With cloud communication systems becoming increasingly popular, it’s no wonder that more and more people are looking to switch to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology. Not only does it offer better quality audio, but it also comes with a lower phone bill than traditional telephone lines. If you want to take advantage of this technology, all you need is a compatible device and a good VoIP provider.
Luckily, there are smartphone and desktop apps that make it quick and easy to get started with making calls over the internet. However, if you prefer a dedicated device for making VoIP calls, you’ll need a VoIP desk phone. While VoIP phones are readily available on the market, they do require configuration. That’s where we come in.
In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through the setup of a Grand Stream GXP 1625 VoIP desk phone. Keep in mind that if you’re using a different make or model of VoIP phone, the setup process is much the same regardless of the particular unit you’re using.
First things first: when you unbox the VoIP phone, you’ll find the unit base, the handset, three cables, and a stand for the base. To get started, connect the handset to the unit base using the coiled cable. Make sure to connect the handset to the handset port and not the headset port, as the device will not function if you get this wrong.
While the GXP 1625 supports PoE (Power over Ethernet), we don’t have a PoE switch or injector on hand, so we’ll be using the power cable to power the phone. If you have a PoE switch or injector and an IP phone that supports PoE, then the unit will be receiving its power through the Ethernet cable, so you won’t need to use the power cable.
Once the phone is powered on and is connected to your network, you’ll want to locate the phone’s IP address. The method for doing this will differ depending on the model of the phone. For the GXP 1625, just hit the button that reads “next screen,” and you’ll find it straight away. Other makes and models might require a bit more digging, but should still be fairly straightforward.
Next, type the URL you noted down earlier into the address bar of any browser, and you’ll be taken to a login page much like when you log into an ISP hub. Usually, the login details are very simple, something like “admin/admin,” as is the case here. But check the documents included with your phone or check out FAQs, which are linked in the description, if yours happen to differ.
From here, we just need to go to accounts, account one, and general settings, and we just need two bits of information. You’ll find these with your VoIP provider. The only two bits of information we need are the SIP username and SIP password. For example, if you’re using a yay.com account, just head to voice and users, and then just identify the particular user that you want to configure to work with your desk phone. The SIP username and password are just right there.
Now, set up the user account on your VoIP phone by copying the SIP username into the SIP user ID and authenticate ID fields, and the SIP password into the authenticate password field. The server is talk.yeah.com, and you can name it anything you like. Set the account as active, save and apply, and once that’s finished applying, head back over to your yay.com account, and the corresponding user should have turned green to indicate that this user is now registered and can begin making and receiving calls.
The last thing you’ll want to do if you’re using yay.com is to make sure that call route is assigned so that an actual telephone number is linked to this user so that your phone can ring for that. Just head to call roots and make sure that once the call is received, it’s being sent to this particular user. Down here, you can see which telephone numbers this account has access to are assigned to this particular call route. So, if any of these numbers are called, the desk phone that we’ve just set up will ring.
That’s it! Your VoIP phone system has increased its population by one and is fully functional. If you’re interested in finding out more about VoIP or cloud communications in general, or are interested in taking advantage of this technology for yourself, head over to yay.com now to learn more about how we can help you.