A handy, manual configuration guide for your Grandstream IP PBX.
Many small- to medium-sized businesses rely on Grandstream UCM6100 series VoIP phone systems to handle their day-to-day telephony. The systems are extremely popular because of rich feature sets, the diverse range of uses supported, and low upfront costs with no licensing fees after the fact.
We can rant and rave about these IP PBX solutions all day long. For this blog, we’ll focus on how easy the systems are to use. Businesses that purchase Grandstream UCM6100 series appliances are attracted to the enterprise-class features, but sometimes lack an enterprise’s IT department to install and maintain the systems.
Connecting a VoIP phone to a Grandstream UCM6100 phone system is very easy. Let’s say you have both the phone and the system plugged into your network. Now what?
In this example, we’ll demonstrate how to connect a Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 conference phone to a Grandstream UCM6100 series IP PBX.
1) Creating a new extension
First, you have to create a new extension number for the phone. To do this, open the system’s user interface. The user interface can be accessed remotely—no need to physically plug a computer or other device into the system. Open a web browser and type the phone system’s IP address into the navigation bar to reach the user interface.
Once the user interface loads, click on “PBX,” then “Basic/Call Routes,” and then “Extensions.”
Now you have to enter the settings for your new extension. Type the desired extension number into the field provided. The phone system will automatically generate a password for this extension.
Important: write down both the extension number and password!
You can create a name for the extension and enter other settings, but only the extension number and password are required fields.
2) Registering your phone
We’ve chosen to connect a Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 conference phone to the Grandstream UCM6100 series phone system. Features like conference bridging and call recording make the system perfect for supporting any voice conferencing solution.
Note: the Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 in this example is equipped with an earlier version of firmware. Phones with firmware version 4.0 and later may not work in accordance with this guide.
Find the Polycom SoundStation IP 6000’s user interface by typing its IP address into your web browser. When the interface loads, enter the phone’s username and password. By default, the username is “Polycom,” and the password is “456.”
In the interface, click on “Lines.” This menu will register your phone with the newly created extension on the Grandstream UCM6100. You wrote down the extension and password from the phone system, right? Type the extension number in the “Address” field and “Authentication User ID” field, and type the password in the “Password” field.
You have the option to give the extension and phone a name or label. But the address, authentication and password fields are required.
Next, navigate to where it says “Server 1.” Type the IP address of your Grandstream UCM6100 series phone system. Click “Submit” and you’re done!
3) Testing, testing; 1, 2, 3
Follow this process for every phone that you want to connect to your Grandstream UCM6100 series IP PBX. Each phone is different, but they’ll follow the same general process. The extensions and passwords need to match in order to register an endpoint with the system.
Once this process is complete and everything looks okay, test out the phone. Make a few calls to ensure that the line is working perfectly.
Grandstream UCM6100 series phone systems are top-of-the-line solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses, delivering enterprise-grade features to any office’s phones and other endpoints.