Overview

SIP Broker can be used in 2 main ways:

You can make free calls to your friends that use a different VSP to you by dialling the special SIP Broker prefix,
to perform ENUM lookup on all your other dialled "standard phone numbers" (excluding SIP Broker prefix numbers) to find a free path if one exists. If there is no free path, SIP Broker will route the call back to your VSP to connected as normal. ENUM lookup is covered in detail on the e164.org page.

SIP Broker is a free service that interconnects millions of users from all around the world that use different VSPs. By connecting through SIP Broker, you avoid having to go through the PSTN network and hence don't pay any call fees for that call. Most VSPs provide free VoIP to VoIP calls on their own closed network (ie Engin to Engin). You can't however make free calls between networks (say Astratel to Pennytel) unless you use SIP Broker *AND* unless your VSP allows such calls to connect to their network.

Participating VSPs

Some VSPs (such as Engin, Myfone, Internode, iinetphone) specifically prevent other providers connecting to their network directly so you can't call Pennytel to Engin for free via SIP Broker. Pennytel does allow other networks to connect, so you can call Engin to Pennytel for free via SIP Broker. A list of registered VSPs that allow free SIP calls is available at http://sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/providerWhitePages.

All is not lost however if you use a VSP that doesn't participate. If you have an advanced ATA like the SPA-3000, you can configure your device for direct IP dialling. Details are provided on the IP Dialling page.
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Setting up to use SIP Broker

This is an adaption of orginal work created by JMG Jason from http://www.jmgtechnology.com.au

In order to use SIP broker you will need to bypass you regular VSP. There are a few ways to set this up, and depending on what you want to do most of the time will have an impact on how you set it up.

Always use SIP Broker

This dial plan will send all calls to SIP Broker by default and will allow you to use your regular VSP by placing a # before your dialled number.
([x*][x*].<:@sipbroker.com>|<#:>[x*][x*].)

Discretionary use of SIP Broker

If you add this entry to your existing dial plan, it will give you a choice whether you send via SIP broker or not. To use SIP Broker, first dial #1 and you will hear a dial tone, then dial your number.
<#1,:>[x*][x*].<:@sipbroker.com>
To test that Sipbroker is working for you, (assuming you have added <#1,:>[x*][x*].<:@sipbroker.com> to your dial plan) you first dial #1 and then try one of the numbers below:
*266-300 monkey sounds
*266-301 echo test
*266-303 Ireland speaking clock
*266-305 music
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Changing your SIP Broker User ID

This information was originally produced by DracoFelis at the SIP Broker Forum http://forum.sipbroker.com/showthread.php?t=454

It is possible to change your SIP Broker User ID once you have set it up. ie if you have 0282095555@yourname.dyndns.org and want to change your SIP Broker account name to 0282095555@yourname.no-ip.info then you should do the following:

1) Log into your SIP Broker account.

2) In the field that shows your userid, put in your new SIP URI address, and press "Save".

3) Now LOG OUT of SIP Broker and close down your web browser.

4) Try logging back in with your "new" userid (i.e. the SIP URI you just changed it to), and your password. Assuming it works, you now have confirmed that SIP Broker knows about the new SIP URI (as you used that new SIP URI to log in with). And your "alias" will point to your "new" (not your previous/old) SIP URI (which is also your new "userid").

5) If step 4 fails, try logging in with your old/previous SIP URI. If that works, go back to step 2 (as that shows that the change didn't "take" for some reason).
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Calling your friends on other VSPs

Let's say you are on Astratel (phone number 02 8888 2222) and your friend is on Pennytel (phone number 03 8888 3333).

Pennytel has a SIP URI SIP:number@sip.pennytel.com
Your friend's full SIP URI would be 0388883333@sip.pennytel.com
SIP Broker maps the master Pennytel URI to the code *234,
So the SIP Broker code to call your friend would be *234 0388883333
Astratel has a SIP URI SIP:number@sip03.astrasip.com.au
Your full SIP URI would be 0288882222@sip03.astrasip.com.au
SIP Broker maps the master Astratel URI to the code *269
So the SIP Broker code for your friend to call you would be *269 0288882222

Now to make these calls you would need to ensure the dialled number is sent to SIP Broker and not to your normal VSP. So if you had set up for optional use of SIP Broker in your dial plan by adding <#1,:>[x*][x*].<:@sipbroker.com> to your dial plan, then you would dial #1 to get a SIP Broker dial tone, then dial *269 0288882222. And that's it, a free call!
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Local Call PSTN Dialling

Another great way to use SIP Broker is to use the local PSTN dialling numbers that are available around the world. There are more than 200 of them available at the SIP Broker website. All you do is find a phone number for your current location (say you are in New York), and dial the number from any PSTN connected phone. When the phone answers, enter the SIP Broker number you want to dial (ie *269 0288882222 to call home in the example above), and all you pay is the cost of a local call. This is particularly good for allowing other people without VoIP to call you from around the world for the cost of a local call.
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Speed dialling tips

You can setup another dial plan to dial any Astratel numbers by adding a new dial plan
something like:
<#2:*269>8888xxxx<:@sipbroker.com>
This means that when you dial #2 you can then dial an Astratel 8888 number and it will use
sipbroker to negotiate the connection.
Back to Top To view the complete list of SIP-codes please visit the following site location.
http://www.sipbroker.com/sipbroker/action/providerWhitePages

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