Incoming routing.

[drifting]

Need a bit of clarification for the entry below.

_XXXX.    Class    default    All    IVR Welcome    IVR Closed    None    NO    YES       

Does that actually mean that *anything* coming in should go to the IVR Welcome? My understanding was that _XXXX. Was the default and should just route all?
Ideally I would even like 4 digit peers to go to the IVR too. (Annoying friends who call out of hours :-)  )
Now I must admit it has always been a mental block for me, so really appreciate your help.

P.

[sysadmin]

Well, first of all, you shouldn't use _XXXX.   Which begs the question, "Why is it there?"   It's there to get you started.   You can install a sark, point a trunk at it, send it a call and it will ring all the phones, irrespective of the DDI.  It really is just for that.  As you develop your installation, you should add the DDI's you expect to receive together with their respective routing rules.   At this point you should remove, or disable, _XXXX.   

The problem with _XXXX. is that it will receive anything more than 4 digits from anywhere and route it.   If you have a fault in your routing tables then you could end up with an open relay, which is probably not what you want.   The vast majority of the attacks we see are not register cracks, they're simply invites to a number in the hope you will relay it for them.   With a rule like _XXXX. you run the very real risk of that happening.

In terms of what _XXXX. actually means, it will match anything of 4 characters or more.

Turn it off unless you are running on a completely closed system (no external SIP access).

[drifting]

Brilliant, thanks for that clarification.
I think what baffled me was that if _XXXX did route all, why did it not route peers trunks? I have one friend who seems to be nocturnal, and was trying to make sure her went to the closed out of hours :-)

P