Difference between revisions of "Frequently Asked Questions"

Revision as of 18:47, 7 December 2021

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This page aims to cover general frequently asked questions along with linking the answer to the relevant page on the topic.

How do I provision a phone?

This is going to depend on the phone and where the phone is in relation to the pbx (local or remote). For an IPitomy branded phone, Configuring an IPitomy Phone, if the phone is local, follow the autoprovisioning steps. If it is remote, follow the remote phones steps. Both are on the linked page.

For a Yealink phone, Yealink Phone Guide contains the steps needed for autoprovisioning.

In either case, for for 3rd party phones such as polycom or cisco, if you are manually configuring a phone, the information you will need is the extension number, the SIP password (found under the extension's advanced section), and the IP address that the phone can reach the PBX at. The Label, Display Name, etc, can all be set however you wish them to appear on the phone's screen. Any setting for username, authentication name, etc., use the extension number. The password will always be the SIP password for the account. Finally the sip server will be the IP of the PBX. in the case of our cloud hosted pbx, you will use the domain name of the pbx, but do NOT include http:// in this. Example: clouddemo.ipitomy.com NOT http://clouddemo.ipitomy.com

Why does my phone not register?

If the phone is local, first check to see that the extension actually exists, by looking at Reports->Monitoring, and looking for the extension in this list. If you've created the extension, saved it, applied changes, and it is NOT in this list, chances are you lack a license for that extension type. If it does appear in the monitoring list, the phone is failing to authenticate to the pbx for some reason. If it's a local phone, either the phone is not provisioned properly, or it is unable to talk to the pbx. If it's remote, in addition to the same problems the local phone has, you also need to ensure port 5060 is forwarded to the pbx through the router, and that if the pbx has a SIP Access Control List, that it allows the IP address where the remote phone is located. Troubleshooting_Remote_SIP contains a lot of useful information to help with troubleshooting remote phones.

Why will Queue Manager not connect?

The primary cause for a single queue manager client to fail to connect to the pbx is the computer's time setting. The PC running queue manager must have the exact same time as the pbx or else the authentication will be rejected. The PBX time can be found on pbx setup->general, and has a spot to configure a network time server for synchronizing. In windows, it is advised to set the exact same network time server so that it is always in sync with the pbx. We recommend pool.ntp.org as the server to be used, but you may use another of your preference. See Q_Manager for our main page on this application.

What is the difference between HTTP and TFTP?

Both protocols are used for the autoprovisioning process by phones. HTTP is generally recommended (and required on cloud) for REMOTE phone autoprovisioning, while TFTP is ONLY recommended for either local phone provisioning, or if remote, you use an access control list with it, because TFTP has no inherent security or authentication. Both protocols are used by the phone to send a request to the pbx for its configuration files. HTTP will work over default port 80, or if you've remapped an external port, such as 8080, it will work over that as well, but needs to be specified. You can put it into the URL like this: http://example.com:8080/ippbx/phonecfg TFTP runs over port 69, and you ONLY use the base address (ip address or domain name). You do not add the /ippbx/phonecfg when using TFTP.

What is a branch office?

A branch office is a connection between two pbxs, that can be physical premise systems, cloud hosted systems, or a combination of both, that allows the pbxs to operate in tandem with each other. Extensions on one system can directly call extensions and destinations on another system over the branch office connection, calls can be transferred, and even routed across the branch. Branch office connections use the IAX2 protocol to establish two-way communication between the systems involved. This runs over port 4569, so port forwarding needs to be done on any router that's in front of a premise pbx attempting to use branch offices. A further expanded guide on branch offices can be found at Branch Offices and at Branch Office Training

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 Both protocols are used for the autoprovisioning process by phones.  HTTP is generally recommended (and required on cloud) for REMOTE phone autoprovisioning, while TFTP is ONLY recommended for either local phone provisioning, or if remote, you use an access control list with it, because TFTP has no inherent security or authentication.  Both protocols are used by the phone to send a request to the pbx for its configuration files.  HTTP will work over default port 80, or if you've remapped an external port, such as 8080, it will work over that as well, but needs to be specified.  You can put it into the URL like this:  http://example.com:8080/ippbx/phonecfg
 TFTP runs over port 69, and you ONLY use the base address (ip address or domain name). You do not add the /ippbx/phonecfg when using TFTP.
+=== What is a branch office? ===
+A branch office is a connection between two pbxs, that can be physical premise systems, cloud hosted systems, or a combination of both, that allows the pbxs to operate in tandem with each other.  Extensions on one system can directly call extensions and destinations on another system over the branch office connection, calls can be transferred, and even routed across the branch.  Branch office connections use the IAX2 protocol to establish two-way communication between the systems involved.  This runs over port 4569, so port forwarding needs to be done on any router that's in front of a premise pbx attempting to use branch offices.  A further expanded guide on branch offices can be found at [[IP_PBX_Manual_Branch_Offices|Branch Offices]] and at [[Training:_Branch_Offices|Branch Office Training]]