Gateways overview
A VoIP gateway bridges the analog world into your system: physical phone lines (FXO), PRI/BRI circuits, or a legacy PBX that has to keep working during a migration. To Exovo, a gateway is a special kind of trunk that lives on your own network. Supported gateway devices register to Exovo using the identity Exovo generates; Exovo does not register back to the device.
Gateway or trunk?
| Aspect | SIP trunk | Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| What it connects | An internet telephony provider | Physical lines / legacy equipment |
| Authentication | Registration or provider-side IP auth | Generated device authentication ID and password |
| Registration state | Registered / IP auth | Device registers to Exovo; Exovo does not register to the device |
| Typical reason | New numbers, cheap calling | Keep existing copper lines, alarm/fax lines, elevator phones, PRI contracts |
Calls through a gateway behave exactly like trunk calls — inbound rules, outbound rules, caller ID and recording all apply the same way.
Adding a gateway
Admin → Trunks → Add gateway, pick the device template, enter the device's MAC address and the regional options the template exposes. Exovo generates the gateway's SIP identity (a system-reserved 90000-range account) and seeds one inbound number per port; the device fetches its rendered configuration from the provisioning URL by MAC (or via Download Config on the gateway's row menu), registers into the system, and appears in the trunk list.
The row menu also carries Copy Provisioning URL (the address you paste into the device's config-server field) and Open Device GUI, which opens the gateway's own web interface proxied through the console — no need to be on its network or know its IP.
Because a gateway carries your analog lines, give it a default route and inbound rules just like a trunk — a call ringing in on a copper line is routed no differently than a DID.
LAN address and SIP ports
Enable Use the configured LAN address for this SIP peer on Options when the gateway communicates over the LAN. Exovo uses Admin → Connectivity → Network → Host IP Address for signaling and audio through this peer, independently of the public address used by internet trunks.
Registering gateway devices can keep registering and sending authenticated calls to PBX port 5060. Exovo's outbound calls to a LAN-mode gateway use PBX port 5082, addressed to the port the device listens on. See LAN trunks and gateways for setup, IP-authenticated peers and testing.
Regional settings matter
Analog telephony is regional: caller-ID signaling schemes, call-progress tones and disconnect detection differ by country. The gateway templates expose these — set the tone set and caller-ID scheme for your country or inbound caller ID will misbehave in subtle ways.
Supported devices
- Grandstream GXW series — 4/8-port FXO gateways
- Patton analog FXO — 1-4 port SmartNode devices
Other SIP-speaking gateways can be configured manually against the generated per-port credentials, the same way as unlisted phones.