Provision a SIP Device

This page contains instructions on how to provision a SIP device.

Overview

The provisioning methodology refers to the process through which one can quickly assign a Phone terminal extension to several devices, including multiple lines of the same provisioned device. The system admin, service providers, organizations, and users can manage their own devices and provisioning settings to suit their own requirements.

Since one device can handle multiple extensions, the provisioning process is multi-extension-aware. The configuration files used for provisioning the supported devices can be either the default ones, included in the Server Default template, or any other customized files, included in your own provisioning templates.

To manage SIP devices, open the Unified Communications option in the side menu and click on the SIP Devices icon in the Assets area. The SIP Devices page allows you to:

• provision a new device
• manage the provisioned devices
• regenerate the configuration files of the provisioned devices
• search for specific provisioned devices
• remove unused device
• export the available data to a .csv file

If the Provisioning system IP or hostname has not been configured, the first time you enter the SIP Devices page, you will be redirected to the Equipment Templates page. Fill in the Provisioning system IP or hostname in the Global Preferences pop-up window and you will gain access to the SIP Devices page.

Provision a new device

To provision a new device, you must assign it to one of the organizations available and select the Phone Terminal extensions that will be connected to device(s).

1. Click the Add New Device icon available in the Tools section.

2. Fill in the device info of the device you want to provision.

   For explanations on device info, click here.

   Field	Description
   Serial number	Unique identification number used to recognize the device system wide (e.g. 32783dad2). Value accepted: 3 to 32 characters, alphanumerical.
   Friendly name	Name that will differentiate the provisioned device (e.g. Joe's Snom 360). Especially useful when you have the same equipment provisioned several times with different configurations. Value accepted: 3 to 32 characters, alphanumerical, not unique.
   Manufacturer	Manufacturer that produces the device you want to provision (e.g. Snom). The list contains all the supported brands.
   Model	This list is dynamically populated with all the models available for the selected manufacturer.
   Firmware/Version	Choose the corresponding option (e.g. 6.2). This is important because the configuration file is different for each of the supported firmware versions and, therefore, the provisioning settings differ.
   Application version	Provide the specific firmware version of the device (e.g. P0S3-08-11-00). This value will be retained in the database and used in the configuration file generated for the selected device. Most devices will not require that you fill in this text box. In certain cases (e.g. Cisco), the device requires the exact application version to be included in the configuration file in order to be provisioned. Check the supplied user guide for clarifications.
   MAC address	The text box is auto-populated with the first three segments according to the manufacturer you have selected (e.g. 00:04:13 for Snom). Value must comply to the standard format: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX.
   Status	If you simply want to define and assign the device, without provisioning it, select Disable from the drop-down list. The provisioning file will not be generated. On the other hand, if you want to finalize the provisioning process, select Enable.
   Notes	Add additional information.

3. Configure the device settings.

   For explanations on device settings, click here.

   Field	Description
   Administrator username	The username required to log in to the browser-based configuration interface of the device. Not all devices support configuration via a web browser. Check their documentation for additional information. Not available for devices manufactured by Snom and Polycom.
   Administrator password	Options available when setting the administrator password: None: No password is required to connect to the device's browser-based configuration interface. Automatically generated: VoipNow randomly generates a password for you. Manually set: You can manually set and confirm the password using the two additional fields displayed. Not available for the devices manufactured by Snom and Polycom.
   Phone update interval	Additionally, you may set the number of minutes the device waits for before checking for updates on the provisioning server. Value accepted: 1 to 99,999 minutes/seconds, depending on the device settings. Default value: 10 minutes.
   Update protocol	This list is automatically populated with the protocols used by the selected device to access the configuration file on the provisioning server. You have several options: HTTP: This method is recommended, if available. HTTPS: While it is more secure, this method requires the installation of a CA signed certificate on the web server. TFTP: Choose this legacy provisioning method only if HTTP is not available.
   Provisioning template	Select the appropriate provisioning template. The drop-down list displays only those templates that have configuration files defined for the selected equipment, plus the Server default template that includes the standard configuration files of all the devices supported by VoipNow. The configuration files contain the settings (default or custom) required by the device to become fully functional in the VoipNow system. It is recommended to double check the template you are going to use and search for any possible error that could cause the device to malfunction. For more details on how to add a certain equipment to a template/how to customize its configuration file, check the Manage Equipment Templates section. As a system administrator, you can only use one of your own templates. The provisioning templates defined by the other users are not available.
   Phone time zone	You can set the time zone that will be used by the phone device. You can either select the time zone of the extension(s) that this equipment will be assigned to or any other time zone, depending on your requirements. Basically, this option allows you to choose the time that will be displayed on the screen of the device. For example, if the time zone of the extension you want this device to be assigned to, 0004*001, is GMT+3, then you can use the drop-down list to select either GMT+3 or any other existing value. When you choose the extension(s) this device will be assigned to using the controls available in the Line Assignments (<x>) section, its time zone will be automatically selected. You can choose to use it or select another one as you are not conditioned to keep the default value.

4. If you want to assign the device to a specific organization, click the Organizations icon or manually fill in the organization's number (e.g. 0028). More than one device can be assigned to an organization account.
5. Then assign a line to the device. It is not mandatory to do it now, you can do it later. Set the number of lines that can be assigned for a particular device (e.g. for Snom 360, a total number of 12 lines can be allocated to extensions).
6. If you have previously selected an organization account, you can assign the device's line(s) to the Phone terminal extensions of that organization. Click the Extension icon and choose an account or enter its name in the text box (e.g. 0045*001). Only Phone terminal extensions without an assigned line are displayed. You cannot manually assign the device to an extension that has already been provisioned. The maximum number of lines varies from device to device and it is defined in the equipment's configuration file. If the device has more than one line, then you can use the +/-buttons to manage them.
7. Click OK to confirm settings and provision the device. A confirmation message including the link of the provisioning file will be displayed. To go back to the previous page without submitting the date, click Cancel.