Registering a MOBOTIX camera to a Corporate PBX the does not support Video Calls

[Mx-MichaelD]

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 NOT 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 example we will show how to configure an AVM Fritz!Box 7390 which is an “all-in-one” router with telephony capabilities. It represents a cheap solution for SOHO environments with a dozen telephones at most.

Please note that the aforementioned system does not support video codecs, namely H.264 and H.263+. This means that the Video IP Phones such as GrandStream or soft phones need to be registered both to the MOBOTIX Door Station and to the corporate PBX (i.e. Fritz!Box). The registration to the Door Station will allow them to make/receive video calls to/from the MOBOTIX camera whereas the registration to the Fritz!Box will allow them to make/receive calls to/from external numbers.

NOTE: The SIP Phones involved in this scenario must support multiple accounts so that they can register to the Door Station and to the corporate PBX simultaneously.

The configuration of the call features of the SIP Server integrated in the Fritz!Box is beyond the scope of this article. We will show you only how to create the SIP accounts so that the SIP clients can register to the server and call each other.

Configuring the Fritz!Box (tested firmware 84.06.20)

1. Open the Web browser and type the IP address of the AVM Fritz!Box in the URL bar. You may be requested to enter a password to login.

• Click on Telephony >> Telephone Numbers and make sure that at least an external line has been configured.

The external line is essential in order to create SIP user accounts. In this case we
configured a VoIP trunk line by registering the Fritz!Box to a VoIP provider (i.e. Sipgate) and an analog trunk line by connecting the device to the PSTN network.

2. Click on Telephony >> Telephony Devices to create the SIP user accounts for the Door Station and the IP phones. Depending on the model of router you are configuring you might see different devices in the devices list. Click on “Configure New Device” to start the configuration wizard.

3. Select “Telephone (with or without answering machine)” and click on “Next”.

4. Select “LAN/WAN (IP telephone)” and type a name for the device. In this case we are configuring the account for the Door Station so we will call it “MOBOTIX Door Station”.

5. Now we need to select which is the primary line for the outgoing calls generated by the account we are configuring. Such a trunk line will be used by the Door Station to call an external telephone number. In this example we have two trunk lines already configured (see step #1); for our purpose it doesn’t really matter which one we choose. Clink “Next” when done.

6. Specify whether the account we are configuring should accept incoming calls from the listed trunk lines. We recommend to select “accept calls from the following numbers only:” and leave all the trunk lines unselected. By doing this you will prevent the Door Station from automatically answering external incoming calls. Press “Next” to go to the next step.

7. The user name is automatically generated by the system (i.e. 620) and cannot be modified. Type a password for the SIP account. For security reasons it would be advisable to generate a strong password containing letters, numbers and special characters. In this example we will opt for an easy password (i.e. 620). Press “Next” to proceed.

8. At this point the configuration of the SIP account has been completed and the following page summarizes the configured parameters. If everything is correct we can press “Apply” to apply the settings.

9. Now you should be able to see the newly created device in the device list.

10. Repeat the steps described above to create the SIP accounts for all the IP phones. When you configure such accounts please remember to specify a the primary trunk line to make external calls and to which numbers to react to in case of external incoming calls.

Configuring the MOBOTIX Door Station

NOTE: In the next steps we will assume that the cameras went through the auto-configuration. If this is not the case please do so before you proceed further

1. Open the Web browser and type the IP address of MOBOTIX Door Station in the URL bar. Type user name and password to login and click on Admin Menu > SIP Server Settings.

2. We need to create a SIP account for each IP phone that needs to be notified when the Door Bell rings. If you ran the auto-configuration process you should find in this page at least the account *201 which is the one used by the camera’s SIP Client to register to the integrated SIP Server.
   Press the button “Add new SIP account” and type the SIP Address (e.g. *101), the User Name (e.g. 101) and the password (e.g. 101) for the first phone.

3. Repeat the previous step for all the phones you want to register to the MOBOTIX SIP Server. When done press “Set” to apply the changes.

4. Go to Admin Menu >> Outgoing Calls Settings.

5. Press the button “Add new profile” and give it a name (i.e. GS_101). Type the SIP Address (i.e. *101) in the field “Phone Number or SIP Address” and select the IP address of Door Station from the SIP Proxy drop down menu. Copy the other parameters as shown in the picture below then press “Set” to apply the settings.

6. Repeat the previous step for all the phones you want to notify when the Door Bell rings.

7. Go to Admin Menu > Bell Behavior and Video Mailbox to define the Signalling Call Profiles.

If everything has been configured correctly so far you should be able to call the IP phones with the Door Station and receive calls from them.

Now we need to configure the MOBOTIX Door Station to register to the AVM Fritz!Box as a SIP client. This way the Door Station will be able to call all the extensions of the AVM Fritz!Box as well as external numbers through the trunk lines (VoIP and PSTN) configured on it.

8. Go to Admin Menu >> SIP Client Settings.

9. In the SIP Client Settings page you should find an existing account (*201) which is the one created by the autoconfiguration.

• Press the “Add new SIP account” button and fill the fields with the required values.

• Domain and Hostname/Address are the IP address of the AVM Fritz!Box.

• The SIP port is by default, 5060.

• Check the options “Available as Proxy” and “Use as Registrar”.

• Press “Set” to apply the changes.

10. Verify that both the accounts are properly registered by clicking on the link “SIP Client: Messages, Calls, Status”. Click then on the “Client status” tab: if everything has been configured correctly you should see two green messages in the “SIP Accounts” field, as shown in the picture below.

11. Go to Admin Menu >> Outgoing Calls Settings

12. Press the “Add new profile” button and create an outgoing call profile to call, for instance, the analog telephone connected to the AVM Fritz!Box. The extension number is **1 and the SIP Proxy is the IP address of the Fritz!Box.

You can copy the rest of the parameters from the picture below. When done press “Set” to apply the changes.

NOTE: The double asterisk (**) in front of the extension number is required by the AVM Fritz!Box to distinguish between internal and external calls.

13. Since the Fritz!Box is connected to the external world through one or more trunk lines we can also create an outgoing call profile to call a mobile phone. Press the “Add new profile” button again and type the mobile number in the “Phone Number” field and select the IP address of the Fritz!Box from the “SIP Proxy” drop-down menu. In this case the “Connection type” will be “SIP Audio”. When done press “Set” to apply the changes.

NOTE: Although it’s possible to configure outgoing call profiles to reach the other video IP phones connected to the AVM Fritz!Box (in this example 621 and 622) we will not do it because the SIP Server doesn’t support video calls. This is the reason why we need to register the video IP phones directly to the Door Station

14. Go to Admin Menu > Bell Behavior and Video Mailbox to define the Signalling Call Profiles.

If everything has been made correctly so far you should be able to call the IP phones with the Door Station and receive calls from them.

Configuring the Video IP Phones

In order to register to the Door Station and to the AVM Fritz!Box, video IP phones need to support multiple accounts. In the following example we will show you how to setup a GrandStream GXV3240.

NOTE: We recommend to setup the account #1 to register to the company SIP Server (i.e. AVM Fritz!Box) and the account #2 to register to the Door Station. By doing this the phone will react to all the incoming calls; the outgoing calls will be automatically placed via the account #1.

1. Click on Account >> Account 1 >> General Settings and fill in the form with the information of the account created on the AVM Fritz!Box.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

2. Click on Account > Account 1 > Network Settings and type the IP address of the Fritz!Box in the Outbound Proxy field.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

3. Click on Account > Account 1 > SIP Settings and make sure the parameter SIP Registration is enabled.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

4. Click on Account > Account 1 > Call Settings. Type the following text in the “DialPlan” filed:
   {x+|*x+|**x+}.

5. Click on Account > Account 2 > General Settings and fill in the form with the information of the account created on the camera (see chapter 9.2.2 - step #3). Please don’t forget that the MOBOTIX Door Station accepts registrations on port 5061; such a port needs to be specified in the SIP Server field (:5061).

• Press Save to apply the changes.

6. Click on Account > Account 2 > Network Settings and type the IP address of the MOBOTIX Door Station and the port (5061) in the Outbound Proxy field.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

7. Click on Account > Account 2 > SIP Settings and make sure the parameter SIP Registration is enabled.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

8. Click on Account > Account 2 > Codec Settings and ensure to have at least one of the following codecs in the “Selected” column: PCMU, PCMA, G722. In order to enable a codec you need to select it from the “Available” column and press .

If you want to disable a codec you need to select it from the “Selected” column and press .

TIP: The G.722 codec ensures a better audio quality and a lower bandwidth consumption than the PCMA (G.711 alaw) and PCMU (G.711 ulaw) codecs.

9. Click on Account > Account 2 > Call Settings. Type the following text in the “DialPlan” filed:
   {x+|*x+|**x+} and select “Mobotix” from the “Special Feature” drop down menu.

10. Click on Advanced Settings > Call Features and make sure that the “Offhook Auto Dial” field is empty.

11. Go to Maintenance > Upgrade and type the IP address of the MOBOTIX Door Station in the “Firmware Server Path” field.

• Press “Save” to apply the changes.

12. Reboot the phone and when it’s back online check the display: a green icon next to the name of the account indicates that the phone is properly registered to the SIP Server. If you see a grey icon instead it means that the phone has faced issues with the registration. In such a case please double check all the settings both on the phone and the camera