Sippy’s release notes are a summarized guide to help existing and prospective customers understand what is new and improved in the Sippy Softswitch product.

Summary

More APIs

This release includes many new web API methods, continuing on our mission to to give Operators a switch that is 100% programmable.

Improved performance

Great effort has been put into improving switch performance. We have observed improved performance numbers on this new release, exceeding 11,000 concurrent calls with Call Per Second rates north of 500. Most of the performance gains are thanks to improved CDR write performance.

Web application improvements

Many small usability and consistency improvements have been completed on the web application.

Many more Web application features now use the web APIs, which means that Audit Logs are recorded for even more administrative tasks. We will soon have complete Audit Logging coverage for all administrative actions.

Monitoring Graphs

New graphs for Media/RTP activity have been added.

Security Improvments

Audit Logging now covers most of the critical functions of the system, and database security has been improved.

Release Notes

WEB Application Changes

Monitoring Graphs

The layout of graphs has been re-organized into three columns instead of two, to make more room.

RTP graphs have been added to show RTP/Media session counts, throughput, and RTP health.

Users of Account portal can now view all assigned Tariffs

When an Account user logs into their portal, they can now view all Tariffs that are assigned to their account, even if the Tariff is assigned via an Authentication Rule or other method. SS-1508

Vendor CDR detail page displays all CDR fields.

The Vendor CDR detail page displays all available CDR fields. The same feature was added to v4.4 for Account/Customer CDR detail pages. SS-607

CDR Detail pages display error description

The CDR Detail page now prints the error code and the error description. SS-1166

Authentication Rules UI now use web APIs

The Sippy web application has been updated so that the Authentication Rules management interface uses the web API methods. With this update, all changes to Authentication Rules now have an audit event logged. SS-582

Vendor CDR group ordering

When a call hunts through more then one vendor, the CDRs will now display in the order in which the vendor were tried. SS-1492

Vendor connection validation

The Vendor connection destination field has stronger validation. SS-1488

Trunks Destination validation

The Trunks Destination field has stronger validation. SS-1487

Environment Interface now uses the web API

The Sippy web application now makes use of the new environments web API methods for display and management of environments. This also ensures that all operations (such as start/stop/suspend/creation/deletion) performed on an environment produces a detailed audit log. SS-1193.

Additionally, when an environment is stopped by an operator, all active calls will be forcibly terminated before the system stops. SS-1222, SS-1223, SS-1224, SS-1226, SS-1227, SS-1193

Environment Listing redesign

The Environment listing page now lists CPS and Sessions, and sums the total, making it easy for operators to see the allotted capacity by environment. The values are summed to display totals. If there is an environment with unlimited capacity, then then infinity symbol will display, and the total will also display as infinity. SS-1172

The Actions item on environments is now a drop down, and the naming of actions has been improved. SS-1322

Prevent deletion of Destination Sets that are active in Routing Group

If a Destination Set is in use in a Routing Group, and the user attempts to delete it, a warning dialog will appear warning the user that the Destination Set is in use.

Reporting Role

• Active Calls report is now available to the Reporting role. SS-1310.
• Destination Sets are now available to the Reporting role. SS-1521.
• Payment History is now available to the Reporting role. SS-1507
• Profit & Loss report is now available to the Reporting and Billing roles. SS-1298
• Sales Report is now available to the Reporting role. SS-1502
• Tariffs are now available to the Reporting role. SS-1520.

Active Calls Page

The Active Calls page can now display more than 10,000 active calls. SS-1217

The Active Calls page will not error when attempting to display a call that is already in routing, but not yet assigned a vendor. SS-1491

Remote Assistance Changes

Version 4.4 added a dedicated web user for remote assistance. That user was named ‘sippy-support’. In version 4.5 the remote assistance account has been renamed to ‘remote-assistance’. SS-1238, SS-1482, SS-1257, SS-1255

Incoming Routing now self-managed via Account Portal

Account holders can now self-manage the CLD Translation rule on incoming routes. SS-1478

SIP Log Indexing option moved to Environment Prefs

The UI Control for SIP Log Indexing option (added in version 4.4) has been moved from the environments System Parameters page to the Environment’s details page. This means that Log Indexing can only be enbaled/disabled by the root adimistrator. SS-1344, SS-1367, SS-1368

SDP Recording option moved to Environment Page

The UI Control for SDP Recording option (added in version 4.4) has been moved from the environments System Parameters page to the Environment’s details page. This means that Log Indexing can only be enbaled/disabled by the root adimistrator. SS-1418, SS-1419

Archive zero duration CDR policy configurable by web.

The System Parameters page now has a setting that allows Switch Operators to configure policy for “Archive Zero CDRs”. SS-1293

SIP Log Index ordering

SIP log messages are properly ordered by packet time in all cases, addressing an issue that resulted in logs appearing in non-chronological order. SS-1373

SIP Log Viewer

The SIP Log viewer now include rtpproxy control channel logs when available. SS-1451

SIP Log Viewer has had numerous improvements and fixes. SS-1475,

Unavailable modules removed

The VPN and Conference modules are no longer displayed in the “Available Modules”, as Sippy is not currently shipping these modules for new systems. SS-1620, SS-1619

My Preferences pages rewritten

The My Preferences pages for vendor, customer and account has been refactored, which ensures that the remote assistance user has equal privileges to the ssp-root user.. No functional changes are visible to the user. SS-1239, SS-1259, SS-1258, SS-1256, SS-1308,

Misc

A bug was fixed that caused the search string to become corrupt when a percentage symbol was used. SS-1642

The External Routing group feature has been deprecated, and the control UI and storage fields for this feature has now been removed from the Routing Group page. SS-1437, SS-1436

The DID listing page now wraps description text. SS-1307

SIP Signaling, Routing or Plan Changes

SIP Header Pass through configuration

SIP Header Pass through is now configurable by using the new web API system parameters web API methods. SS-1464. The web application will be update in a future release to allow configuration of same via the web application.

SIP Registrations to non-primary IP address

SIP user agents that register to a non primary IP address of a switch are now handled correctly when a new call is directed at that SIP user agents location. SS-1445

Value for Max Sessions on Accounts have been changed.

On an Account, max_sessions = 0 will prevent any calls from passing. max_sessions = -1 means that the Account session limit is Unlimited. SS-1504, SS-1541 This change is invisible to all except API users that create accounts via the API and set max_sessions explicitly. The max_sessions value is updated during the 4.5 upgrade procedure.

Vendors

When a system has multiple IP addresses, and Vendor SIP registrations are enabled, the SIP registration will originate from the correct IP address as configured on the Vendor Connection. SS-1515, SS-1360

Vendor connections can now be configured to have a custom From domain/realm. SS-1213

Minute Plans

Several improvements and bug fixes have been made to the Minute Plans feature. SS-1543, SS-1518, SS-1631, SS-1142,

Final 2xx timeout on Routing Groups

Routing Groups have a new “Final 2xx timeout” feature that allows the switch operator to control the final timeout of a call that is being sent to a vendor. SS-1432.

IVR Changes

It is now possible to set an upper limit on the number of Trusted CLI numbers of a CLI application. SS-1337

CDR Improvements

When a DNCL (Do Not Call List) match is found, the translated CDR will be written to the CDR table, which is shows the exact number that was matched by DNCL. SS-1685

A call disconnection issue where follow-me and onnet call are enabled has been fixed. SS-1578

The denormalized setup_time value will now be identical across cdrs_customers and calls table. SS-1494

When cost values evaluate to zero after rounding, ensure that the recorded value is always 0 and never -0. SS-1387

Destination Prefix

Longer prefix matches in Destination sets now has higher precedence then shorter matches. SS-1431

2XX timeout records proper 180 code in CDR

When a 2XX timeout deadline is reached in Sippy, the resulting CDR will have the code 180 instead of 100. SS-1357

Transformation Rule delimiter.

Transformation Rules now support both semi-colons and commas as rule delimiters. SS-1340

DID CLD Translation Rule Feature

The DID entity has a new CLD Translation rule. This feature allows operators to route many DIDs to new numbers, and track all billing via one single account. SS-1316, SS-1326, SS-1325

DID Validation Improvements

DID validation now imposes the same rules as described in the SIP RFC. DIDs will automatically have any tabs or white space trimmed when saved. SS-1598

Back-end Changes

SQLCached

SQLCached has been improved to be more efficient, and as a result CDR writing to the database is much faster. This reduces Disk I/O load, and overall system load for busy switches, and significantly reduces the likelihood of systems experiencing “CDR Lag” where a CDR is not immediately visible in the database after a call has ended. SS-1123, SS-1610

B2Bua

If a systems b2bua ports are limited more than the ports configured in an environment, then the b2buas in new sub environments would fail to start. SS-1618, SS-1376

Database

A database lock that was engaged during CDR table rotation has been removed, as it is no longer needed. This reduces CDR lag on busy systems during CDR partition rotation. Several other improvements have been made to the rotation procedure. SS-1615, SS-1408, SS-1407, SS-1041

Environment jails can only gain access to the associated environment database. SS-1595

SIP Indexer processes all environment logs in round-robin order

To prevent one or more busy environments from dominating the SIP Log Indexer, the Indexer now takes a round robin strategy to indexing batches of logs from each environment. This makes sure all environment logs get fair indexer time, and if system load causes the Indexer to lag, then the busy environments will experience Log Indexing lag, but other environments will not be disproportionately affected. SS-1392

Other / Miscellaneous

CPS limit on Account has been improved so that it is explicitly scoped to the Account, and does not affect the environment. SS-1614

The re-rate utility has received several improvements and fixes. SS-1501, SS-1498

Voice mail recording has been fixed when the calling UAC only presents G.729 as an available codec. Other improvements to voice mail handling have been implemented. SS-1364, SS-1208, SS-1209

Firewall rules only get reloaded when a rule has been updated. SS-1068

All templates, and mutable files (certs, config files) have been moved out of /home/ssp and into the relevant /var jail directory. SS-1585

New web API Methods

Test Dial plan web API method

The Test Dial plan tool has been implemented as a web API method. SS-1358

System Parameters web API methods

System Parameters can now be read and set using the web API methods getSystemConfig() and setSystemConfig(). SS-1538 Documentation is available here.

Auth Rule web API method

A new Auth Rule method getAuthRule() has been added, allowing the caller to get all available parameters associated with an Auth Rule. Documentation is available here

Routing Group web API methods (Preview)

Routing Group web API management methods are now available in a Preview status. The new methods are generally available, but may undergo minor breaking changes before having the “Preview” status removed. The Preview status will be removed when Sippy Web application Routing Group user interface has been updated to use the new web API methods. SS-1537,SS-671Documentation is available here.

Environment Management web API methods

Switch Environment (also known as partitions) are now fully managed by a set of new web API methods. SS-1186, SS-1187, SS-1192, SS-1202, SS-1203 Documentation available here

DID web API’s

The updateDID() now accepts the i_did parameter. SS-1473

List switch IP addresses

The new web API method listSwitchIPs() can be used to list all IP addresses available on a switch, and a status field indicating if an IP address is INUSE or AVAILABLE. Documentation is available here.SS-1188

Misc web API changes

The destination field In Vendor Connections now has improved validation. SS-1496

The i_protocol key is now validated by the Auth Rule web API methods. SS-1282

Billing, Invoicing & Payments

PayPal now uses ‘Payments REST API’. Action required

PayPal integration has been updated to use PayPal’s REST API. PayPal has deprecated the Website Payments Pro offering. Users of PayPal payment processing on Sippy systems must update their PayPal account, and PayPal settings in Sippy in order to continue processing payments with PayPal. Instructions can be found here SS-1699, SS-1708

Other

A fix has been applied for the TARIFF_CALLS_PRICE and LAST_BILL_DATE invoice macros. SS-1628, SS-1147

A fix has been applied that enforces proper Account suspension order after the assigned Service Plan has been updated. SS-1398

The billing_history and Invoice generation processing has been improved SS-1207, SS-1219, SS-1206

Operating System

Sippy Software utilizes a customized version of FreeBSD. The base FreeBSD system has been updated to FreeBSD 10.3.

Development Roadmap - What we are working on next

• New daemon to manage all monetary balances.