What is Direct IP Dialling?

Direct IP dialling is a method of allowing other people to call your VoIP ATA direct via the internet without having to go through your VSP. If you have an advanced ATA like a Linksys/Sipura SPA-3000, you will be able to configure your device to accept direct incoming IP dialling. This can be particularly benificial if you use a VSP that blocks SIP URI calls from other providers (ie VSPs such as Engin, Myfone, Internode, iinetphone).

However, be warned, setting up IP dialling is not for the faint hearted. If you have any doubts at all, then I suggest you use VoXaLot as the method of accepting "free" calls. I put it in inverted commas because in 2007, VoXaLot started charging to use some of its more advanced services and features. It is not expensive (about AUD$15 per year) so it is still close to free.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Your ATA is connected and exposed to the internet. Other people have the same type of device, and these devices can initiate a call, as well as code and decode voice. So why can't they call each other. Well the answer is they can, if you know how to do it and if you have the right hardware.

Once this is set up, anyone that can call your ATA via direct IP dialling can call you for free.

List of known ATAs that can accept Direct IP Dialling

• Billion 7401vgp
• Billion 7402vgp
• Billion 7402vgo
• Billion 7404vgp
• Billion 7404vgo
• DrayTek Vigor 2100V
• DrayTek Vigor 2800VG
• Linksys PAP2
• Linksys SPA-2102
• Linksys SPA-3102
• Sipura SPA-1001
• Sipura SPA-2002
• Sipura SPA-2100
• Sipura SPA-3000
• Sipura SPA-92x
• Sipura SPA-94x
• Sipura SPA-841
• Sipura SPA-901
• Vood VTA111
• Zoom X5V 5565 (and possibly other Zoom products)

Please email me at matt@voipstuff.net.au if you know of others
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What is the benefit of Direct IP Dialling?

Other people from around Australia and around the world will be able to call you either for free or for the cost of a local call. Here's how:

• Once you have set up direct IP dialling correctly, people will be able to call you by either calling a local PSTN access number, then entering your unique code so they can be connected to you. The only cost is the cost to the caller of the local call.
• Other VoIP users will be able to call you direct from their VoIP ATA by diverting the call through SIP Broker, and calling your unique SIP URI. If they do this they bypass their VSP and your VSP all together and hence the call will be free of any VSP charges.
• Direct IP dialling has the added benefit of reducing the route of your call because it bypasses your VSP, and hence there can be a reduction in latency and echo.

The information below provides fool proof step by step instructions on how to set this direct IP dialling so you can get all of these benefits.
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How it Works.

Your ATA (or more correctly your home PC network) has an IP address that can be seen by anyone on the internet (if they know where to look of course). This IP address is allocated to you by your ISP. If your ATA is configured properly, anyone can create a SIP URI call to you by calling SIP:YourNumber@YourIPAddress where YourNumber is the UserID you set in your ATA and YourIPAddress is the IP address allocated to your PC network by your ISP. Now of course there are quite a few things that you have to do to make this work reliably, but if you are interested, then read on.

The steps that need to be followed to make this work are all free, and easy to do when you know how. There are detailed instructions to all these steps in the setup section below. The steps you will take are as follows:

1. Configure your SPA-3000 ATA (or similar device) to accept IP calls.
2. Configure your router to allow SIP calls through your router firewall.
3. Set up a DNS address for your PC Network. You need to do this because your IP address allocated by you ISP can change and you wont know when it does. You will also need to set up your PC (or router) so that it monitors and maintains your IP Address and changes the DNS entry if necessary.
4. Create an Alias for your DNS IP address at SIP Broker. The Alias you have created becomes your IP contact number, and can be used by anyone who knows the number.
5. You can then go one step further and register your PSTN number to divert to your Alias. That way, anyone that calls your PSTN using VoIP and doesn't know your free IP calling address will be diverted there and get the call for free anyway. They have to do a bit of set up themselves to get this benefit, but that information is provided here too.

So if you are keen, then move on to the setup instructions.
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Setup Instructions

The orginal setup instructions on this page have been adapted and enhanced from the original work created by Dracofelis on the SIP Broker Wiki.

1. Configure your ATA

The step by step instructions on this page have been created for a SPA-3000. I assume that the settings will be the same for other Linksys devices, and that the images will be similar.

To make your SPA ATA accept direct IP calls, you need to set the STUN settings as follows:
1.1 If you haven't already done so, log into your ATA and login as ADMIN\ADVANCED.
1.2 Select the SIP tab as in the image below.

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1.3 Once you have clicked on the SIP tab, find the NAT Support Paramaters at the bottom of the page, then set the settings as follows:

Handle VIA received: no
Handle VIA rport: no
Insert VIA received: no
Insert VIA rport: no
Substitute VIA Addr: yes
Send Resp To Src Port: yes
STUN Enable: yes
STUN Test Enable: no
STUN Server: stun.fwdnet.net:3478

You can replace the above STUN server with any STUN server you like. If you don't know that this means, then don't worry, just leave it as it is. There is a brief explanation provided here

EXT IP: NB, Leave this setting blank, STUN will figure this out for you.
EXT RTP Port Min: NB Normally you can leave this blank, but you can set this if you have a specific need. Once again, if you don't know what this means, then just leave it blank.
NAT Keep Alive Intvl: 45
Use any value SHORTER than the "timeout" value in your router. As above, leave it at 45 unless you know what you are doing and have a specific reason to change it.
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1.4 Switch tabs to the Line 1 Tab
Under NAT Settings, set NAT Mapping Enable: yes
Under SIP Settings, set SIP Port: 5060

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1.5 Set the Proxy and Registration Settings

Set Ans Call Without Reg: yes

Under Subscriber information, you need to have SOMETHING set for the User ID: If your adapter is "registered" with a VoIP provider, this will be your real "User ID".

Note Well: Further down the page, I will be asking you for your User ID. What ever is entered in the User ID section here is your User ID.

Make sure NOTHING is in Outbound Proxy: field on your adapter. This field is not normally needed if/when you have STUN setup (as you have just done).
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2. Configure your Router

For SIP direct dialling to work, you need to make sure that your router is port forwarded fro UDP port 5060 to your ATA. Now most people would normally already have this set up to get their VoIP working smoothly. If you haven't done this, refer to the section on port forwarding on the routers page.
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3. Set up a DNS Address

These instructions provide 2 methods of setting up a DNS Address. One using No-IP.com and another using Dyndns.com. The latter is useful for people that use some routers including Linksys routers. The advantage of this approach is that the router actually keeps your DNS up to date for you, not your PC. If you use the Dyndns.com approach and you have a compatible router, you can skip the step where you have to get your PC to keep your DNS settings up to day.

If your router supports DDNS, then use either Dyndns.com or what ever DNS service your router supports. If your router does not support DDNS, or if you are unsure, then follow the No-IP.com instructions below 3a.

3a. Set up using No-IP.com

Follow these instructions if your router does not support DDNS. If you are not sure, follow these instructions and skip 3b.

As mentioned above, your ISP is almost guaranteed to change your internet IP address over time, so it is important that you set up a a dynamic DNS service for your home PC Lan. What this will do is give you a real domain name that can be used for your direct dial number. You can use any domain registry service that you like. Your router may even have the capablity of automatically updating a DNS service as part of its firmware. If you are not sure, then follow these instructions for now. You can always go back and change it later.

3.1 Go to HTTP://www.no-ip.com and create a free account. Click Sign-up Now! to sign up for a new account.

3.2 Once you have your free account, log in using your email address and password. You will then see this screen


3.3 Click on Add under Hosts/Redirects. You will see the following screen.


3.4 Enter any name you like in the Hostname box. You may like to use your whirlpool user name, your surname or any other name. It doesn't really matter as long as it is a name that hasn't been used before. Leave everything else as the default. Go to the bottom of the page an click Create Host.

Hey Presto, you have just created an plain text DNS for your current PC Home Network IP Address. Your new domain name will be YourSelectedName@no-ip.info where YourSelectedName is the name you entered in the Hostname box.
Now given your ISP may change your IP address at any time, you really need to set up a method to automatically update your DNS entry everytime your IP address changes.

3.5 Click on the Downloads page to download the update client for your PC operating system.


3.6 Download the correct client and install it on your home PC.

3.7 Once you have downloaded the client, run the install routine accepting all the defaults, then launch the client. Once you run the program for the first time, you will see this logon screen.


3.8 Enter the email address and password you used to register at www.no-ip.org

Next you will see the main client screen


3.9 Tick the box next to your DNS entry, and the face with sunnies will change to reflect that your DNS entry is up to date.

3.10 Then click on the Options button


Select the first option "run on startup", then click OK. That's it.

Close the update client by clicking on the red X in the top right hand corner of the update client. The client then minimises to the task bar and will update your DNS settings anytime your IP address changes.

Now that's it. Your new direct dial SIP URI is your User ID (created in the ATA setup at the top of this page) and your DNS that you just created. ie YourUserID@YourName.no-ip.info
Where YourUserID is the User ID created in configure your ATA, Point 1.5
Where YourName is the name you entered in Set up a DNS Address bullet point 3.4

Anyone that has the capability to make calls to IP addresses and knows your number can now call you at SIP:YourUserID@YourName.no-ip.info Now it's not that easy to do this from a standard telephone handset. So the next thing to do is set up an Alias that points to your new SIP URI.
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3b Set up Dyndns.com

Only do this if your router supports DDNS. If you are not sure, follow the instructions in 3a and ignore 3.b

3.1 Go to http://www.dyndns.com and create a free account. You will need to provide a valid email address to validate your account.

3.2 Logon to your account. In the left hand panel, expand My Services\My Hosts until you can see Add Host Serivces. Click on Add Dynamic DNS Host.

3.3 Give your Hostname a name that you want to use and select a domain name from the list. I have used dyndns.org since this is what my router refers to (I don't think this is essential). Leave everything else as per the defaults.

Then click Add Host


3.4 Logout of Dyndns.com and go to your router. Select the DDNS service from the list, enter your user name, password and your new hostname in the box provided. Then click Save Settings.

That's it. Your new DNS is set up and your router will keep it up to date.

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4. Create an Alias

Now you need to create an Alias at SIP Broker to allow others to call your ATA directly from a telephone handset.

4.1 Go to http://www.sipbroker.com and click the link to register for a new user account.

Note Well: When you register you should use your new SIP URI you created using the instructions above as the Userid as in the image below. You can set any password you like, and you must enter a vaild email address, and this will be used to validate your account.


4.2 Once you have registed, log on to your account using your username and password. You will see the member details section like in the image below. Your user ID details should already be entered.


4.3 You are now going to setup your Alias, so you will need to enter your password and then confirm your password in the box below. Do this now, then scroll down the page until you see the SIP Alias section.


4.4 Select Australia from the country list, then select any number you like to be your new SIP Broker number. Try to keep the number with as few digits as possible. The number people use to call you will end up being *01161 followed by the number you select here, so the shorter the number the better. Keep in mind that others have been here before you, so there may not be any 2 digit numbers left that have not been taken. From experience, it is quite easy to get a 3 or 4 digit number. Enter the number you want, then click the save button, and you are done.

Now that you are all setup, anyone can make a direct IP call to you by dialling a PSTN local phone number, and when prompted, dial *011 (for SIP Broker) then your number which will be 61 xxx where xxx is the number you just registed with SIP Broker.

Anyone with VoIP can call you by setting up their dial plan to use SIP Broker. Refer to the SIP Broker page for details
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5 Register for ENUM

Now that you have your direct dial IP service working, and you have a SIP Broker Alias setup so anyone can call you from their VoIP service or from one of the PSTN local numbers, now is a good time to register your PSTN number and VoIP DID number for ENUM via e164.org. If you do this, anyone with a VoIP service that has it configured to use this service, will be able to call you for free regardless if they know what your direct dial IP address is or not. Go to the e164.org page for more details on how to do this.
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Dial an IP Address

If you want to direct dial an IP address, you can set up a speed dial in your dial plan. ie if you add this <123:82094444@209.101.5.7:5060>, ­to you dial plan, then dial 123 from your handset, then you will achieve a direct IP dial to this IP address. Details on this are sourced from here: http://www.sipura.com/Documents/faq/Section_2.html#16