CLI¶
Management Customer [Customer Name] Routing
CLI (Caller Line Identification), aka ANI (Automatic Number Identification), is the From header in SIP and represents the senders number in a telephone call. It is the technical term for the mechanism we know as Caller ID. In VoIP systems, CLI is more than just a way to display the number of incoming calls. It is used as a defense against unidentified call attempts, provides information to sort incoming calls, and is an important component of billing.
In ConnexCS, CLI allows you to restrict and manipulate CLIs and Pre-Asserted Identity on customer calls, so that any caller without a valid match is rejected outright.
How is CLI derived?
CLI refers to the CLI/ANI field in the From part of the SIP INVITE message. This contains specific information about the caller, particularly the name and number of the person initiating the call. Also known as "Caller ID" in standard phone systems, CLI may also be referred to as "A-Leg" or "A-Number", where the call originates. The call is then terminated at the Dialed Number, the "B-Leg" or "B-Number".
Default Behaviour¶
By default, a customer account will pass all calls, even without any configured CLI records. To change this behaviour, navigate to Management Customer [Customer Name] Edit Verification and enable Approved CLI's Only.
Approve CLI override
Once the first CLI rule is entered, the behaviour changes to block all, regardless of the "Approved CLI's Only" setting.
CLI verification tool
In addition to changing the default behaviour to block, adding a CLI rule gives customers the ability to verify their own CLI's from their Control Panel through a call back system. A customer can login to their portal and enter a phone number which should belong to them. The ConnexCS system will place a call and give a code which must be entered into the portal. If the codes match the CLI will be added.
Creating a Record¶
Click on the button under CLI.
Field details:
-
CLI: To allow CLIs through, enter the desired number or a regular expression (to match and replace).
-
Pre-Asserted-ID: To allow Pre-Asserted-Identities (PAID), enter the desired number or a regular expression to match and replace.
-
Rewrite CLI: A CLI can be re-written. For example, you can add
123456789in the CLI box, and then rewrite by adding987654321in the re-write CLI box. (For more advanced CLI manipulation, see Advanced CLI Match & Manipulation below.) -
Rewrite P-Asserted-ID: This is a SIP Header similar to the FROM header, but classified as a private, or network-level identifier. Telephone companies use it to identify call originators, but then it is stripped at the call server, so the client end-points only see the FROM field. This is especially helpful when caller's obscure their CLI/FROM information, as the network-level still requires origination details. The P-Asserted-ID manipulation uses the same syntax as Replace CLI.
P-Asserted-ID Use Case
If you wanted to allow all calls, but assign a specific number (such as the Main Billable number for the business), you would set CLI as ".*" then enter the desired P-Asserted ID. All calls will then have this number as the P-Asserted-ID.
-
Forced: Enabling this will allow a call if there are no other matching CLIs in the system. This will also replace the CLI that is presented with the CLI entered here. Ex: Create a whitelist of CLIs, then select Forced on the CLI to use if none of the others in the whitelist match. (Best practice is to only have one Forced CLI.)
-
Direction Applied: Select either Termination for calls a customer makes out, or Origination (also refers to DIDs) for inbound calls made to our customers. Ex: Create a whitelist that only allows calls to or from the same country.
-
Use DID: Pull in DIDs from the customer's account to be used either as a Filter or as a Replacement.
Click Save to complete the CLI configuration.
Allow Customer to add their own CLI¶
Navigate to Management Customer [Customer Name] Edit Verification and check the box for "Approved CLIs Only". The customer can then go to the Customer Portal CLI section and add numbers there.
Advanced CLI Match & Manipulation¶
Filter Examples¶
Configuring a number as a CLI in ConnexCS gives the customer the ability to control which numbers are allowed to initiate calls. Any number configured as a CLI is considered part of the Whitelist (unless additional configuration is applied to block it).
Filter CLI by Number¶
Block all calls that do not have the CLI "123456789":
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123456789 |
No | Disabled | None |
Allow multiple CLIs to pass (by entering 2 or more records):
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123456789 |
No | Disabled | None | |||
987654321 |
No | Disabled | None |
Filter CLI by Pattern¶
Allow a range of numbers for a customer (this example allows all calls that start with 123456 to pass regardless of the last digits):
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^123456 |
No | Disabled | None |
You could also use a more complicated expression to match multiple ranges. In this example the number must start with 123456, followed by 1, 3 or 5, then followed by 1 or 2 numbers.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^123456[135][0-9]{1,2}$ |
No | Disabled | None |
This can be used in combination with number lists as well.
Filter CLI by DID¶
If your customers do origination as well as termination, they already have a list of DIDs. Select Filter from "Use DID" to automatically read from the list of DIDs. Note you can still add additional CLIs along with the DID list.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Filter | None |
Filter PAID by Number or Pattern¶
The same is true for Pre-Asserted-Identity as it is with CLI, you can filter by PAID, as in this example.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123456789 |
No | Disabled | None | |||
^123456[135][0-9]{1,2}$ |
No | Disabled | None |
Combined CLI and PAID Filter¶
Filters are AND together, meaning for a call to pass on this example, the CLI would need to be 1122334455 AND the Pre-Asserted-ID would need to be 123456789
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1122334455 |
123456789 |
No | Disabled | None |
Filter CLI from a Large List¶
Large lists of numbers can be managed from our Userspace database. Once the numbers are uploaded, you can use the following options to filter by the uploaded list. Note that the filter is a partial match.
| Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Disabled | [My Database] |
Filter CLI by Number Type¶
Filtering by Number Type will block calls which originate from a "type" that you specify, this can be something such as a FIXED, MOBILE, etc.
| Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Block Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Disabled | FIXED |
Replace Examples¶
We can also completely replace the CLI being sent. Note that if a replacement is done it also means that the match is successful and will be allowed to pass though.
Direct Replacement¶
Replacing a 111111111111 with 222222222222.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
111111111111 |
222222222222 |
No | Disabled | None |
Pattern Replacement¶
Replace all calls which begin with a 1 with 222222222222
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^1 |
222222222222 |
No | Disabled | None |
Force CLI¶
When choosing Force CLI, if there is no match present, the CLI marked Force will be used to replace the CLI being sent on a call. In the example below the CLI 111111111111 will be sent regardless of whatever CLI the customer sends.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
111111111111 |
Yes | Disabled | None |
In the following example, if the customer sends a call with 222222222222 then the call will be allowed to pass through, however if the customer were to send 333333333333 the call would be replaced by 111111111111
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
111111111111 |
Yes | Disabled | None | |||
222222222222 |
No | Disabled | None |
Pick CLI at Random¶
You may add multiple CLIs which are forced to allow a random CLI to be chosen. In this example (roughly) 50% of the calls will be sent with 111111111111 and 50% with 222222222222 (providing the customer does not send either of those two, otherwise the results would).
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
111111111111 |
Yes | Disabled | None | |||
222222222222 |
Yes | Disabled | None |
Large Numbers of Random CLIs
To filter or replace calls with a larger amount of CLIs, or to perform more complicated rules, use Scriptforge to write a custom application reading from a database to accomplish much more comprehensive solutions.
Pick CLI from DID¶
This example shows how to pick a DID already associated with the customer at random for use as the CLI.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Random | None |
Pick CLI from DID with Longest Match¶
You may wish to do perform CLI Localization. For example, if you have multiple DIDs (in this case 123456, 123567 and 123789) and are placing a call to 1234987654, the system will find the longest match (in this case 123456) to use as the CLI.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Prefix Match | None |
Pick a CLI from a Large List¶
Large lists of numbers can be managed from our Userspace database. Once the numbers are uploaded, you can use the following options to choose a number at random.
| Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Disabled | [My Database] |
Manipulate CLI¶
Sometimes it can be useful to retain all or part of the CLI being sent manipulate it when it gets sent out.
Are you Normalizing?
Normalizing is the process of using a common number format. For ConnexCS, this is the international format. You should not be using CLI Manipulation to correct the format or a number, this should be done by Parameter Rewrite (see Number Manipulation for details).
Regex Pattern Examples¶
If a customer sends a call where the CLI starts with a 9 we can strip it out and replace it with a 44. For example, 9123456789 will become 4423456789.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^9(.*)$ |
44$1 |
No | Disabled | None |
This may be a little complicated so we can break this down:
^is a start anchor and it means that we start the match at the very left9is the literal digit 9(and)represent a match group, everything matched within it will be placed in the variable$1$is an end anchor and it means that we finish the match at the very right
In the Rewrite CLI section, 44 is the literal 44 digits, and $1 will contain what has been matched in the previous stage.
Use Pre-Asserted-Identity as CLI¶
You can use all or part of a sent Pre-Asserted-Identity as the CLI. The following example shows how to capture all.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.* |
^(?<paid>.*)$ |
$<paid> |
No | Disabled | None |
In addition to the matched group as above, we have the expression (?<paid>.*). Here, paid represents a variable where this information is stored, it is then available in the CLI rewrite scope as $<paid>
Variable Scope
Numbered groups (e.g $1, $2) will only be read from the CLI and will be available in CLI rewrite or in Pre-Asserted-Identity Rewrite. Named groups can be read from, and used, anywhere.
Manipulate Pre-Asserted-Identity¶
Manipulate the P-Asserted ID similarly to how we manipulated the CLI. In this case, we must use named groups, and still have to match the CLI to allow the call to pass. As before 9123456789 in the Pre-Asserted-Identity will become 4423456789.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.* |
^9(?<paid>.*)$ |
44$<paid> |
No | Disabled | None |
Use CLI¶
If we want to use the CLI in the Pre-Asserted-Identity it is a little easier as we can just use the numbered group.
| CLI | Pre-Asserted-ID | Rewrite CLI | Rewrite P-Asserted-ID | Forced | Use DID | Userspace DB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
^(.*)$ |
$1 |
No | Disabled | None |
Additional Examples¶
The CLI system uses Regular Expressions to match and replace numbers. Here are a few examples:
| Number | CLI | Replace CLI | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 123456789 | ^1234 | Allows only numbers starting with 1234 to pass | |
| 123456789 | 789$ | Allows only numbers ending with 789 to pass | |
| 12345678912 | ^[0-9]{11,12}$ | Allows only numbers with 11 or 12 digits to pass | |
| +123456789 | ^+([0-9]+)$ | \1 | Remove leading + |
| 01782123456 | ^0([1-9]+)$ | 44\1 | Remove leading 0 and replace with 44 |
To learn more about writing regular expressions, visit RegExr for tutorials and exercises available for all levels of expertise.
Blacklist numbers per provider¶
Using CLI Restrict lets you block calls, essentially creating a Blacklist of numbers. To block a configured CLI:
- Click Management Rate Card.
- Select Provider Rate Card (under the Name column).
- Select Properties Advanced.
- Enter the CLI/ANIs you want to block in the CLI Restrict box.
- Click
Save.
General Condition 6 (GC6) Compliance¶
ConnexCS is GC6 compliant for end users, which:
requires Communications Providers (CPs) to provide CLI facilities, and ensure that the CLI Data provided with a call includes a valid, dialable telephone number which uniquely identifies the caller." For details on this General Condition, including guidelines for "valid" and "dialable" numbers, see OFCOM's Guidance on CLI Facilities.
To set the "P-Asserted-ID" per customer, see Configure CLI above.