Bring your own carrier (BYOC)

BYOC is a way to keep your existing phone provider while receiving your inbound calls in Close.

It's great alternative to porting your numbers. It also allows you to use Close in countries where we currently don't offer phone numbers (e.g. China or Russia).

Advantages of BYOC vs porting your number

BYOC is easier to set up (and revert) than porting. If your provider supports it, it's a great way to test things out before fully porting the number.

Porting requires more paperwork and time. It can take a few days or more, depending on the telephony provider (sometimes they request extra information to verify the requestor identity). You also have to go through the process of porting the number out if you decide to leave Close.

Can I continue using my softphone after setting up BYOC?

You will still be able to make outgoing calls with your softphone. However, the incoming calls will always be routed to Close. It's not possible to have both your softphone and your Close app ring at the same time.

Setup if your number is with Twilio

1. Send an email to support@close.com and include the following:
   • Phone number(s) you wish to forward and their corresponding user account in Close.
2. Once you've received confirmation from the Close support team, you'll need to set up BYOC forwarding for each of the numbers you wish to use in Close.
3. Go to your Twilio account > Phone Numbers > Manage Numbers > open a phone number

Twilio phone number configuration page

4. Scroll down on the setup page, under the Voice and Fax section, find When a call comes in, set it to TwiML bin, and click on + icon to add a new bin.

Creating a new TwiML Bin

5. Copy/paste the code below to create a new TwiML Bin and make sure to replace {{To}} with your actual number and select a forwarding location {{Region}} based on your geographic location. (This helps minimize latency.):
   • us.sbc.phone.close.com
   • eu.sbc.phone.close.com
   • asia.sbc.phone.close.com
   • au.sbc.phone.close.com

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
   <Dial>
      <Sip>sip:{{To}}@{{Region}}</Sip>
   </Dial>
</Response>
	

For example, if you are forwarding a US number +1 (833) 462-5673 your code would look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
   <Dial>
      <Sip>sip:18334625673@us.sbc.phone.close.com</Sip>
   </Dial>
</Response>
	

Sample TwiML Bin code for +1 (833) 462-5673

Save the bin, save the number, give it ~10 minutes to propagate, and give it a go - try to call the number and your Close app should ring for an incoming call.

Setup if your number is with other carrier

1. Contact your existing carrier to find out if and how to forward your calls to another carrier via SIP.
2. Ask your carrier for a list of IP addresses used to forward the calls. We will need them for an IP whitelist to be able to accept incoming calls.
3. Send an email to support@close.com and include the following:
   • Name of the existing carrier.
   • Phone number(s) you wish to forward and their corresponding user account in Close.
   • IP addresses from your existing carrier to be added to our whitelist.
4. Once you've received confirmation from the Close support team, have your carrier set up forwarding for each of the numbers you wish to use in Close. Have them select a forwarding location based on their geographic location. (This helps minimize latency.):
   • us.sbc.phone.close.com
   • eu.sbc.phone.close.com
   • asia.sbc.phone.close.com
   • au.sbc.phone.close.com
5. Set up a SIP forward rule with your existing carrier. It should have this format: <number>@<hostname from step 4>.
   • For example: 15556667777@us.sbc.phone.close.com