Earlier this month, we released a SIP/PSTN Inbound feature to allow a phone number to be assigned to a video room using the Space UI, LaML, or Relay Rest API. After it is assigned, an end user can call the phone number to join the video room. This feature allows users to call into a videoconference as an audio participant. Let’s take a look at the three different ways you can set up this feature.

Using Your Dashboard

From your Dashboard, you can configure a phone number to forward incoming calls to a video room. In the “Phone Numbers” tab, select the phone number you would like to use and click on the “Edit Settings” button. Under “Voice and Fax Settings”, select “a Video Room” to handle calls incoming calls, then enter the name of a video room owned by this Space. Then, remember to save the settings with the button at the bottom of the page. That’s it!

Using a LaML Bin

You may prefer to set up a LaML bin and webhook in your Dashboard. This option would allow you to set a fallback LaML webhook in case the primary one fails (for example if someone dials the number when the video room is not active). To use a LaML bin, we have added a new verb and noun to connect to a video room.

We will start in the LaML section of your Dashboard under the “Bins” tab. Create a new bin with the blue “new” button. Give it a memorable name and use the new <Connect> verb and <Room> noun as shown below and in the XML documentation for <Connect> and for <Room>.

Notice that in the XML code we use the room name (morning-standup) instead of the display name (Morning Standup). Using the display name will cause the code to fail.

After saving that bin, you are redirected to your list of saved bins. Find your new bin and use the copy icon next to the Request URL in your bins list, then navigate to the phone numbers settings just as we did in the example above. This time, we will handle calls using “LaML Webhooks” and paste the Request URL you copied into the box for “When a call comes in”.

You may also want to add a fallback webhook at this point using the same process. Remember to save your new settings, and you’re good to go.

Using REST APIs

Finally, if you would like to connect a phone number to a video room without using your Dashboard, you can do it programmatically with our REST APIs. We have updated Phone Number - Rest APIs to include a video_room call handler and call_video_room_id for each endpoint.

In this case, you will need to use the chosen video room’s id instead of the room name. You can find this with another API call to list video conferences and choose the appropriate “id” property.

So, you can purchase a new phone number or update an existing phone number to connect voice calls to a specific video room by passing the key-value pairs “call_handler”: “video_room” and "call_video_room_id": “<your video room id>” to the appropriate endpoint. See the documentation pages linked above for all of the details and to test the API calls.

Start Your Call

Using any one of these three methods will give your Video Conference the extra options you may need to connect with your users. As always, if you need more assistance, reach out to support from your Dashboard.