Really Frequently Asked Questions

Hardware and SIM cards

  1. Which equipment is located on my side?
  2. Do you manufacture the hardware?
  3. Can you support a GSM gateway I already have?
  4. What are the environment requirements for the hardware on our side?
  5. Where are my SIM cards stored?
  6. Are my SIM cards located in your SIM arrays registered locally in your country using roaming?
  7. Can I have a SIM array (SIM bank) located in my network?
  8. How can we send our SIM cards to you?
  9. How many SIM cards should I send to you?
  10. Where to place GSM gateways.
  11. How many GSM gateways can I place in one location?

GSM and VoIP Technologies

  1. Which VoIP signaling protocols do you support?
  2. Which audio CODECs do you support?
  3. Is it possible to encrypt my VoIP traffic?
  4. What is the Internet bandwidth consumption by the GSM gateways?
  5. How can I check my Internet connection bandwidth?
  6. Can I change IMEI numbers on my gateways?
  7. Can the gateway screen/hide CLI (SIM card telephone number) in outgoing calls?
  8. Can we prevent IVR messages in early media from mobile operator from being passed to a calling party?
  9. I don't have own VoIP soft-switch or billing systems. Can I use yours?
  10. Can I get CDRs from my GSM gateways?

Finance and Legal

  1. Is this legal?
  2. Should I pay you for minutes I terminated through my GSM gateways?
  3. Why should I pay deposit for renting the hardwares?
  4. How can I take back my deposit?
  5. I don't have a company. Can you sign the agreement with a private person?
  6. Which payment methods do you support?
  7. Can we pay all rent fees at the end of month or next month?
  8. Where can I find telephone prefixes that are served by my GSM operator?
  9. Where can I find traffic for my destinations?
  10. Can you send traffic to my gateways?
  11. How do you send the equipment?
  12. When will the equipment arrives and how much will shipment costs?
Have not found anything appropriate? – Contact us now and ask your questions.

Hardware and SIM cards

  1. Which equipment is located on my side?

    The only mandatory part is a GSM gateway.

    Optional components are VoIP soft-switch&billing and SIM array (SIM bank).

  2. Do you manufacture the hardware?

    We use QuesCom/iQsim hardware right now.

  3. Can you support a GSM gateway I already have?

    Yes. At the moment we support 8/12/16-port QuesCom gateways only.

    Note that we support only specific firmware releases - please contact our managers to make sure if your equipment is compatible.

  4. What are the environment requirements for the hardware on our side?

    1. Electrical grounding.
    2. High quality power supply: 100..240V AC. We highly recommend to use UPS.
    3. Temperature: +10..+25 °C.
    4. Humidity level: 10% to 70%, non-condensing.

  5. Where are my SIM cards stored?

    SIM cards are stored in SIM array (SIM bank) located in our network by default. Our support engineers manage the SIM cards according to your orders.

    If you have lots of gateways it's also possible to place the SIM array in your network.

  6. Are my SIM cards located in your SIM arrays registered locally in your country using roaming?

    No. SIM cards are registered remotely on GSM gateways located in your country and so GSM roaming is not required.

  7. Can I have a SIM array (SIM bank) located in my network?

    Yes, it may have sense if you manage lots of GSM gateways in your network.

  8. How can we send our SIM cards to you?

    You may use any delivery service (like FedEx, DHL, TNT, UPC, etc.)

    Note that we only need a SIM card itself without big plastic card or SIM package box.

  9. How many SIM cards should I send to you?

    We recommend to send some amount of spare SIM cards that will be used when/if the GSM operator blocks some of your SIM cards. Usually it's 20-50% of total amount of your SIM cards installed into our SIM array.

  10. Where to place GSM gateways.

    You should find a place with good GSM signal - you may evaluate it using your mobile phone. In case of city district with high buildings the top floors are preferable.

  11. How many GSM gateways can I place in one location?

    Two gateways maximum. We highly don't recommend to place more than 20 GSM ports in the same place.

GSM and VoIP Technologies

  1. Which VoIP signaling protocols do you support?

    SIP and H.323.

    Note that some extra features are not available for legacy H.323 protocol.

  2. Which audio CODECs do you support?

    Right now we support G.711, G.723.1 and G.729a audio CODECs.

  3. Is it possible to encrypt my VoIP traffic?

    Yes, we have an extra service to encrypt VoIP traffic.

    Note that the encryption causes extra Internet bandwidth usage.

  4. What is the Internet bandwidth consumption by the GSM gateways?

    It depends on amount of GSM ports, link type, used audio CODEC and presence of traffic encryption.

    Audio CODEC Traffic Encryption Required Internet Bandwidth
    on xDSL link (e.g. ADSL)
    per single GSM port for 8-port gateway
    G.711
    (best quality)     		yes 150 Kbps 1.2 Mbps
    – 105 Kbps 840 Kbps
    G.729
    (low bandwidth)    		 yes 65 Kbps 520 Kbps
    – 45 Kbps 360 Kbps

    Note that you need the bandwidth above in both ways: outgoing from your gateways to our network and incoming from our network to your gateways.

  5. How can I check my Internet connection bandwidth?

    You may use our Internet connection speed test.

  6. Can I change IMEI numbers on my gateways?

    Yes. By default we auto-generate the IMEI numbers, but you can also provide us with a list of IMEI numbers. You may get them from the real cell phones and check in you national IMEI blacklist databases (if you have one).

  7. Can the gateway screen/hide CLI (SIM card telephone number) in outgoing calls?

    Yes, it's possible.

  8. Can we prevent IVR messages in early media from mobile operator from being passed to a calling party?

    Yes, we can IVR detection feature, so you may drop calls with IVR messages in early media.

  9. I don't have own VoIP soft-switch or billing systems. Can I use yours?

    Yes, we can provide you with a separate VoIP soft-switch and billing server located in our network. We will help you to configure it, but it will be completely under your control.

  10. Can I get CDRs from my GSM gateways?

    Yes, we have an extra service to provide you with detailed CDRs.


Finance and Legal

  1. Is this legal?

    Different countries have different laws regarding that kind of business. It can be completely forbidden, or you may need to get a license, or you need just a special agreement with your GSM operator.

    Note that ALT Bilişim Teknolojileri takes no obligations regarding obtaining licenses or any other permissions. It's your responsibility to deal with your local authorities.

  2. Should I pay you for minutes I terminated through my GSM gateways?

    No, we do not charge you for terminated minutes. You have only fixed rent fees which depend on amount of GSM ports on your gateways.

  3. Why should I pay deposit for renting the hardwares?

    Deposit price is completely refundable and ALT is asking this to secure the hardware.

  4. How can I take back my deposit?

    You are going to take your deposit back after the return of the equipment. Or if you decide to terminate some traffic from our partners (regarding to our agreements with them), when the traffic payment reaches to a break point you will get your deposit payment immediately.

  5. I don't have a company. Can you sign the agreement with a private person?

    Yes.

  6. Which payment methods do you support?

    We accept Bank transfers and Western Union.

  7. Can we pay all rent fees at the end of month or next month?

    Rent payments should be done in the first week of every month. Otherwise there is a late payment penalty for every day. If the payment is not done in 20 days, ALT will cut the services given.

  8. Where can I find telephone prefixes that are served by my GSM operator?

    For fast evaluation you may consult an appropriate page on Wikipedia. But the most reliable way is to call your operator custom care service.

  9. Where can I find traffic for my destinations?

    ALT also has a consulting service, we may provide you a lot of companies for a lot of destinations.

  10. Can you send traffic to my gateways?

    We have partner companies in wholesale traffic business. They can send traffic to your gateways.

  11. How do you send the equipment?

    We use shipment companies like UPS, FEDEX, etc. For legal custom services you need to contact your custom brokerage.

  12. When will the equipment arrives and how much will shipment costs?

    Arrival and cost of the shipment vary depending to the cargo and country. Equipment is going to send from Turkey. You may use appropriate WEB sites (e.g. UPS one) to calculate approximate arrival time and cost.

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