Portable IP Telephone

Question:

I hope you can help, last month I bought a Snom370 telephone through yourselves, and wondered if you have a SIP enabled portable telephone as an available option ? We have a team who walk between buildings covering up to 100 sq.meters. We have already tried the Snom M3, but this does not have a far enough reach from the base station.

You could try a Snom M3 Repeater. This will extend the range. If you can arrange the base station in the middle, and repeaters around in a circle then you can cover a huge area. Calls hand over between repeaters as you walk.

http://www.provu.co.uk/dect_repeater.html

Other option is something like a Gigaset S685. The handsets have a `best base` feature where you can register a handset to more than one base station. You need to be a little bit clever with setting up SIP accounts. Each handset needs a SIP account for each base. These then have to be setup to all ring together. This solution does not allow handover while calls are in progress.

A long term option would be the Snom M9 phone. A roaming feature is in the roadmap for this phone, but probably at least 1 year away from launch.
See www.provu.co.uk/snom-m9-dect.html

Snom Repeaters with Gigaset Dect Phones

To fix problems using Snom Dect repeaters and Gigaset phones. (well, there is no problem, but some people seem to have problems)

We have today tested in detail the Snom repeater with every kind of Gigaset base with all the common firmware versions.

It has performed flawlessly. Exactly as expected.

Tips:

1) It is easier if you switch the phone to prefer PSTN lines rather than VoIP. Then reverse this setting afterwards. Setting is in Menu, Settings, Telephony, Default Line. Set to Fixed Line while doing the registration. It does work without changing this setting but will display a VoIP error.

2) You need to enable Repeater mode on the base station beforehand. Menu, Settings, Base, Add. Features, Repeater Mode. You may need to disabled eco mode before repeater mode can be enabled.

3) You need to follow the manual registration method described in the instruction leaflet included with the repeater. Automatic registration appears to be only for Snom DECT bases.

SIP Security Alert

Just recently we’ve learnt of several automated attacks on IP based phone systems.

This is the rough sequence of events when an attack occurs:

  • The robot sends a sip invite to the target IP address on the standard SIP port 5060 UDP (I don’t know how it decides which addresses to attack in the first place).

  • If it receives a SIP error response then it knows that it is dealing with a SIP agent. Beginning at 200 it repeatedly sends in SIP register invites using the extension number as the password. The two that I’ve seen tried all extensions between 200 and 9999.

  • If there are any extensions with SIP passwords the same as the extension number then the robot will register with the PBX and make a very short call (just a couple of seconds) to test connectivity.

  • If the call is successful the robot disconnects.

  • It returns and re-registers on Friday evening at about 18:00 local time and then it starts as many calls as your PBX will allow, all to the same premium rate number. The two we’ve seen called numbers in Sierra Leon.

    • The scam is that the owners of the robot also own the premium rate line so they are effectively siphoning money from you to them.

    The two cases that we’ve actually investigated both burnt about £4500 in the course of about 24 hours of constant calling. In both cases the user/owner of the PBX was running one or more extensions with passwords set to the same value as the extension number.

    This is a pretty serious problem but it’s very easy to guard against provided you use passwords which are different to the extension number. Releases of SARK starting from V2.1.14 generate strong passwords for your extensions when you create them. You will also be OK if you use some secret password that isn’t the same as the extension number.

    If you do have extensions with passwords the same as the extension then we would strongly recommend that you change them as soon as possible in order to survive any attacks you may receive.

Factory reset of DECT Siemens Gigaset A580IP, C475IP, S685IP

Resetting the base station using a key on the base station

All individual settings are reset. Warning, your phone will not function after this process and will need to be setup again.

The system PIN will also be reset to “0000” and all additional handsets de-registered

Steps:

  • Remove the cable connections from the base station, both network and phone.
  • Remove the base station mains adapter from the socket
  • Press and hold the blue registration/paging button.
  • Plug the mains adapter back into the power socket.
  • Keep hold the blue registration/paging key (at least 10 sec.).
  • Release the registration/paging key. The base station has now been reset.

    You then need to start again with your device as if just delivered. You need need to enter all SIP details and register handsets.

Snom – Bootloader Versions

Did you know there are two parts to Snom version 7 firmware?

1. Main application (with a version code like 7.3.14)

2. The bootloader (with a version code like 1.1.3-s)

Most Snom users keep their application up-to-date but the bootloader is often neglected.

How to Check:

  • Web browse to your Snom phone

  • Click onto `System Information`

  • View your bootloader version

Our Findings:

  • 1.1.3-s is OK

  • 1.1.3-m or older needs an upgrade

If no bootloader version is shown, your bootloader is archaic! It would be best to upgrade.

Old Bootloader Symptoms:

  • Headsets not properly detected

  • Extension keyboards not properly detected

  • Phones may not boot up when headsets or extension keyboards are connected

  • Snom300’s may show strange characters on screen during bootup

How to upgrade:

If your Snom phones are managed by ProVu, then we can carry out these changes through our provisioning server – please just ask us!

Otherwise, you need to load a firmware image containing a bootloader.

Back to Black: Snom 870 Executive VoIP Phone, Now Available in Black!

Ooooh look what we’ve got!

<%ThickBox(http://blog.provu.co.uk/media/2/20091124-snom870_black.jpg|Snom 870 in black!)%>

Displaying the first example of touch screen technology in Snom VoIP phones, the top of the range Snom 870 VoIP Phone is now available in both standard 8xx series white and now black.

The Snom 870 has already proved a great addition to the range, since the launch earlier this year.

Key Features Reminder

  • Touch screen high-resolution TFT colour display (4.2 inches, 480×272 pixels, 25 bits colour depth)

  • Gigabit pass through

  • WiFi connection via Snom WLAN USB WiFi stick

  • 12 freely programmable virtual keys

  • Power over Ethernet

  • 5 way conferencing

  • 12 different SIP identities

  • 29 Keys, 5 LED’s

  • Photographic caller ID

  • 2 USB ports

  • Secure client certificate authentication

So now, you can get Snom Snow Edition 3xx Series White phones to go with Snom 820 and 870 in white, or alternatively a Snom 870 in black to match standard Snom 3xx Series VoIP Phones.

Snom – Firmware Update (Snom300, Snom320, Snom360, Snom370)

Current recommended Snom firmware versions are:

6.5.20 (with linux 3.38 and jffs2 file system)
7.3.14 (with 1.1.3-s bootloader or higher)
7.3.29 (with 1.1.3-s bootloader or higher)

We do not suggest V8 for Snom3xx series phones unless you need OCS support or you are feeling brave.

7.3.29 seems to fix a few minor issues with long term stability. This is for users who take hundreds of calls per day and who use the DND feature. Has fixed a lot of people’s issues.

If you use Action URLs then please use 7.3.14 or 7.3.29. Otherwise you may have issues with call transfers.

Above my opinion based on supporting Snom phones in the UK.

Siemens Gigaset – Copy Address Book to Each Handset

The address book on a Siemens Gigaset DECT Phone can be copied over via the handset to another slave phone registered with the base station, without having to browse to the web interface.

  • Go to the address book on your handset.

  • Select options on the soft key.

  • From the options menu select copy list.

  • From the generated list select which handset you wish to copy your address book to.

Remember all Siemens Gigaset DECT phones are compatible with one and other. Up to six of any combination of A58, C47 or S68 handsets can be registered with any one base.