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Manually Provision a Poly Phone

Updated: 11/05/2024

Objective

Manually provision a Poly phone using the phone's web GUI.

Applies To

  • Poly Phones
    • CCX
    • Edge E
    • Edge B
    • Rove
    • SoundPoint IP
    • Trio
    • VVX

Firmware Upgrade Pre-Requisite

Applies if you intend to upgrade your phone's firmware version:
Because HP has retired Poly's long-standing firmware server, 8x8 has replaced it with a new one.
This new 8x8 server only allows whitelisted traffic, so to complete the Procedure below, customers must:
  1. Obtain their public IP address (as an example, https://ip.me/ will display your public IP).
  2. Then Create a Case with 8x8 Support.
  3. In the case, provide your Public IP addresses that require whitelisting.
  4. After a security review is confirmed, phones connected through your requested public IP addresses will be authorized to connect to the 8x8 firmware server, and you can continue with the firmware procedure below.
Important: To ensure that you provide the correct IP address, you must perform the public IP address lookup from a computer that is connected to the same network as the phones which you are upgrading firmware on.

Procedure

Before You Begin!
Make sure the phone is on a supported firmware version. VVX phones on firmware lower than 5.9.4.3247, and SoundPoint IP phones on firmware lower than 4.0.15.1047 will not come online and will display Line Unregistered when provisioned to 8x8. These devices will need to have the firmware upgraded. For a complete list of firmware see What is the recommended firmware for 8x8 phones and analog adapters?
These steps are generally intended for reusing Poly phones with 8x8 service. You can reuse existing Poly phones with 8x8 service as long as they are a supported model with a valid factory-installed device certificate.
It's crucial that Poly certificates are factory-installed and CANNOT be added later. Self-signed certificates are not supported. 8x8 supports only the Poly phone models listed in Which handsets are compatible with 8x8 Admin Console? If you are not sure which phone model you have, please check the underside of the phone. The model number is listed on the label on the bottom of the phone.
Accommodation of devices not purchased from or originally provisioned for service by 8x8 is on a commercially reasonable effort basis. These devices are not guaranteed to be supported on 8x8 service.

Check for Device Certificate

In order to work with 8x8 phone service, your Poly phone must have a valid factory-installed security certificate, also known as a device certificate. Self-signed certificates are not supported. Follow these steps to determine whether a valid factory-installed Device Certificate is present on your phone.
  1. On the phone, press the Menu key, and scroll to Status.
  2. Select Status.
  3. Next, select Platform.
  4. Select the Phone option.
  5. Read the displayed message.
    • If the message says Device Certificate: Factory Installed, your phone is supported on 8x8 service
    • If the message says Device Certificate: Not Installed, Device Certificate: Invalid, or if there is no device certificate message at all, then the phone is not supported on 8x8 service

Configure the Phone

After checking the device certificate, you can move on to configuring the phone.

Factory Reset and Provisioning On The Physical Phone

Reset Phone to Factory Defaults

Important: The administrator password on your phone will change if it has been re-provisioned and rebooted. To view assigned phone passwords, see Get Device Information and Passwords in 8x8 Admin Console.
  1. On the phone, press the Menu key.
  2. Select the Settings option.
  3. Select the Advanced option.
  4. Enter the password 456 or 789 and press the Enter softkey.
    If 456 does not work, see Get Device Information and Passwords in 8x8 Admin Console.
    If you are provisioning the CCX or Edge E range of endpoints after a factory reset, you will need to enter a new password as there is no default password set on these devices. Note that 456 cannot be used.
  5. Select Admin Settings.
  6. Select Restore to Defaults.
  7. Select Reset to Factory.

Provision Phone into Production

  1. Check the phone's firmware version by going to Menu > Status > Platform > Application > Main. You will need to reference this information in Step 7.
  2. Power cycle the phone.
  3. Quickly press the Setup/Settings softkey as soon as it appears.
  4. Enter password 456.
  5. Select Provisioning Server (Server Menu on old firmware).
  6. Change Server Type to HTTPS.
  7. Change Server Address to the correct address for your phone (depending on firmware version): 
  8. Exit Server Menu.
  9. Select the SNTP Address.
  10. Enter: pool.ntp.org.
  11. Select Exit, then select Save & Reboot.
  12. Allow several minutes for the phone to reboot and connect to the 8x8 servers. When rebooting is complete, continue on to activate your phone.
Tips:
If the phone still does not connect to our server after the above locate the Boot Server from the DHCP Menu in the Advanced settings and do one of the following.
  • Swap from Custom+opt.66 to Static
  • Swap from Static to Custom+opt.66

WebGUI Method

Reset Phone to Factory Defaults Through the Phone's Web GUI

The device web interface (GUI) allows you to make changes to the phone's settings via a web browser on your computer, which can often be more convenient than on the phone screen itself. You must ensure that:
  • The phone is plugged into the network
  • The computer is on the same network as the phone
  1. In a web browser on a computer on the same network as the phone, browse to the phone's IP address (https://<IP address of phone).
  2. Log in as Admin and enter the phone's MAC password. Device information and MAC password can be found in Admin Console.
  3. Navigate to Utilities > Phone Backup & Restore.
  4. Click the small + to open the Global Settings options
  5. Click Restore to reset the phone to factory default settings.
  6. Wait for phone to reboot.
    • Note: After the phone has been reset to factory default settings, the administrator password will have changed to 456.

Manually Provision Phone into Production

  1. In a web browser on a computer on the same network as the phone, browse to the phone's IP address.
  2. Log in as admin and enter password 456.
  3. Navigate to Settings > Provisioning Server.
  4. From the Server Type drop-down, select HTTPS.
  5. In the Server Address field, enter the 8x8 Poly Provisioning Server address: 
  6. Click Save.
  7. Navigate to Preferences.
  8. Click Date and time > SNTP Server
  9. Select the pool.ntp.org address from the dropdown menu.
  10. Click Save.
  11. Allow several minutes for the phone to reboot and connect to the 8x8 servers. When rebooting is complete, continue on to activate your phone.

Reusing devices from previous provider

8x8 supports Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) from another Service provider or purchased from an outside source, but will not auto-provision itself to 8x8 services.
The purpose of this article is to provide a sample configuration. Allowing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to provision to 8x8 services.

Most service providers will and often do lock down the devices WEB GUI. While this device may be fully functional on the tested and/or current network conditions with the former service provider, 8x8 cannot guarantee the process steps below will work in your environment.

8x8 cannot assist or support in configuring the DHCP Server Options suggested in this article, nor guarantee its functionality on the configured network.  This must be treated as  Proof of Concept in your environment.

Best Practice

Before proceeding, it is best practice to have the former service provider perform the following:
  1. Provide the Admin WEB GUI login & password. 
  2. Release, if applicable, all MAC addresses of existing devices from any auto provisioning service like ZTP as example.
  3. Work with your 8x8 Account Manager to re-add the devices to 8x8 auto provisioning service
Not all devices can be added.  Firmware must be at the initial supported revision prior to moving to 8x8 and a valid factory-installed certificate must be on each phone.

Applies To

  • Poly Handsets 
  • Any IP-Phone 8x8 supports that is locked down from previous service provider or purchased not from 8x8.

Nomenclature

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DHCP Options Options are additional configuration parameters that that can be assigned to DHCP clients such as Time or boot server
Option 66 Option 66 is a DHCP option, configured in your DHCP server (usually the router), that, upon obtaining an IP address, devices set with Option 66 enabled will also receive the address of a provisioning server, where they will immediately attempt to auto-provision.
Option 161 Option 161 like 66 will allow a provisioning server to assigned to a DHCP Client.  DHCP Clients will look for for 160 and 161 then revert to 66.

Problem to solve

Use Case:  Previous service provider has either password locked the WEB GUI disallowing a user to factory default the phone (without using the MAC Address) or the internal network is using DHCP option 66 for other functions that cannot be used to provision for 8x8. For services that use ZTP it is recommended to be removed from previous providers ZTP server or see Setting Up ZTP Override.
In all cases 8x8 offers the following as a Proof Of Concept (POC) that must be tested first on isolated networks and never on production. It is the reader's responsibility to ensure that the phones being established on this POC are isolated and will not be disruptive to the production network environment.

Resolution

The following establishes DHCP Option 161 as the provisioning DHCP Scope Option that will override option 66.  The following must be completed to allow the previously provisioned phone to reach 8x8 provisioning services
  1. Establish an isolated test network emulating the production environment as close as possible:
    • Environment must have access to the internet
    • Environment must be able to reach all 8x8 services
    • Environment must emulate VLAN services if applicable/optional
  2. Establish a DHCP Scope with:
    • Time services
    • Option 161 configured with 8x8 provisioning server: https://pccfg.8x8.com/polycomuc/
  3. Various test Poly phone types in use on production network.

Warnings and Limitations

If for whatever reason the DHCP Option is removed in the user's network. The phones will:
  • Fall back to the previous provider's config.
  • If the phone is plugged into a network that does not have that DHCP Option OR if the option is removed and the phone reboots the phone MAY show timely messages stating:
    • A new update is available. DO NOT update, if the update option is accepted then the phone reboots itself and reverts back to the previous provider.
  • You will not see the Boot Server Option under provisioning server in the Poly WEB GUI as this is now pre-determined by DHCP Option 161.
  • 8x8 offers no guarantee the above options will work on your network:
    • The options above are suggestions
    • 8x8 cannot offer assistance in configuring your internal network or DHCP Scope Options
    • At best the steps above are Proof of Concept (POC) only and to be applied with caution.

Updating Firmware Under 4.0

Poly phones on firmware below 4.0 need to be manually pointed to Poly to update before provisioning to 8x8.
Tip:
If the device will not update from sub 4.0 to 4.0.15 using the method below. Try using the software upgrade option in Utilities from the menu on the phone's GUI. You must select the proper firmware from the dropdown list when using this method.
SoundPoint IP series: 4.0.15.1047
Poly VVX series: 5.9.4.3247
If the firmware version is not available from the dropdown, do not attempt to use use an alternative other than what is listed above or the phone may become unusable. for a complete list of firmware see What is the recommended firmware for 8x8 phones and analog adapters?

Connect to the Poly Public Firmware Upgrade Server

Only use this option as directed to do so by 8x8 Tier 2 support. Improper use of this option may render the phone inoperable.
  1. Obtain your phone's administrator password.
  2. Reboot the phone (from Home/Menu, select Settings > Basic > Restart).
  3. While the phone is booting up, press the Cancel soft key. 
  4. Press Setup 
  5. Enter your phone's password (default is 456), then press OK.
  6. Scroll down to and select Provisioning Server Menu.
  7. On Server Type, press Edit.
  8. Scroll left arrow key until HTTP is selected, then press OK.
  9. On Server Address, press Edit.
  10. Enter the appropriate server address for your phone model.
    • SoundPoint IP models: pcfw.8x8.com/4015
    • SoundStation IP Speaker phones: pcfw.8x8.com/4015
    • VVX models: pcfw.8x8.com/646b
      • 101, 201, 301, 311, 401, 411, 501, 601, 150
    • Legacy VVX models: pcfw.8x8.com/598
      • 300, 310, 400, 410, 500, 600, 1500
  11. After following these steps, refer to the steps above to provision through the web GUI.