three dots, then select Create forwarding rule from the options that appear.
- On the Forwarding Rules page, click Create rule. A pop-up will appear.
- In the Name field, enter a recognizable name for your forwarding rule.
- In the Prefix Number with ‘+’ sign field, select Enabled (default) or Disabled.
- In the Domain field, enter the IP or Domain name of the PBX where you want the calls to be forwarded.
- Click Save to save your changes.
- If you want to assign more numbers to the rule that you just created, click on Add New and select the number from the drop-down.
NOTE: The Forwarding Rule option can only be used to create a flow where the calls are forwarded to a customer-defined PBX.
Incoming calls from your Virtual Number(s) to another Number via your SIP Server
Follow these steps:
- Log into your Dashboard, then navigate to Flow Builder.
- If you want, you can use our pre-made Forward Flow template. If you’d prefer to manually create a flow, click Create new Flow.
- Choose Phone Call as the trigger, and select the number or numbers that you would like to forward calls from, then click Save.
- Click the Forward Call step.
- In the step settings, add the SIP URL that you would like the calls to forward to into the Forward to number field. Take a look at the screenshot below to see how we’ve formatted this, replacing “1.1.1.1” with your own SIP Server IP.
- Click Save.
- To see how your flow works before you make it live, click Simulate.
- Click Publish in the top right-hand corner of your screen to start your flow!
NOTE: A SIP URI is the SIP addressing schema or identifying string of characters to call another person via SIP. It is, essentially, a user’s sip “phone number”, and it is formatted similarly to email. The format is “sip:user@host, or sometimes “sip:user@host:port.”
Incoming calls from a Virtual Number to your SIP Server - Dynamic Forwarding
Follow these steps:
- Log into your Dashboard, then navigate to Flow Builder.
- If you want, you can use our pre-made Forward Flow template. If you’d prefer to manually create a flow, click Create new Flow.
- Choose Phone Call as the trigger, and select the number or numbers that you would like to forward calls from, then click Save.
- Click the Forward Call step.
- In the step settings, under the Forward to Number field, drag and drop the Destination variable to build your SIP URI. Example SIP URI: sip:destination@1.1.1.1 (replacing @1.1.1.1 with your own.)
- Click Save.
- To see how your flow works before you make it live, click Simulate.
- Click Publish in the top right-hand corner of your screen to start your flow!