[asterisk-users] SIP Hardphone that works well with asterisk

[Andrew Latham]

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 10:11 AM, Terry Brummell <terry at brummell.net> wrote:
> Yes, I use provisioning for my Polycom's.  And unfortunately, as far as I know, the Mitel's do not support tftp/http provisioning.  I did just upgrade my 5215's to SIP Rel8 and I see them do a call to /init in the tftp, but I don't know what the phone is trying to do in that folder.
> Anyway, that's taking this off topic of the OP.

Actually its not very far off topic.  When starting a new project, say
1000+ extensions, the decision is complex.  If you need 1000+ IP
phones you need to verify your supply chain and calculate cost of
installation.  If you have manually touch or even scan the phones then
things get complex real quick.  For example some suppliers will print
additional information on each box of phones to make deployment
easier.  If you get your boxes of phones with user or cubicle names
printed in relation to the MAC and also have the list for
configuration then you look like a super hero...  Price is not the
deciding point on real projects, its the supporting infrastructure.

We are also working to get some ATAs like the Audiocodes to work from
the res_phoneprov.  I have hacked together a TFTP proxy with the help
of some existing projects.  You can read more here
http://etel.wiki.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/Dynamic_Phone_Provisioning_with_res_phoneprov_and_TFTP


Some notes on IP hardphones to look for...

* Button Labels, When dealing with languages other than English you
need to verify that the phones are available with per language button
labels or no labels and on screen soft buttons in the language you
need.

* Configuration of VLAN on the phone.  Can it be done automatic or is
it a manual setting.  Does the phone support vlan tagging.

* Firmware updates: Are they free, fast and stable?

* POE standards.  Does the phone communicate its required power to the
switch correctly (not all switches or phones like each other.).
Example: Polycom 330 and Cisco 2960 = all ports think they need 15.4
watts and may over saturate the switch power supply causing random
ports to have POE turn off.  Polycom 331 and Cisco 2960 = All ports
communicate with the the phone and set wattage to ~4 watts +- cable
length

* Sidecars for the phones.  Can you dynamically add side cars to the
phones.  Lucky that today you can just order snom Visions and do some
hacking to fix this issue.

* Directory XML App. When you exceed the internal directory size, can
you create an XML app to allow the searching of a corporate directory
from the phones screen. (Hint: res_phoneprov + xml app + dynamic
alphabetic pages)

* Power Adapter: Many providers have order numbers with and without
power adapters.  In every installation you will need power adapters
for testing, verifying and for edge devices.

* Headsets: Customers request computability with headsets.  There are
Linksys phones shipping today with bluetooth.  My snom 870 has two
types of headset plugs on the back.

* Handset cord length: Some phones have long handset cords, others not so much.

* Handset weight, does it feel too light and weak

* Mounting, Are there wall mounting and multiple position desk mounting options

* Wireless/dect/cordless = Is it a dangerous environment?  I have
purchased simple analog phones at walmart for projects where the
cordless phones are damaged too often.

~~~ Andrew "lathama" Latham lathama at gmail.com ~~~