Back to Blog
Tech

Different IP Addresses for Failover

Published on:

December 5, 2014

Failover is an important feature for most PBX installations. With the availability of high-bandwidth wireless like 4G it becomes more and more popular to use the wireless connection when the primary land-line based internet access becomes unavailable.

Christian Stredicke

Failover is an important feature for most PBX installations. With the availability of high-bandwidth wireless like 4G it becomes more and more popular to use the wireless connection when the primary land-line based internet access becomes unavailable.

We have for a long time the possibility to run the PBX in the LAN, replacing the local IP address with publicly routable IP addresses. The IP replacement list was already a topic of many forum discussions.

However when it comes to dynamically switching the presented IP address in the case of a failover, we were in trouble. In theory, it would be possible to run a script that tests for the public IP address and then uses the REST interface and change the routing table. However not everyone is a bash wizard and it would even require different scripts for the different operating systems.

This was the reason why we went ahead and added a new feature that takes the URL for probing the public IP address of the PBX and a interval time value. The PBX will then periodically download the URL and set the public IP address of the PBX accordingly. The public IP address can be referenced with the magic name “public” in the routing list, like this:

192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0/192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0/0.0.0.0/public

Then the PBX would present 192.168.1.1 in the LAN and whatever-is-the-public-address in all other cases.

The PBX expects in the response from the web server a IP address in human readable format, or in JSON-format, where the object must contain a entry called “ip” (for example, see http://myjsonip.appspot.com/). It is possible to use public servers, but you also use your own servers obviously.

The failover will obviously take some time. The polling interval determines how fast the change is being detected. Obviously there is a tradeoff between polling (too) often and the time it takes to reflect the new address.

The new settings will be available right under the replacement list. It will be available in 5.2.5.

‍

Latest Articles

View All
Tech

Call Forwarding Glitches

In the late 1980s, prank calls were a common form of entertainment but often caused confusion, similar to today’s call forwarding glitches. Recently, a client migrating to a new PBX system experienced disruptions when users mistyped numbers for call forwarding. While user errors are common, there's a bigger concern: calls being misdirected to emergency numbers or costly lines, especially since many VoIP phones lack security features. Solutions include restricting call forwarding to internal numbers, blocking access or allowing only specific, pre-approved numbers. Ultimately, balancing control over settings is essential to prevent glitches while keeping systems user-friendly.

October 8, 2024
Editorial

Amazon Announces Full-Time RTO; Vodia PBX Users Continue to Work from Anywhere

Amazon's recent decision to enforce a full-time return-to-office (RTO) policy contrasts with the growing trend of remote and hybrid work. While larger companies like Amazon can afford this shift, smaller businesses benefit from flexible WFH models. Vodia PBX enables companies to thrive remotely, offering a feature-rich, cloud-based phone system that connects teams from anywhere. With seamless CRM integration and powerful communication tools, Vodia supports organizations in their digital transformation. Learn why more than half a million users worldwide trust Vodia for their business communication needs.

September 27, 2024
Editorial

Vodia Wants to Help Your MSP (Managed Service Provider) Grow

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are essential partners for Vodia, as we collaborate closely to deliver the most innovative B2B phone systems in the industry. We continuously enhance our cloud PBX platform to maintain our leadership in cloud communications, making us the ideal choice for MSPs. We focus on both our exceptional software and building strong relationships with our partners, always seeking growth opportunities for them. As customer expectations and competition increase, we suggest MSPs leverage technologies like AI, automation and enhanced security to drive growth.

September 11, 2024