User manual POLYCOM SOUNDPOINT IP 301 - Frequently Asked Questions

Polycom SoundPoint IP Frequently Asked Questions ® ® Polycom SoundPoint IP Frequently Asked Questions Why Polycom desktop IP phones? Polycom is a leading independent supplier of standards-based Voice over IP endpoints. We are committed to a full-line of highquality, easy-to-use, and affordable desktop VoIP telephones. Our SoundPoint IP line of desktop phones utilizes Polycom's awardwinning sound quality and hands-free full-duplex speakerphone technology (one-way, monitor speaker in the SoundPoint IP 300 and SoundPoint IP 301*) to enable natural, two-way conversations. Polycom SoundPoint IP VoIP telephones provide an easy transition from traditional PBX systems into the features and functionality of the world of IP telephony. SoundPoint IP phones also offer investment protection through in-the-field software upgradeability. With support for multiple protocols running on the leading IP PBX and Softswitch vendors' (Technology Partners') solutions, Power over Ethernet, secure provisioning**, and access to the latest IP services, including multiple call- and flexible line appearance**, presence, and instant messaging, Polycom SoundPoint IP telephones are your future-proof choice for business IP communications. What phone models are available? There are five models in the SoundPoint IP family, including: SoundPoint IP 30x encompassing: - SoundPoint IP 301 (currently offered in North America, Australia, and New Zealand only) - SoundPoint IP 300 (ROW) SoundPoint IP 50x encompassing: - SoundPoint IP 501 (currently offered in North America, Australia, and New Zealand only) - SoundPoint IP 500 (ROW) SoundPoint IP 600 (worldwide) All SoundPoint IP phones support SIP and MGCP protocols. Which protocol is best? There is no one protocol that is better than all the others. Each protocol has different advantages over the others and the choice is based on your business communication needs. What is a Technology Partner? Polycom focuses on bringing to market standards-based VoIP endpoints capable of delivering a complete suite of features as well as the superb audio quality. Polycom Technology Partners deliver VoIP telephony servers that provide both traditional telephony functionality and more advanced features like unified messaging, conference bridging, collaboration tools, and browsing capabilities. Our strategy is to collaborate with Technology Partners in order to offer industry-leading integrated VoIP solutions to the user. For a current list of VoIP Technology Partners and the Polycom IP phones that work on their platforms, please visit: http://www.polycom.com and click on `Products & Services', then `Voice Products' - `IP Telephony'. Does the phone have a different hardware design for each protocol? The hardware/software platform is designed to be flexible with ``drop-in'' protocol stack capabilities. As a result, SoundPoint IP can support various standards-based protocols with a downloadable firmware upgrade and no changes to the hardware. What do the phones cost? The SoundPoint IP 300 and 301* have a US MSRP of $180. The SoundPoint IP 500 and 501* have a US MSRP of $270, and the SoundPoint IP 600 has a US MSRP of $399 (prices may differ for other regions and are subject to change.) Polycom itself does not require you to purchase a seat license, but please check with your reseller for any additional costs from the Technology Partner. Why does Polycom work with Technology Partners? Working with Technology Partners allows Polycom to offer end to end IP telephony solutions. Technology Partners provide, either directly or through their own partnerships, essential components that complement Polycom VoIP endpoints to make up complete IP telephony solutions. Because of the complex call signaling that takes place, Polycom engages in most cases at a joint development level to ensure that the combined solution integrates seamlessly. For a current list of VoIP Technology Partners and the Polycom IP phones that work on their platforms, please visit: http://www.polycom.com and click on `Products & Services', then `Voice Products' - `IP Telephony'. Where can the phones be purchased? The SoundPoint IP phones are available through Polycom Certified VARs and Service Providers that provide network communications solutions. These VARs and Service Providers have met the stringent requirements of becoming certified that include training and technical support for their customers. Can the phones be used independent of a Technology Partner's platform? No. In order to support full business phone features, the SoundPoint IP is required to operate in conjunction with Partners' IP PBX (customer premise equipment similar to an existing PBX or Key System) or Softswitch (hosted telephony similar to your current home phone service.) _____ * - The SoundPoint IP 301 and SoundPoint IP 501 are currently offered in North America, Australia, and New Zealand only ** - Requires SIP version 1.5.x or higher Polycom SoundPoint IP Frequently Asked Questions What documentation is available? Please visit the Documentation section on the Polycom Web site for a complete list of available documents including data sheets and quick start guides. You should also check with your reseller for any custom documents developed by the Technology Partner. How is the phone powered? The SoundPoint IP 300 and SoundPoint IP 301* ship with a standard CAT-5 cable and a wall adapter that plugs into a jack located on the rear of the phone. For Power over Ethernet, an IEEE 802.3af version of the cable is available for purchase. ® Alternatively, for Cisco Inline Power, an optional network cable is also available. In addition, SKUs with included PoE cable and optional AC adapter are also available. The SoundPoint IP 500 and SoundPoint IP 501 ship with a custom network cable that contains a jack that applies power to the unused pairs in a CAT-5 network cable from a supplied wall adapter. For power over Ethernet, an IEEE 802.3af version of the cable is available for purchase. Alternatively, for Cisco Inline Power, an optional network cable is also available. In addition, SKUs with included PoE cable and optional AC adapter are also available. SoundPoint IP 600 comes with a standard CAT-5 cable. The phone ships with a wall adapter that plugs into a jack located on the rear of the phone. Cisco Inline Power and IEEE 802.3af powering options are both supported by hardware built into the phone (autodetect.) Does the phone come in any other colors? No. The only color available is gray. What features are available on the SoundPoint IP phones? Features available on SoundPoint IP phones will vary depending on the telephony server that the phone is operated with. Please check with the Technology Platform provider to determine the list of supported features. What are the differences between the SoundPoint IP 300, SoundPoint IP 301*, SoundPoint IP 500, SoundPoint IP 501* and SoundPoint IP 600? The SoundPoint IP 300 and SoundPoint IP 301* are capable of accommodating up to two lines and supporting essential IP telephony features. Both the models include a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch and a monitor only speakerphone. Although the SoundPoint IP 300 and SoundPoint IP 301 are similar products, only the SoundPoint IP 301 with its expanded flash memory is capable of supporting HTTPS secure provisioning**. The SoundPoint IP 301 is currently available in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and the SoundPoint IP 300 is marketed in all other countries. The SoundPoint IP 500 and SoundPoint IP 501* support up to three telephone lines and offer exceptional sound quality. Both the models have a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch and a full-duplex speaker phone. Although the SoundPoint IP 500 and SoundPoint IP 501 are similar products, only the SoundPoint IP 501 with its expanded flash memory is capable of supporting HTTPS secure provisioning**. The SoundPoint IP 501 is currently available in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and the SoundPoint IP 500 is marketed in all other countries. The SoundPoint IP 600 is a feature-rich desktop IP telephone, designed for multi-line telephony usage found in departments/work groups sharing lines, informal call centers, and as pertains to administrative assistant duties. The SoundPoint IP 600 accommodates up to six lines, has a large graphical LCD display, illuminated line state indicators and audio state indicators as well as built-in PoE support. The SoundPoint IP 600 supports HTTPS secure provisioning** and is available worldwide. Is there a hub or switch in the phone? All SoundPoint IP phones contain a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet switch. What types of headsets are supported All SoundPoint IP phones are compatible with amplified headsets REV E. and higher. Direct connect headsets are supported. Please visit http://www.polycom.com for a list of tested headsets or refer to your headset documentation for compatibility information. What features does the phone provide for QoS? All of the phones in the SoundPoint IP family support Layer 3 Type of Service (TOS) tagging used in WANs. All phones also support 802.1 p/Q VLAN and Priority tagging used in LANs. Note: traffic sent to the phone's PC port will not have any QoS tagging applied, but any tagging applied by the PC will pass through the phone unaltered. Can an additional phone be plugged into the second Ethernet port? Polycom recommends that in order to maintain voice quality, the second Ethernet port should be used only with standard PC applications. You should not ``daisy chain'' phones together. Does SoundPoint IP work over broadband connections like cable modems and DSL modems? To ensure voice quality is maintained, proper network design rules relating to items such as latency, firewalls, bandwidth, and QoS should be applied at all times. As long as proper network design guidelines are followed, SoundPoint IP will deliver exceptional performance on networks with broadband connections such as cable or DSL modems. _____ * - The SoundPoint IP 301 and SoundPoint IP 501 are currently offered in North America, Australia, and New Zealand only ** - Requires SIP version 1.5.x or higher Polycom SoundPoint IP Frequently Asked Questions Why does the handset and headset volume reset on every call? The handset and headset volumes both reset following each call to comply with FCC requirements and with the recommendations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The hands free speaker phone is unaffected by this feature. This feature can be disabled through a modification to the configuration file. Do FTP or TFTP servers need to be available at all times? An FTP or TFTP boot server must be available anytime a configuration file change or firmware upgrade needs to be performed. The phone will boot from a flash image if the boot server is not available or if there are no new files located on the boot server that need to be loaded to the phone. Polycom recommends that the boot server be available at all times as the phone does upload log files to the boot server that can be useful if troubleshooting is required. To make use of the multi-lingual support available on some versions of software, an FTP or TFTP server must be available each time the phone boots so that the language dictionary can be downloaded. If the requested language file cannot be downloaded, the phone will default to the factory configured language. Is there a web browser built into the phone? Polycom does not currently support this capability. Will the SoundPoint IP work with existing PBX or Key Systems? While many PBX and Key System vendors now provide optional VoIP Gateways that are standards based, interoperability testing must still be conducted between these systems and the SoundPoint IP to ensure proper operation. Polycom cannot guarantee interoperability with a system that is not provided by one of our Technology Partners. How do users get firmware updates? Certified Polycom VoIP Resellers can access updates to the SIP version of software on the Polycom Resource Network at http://extranet.polycom.com. In the case of MGCP, firmware is distributed by the Technology Partners through their reseller channel base. Please contact the reseller you purchased your IP telephony solution from if you have any software needs. How do the phones place calls to the PSTN? The IP phone call's data packets are routed to a gateway, which then transports that call over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). This task is completely transparent to the user. Do the phones support Custom Ring Tones? Custom Ring Tones or Wave File Ring Tones can be downloaded on some versions of software. Please refer to the Administrator Documentation for the specific type and version of software you have. What happens to the phones if there is a power failure during the upgrade process? The SoundPoint IP phones incorporate a fail-safe upgrade process where the phone does not delete the previous file image until a new one is successfully saved. A power failure or server outage during an upgrade will not damage the phone. How are the phones configured? Phones are configured through a combination of local settings and configuration files that are loaded to the phone from a boot server. How does an administrator manage large quantities of phones? The format and content of the configuration files are such that these files can be customized by administrator tools and used to provision phones upon boot up from an FTP or TFTP boot server. An administrator for a large group of phones can modify the configurations and push the new info to the phones by remotely rebooting the phones. Remote reboot capabilities require the support of the IP-PBX or IP Softswitch. Please contact your reseller for details. Do the phones have a web server? Currently, only the SIP version of the SoundPoint IP supports configuration through a Web interface. Future releases of other protocols will also support this capability. Does Polycom provide tools to configure the phones? Polycom provides XML-structured configuration files as part of its firmware releases that can be managed with partner supplied administrative tools or manually edited. We are also working on other methods of managing phones that are in the developmental stages that can be used on a standalone basis or integrated into the partner's administrative tools. Can the phones support LDAP directories? Currently there is no support for directories like LDAP. These protocols will likely be supported in the future though some type of translation service to XML or XHTML. What Codecs are supported? All SoundPoint IP phones support G.711µ /A law and G.729a (Annex B). How are the phones upgraded? One can upgrade phone software by placing new files onto the boot server and rebooting the phones. The phones download all the configuration files on every reboot and download a small chunk of the .ld files to compare versions. If the version is the same the file is not downloaded, if it is different, the file will be downloaded. How is the time set on the phones? SoundPoint IP phones uses Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) servers to provide accurate time. These servers can be located on the local network or available from various sites on the Internet. What is the Password to access the Set-up? The User ID and Password will vary depending on what version of software you are running. Please refer to the Administrator Documentation for the specific type and version of software you have. Polycom SoundPoint IP Frequently Asked Questions ©2005 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. Polycom, the Polycom logo and SoundPoint are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Polycom Headquarters: 4750 Willow Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588 (T) 1.800.POLYCOM (765.9266) for North America only. For North America, Latin America and Caribbean (T) +1.925.924.6000, (F) +1.925.924.6100 Polycom EMEA: 270 Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire SL1 4DX, (T) +44 (0)1753 723000, (F) +44 (0)1753 723010 Polycom Asia Pacific: Polycom Hong Kong Ltd., Rm 1101 MassMutual Tower, 38 Gloucester Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong, (T) +852.2861.3113, (F)+852.2866.8028 Rev. 4/05