Phones - Multicast Paging
- Kelli Higdon
- Merry Arpaia
Overview
Multicast Paging allows you to send pages to groups of phones directly, without the PBX being involved in the page. With multicast paging, phones are programmed to listen to a broadcast address. The advantage to this method is that the multicast page is a single SIP call instead of a multiple-party conference call. This greatly reduces the workload placed on the PBX, especially when a large number of devices are involved.
All phones that you want to include in the multicast paging group need to be on the same network, since a network broadcast protocol is used.
Configuring a Page Group to Use RTP Multicast
If you have Page Pro installed, you can use the Paging and Intercom module to link a page group to any number of RTP multicast streams. See the Page Pro-Admin Guide for more information on this setting.
Setting Up Your Phone to Listen for Multicast Paging
Go into EndPoint Manager in your PBX and select the Sangoma brand in the menu.
Click on the template that you want to set up multicast paging on.
Click on the Options menu tab at the top
For Multicast Enable, select Enable. This enables multicast paging listening. (Dark blue = selected)
For Multicast Address, enter a list of IP addresses, separated by commas, that the device should listen on for multicast pages.
In our example below, the phone would be listening for pages on 224.0.36.0:10000 and 224.0.36.1:10000 only. Any multicast pages sent on other IP addresses or ports would not reach this phone.You now need to update the phone configuration file. The three options at the bottom of the template are:
Save Template- This will only save your changes into the PBX database. It will not write out new config files for the phones that are using this template as mapped in the Extension Mapping section of End Point Manager.
and Rebuild Configs- This will save your changes to the PBX Database and will also write out new config files for the phones that are using this template as mapped in the Extension Mapping section of End Point Manager. The phones will need to be rebooted in order to retrieve the changes.
and Force Update- This will do both the "Save Template" and the "and Rebuild Configs" options above, and it will also immediately update any phones that are mapped to use this template and currently registered to the PBX, with no need to reboot the phones.
Setting Up Your Phone to Start a Multicast Page
In order for your phone to be able to page a multicast page group, it needs a button that will start the page to the IP address and port that you define. You can set up a multicast page button for your phone by modifying your button layout for your Sangoma s500 or s700 phone in the PBX GUI EndPoint Manager.
Go into End Point Manager in your PBX and select the Sangoma brand in the menu.
Click on the template to edit it.
Click on the Models menu tab at the top
Select a model number you want to add manage buttons for that you want to add a multicast page button for.
Scroll down to the first available Line Key that is not used.
In the button Type drop-down menu, pick Multicast Paging.
Enter a name for this button in the Label field.
In the Value field, enter the IP address and port to be paged by the phone when the button is pressed.
In our example, we are using 224.0.36.1:10000.
You can also move the button to a different position if desired. To do this, click on the line key name, and while holding the mouse button down, drag the row to a new position (up or down). Then drop the button in the new position by releasing the mouse button.
The line key numbers will not update until after you save the model.
In our example, we have moved Line Key 22 to position 4. The original Line Key 4 appears below it, and the numbering sequence will update after we save the model.
Save the model by clicking the Save Model button.
If you go back into the model number, it will show the multicast page button with the correct number now (4 in our example).
You now need to update the phone configuration file. The three options at the bottom of the template are:
Save Template- This will only save your changes into the PBX database. It will not write out new config files for the phones that are using this template as mapped in the Extension Mapping section of End Point Manager.
and Rebuild Configs- This will save your changes to the PBX Database and will also write out new config files for the phones that are using this template as mapped in the Extension Mapping section of End Point Manager. The phones will need to be rebooted in order to retrieve the changes.
and Force Update- This will do both the "Save Template" and the "and Rebuild Configs" options above, and it will also immediately update any phones that are mapped to use this template and currently registered to the PBX, with no need to reboot the phones.
