docs: add PSTN calling (VoIP.ms) planning notes
Captures the toll-fraud / prepaid-cap research and decisions from a design discussion (provider: VoIP.ms, US-only calling for now) so implementation can be picked up in a future session without re-deriving the background. Nothing implemented yet.
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# PSTN Calling via VoIP.ms — Planning Notes
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Research and decisions from a design discussion, saved here so the work can
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be picked up in a fresh chat without re-deriving the background. **Nothing
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has been implemented yet** — this is prep for a future `services/*.sh`
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addition on top of `asterisk-digital-ocean`.
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## Decision so far
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- **Provider: VoIP.ms.** Chosen for its prepaid-balance model: turn off
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auto-recharge in the account's Finances settings and outbound calls simply
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fail once the balance hits $0 — that's the toll-fraud backstop if the
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droplet's Asterisk (`asterisk-digital-ocean`) is ever compromised. This
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behavior wasn't verified against a live account — confirm the
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auto-recharge toggle still works this way at sign-up time, since billing
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UX can change.
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- **Scope: US calling only, for now.** No international, no premium-rate
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destinations. Enforce this twice — once via whatever dial-plan/prefix
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VoIP.ms requires for US routing, and again independently in Asterisk's own
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dialplan (see below), so a compromised extension can't reach anything
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outside the US even if the trunk itself would technically allow more later.
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## Why this matters (toll fraud)
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A compromised Asterisk box can dial premium-rate or international numbers
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that cost real money fast (some destinations run several $/min) before
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anyone notices. Two independent layers matter more than either alone:
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1. **Trunk-side cap** — prepaid balance, auto-recharge off. Limits total
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possible loss to whatever the balance is topped up to, but a live
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compromise could still burn through that balance in minutes if nothing
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else restricts what can be dialed.
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2. **Dialplan-side restriction** — Asterisk should refuse to route calls
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outside the US/NANP pattern at all, regardless of what the trunk allows.
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This is the first line of defense and should exist independent of the
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trunk's own capabilities.
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## What it takes technically (asterisk-digital-ocean)
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- A PJSIP trunk to VoIP.ms: `endpoint` / `aor` / `auth` / `identify`
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sections in the pjsip config, using either IP authentication or SIP
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registration — VoIP.ms supports both. IP auth is simpler for a droplet
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(it has a static IP already) and avoids storing a SIP password in the
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config at all — worth confirming with VoIP.ms which they actually
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recommend before choosing.
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- An outbound dialplan route matching US numbers only, e.g. `_1NXXNXXXXX`
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(11-digit NANP with leading 1) or `_NXXNXXXXX`, depending on how numbers
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get dialed from the existing extensions, routed to the VoIP.ms trunk. No
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catch-all `_X.` pattern — an explicit NANP pattern is itself a hard block
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on non-US destinations at the dialplan level.
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- VoIP.ms-specific setup that isn't scriptable (user does this manually):
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create the account, decide whether a DID is needed (this research was
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outbound-only — inbound PSTN wasn't discussed/decided), pick a VoIP.ms
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POP/server (affects the trunk hostname), fund the prepaid balance, turn
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off auto-recharge.
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- Defense-in-depth to design alongside the trunk (not yet designed):
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- Per-extension concurrent-call cap in the dialplan (`GROUP()` /
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`GROUP_COUNT()`) so one compromised extension can't open dozens of
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simultaneous outbound legs at once.
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- A simple outbound call-count/spend alert — could live in the existing
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`security-dashboard` service (see `services/security-dashboard.sh`) or
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as a separate CDR-based check. Not designed yet.
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- Worth being explicit that CrowdSec's existing `asterisk_bf` /
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`asterisk_user_enum` scenarios (see `services/crowdsec.sh`) cover
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registration brute-force, which is a *different* threat model from a
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legitimately-registered extension being used for toll fraud — nobody
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should assume CrowdSec alone already covers this.
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## Provider landscape (for reference — not chosen)
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- **SIP.US** — also prepaid, flat per-channel rate, built-in fraud
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detection. Considered, not chosen.
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- Several providers (Nextiva, IDT Express) advertise AI/ML-based fraud
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monitoring as a second layer on top of normal billing — an extra net, not
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a substitute for a hard prepaid ceiling.
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- Most providers don't market an explicit "spending cap" feature — the
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prepaid-balance + auto-recharge-off pattern is the de facto mechanism
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across the space, VoIP.ms included.
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## Open items for whoever picks this up next
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1. Decide: new `services/voipms-trunk.sh`, or an optional trunk section
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added directly to `services/asterisk-digital-ocean.sh`? Leaning toward a
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separate service file so trunk config isn't forced on installs that
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don't want PSTN calling, matching this repo's one-feature-per-file
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convention (see CLAUDE.md).
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2. IP auth vs. registration — confirm which VoIP.ms recommends for a single
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fixed-IP droplet.
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3. Exact NANP dial pattern(s) and any prefix-stripping VoIP.ms requires.
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4. Whether inbound (a DID) is wanted at all, or outbound-only for now — not
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discussed yet.
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5. Design the concurrent-call cap and any spend/volume alerting mentioned
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above.
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