Configuring the Zoom Phone Local Survivability service

Once a Zoom Node Phone server and ZPLS service module have been deployed, the service will need to be configured before starting the service for use in failover situations.

Requirements for configuring the Zoom Phone Local Survivability

Table of Contents

How to configure Zoom Phone Local Survivability

Assign a Local Survivability server to a site

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then click Company Info.
  3. Click Account Settings.
  4. Under Zoom Node, locate Local Survivability.
  5. Click Manage.
  6. Click Assign to.
  7. Select the site the server will be assigned to.
  8. Click Save.

In addition to assigning a single server to a site, a Node group can also be assigned to a site.

Enable Zoom Phone Local Survivability

While the Zoom Phone Local Survivability module can be enabled at the account level, it can also be enabled at the group, and user levels as well. Additionally, the setting can be enabled under the Policy tab of a site as well.

How to configure the Session Border Controllers (SBC)

A SIP Trunk must be established between the SBC and the ZPLS module. The SBC will need to have the DigiCert root and intermediate certificates installed to establish TLS connectivity to both the ZPLS module (as well as the Zoom cloud).

Adding the SBC within the Administration portal does not directly create the SIP Trunk between the ZPLS module and SBC. The SBC needs to be associated with a Survivability Route Group which is then associated with the appropriate Site/Account- only at this stage is the ZPLS module made aware of the IP Address details of the SBC that is used for external call routing.

Learn more about configuring a Session Border Controller with ZPLS.

How to configure call forwarding and BYOC numbers

To invoke Call Forwarding for the Survivability of native Zoom Phone numbers to users and devices located within the site undergoing an outage, BYOC numbers associated with the PSTN connection attached to the survivability SBC must be acquired. The number of BYOC extensions required is determined by the number of unique extensions needed during a failover. For example, if 100 users require a Direct Inward Dial service during an outage, 100 extensions must be acquired from the BYOC provider and subsequently, 100 Zoom Native numbers can be forwarded to the aforementioned 100 BYOC numbers.

Note: Zoom Native numbers can only be forwarded to BYOC numbers assigned to users within the Site that is being configured for Call forwarding Local Survivability.

In addition to Call Forwarding, a single BYOC number is required for emergency services support. This unique BYOC number can be configured as the Emergency Location Identification Number (ELIN) for the specific Site and must not be assigned to any user or Zoom Phone entity.

Add BYOC numbers for survivability

To add BYOC Numbers:

  1. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then click Phone Numbers.
  2. Click the BYOC tab.
  3. Add or import via CSV any BYOC numbers that will be utilized for survivability.

Once the BYOC numbers have been added to the Site enabled for survivability, they must be assigned to users that will be enabled for survivability (the exception being the BYOC number dedicated as the ELIN for the Site). To add the numbers:

  1. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then click Phone Numbers.
  2. Click the Assigned tab.
  3. Assign the BYOC numbers added previously to the desired users.

At this stage, users will be configured with a Zoom-provided PSTN number and in addition, a BYOC carrier-provided PSTN number. In the event of a failover, only the BYOC carrier-provided PSTN number will be functional.

ELIN configuration

Each site can be configured with a single Emergency Location Identification Number (ELIN). To configure the ELIN:

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then click Company Info.
  3. Click on the name of the desired Site.
  4. Click the Settings tab.
  5. Under Zoom Node, navigate to the Emergency Location Identification Number (ELIN) setting.
  6. Click Add Number.
  7. In the dropdown, select the desired BYOC number to be utilized for ELIN.
    Notes:
  8. To verify the ELIN number, click Phone System Management, then click Phone Numbers.
    The BYOC number assigned as the ELIN will be displayed as assigned to Local Survivability. 

Configure Call Forwarding numbers

Before any outage, administrators should set up call forwarding logic to determine how Zoom Native numbers are redirected in the event of an outage. During an outage, admins will need to access the web portal and enable Call Forwarding for the selected numbers (the Select All option can be utilized to enable forwarding for all defined Source Numbers). Learn more about configuring Call Forwarding with ZPLS.

How to configure routing rules for Local Survivability

Routing Rules that are being used under normal conditions can be preserved while survivability is active.

Note: Typically Routing Rules are used for customized call routing for BYOC-P in addition to preserving users’ legacy dialing habits. When routing rules are used by ZPLS, the Routing Path (SIP Group) is ignored, however, number translations are preserved.

  1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal as an admin with the privilege to edit account settings.
  2. In the navigation menu, click Phone System Management, then click Company Info.
  3. Click the name of the desired Site.
  4. Under the Zoom Node section, enable Enable Routing Rules.
  5. Click Save.
    Note: Routing Rules defined at the Site level can be preserved by ZPLS. Rules at the account level will not be preserved.

Post configuration validation

Once your organization has deployed the Zoom Phone Local Survivability service module and configured the Local Survivability service, administrators can simulate a failover to verify the service is working as intended.