XobeeVoice Network Best Practices and Recommendations
1. Introduction
This document provides network design, security, and performance recommendations for environments utilizing XobeeVoice hosted VoIP services. Following these best practices will improve call quality, reliability, security, and simplify troubleshooting.
2. Internet Connectivity Requirements
Use business-class Internet service with Ethernet handoff whenever possible. Static public IP addressing is strongly recommended. Provision at least 120 kbps of bandwidth in both directions per concurrent call and maintain adequate overhead for normal network operations. Redundant Internet connectivity is recommended for mission critical deployments.
3. Firewall Requirements
Deploy a business-class firewall capable of VLAN support, QoS enforcement, traffic shaping, and detailed logging. Disable SIP ALG/SIP Helper functions. Configure TCP/UDP session timers of at least 120 seconds. Restrict inbound access to XobeeVoice IP addresses and hostnames as required.
4. Network Switching and Segmentation
Managed Layer 2 or Layer 3 switches with PoE are recommended. Voice devices should reside on dedicated voice VLANs separate from user data networks. Avoid unmanaged switches. Daisy chaining PCs through phones is supported but dedicated drops are preferred where practical.
5. Voice Traffic Optimization
Implement QoS throughout the network. Mark voice traffic using DSCP EF (46) and prioritize RTP traffic over non-essential services. Target network performance should be latency less than 150 ms round trip, jitter less than 30 ms, and packet loss below 1%. Wireless connectivity for desk phones is not recommended unless specifically designed for voice deployments.
6. SIP and Media Protocols
Supported protocols include SIP over TCP, SIPS over TLS, RTP over UDP, SRTP for encrypted media, and WebSockets for web and mobile clients. TCP is the preferred SIP transport protocol. When available, TLS and SRTP should be utilized to protect signaling and media traffic.
7. Firewall Ports and Whitelisting
Allow SIP signaling on TCP 5060-5061 and RTP media on UDP 20000-29000 when required by restrictive firewall policies. Stateful firewalls will typically permit outbound traffic automatically. Whitelist current XobeeVoice service addresses and keep firewall policies updated when infrastructure changes occur.
8. Endpoint Provisioning and DHCP
Ensure devices can resolve DNS and synchronize time using NTP. DHCP may be used to automatically provision supported devices when appropriate options are configured. Phones should receive accurate time synchronization to prevent certificate and registration issues.
9. Remote Workers and VPNs
Remote users should avoid consumer-grade SIP ALGs and double NAT configurations. Split-tunnel VPN configurations may negatively affect voice quality if improperly configured. If VPN connectivity is required, validate latency, MTU settings, and QoS treatment before deployment.
10. Monitoring and Troubleshooting
Monitor bandwidth utilization, interface errors, latency, jitter, and packet loss. Common symptoms include one-way audio caused by NAT or firewall restrictions, failed registrations caused by SIP ALG or DNS issues, and degraded audio caused by congestion or insufficient QoS policies.
11. Security Recommendations
Restrict administrative access to networking equipment, maintain current firmware levels, implement network segmentation, and utilize TLS/SRTP where possible. Administrative interfaces should never be exposed directly to the Internet without appropriate controls.
12. Support Information
Email: phonesupport@xobee.com
Phone: (844) 490-2800
13. Current Service Hostnames
Core Servers:
– Core4-fre.5060sip.com
– Core5-scl.5060sip.com
– Core6-fre.5060sip.com
Provisioning Servers:
– Endpoints5-scl.5060sip.com
– Endpoints6-fre.5060sip.com
Deployment Best Practices Checklist
- Use a static public IP address whenever possible.
- Disable SIP ALG or SIP Helper functionality.
- Implement QoS policies end-to-end for voice traffic.
- Separate voice and data traffic using VLANs.
- Validate DNS and NTP connectivity for all endpoints.
- Perform call quality testing during deployment.
- Document firewall rules and IP whitelisting requirements.
- Implement Internet redundancy for critical environments.
- Keep networking equipment firmware current.
- Engage XobeeVoice Support when implementing restrictive firewall policies.
