Offer compliant emergency calling with Bandwidth
When a 911 call is placed, emergency services need to know where to send help — even if the call is interrupted or the caller cannot speak. PortaSwitch now supports this through the new E911 (Bandwidth) module available in the Add-on Mart, helping you comply with US emergency calling regulations. The module connects PortaSwitch with Bandwidth (an E911 service provider with 100% emergency dispatch center coverage across the US and Canada) to route 911 calls with verified caller location to the correct dispatch center.
When a customer or admin specifies an address (for example, for an office or a specific phone line), PortaSwitch validates and registers it with Bandwidth. When a user dials 911, PortaSwitch routes the call to Bandwidth with a reference to that registered address. Bandwidth looks up the stored address and routes the call to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) with the caller’s location information.
If a phone line doesn’t have its own address, PortaSwitch automatically uses the office or company address instead, so there’s no need to assign an emergency address to every phone line individually.
To use Bandwidth as your E911 provider for emergency calling, you need an active subscription to the module and an active Bandwidth account.
What’s improved?
Compliant emergency calling
Offer compliant emergency calling for US customers.
Less time on emergency location management
Assign one address to an office to automatically apply it to all phone lines there.
Find more details here.
Let your customers’ employees manage their own extensions
The CloudPBX Self-Care Portal lets your business customers manage their cloud PBX and call center services independently. Until now, portal access was limited to administrative roles (PBX admins and call center supervisors managing company-wide settings). Now, individual employees can access it too, with their own credentials and a personal view scoped to only their own extension.
Once signed in, employees can configure call forwarding, access call recordings and voicemail messages with their transcripts, view recent call history, and set their availability to receive hunt group calls.
To offer this feature, you need PortaSwitch MR125 or later and CloudPBX Self-Care Portal version 8.1.1 or later.
What’s improved?
Less admin workload
PBX admins spend less time handling routine extension changes.
More control for employees
Employees can manage their own communication settings without waiting for admin assistance.
Find more details here.
Queue callback option to reduce abandoned calls
Businesses aim to minimize abandoned calls caused by long queue wait times. With this PortaSwitch release, call centers have a callback option for their queues. For example, after a caller has waited in the queue for a configured amount of time (60 seconds), they hear a prompt offering them the option to request a callback and hang up. If they accept, the system automatically calls them back when an agent becomes available, in the same order they were waiting.
A callback option can also be offered to a caller when the queue is full or when an agent doesn’t answer within the ringing timeout. This feature is available in the CloudPBX Self-Care Portal (available via the Add-on Mart), or you can implement it in your own portal using the PortaBilling API.
Example
ABC Company runs a customer service queue with a callback option offered after 60 seconds. Jane, a caller waiting in the queue, hears the callback offer, confirms her number, and hangs up. When all callers ahead of her have been served and an agent becomes available, the system automatically calls Jane back and connects her to the agent.
What’s improved?
More competitive call center offering
Offer callback functionality as part of your hosted call center solutions.
Better customer service
Call centers retain more callers during peak hours.
Find more details here.
Notify customers at multiple bundle usage thresholds
You can now configure multiple notification thresholds for each bundle allowance — for example, notify customers when 50%, 80%, and 100% of their data or minutes have been used. Previously, you could send no more than two notifications per bundle allowance: one at a single configurable threshold and another when the allowance was fully consumed (100%).
This feature helps you meet regulatory requirements in markets where notifications at multiple thresholds are mandatory, such as South Africa. Customers get more warnings before their allowance runs out and pay-as-you-go rates kick in or the service is limited.
Example
Owl Mobile offers a prepaid bundle with 1,000 minutes to European destinations. When the allowance is exhausted, calls switch to a higher pay-as-you-go rate. An Owl Mobile admin configures three notifications: at 50%, 80%, and 100% of usage. John, an Owl Mobile subscriber, receives an SMS notification when he uses 500 minutes, and again when he uses 800 minutes. After receiving the second notification, John purchases an additional 500 minutes to avoid being charged at the higher pay-as-you-go rate.
What’s improved?
Regulatory compliance
Meet local requirements for bundle usage notifications.
More predictable bundle spending
Keep customers informed as they approach their limit, before unexpected charges apply.
Find more details here.
Add a rate for a new phone prefix across multiple tariffs at once
When a vendor introduces a new phone prefix, you need to add matching rates to all related customer and reseller tariffs — including individual tariffs with negotiated prices. Previously, that meant editing each tariff manually one by one.
With MR129, admins can add a new rate to multiple tariffs in a single operation using the new Bulk tariff change tool. Simply specify the new prefix, select an existing prefix to copy prices from the corresponding rates, and confirm the affected tariffs. PortaBilling creates the new rates automatically across all selected tariffs.
Example
Owl Telecom provides calling services to Philippine phone numbers for its US customers. When a Philippine mobile operator, which already owns the 63920 prefix, is assigned a new prefix, 63925, the vendor sends Owl Telecom an updated price list and an Owl Telecom admin updates the vendor tariff in PortaBilling accordingly. Now, the admin needs to add rates for 63925 to 150 customer tariffs. The admin opens the Bulk tariff change tool, specifies 63925 as the new prefix, selects the existing prefix 63920 to copy the pricing parameters from the corresponding rates, reviews the list of the affected customer tariffs, and confirms the bulk change. PortaBilling creates the new rates across all tariffs immediately, ensuring that calls to numbers with the new prefix are billed correctly.
What’s improved?
Faster tariff management
Admins can add rates for a new prefix across all tariffs in minutes instead of hours.
Eliminate pricing errors
Pricing parameters are automatically copied from existing rates in each tariff, eliminating the risk of manual entry mistakes.
Instant readiness for new prefixes
Customers are billed correctly for calls to new numbers as soon as the prefix becomes active.
Find more details here.
Set password expiration rules per customer class
You can now control web password expiration separately for different customer classes, instead of applying one system-wide policy to everyone, including admins, customers, and resellers. For example, large enterprise customers with strict corporate security requirements can use a system-wide 30-day password expiration policy, while smaller business customers can use a more relaxed 90-day policy to reduce the frequency of password changes for self-care portal access.
What’s improved?
Balance security requirements with customer convenience
Use stricter password policies for security-sensitive customers while reducing unnecessary password changes for others.
Find more details here.
Manage token-based account authentication from the web interface
Mobile apps (such as a self-care app or a softphone) that use the PortaBilling API for authentication and data retrieval can let users log in with their username and a one-time password (OTP), without the need to remember or update a regular password. In this case, account authentication relies on an API token (a persistent credential stored in the account in PortaBilling).
With MR129, admins can now configure token-based authentication for accounts directly from the web interface.
What’s improved?
Easier administration
Enable token-based authentication for any account that needs it without leaving the web interface.
Find more details here.
