How to connect Skyetel to VICIdial

To connect Skyetel to VICIdial you add your server's public IP to a Skyetel endpoint group, then add a SIP carrier entry pointed at the Skyetel host. Skyetel authenticates by IP through endpoint groups rather than registration, so there are no per-call credentials.

Get the trunk from Skyetel

In the Skyetel portal create an Endpoint Group and add your VICIdial server's public IP as an endpoint. Skyetel uses that group both for trusting your outbound INVITEs and for deciding where to deliver inbound calls. Assign your DID (direct inward dialing) numbers to the same endpoint group so they route back to your server. Copy Skyetel's outbound SIP host off your own account page.

• Create an Endpoint Group and add your server's public IP as an endpoint.
• Assign your DIDs (phone numbers) to that endpoint group for inbound.
• Copy the Skyetel outbound SIP host; do not invent a hostname.

Add the carrier in VICIdial

Open Admin then Carriers then Add New Carrier. Leave the Registration String blank because Skyetel does not register; pin the host in the Account Entry.

Account Entry:

• [skyetel] / disallow=all / allow=ulaw / type=friend / context=trunkinbound
• host=<your Skyetel outbound host> / dtmfmode=rfc2833 / insecure=port,invite

Set Protocol to SIP. Skyetel accepts E.164. With campaign Dial prefix 9 on a US number, strip the 9 and prepend +1:

• exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,1,AGI(agi://127.0.0.1:4577/call_log)
• exten => _91NXXNXXXXXX,2,Dial(SIP/skyetel/+${EXTEN:1},,tTor)

Set Server IP, set Active to Y, save, and wait about a minute for the conf files to regenerate.

Point inbound DIDs at the endpoint group

Skyetel routes inbound by the endpoint group a number is assigned to. Because a group can hold several endpoints, you can list your VICIdial server as the primary endpoint and a backup as a failover, and Skyetel tries them in order. For a single-server setup that is just your one box. When a call for one of your numbers arrives, it lands on your server IP, the context=trunkinbound line passes it into VICIdial's DID (direct inward dialing) handling, and your DID entry under Admin then Inbound then DIDs sends it to an Ingroup.

Keep an eye on how many Concurrent calls your campaign generates against the channels Skyetel has provisioned for the group. Overrunning that ceiling shows up as rejected calls rather than a dead trunk, so it is easy to mistake for a configuration error when it is really a capacity limit. As always, allow=ulaw keeps the Codec plain G.711 so there is no transcoding in the path.

The call path

flowchart LR
  A[Server IP in Endpoint Group] -->|trusted| B[Skyetel]
  B -->|outbound| C[PSTN]
  C -->|inbound DID| B
  B -->|to endpoint group| D[trunkinbound]
  D --> E[DID route] --> F[Ingroup]

Verify it

Run sip show peers on the Asterisk CLI. With IP authentication the skyetel peer reads reachable without a registration. Place one test call from Campaign Detail, confirm two-way RTP audio and correct caller ID, and only then point a campaign at it. For inbound, map the DID (direct inward dialing) to an Ingroup under Admin then Inbound then DIDs.

The full carrier field reference is in our VICIdial carrier integration guide, and the meaning of the Server IP field is covered in the carrier Server IP guide.

A VICIfast box has the static public IP Skyetel's endpoint group wants, and it provisions in under 40 seconds. See pricing to bring your Skyetel account.