Set up VoIP telephone

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Updated – January 15, 2023

A VoIP (Voice over IP) telephone may be a welcome alternative to a moderately good mobile phone network, provided at least a 25% data connection can be established.

Some routers can handle VoIP, especially those that are operated on home DSL connections. Mobile routers, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. Either they do not support the VoIP services of the locally available providers or they have not implemented VoIP in such a way that a connected analog telephone works as intended.

Once you have found a VoIP service provider that meets your needs and cost calculation, the next step is to find a VoIP phone that they support.

Wirecloud – VoIP provider

In this case, Wirecloud was chosen. They support devices from Alcatel-Lucent, Gigaset, Patton, Snom and Yealink. It was used as a telephone Snom D785 chosen because, given the installation situation, it was only allowed to have a low overall height and dimensions in terms of length and width. It offers DECT and BT for wireless connection of headsets or other audio equipment, as well as a USB port.

Wirecloud offers a free basic account with higher per-minute prices, as well as a pro account with a monthly basic fee and lower per-minute fees. There are three landline numbers, or unlimited in the Pro account, as well as fax and other services, even call center functions. Minute packages or flat rates are also available. The support leaves nothing to be desired, neither objectively, professionally nor emphatically. Very friendly and easy to reach by phone, technical and sales. Communication also works perfectly by email.

Registering with Wirecloud is very simple: user, password, confirm verification email. In the side menu you put under End devices Select a telephone with any name, select the user automatically created during registration, enter the MAC address of the telephone, the manufacturer and type.

After connecting the phone via Ethernet (PoE, alternatively 5V 2A DC adapter), it automatically connects to the Wirecloud server, receives the corresponding configuration file and is then immediately ready for use. If a firmware update is required, this will be done quickly, followed by a restart.

Phone configuration

The phone can be configured very clearly and yet in great detail via the automatically or manually assigned IP address via browser. It runs absolutely stable and makes a solid impression both visually and tactilely.

Some tips that can be helpful:

• The phone has a button that can be used to activate “Do Not Disturb” (DND).
  In this case, a red one-way street sign appears on the display with the words “DND” underneath instead of the usual green user icon.
  Pressing the same button again switches DND off again.

• If the phone “suddenly” no longer establishes a connection to the provider and remains offline, it is a good idea Settings – Network Look at: the router and DNS addresses may have changed (e.g. when changing routers).

• Under preferences You can also change the color appearance of the display, such as additional displays and audio settings. In order to be able to specifically design the color using decimal color coding, there is here a color calculator that displays the numerically entered values converted into the relevant color information.