Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is a Public Phone Number?
A. A Public Phone Number is a public-facing customer service number that receives calls from your customers. Once you integrate a Public Phone Number with RedRoute, calls to that number are sent to RedRoute for automation. We use the word public as these customer service numbers are typically advertised publicly to customers, such as on your company website or in marketing materials.
Q. What is a Test Number?
A. We strongly recommend that you use a Test Number when beginning a new phone integration (before integrating any Public Phone Numbers). A Test Number is a number that receives very little or no call volume from your customers. This allows you to troubleshoot any issues without impacting customer calls.
If you have an unused number from your telephony provider, designate that as the Test Number; otherwise, we suggest temporarily buying a new number to use as the Test Number.
Once you set up the Test Number, the RedRoute portal will guide you through a testing process to ensure that the phone integration is working correctly.
Q. What does E.164 Format mean?
A. E.164 is an internationally-recognized standard phone number format that results in each device on the PSTN having a globally unique number. This format helps to ensure that calls are routed correctly to individual phones across different countries.
E.164 numbers are formatted by [+] [country code] [subscriber number including area or regional code] and can have a maximum of fifteen digits.
Q. What is a Telephony Provider?
A. Call centers use a variety of technologies, including the telephony provider. Telephony provider technology provides your phone connections and is likely where you buy your numbers or minutes. This could be a PBX, VoIP company, carrier, or contact center platform.
Q. What is a PBX?
A. A PBX, or private branch exchange, is a type of telephony system. Traditionally, these were physical machines that managed the telephony of an organization (extensions, switching lines, etc). Many PBXs are now hosted in the cloud instead of with on-premise servers.
Q. What is a Main Call Queue Number?
A. When RedRoute cannot automate a call, we send it to the Main Call Queue Number. This phone number sends calls to the call center queue. The Main Call Queue Number should not be a public-facing phone number, as all public-facing phone numbers must integrate with RedRoute.
Q. How does the RedRoute Traffic Rate work?
A. We recommend that RedRoute begins by handling a portion of your calls and gradually ramps up to handle all calls from a Public Phone Number. The Traffic Rate indicates the portion of calls that RedRoute attempts to automate. 100% indicates full usage of RedRoute for that Public Phone Number.
All calls from the Public Phone Number are sent to RedRoute. If the Traffic Rate is set to less than 100%, RedRoute will randomly select calls according to the traffic rate to forward to your Main Call Queue Number. If you’d like, these calls can be sent to a Legacy IVR Number.
Q. What is a Forwarding Integration?
A. Calls from customers to your customer service number (Public Phone Number) are forwarded to RedRoute who then handles the call for you. If RedRoute cannot handle a call, we forward that call back to your call center through the Main Call Queue Number.
Below is a visual interpretation of how the process works.
Q. What is a SIP Integration?
A. Your customers place a call to your customer service number. The Public Phone Number used for this call is routed through your existing telephony system. Your telephony system sends a SIP INVITE to RedRoute enabling us to grab your call using a SIP connection and handle the call for you. In the event that RedRoute cannot handle the call, we forward it back to your call center through the Main Call Queue Number.
The diagram below shows how this process works.
For additional technical information, see SIP Technical Details.
Q. What does VoIP mean?
A. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a technology that allows voice calls over an internet connection. VoIP makes it possible to send and receive phone calls on any computer or device connected to the internet. It does not require traditional phone lines.
Q. What is a SIP Connection?
A. VoIP calls can use a variety of protocols, which dictate how a connection works. The most common protocol is Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). RedRoute integrates with your telephony system using the SIP protocol.
Q. What is an Internal Telephony Number and how do I recognize it?
A. The Internal Telephony Number is the extension number on the SIP INVITE sent to RedRoute, which you can usually configure or see with your telephony system. This number usually corresponds to the Public Phone Number in e.164 format; however, your telephony system may send the Public Phone Number in a different format or extension.
For example, if your customer service number is 1-555-555-5555, your Public Phone Number is 1-555-555-5555. However, your telephony system may send calls to the extension number 5555. In this case, the Internal Telephony Number is 5555.
If your telephony system does not alter the number format, the Internal Telephony Number remains the same as the Public Phone Number.
Q. What is an IP Address / FQDN?
A. VoIP phone calls are made between two internet endpoints. Each endpoint has an Internet Protocol address (IP address) to identify itself, and sometimes a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), too. For connection to RedRoute, you can use either an IP address or FQDN. An FQDN is the first portion of a URL, up to the top-level domain (.com, .org, etc).
Example IP address: 555.5.555.55
Example FQDN: redroute.com
Q. What does Point-to-Point mean?
A. A SIP connection can be created either through a Point-to-Point method or through Registration. The Point-to-Point method defines a connection between two points: your telephony system and RedRoute’s telephony system. Each point is identified with either an IP address or FQDN.
Q. How does Registration work?
A. A SIP connection can be created by employing a Point-to-Point method or through Registration. Registration allows for authentication using a username and password. These registration credentials are used by your telephony system, as well as RedRoute’s telephony system, to confirm the SIP connection.