Initial setup for Avaya 1608 IP Phones on an IP Office 500

So we’ve filled the Avaya IP Office IP500 at our management office.  At other offices, we just buy a DS16 or DS30, depending on site.  But at this office, we run a VOIP trunk, so have a VCM32, and only use up to 10 channels on that.

As we discovered, the VCM32 comes with 12 IP Endpoint Licenses. – with means we can run 12 IP Phones!

Well, that makes much more monetary sense, than installing a DS16. – 1608’s are only 20 bucks or so more expensive than the 1408’s we usually use!

So we ordered a couple of play with, and hit two snags.

1) They’re expecting you to use a POE enabled Switch.  Which we probably will, once we have a few of these phones.  But for now? No, it’s not financially viable!   So we ordered Power Supplies, at $11 a pop.

2) I thought maybe the phones would be smart enough to grab an IP from DHCP, then do a broadcast to find the IP Office box.  C’mon Damien, this is Avaya, it’s not that smart!.

Instead, I had the phone boot, get an IP, and then sit there saying ‘No FileSv Address’.   So a bit of searching around, and I found this thread.  A few minutes later, I’d added a new DHCP option to the LAN segment on our pfSense firewall, and voila, it was working!

The magic Option?

Option 242, Text “PCIPADD=192.168.40.221,MCPORT=1719,HTTPSRVR=192.168.40.221”.

Of course, you’d use the IP address of your own IP500 unit, ours won’t work 😉

 

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