When you buy a VoIP device, you need to remember to configure it under the services of the VoIP provider. Thus, devices used for Internet telephony can be programmed in three basic ways:
in the case of VoIP gateways through the built-in IVR module (voice menu) – programming using the keyboard of the telephone connected to the VoIP gateway, and in the case of VoIP phones directly using the phone keyboard and information displayed on its display,
using the Device Configuration Wizard,
via the web interface of the device, the web browser and the computer.
The first and second methods have their limitations and often this way you cannot program more advanced functions, settings or options in the device, so the third method is the most optimal, so that every interface field visible in the web browser is able to change and modify, which will contribute to better control of the device.
The basic fields that always need to be filled in are the VoIP server address, user account name and password for this user account. company fields that should be filled in or set using the selection list for this field are for example: time after which the user’s device will renew the registration on the server VoiP services and/or codec by which our conversation will be compressed. Depending on the requirements of the operator, it is also necessary to properly configure other, indicated by him/her fields that are required by him/her, which are optional, which should be filled in, select or tick, but here we will not deal with them, because these fields are listed in the specifications of service providers, as those that should be properly filled in.
The table below shows the basic fields and their most common names, which are required for all VoIP service providers for proper operation of peripheral devices.
Name of the field Meaning What do we enter? Required fields in VoIP Proxy, Proxy Server, SIP, SIP Server, SIP Server, Domain, Registrar Server address of VoIP services Server IP address of the server or the domain address of the server (for example, 12.234.56) or the domain address of the server where we have registered a VoIP User Account, User ID, User Name, User Name, Acount Name, Authenticate ID, Authentication User, Register Name, User Authentication Name, User Authentication Name that was entered into the registration form when you registered your Password, Password Name, Authenticate Password, Authentication password User Password that was entered into the registration form when you registered your account or that your operator sent us an automatic email or otherwise provided to us after you signed a post-paid Register Expires contract, Register Expiration, Login Expire, Expiry Time The renewal time of a user account on a VoIP server Time in seconds or minutes (depending on the device) that specifies the VoIP service provider in its requirements (for example, 60 seconds) Preferred Codec, Prefer Codec, Enable Codecs, Settings for Codecs The codec used to compress voice Indication of the codecs the device will use to compress speech, for example, G.729 or G.711a
Other examples of elements that can be configured in VoIP devices are fields such as:
support for packets passing through NAT (translation of IP addresses from local to public),
servers supporting the registration of user accounts (STUN),
authentication of the user account on the service server (authentication),
sending empty or control packets to a VoIP server to maintain an open port for signaling when using firewall (Keep Alive) security,
size of buffer capacity for packets with voice coding (Jitter buffer),
port number for signaling exchange (standard port is 5060),
range of ports for voice transmission (usually in the range of 10000 to 20000),
automatic remote device configuration (Provisioning),
IP address of the device (fixed: Static IP or variable: DHCP),
operation in a separate local area network (VLAN).
It is also possible to change local settings for a given device, especially in VoIP phones, for example:
The name of the telephone line,
current time with the possibility of automatic changeover to daylight saving and winter time,
the name of the device,
enable/disable Call Waiting function,
password to lock and unlock the device and a port to remotely log in to it,
the method of making connections, including extensions and limitations in selecting data of digits or their sequences (Dial Plan).
Returning to the methods of configuration, we also distinguish the fourth way of programming and managing VoIP devices, especially those devices that are very advanced in their design and functionality.