Sipbroker is a collaboration between many sip providers. They provide telephone numbers that users can call to reach SIP networks. They offer these numbers all over the world but the dialing sequence can be a little tricky and some sip addresses aren't numbers so those addresses can't be dialed from a phone. Each sip provider gets a virtual area code.
For instance in the US you would dial 313 to call Detroit MI but on Sipbroker you dial *462 if you want to dial
callcentric.com. *462 is Callcentrics Virtual area code. 1 777 000 0001 is a test number for Callcentric. All Callcentric numbers get one of these 1 777 numbers but they are not real numbers that can be dialed from a regular phone. This is where Sipbroker comes in. For you to call a sip phone number from a regular phone you must dial a Sipbroker access number first. Then you dial the virtual area code for the company that provides that Sip address. Finally you dial the half of the SIP address before the @ key followed by the # key. Now lets break it down to call an actual number.
1) Find an access number that is a local call for you by
clicking here. I'll use 1-202-821-4740. Write the access number down.
2) Find the Virtual area code of the provider you want to call by
clicking here. We are calling someone that uses Callcentric in this example so the Area Code is *462. Write that down.
3) Find the user name half of the sip uri you want to call.
17770000001@in.callcentric.com. Everything before the @ sign. Write it down.
4) Dial the Access number from step1 followed by the Virtual area code in step 2 and finally the user name of the Sip address in part 3 and the # key.
Here is the final dialing string. Dial 1-202-821-4740 Wait for the prompt. Now dial *462 1 777 000 0001#
This will be converted by the sipbroker system into
17770000001@in.callcentric.com and the call will be completed with VOIP.
What if the user name is not a number? How can I dial it then? Is there a shortcut to make the process simpler?
Yes! e164.org makes it all much easier.E164.org is nothing more then a directory. Think of it as a phone book that lets sip devices find out how to call someone with a SIP address. It uses a persons phone number that is easy to dial on a normal phone to find that sip address instead of using a name. In order for them to do that you must first register your phone number and your SIP address. When you register a phone number on
E164.org Sipbroker and other systems that look up numbers on the
e164.org system will know where to call you using SIP.
Here is the new dialing pattern after you register your number with
e164.org.
Dial 1-202-821-4740 Wait for the prompt. Now dial the real phone number of the person you wish to call. Press # This will be converted by the sipbroker system into
username@sipprovider.com and the call will be completed with VOIP.
Benefits of e164.orgIf you have friends that want to call you for free you can give them a simple option of dialing an access number and then entering your real phone number.
If you get a new SIP address you can simply log in to
e164.org and update it. No need to give your friends a new number. It's kind of like
number portability for sip addresses.
Any sip address that has been linked to a real telephone number can be dialed without looking up a Virtual area code first or the sip user name.
For some reason I have found the Sipbroker system to be more reliable when calling
e164.org registered numbers. I have a near 100% success rate. The only issues I have gad seemed to be congestion issues. In those cases selecting a different access number will work.
Some SIP systems know to look at
e164.org first. That means when you dial a call they try to connect via sip for free before they try to complete the call using the normal PSTN network. That saves money!
Let me know if I missed something or if there is still some part you can't follow.
