Outbound rules

Outbound rules decide whether a dialed number may leave the system, which trunk carries it, and what the number looks like when it does. Calls that match no rule don't go out — the rules are your outbound dial plan.

Matching a rule

Admin → Outbound Rules → Add. A rule matches on any combination of (empty = any):

• Prefix — the dialed number starts with these digits. Comma-separated, ranges allowed (0-3,5,6).
• Number length — comma-separated or ranged (9,10,13-15). Length is the cleanest way to separate local (7-digit), domestic (10–11) and international dialing into different rules.
• Calling extensions — restrict the rule to certain extensions (100,103-105) or to groups, so e.g. only Sales can dial international.

Rules evaluate top-down; the first match wins. A classic US layout is exactly what a fresh system's rules look like: an emergency rule (911/933), a 7-digit local rule, a 10–11-digit long-distance rule, each pointed at your trunk.

Routes and failover

Each rule has up to five route slots, tried in order — if the first trunk is down or rejects the call, the next takes over automatically. Each route sets its own:

• Trunk — or left empty, which shows as Blocked: a rule whose first slot is blocked is a deny rule, stopping those calls outright.
• Strip digits / Prepend — digit surgery per trunk. Strip removes leading digits from the dialed number, prepend adds them, so users can dial one way while each carrier receives the format it expects (strip a 9 office prefix; prepend 1 for a carrier that wants 11 digits).
• Outbound caller ID — override the caller ID for calls leaving via this route (see Caller ID).

Dialing classes

Required dialing class (None / Local / Domestic / International / Premium) gates a rule by user permission: when set, only extensions granted that class can use the rule. Combined with prefix/length matching this gives per-user toll control — most users get Local + Domestic, finance approves who gets International, and nobody gets Premium. Emergency rules always bypass class restrictions.

Blocking calls

To block a destination (premium-rate prefixes, a country you never call), create a rule matching it above your permissive rules and leave its routes empty (Blocked). The stat strip counts blocked call attempts. For known fraud destinations also see toll-fraud protection and the allowed-country-codes list.