Introduction
Although there is no limitation in the number of SIP clients that can be registered to the camera’s internal SIP Server, sometimes it can be necessary to register all the VoIP devices (door stations included) to an external SIP Server. This is the case when you have an hybrid system which comprises not only VoIP phones but also analog/ISDN phones. The internal SIP Client of the MOBOTIX cameras can be registered to an external SIP Server rather than to the internal one.
Corporate PBX Supporting Video Calls
In this scenario we have one or more Door Stations and several IP phones registered as SIP clients to the corporate PBX. The same PBX allows also connecting standard analog and ISDN phones. Moreover the PBX is connected to the PSTN/WAN network; this allows the extensions to call phone numbers outside of the company.
In the following examples we will show how to configure two different systems i.e. an Asterisk based PBX and a Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
Please note that both the aforementioned systems support video codecs such as H.264 and/or H.263+.
The configuration of the call features of the SIP Server is beyond the scope of this tutorial. We will only show you how to create the SIP accounts so that the SIP clients can register to the server and call each other.
Multiple Door Stations can be connected to the same scenario; the SIP configuration will be the same for all the Door Stations except for the VoIP account (i.e. / ).
Asterisk based PBX
Configuring the SIP Server
The following step-by-step configuration example is based on an Synology DS412+ (DSM 5.0) on which we installed the Asterisk add-on (Digium Asterisk/1.8.13.1) but it’s possible to replace the NAS device with any standard SIP server/PBX.
Requirement: in order to download the Asterisk add-on, the Synology Station needs to be connected to the Internet. For this reason a Default Gateway and a DNS Server must be specified in the configuration of the NAS device.
- Open the Web browser and type the IP address of the Synology Station (e.g. 172.22.1.1). Once you are connected type user name and password (default admin / admin). Click on the “Package Center” icon.
2a. Type “Asterisk” in the Search field then press enter.
2b. Click on the Install button to start the download andthe installation process.
- You will be asked to create a password for the administrator of the virtual PBX. The default user name is “admin” but you can choose a different one by typing it in the “Username” field.
- To start Asterisk open the Package Center and:
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4a. type “Asterisk” in the Search field (this allows you to spot the right icon in case you have many add-ons installed).
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4b. Press “Open” to start the application. The user name and password are the same you defined in the previous step
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5a. Click on “Dial Plans”
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5b. Click on “New DialPlan” to create a new one. (You can leave everything at default)
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5c. Press the “Save” button.
- Click on “Users” and press the “Create New User” button to create an account for the camera:
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7a. Give the account a Caller ID Name
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7b. Specify the priority of the audio and video codecs. (Make sure thatH.264, H.263+, a-law, u-law and GSM are selected.)
Note: that this version of Asterisk does not support HD codecs such as G.722.
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7c. Define a Password for the account and d. enable the DTMF Mode RFC2833. e. Press
Save to apply the changes. -
7d. Enable the DTMF Mode RFC2833
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7e. Press “Update” to apply the changes.
- Create other accounts. An account will be requiredfor each SIP Phone and MOBOTIX camera you have. The configuration for the remaining devices is the same as the account created for the Door Station.
- Press the “Apply Changes” button in the top-right corner of the page to reload the settings
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10a. Go to the menu Options >> Advanced Options
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10B. Click on the “Show Advanced Options” button to display all the configuration menus
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11a. Go to the page SIP Settings >> Misc
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11b. Enable the parameter “Support SIP Video”.
(By doing this you will enable SIP Video calls between the Door Station and the video phones)
- 11c. You can also modify the value of the Max Bitrate (kb/s) from 384 to 2000.
(This way you can use the best video quality allowed by the MOBOTIX Door Station)
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11d. Press “Save” to store the changes
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11e. “Apply” (on the top-right corner of the page) to apply them.
Configuring the MOBOTIX Door Station
- Open another tab of the Web browser and type the IP address of the MOBOTIX Camera. Select Admin Menu > SIP Client Settings and set up the camera account with the information created at step #7.
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If you carried out the auto-configuration process on the camera, in the SIP Client Settings page you should fin dan existing account (*201).
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You can replace the existing account or create a new one by pressing the “Add new SIP Account” button.
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Type the account number as a User Name and the Asterisk IP address (i.e. 172.22.1.1) as a
Domain. -
Under “Authentication” type the account number and the password.
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Type the IP address of the Synology in the Hostname/Address field and specify the port 5060.
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Check the options “Available as Proxy” and “Use as Registrar”. Press “Set” to apply the changes.
NOTE: when the “Parallel Dialling” option is enabled in the SIP Client Settings the camera sends multiple invite packets from multiple source ports (i.e. 5070, 5080 and so on) to reach each extension. The parallel dialing might be blocked by some PBX’s because of security reasons. If you want to call multiple extensions simultaneously please disable the Parallel Dialing option and create a hunt group on the PBX with the extensions you want to call.
For further information about multiple simultaneous calls see section “Call Multiple Extensions Simultaneously”.
- Go to Admin Menu > Outgoing Calls Settings and create the call profiles to call the other extensions.
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14a. Specify the right phone number for each extension (i.e.6001, 6002)
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14b. Make sure the IP address of the corporate PBX is specified in the drop down menu for all the Outgoing Profiles.
NOTE: You can create call profiles to call standard analog/ISDN phones as well as you can create call profiles to call numbers outside of the company (e.g. mobile phones). In this case you a trunk line (connection to the public network) on the PBX is required and the camera extension needs to be allowed for external calls.
- Go to Admin Menu > Incoming Calls Settings
- set the IP address of the PBX in the field “Accepted SIP Proxies”.
- Go to Admin Menu > Bell Behavior and Video Mailbox to define the Signaling Call Profiles.
Call Multiple Extensions Simultaneously
In order to call multiple extensions simultaneously we recommend to create a Hunt Group or Ring Group within the PBX. This will allow you to overcome security restrictions and benefit from all the features offered by your PBX.
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- Click on “Ring Groups” in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen
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18a. Click on “New RingGroup” to create a new group.
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18b. When a new dialog opens give the group a name (e.g. “Office”)
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18c. Assign the extensions to the Ring Group by moving them from “Available Users” to “Ring Group Members”. To do that select the extensions and press the single arrow.
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18d. Select “Ring simultaneously” as a strategy and press “Save”.
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18e. Press the “Apply changes” button on the top-right corner of the screen to store the configuration and apply the changes.
- Type the IP address of the camera in the URL bar of your browser and go to Admin menu > Outgoing Calls Settings.
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20a. Create a new Outgoing Call profile by pressing the button “Add new profile”
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20b. Specify the extension number in the “Phone Number” field
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20c. Select the IP address of the PBX from the “SIP Proxy” drop-down menu. Press “Set” to apply the changes and “Close” to store the configuration.
- Go to Admin Menu > Bell Behavior and Video Mailbox to define the Signalling Call Profiles.