Creating Voice Configuration Packages on the Universal Platform

Andrew Clark

Due to the regulatory nature of expanding voice services globally, we’ve introduced Voice Configuration Packages (VCPs) in the Bandwidth App. This feature allows you to define and manage voice origination (inbound) settings and routing functionality for groups of phone numbers without regard for geographical constraints or the Location where those numbers are stored on your account. 

Note: Assigning phone numbers to a VCP enables them for features configured on that VCP.

VCPs allow large groups of numbers with identical configurations to be grouped together, helping you quickly update all numbers in the same VCP and reduce the administrative overhead of configuring settings for each Location.

As part of this effort, the Inbound and Routing configuration settings have moved from Locations to VCPs in order to provide a scalable solution for the expanded scope of regulatory requirements for global services. Location settings will continue to be used for other products, such as Messaging.

Creating VCPs

VCPs are created for groups of similarly configured numbers. Before creating a VCP, make sure you:

  • Have an account configured for Global Services and VCPs
  • Create a Voice Integration for the numbers, if applicable.

In this example, we’ll configure a VCP for an IP endpoint:

  1. In the side navigation bar, select Service Management and click Voice Configuration.
  2. Enter the name and an optional description for your new VCP, then click Create Primary Route.

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  1. Under Action, select Route to IP.

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  1. Complete the IP Address and Port fields, and click Save.

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  1. Now that your route has been configured, click Create Package to create your VCP. Once your VCP is configured, you can assign your ordered or ported numbers to it.

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All phone numbers that support the enabled features of the VCP and share the same route rules may be added to the same VCP, irrespective of their geographical Location. In some scenarios, however, you’ll need to create a new VCP:

  • Phone numbers that don’t support the features enabled in a VCP.

Note: Phone numbers that don’t support the configuration settings enabled in a VCP can’t be added to it. For example, you can’t add a phone number from a European country to a VCP enabled for CNAM.

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  • Groups of phone numbers assigned to the same routing destination/integration. Phone numbers configured to work for a specific Voice integration can be added to the same VCP.
  • Single phone numbers that have special configuration settings that don’t match another VCP (e.g., Call Forwarding for an individual phone number). 
  • Customer-determined grouping of numbers. If desired, the number of VCPs can be limited to a small number of configurations or separated into multiple VCPs to match business requirements.

Creating Voice Integrations

Voice Integrations connect your Bandwidth account to another service external to the Bandwidth network. These integrations include speech-to-text services, UCaaS integrations (Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Zoom), and CCaaS integrations (Five9, WebEx). 

  1. In the side navigation bar, select Account and then Integrations.
  2. Click Add Integration.
  3. In the Add Integration window, select the integration product, provide a unique name for your integration, indicate the integration type, and then enter or paste the unique external ID from the Integration Partner.
  4. Click Add. Once the integration is added successfully, it will appear on the Integrations page. 

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 Making changes to VCPs

  1. In the side navigation bar, select Service Management and click Voice Configuration.
  2. Under Packages, select the VCP you wish to update.
  3. Once the VCP configuration is loaded, update the configuration settings you wish to set for all numbers assigned to the VCP and click Update Package.    

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The changes will be validated to ensure that all numbers assigned to the VCP will function correctly with the new settings. Once this is complete, the changes will be finalized and all phone numbers assigned to the VCP will function as per the VCP settings.

Moving numbers between VCPs

To move numbers to a different VCP or make changes to individual numbers that are part of the same VCP, complete the following steps:

  1. In the side navigation bar, select Numbers and click My Numbers.
  2. On the My Numbers page, select the phone number(s) you wish to assign to a different VCP and click Actions.

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  1. Select Voice configuration.

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  1. Select the desired VCP from the Voice configuration package drop-down menu and click Save. Once the move to a different VCP is verified, the provisioning process will reconfigure the phone number to be placed into the new VCP.

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