SIP Error Codes & SIP Trunk Troubleshooting

Outbound calls error with "all circuits busy" or "congestion":

This is the default configuration of Asterisk regardless of the actual error generated (which is infuriating when you are trying to diagnose the real problem) unless PBX is updated to send back the real error rather than the changed error. This error most commonly occurs when the call is not authenticating properly, at which point check the above in the SIP trunk configuration (If Asterisk, swap username= for defaultuser= to see if this solves the issue. Just because a trunk is showing as registered does not mean it will authenticate correctly.

Outbound calls fail with SIP error 488 (Not Accepted Here) or I-SUP errors 58 (bearer capability not available) or 88 (incompatible destination):

Check the codecs allowed in the SIP trunk configuration above, VoiceHost only supports: alaw, ulaw, gsm
If a codec is defined in Asterisk that is not one of the above, or is offering a differing sample rate or interval rate (e.g. 8000/20i - 8000Hz at 20ms) cannot interwork with 16000/30i - 16000Hz at 30ms) the call will fail and the codecs in the SIP trunk configuration need to be aligned to use one of the above codecs.

Inbound calls fail with SIP error 408 (Request Timeout):

Check the inbound number is mapped in the system correctly, if necessary the SIP trunk on the portal can be configured to strip the plus, e.g. if Asterisk is configured to use plus somewhere else. Check the trunk is registered. Ascertain how long the 408 error took to come back if it was immediate the trunk is usually unregistered if it took a few seconds the number is usually not mapped correctly.

Calls fail with SIP error 503, I-SUP errors 34 or 38:

If our platform replies back with 503 it usually means the gateway trying to process the call can't due to "issues", or the customer has hit their Calls-Per-Second (CPS) limit and is sending too many calls at once. Sometimes the error is passed back from IP Exchange through VoiceHost to the customer's system, at which point the call will usually hunt to another route to try and place the call.