Getting Started with 8x8 Call Blocking

The 8x8 Call Blocking application lets you block specific phone numbers from reaching your 8x8 Work PBXs and 8x8 Contact Center tenants, and lock down extensions so outside callers cannot reach them. This article covers how to install the portal, enable and configure call blocking, and set up extension lockdown.

Before you begin

You must install the Geo Routing & Call Blocking from the 8x8 App Store before you can use the portal. Installing the app enables access for your account and provisions your account automatically.

1. Open the 8x8 App Store at https://appstore.8x8.vc/. You can also reach it from your 8x8 Admin Console.

2. Find and open the Geo Routing & Call Blocking application tile in the PS container.

3. Click Install App.

4. Read and accept the Terms and Conditions.

5. Click Install.

6. Select the default access:

   • No Access: Only administrators will have access to the applications.

   • All Scopes: All users will have access to the applications.

   • Selected Scopes: Selected scopes will have access to the applications.

7. After configuring the scopes, you are returned to the Geo Routing & Call Blocking application page. Click the Open App button.

8. When prompted, authorize the app with your token. This connects the app to your account.

Once installation is complete, open the portal and continue with the steps in the next sections of this article.

Navigate the portal

• Choose Call Blocking from the navigation. The Call Blocking page has two tabs: Blocked Numbers and Extension Lockdown.

• Use the list on the left to pick the PBX (8x8 Work) or Tenant (Contact Center) you want to configure. Or optionally select Enable on All PBXs and Tenants

• Each page includes a collapsible Help & How to use section with a quick reference.

Note

Depending on your plan, call blocking may be limited (for example, five call blocking entries). When you reach the limit, a banner appears with an option to request an upgrade. Contact your 8x8 representative to unlock unlimited entries.

Step 1: Enable call blocking

Here you have the option to either select individual PBXs or Contact Center tenants, or to enable on all PBXs and tenants at once.

• For an individual PBX (8x8 Work), select the PBX and click Enable Call Blocking, then confirm. The page shows Call blocking enabled when complete.

• For an individual Tenant (Contact Center), select the tenant, enter your Action Request Token, and click Save Token.

Note

To find your Action Request Token:

• Open Configuration Manager for Contact Center from the My Applications page.

• Select “Integration” from the left-hand navigation panel.

• Select API Token from the top menu.

  • If an Action Request Token is populated, copy the token to be pasted in the Call Blocking Action Token field. CAUTION: If there is a token in this field, do NOT click New Token. This will break any other configuration using the Action Request Token.

  • If the Action Request Token field is empty, click the New Token button, then copy the token to be pasted in the Call Blocking Action Token field.

Note

If a PBX has custom configuration, the button reads Contact Support to Enable and call blocking cannot be turned on from the portal. Contact 8x8 support to proceed.

Step 2: Set up your Contact Center script (Contact Center tenants only)

For Contact Center tenants, call blocking only takes effect after you add a check to your VCC script in the Configuration Manager. This check asks the call blocking service whether the incoming caller should be blocked, and hangs up if so. This variable check must be configured on every script where call blocking is to be used.

Note

This step applies to Contact Center (VCC) tenants only. 8x8 Work (PBX) call blocking does not require any script changes.

1. Add the _hangup variable. This step only has to be completed once.

   • Open your script in the Configuration Manager.

   • Click the View Variables tab (top-right hand side of the script editor), click the “add new” variable button, and name it _hangup (case-sensitive).

   • Select String as the Data Type.

     

2. Directly under MainIVR in your script (the very top of the script), add a “Forward to External IVR” object.

3. Configure the Forward to External IVR Object

   • Set the object tag to something such as “check for blocked call” or “call block?”.

   • Set the Phone Number field to exactly AdvIvr8x8_v2-callblocking (case-sensitive).

4. Click the Resume node that was added under the Forward to External IVR object and click add. Add a “Test Variable” IVR object to the resume path of the Forward to External IVR object.

5. Configure it to test whether _hangup = true (case-sensitive).

   • Set the object tag to whatever you want.

   • Select _hangup (string) from the Condition dropdown.

   • Select the '=' sign in the middle field.

   • Type true in the third field.

   • The condition reads: _hangup = true across the three fields.

     

6. Configure the branches of the Test Variable node:    

   • True: click True and then click [add]. Add a Hang Up IVR object. You may also want to add a Say node if you want to play a message to the caller first, then a Hang Up node.

   • False: there is no configuration for this branch; the call continues with the rest of your normal call flow. If left blank, the script simply continues.

     

Warning

The values AdvIvr8x8_v2-callblocking, _hangup, and true are all case-sensitive. If either of these do not match exactly, call blocking will not work.

Step 3: Add a blocked number

Return to the Call Blocking application to add phone numbers to be blocked.

1. Click + Add to Selected PBX/Tenant to add a new entry on a selected PBX or tenant. Click + Add to All Tenants & PBXs to add the entry to all at once.

2. Enter the Phone Number including the country code (for example, 14085551234 for US/Canada, or 966512345678 for Saudi Arabia). Punctuation such as +, spaces, dashes, and parentheses is fine and is ignored.

3. Select a Direction: Both, Inbound, or Outbound. Contact Center tenant entries are always Inbound.

4. Select a Direction: Both, Inbound, or Outbound. This direction is applied to every PBX (8x8 Work) the number is added to. Contact Center tenant entries are always saved as Inbound.

5. Optionally, add a Reason.

6. Click Save.

Tip

Enter the full number with the country code and the same caller is blocked no matter how the network formats it (with or without +, a leading 00, and so on). Enter one full number per entry.

Advanced: the Phone Number field also accepts a regular expression, so you can match a range of numbers with one entry. For example, ^1416\d+$ blocks any number that begins with 1416. To block a whole area code or country instead of a single number, use a regular expression or contact your 8x8 representative.

Block a number across all PBXs and tenants

To block one number across all of your PBXs and tenants at once:  

1. Click + Add to All Tenants & PBXs. 

2. Enter the phone number, including the country code. 

3. Select a Direction: Both, Inbound, or Outbound. This direction is applied to every PBX (8x8 Work) the number is added to. Contact Center tenant entries are always saved as Inbound.

4. Enter an optional reason.

5. Click Add to All.

Review and approve requests

Note

This feature allows your end users to submit phone number blocking requests directly from their phone. The user is prompted for the number to be blocked and the reason for blocking the phone number. New blocking request will be displayed in the Call Blocking application for administrator review and approval. Note: this requires 8x8 Professional Services to configure the initial setup. Please contact your 8x8 representative for more information.

Pending requests appear at the top of the table highlighted, with a banner showing how many are awaiting review. For each one, click Approve to start enforcing the block, or Deny to remove the request.  

Bulk upload by CSV

1. Click Bulk upload to add many blocked numbers at once. 

2. Use the following CSV format. Enter phone numbers with their country code:
   tenantOrPbx,phoneNumber,direction
   my-pbx,14085551234,Both
   my-tenant,966512345678,Inbound

3. The direction column is optional. Use Export to download your current entries.

Extension lockdown

Extension Lockdown lets you block outside (external) callers from reaching specific extensions on a PBX, while internal calls to those extensions keep working normally. It is useful for extensions that should only ever be reached from inside your organization such as overhead paging systems, lobby phones or door buzzers. You will find it as the Extension Lockdown tab on the Call Blocking page.

Note

Only calls that come in directly from outside (the public phone network) to a locked-down extension are rejected. Internal calls, transfers, and calls that reach the extension through a ring group or call queue are not affected.

Note

Extension Lockdown applies to 8x8 Work PBXs only. It is not available for Contact Center tenants.

How to lock down an extension

1. Open the Call Blocking page and switch to the Extension Lockdown tab.

2. Select the PBX from the list on the left. Extension Lockdown uses the same enablement as Call Blocking, so if you have not enabled call blocking on that PBX yet, click Enable Call Blocking first (this also activates Extension Lockdown for the PBX).

3. Click Add Extension.

4. Enter the Extension to lock down (for example, 1234) and, optionally, a Reason.

5. Click Save.

To edit or delete an entry, use the controls on the row. To enable the feature across every eligible PBX at once, use Enable Router on All PBXs.

Bulk upload by CSV

1. Click Bulk upload on the Extension Lockdown tab to add many extensions at once. Use the following CSV format:
   pbxName,extension,reason
   my-pbx,1234,Internal only
   my-pbx,1500,

2. The reason column is optional.

8x8 Call Blocking: frequently asked questions