Adding SIP Extensions to ShoreTel

Recently I had an installation in which we needed to add multiple Polycom SoundPoint 501 phones to the ShoreTel Phone System. Since the guides that explain how to add SIP extensions are outdated and the process is completely manual, I thought I would share how we automated the process of adding these phones, making it almost as easy as adding ShorePhones to the system.

It is important to note that you need to ensure that you have the proper licensing. Also, please download and read the manual process of adding SIP extensions prior to attempting this automated process. Your partner of record will be able to provide you with multiple documents if you do not have access to the ShoreTel Knowledge Base.

1. The first thing you need to do is download and run some type of TFTP server program. We did it on the ShoreWare Server just to keep things simple.
2. Go to Polycom's site and download the version of SIP that it specifies to use in the ShoreTel KB for your phone model.
3. Place the downloaded files into the root directory of your TFTP server.
4. You don't really need to worry about anything that's in there other than the file titled, "000000000000.cfg." This file is the first file that the phone looks to in order to pull configuration information.
5. Edit the "000000000000.cfg" and add "[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg" to the config files string for your specific SoundPoint model. You will see I added it to all models in the attached template.
6. Create two files called, "CUSTOM_phone1.cfg" and "CUSTOM_sip.cfg", and add the information as specified in the attached template files. These files essentially tells the phones how to connect to ShoreTel so you don't have to log into the GUI of each phone and enter parameters by hand.
7. Create one file for each of your SIP phones with each phone's MAC address in the title of each file name. So, if your phone's MAC address is AB:CD:EF:GH:IJ:KL, then create a file called "abcdefghijkl-user.cfg" and add the information as shown below in the "enterphonemac-user.cfg" file example. This file specifies extension number and SIP password information as specified in the Users->Individual Users page of the ShoreWare Director.
8. Optional step: Factory default the phone (Format File System, Reset Device Settings, and Reset Local Config).
9. Enter the IP address of the TFTP server and any other necessary information (i.e. VLAN ID) on the phone. These can also be achieved via custom DHCP options. I am not going to go over this process because it is different depending on what you are using for your DHCP server.
10. Reboot the phone and that’s that.

Here is a look at the files with information we added in red:

000000000000.cfg with Custom String:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>

<!-- Default Master SIP Configuration File-->

<!-- For information on configuring Polycom VoIP phones please refer to the -->

<!-- Configuration File Management white paper available from: -->

<!-- http://www.polycom.com/common/documents/whitepapers/configuration_file_management_on_soundpoint_ip_phones.pdf -->

<!-- $RCSfile$  $Revision: 125118 $ -->

<APPLICATION APP_FILE_PATH="sip.ld" CONFIG_FILES="phone1.cfg, sip.cfg" MISC_FILES="" LOG_FILE_DIRECTORY="logs" OVERRIDES_DIRECTORY="" CONTACTS_DIRECTORY="" LICENSE_DIRECTORY="">

  <APPLICATION_SPIP300 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP300="sip_212.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP300="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_212.cfg, sip_212.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP301 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP301="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP301="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP430 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP430="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP430="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP500 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP500="sip_212.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP500="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_212.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP501 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP501="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP501="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP600 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP600="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP600="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SPIP601 APP_FILE_PATH_SPIP601="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SPIP601="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

  <APPLICATION_SSIP4000 APP_FILE_PATH_SSIP4000="sip_318.ld" CONFIG_FILES_SSIP4000="[MACADDRESS]-user.cfg, CUSTOM_phone1.cfg, CUSTOM_sip.cfg, phone1_318.cfg, sip_318.cfg" />

</APPLICATION>

CUSTOM_phone1.cfg:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<phone1>

   <reg reg.1.server.2.transport="DNSnaptr" reg.1.server.1.transport="DNSnaptr" reg.1.type="private" reg.1.server.1.address="Virtual_IP_of_SIP_Proxy" reg.1.server.1.port="5060"  reg.1.server.1.expires="3600" reg.1.server.1.register="1" reg.1.server.1.retryTimeOut="0" reg.1.server.1.retryMaxCount="3" />

  <msg msg.bypassInstantMessage="0">

    <mwi msg.mwi.1.callBack="1102" msg.mwi.1.callBackMode="contact" msg.mwi.1.subscribe="1102" divert.dnd.1.contact="1101" divert.dnd.1.enabled="1" />

  </msg>

</phone1>

CUSTOM_sip.cfg:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>

<!-- SIP Application Configuration File -->

<!-- $RCSfile$  $Revision: 100041 $ -->

<sip>

  <voIpProt>

    <server voIpProt.server.1.address="Virtual_IP_of_SIP_Proxy" voIpProt.server.1.port="5060" voIpProt.server.1.transport="DNSnaptr" voIpProt.server.1.expires="3600" voIpProt.server.1.register="1" voIpProt.server.1.retryTimeOut="0" voIpProt.server.1.retryMaxCount="3" voIpProt.server.1.expires.lineSeize="30" />

  </voIpProt>

  <TCP_IP>

    <SNTP tcpIpApp.sntp.resyncPeriod="86400" tcpIpApp.sntp.address="SNTP_Server" tcpIpApp.sntp.address.overrideDHCP="1" tcpIpApp.sntp.gmtOffset="-28800" tcpIpApp.sntp.gmtOffset.overrideDHCP="1" />

  </TCP_IP>

 </sip>

enterphonemac_user.cfg:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

<phone1>

   <reg reg.1.label="enterextension" reg.1.auth.userId="enterextension" reg.1.auth.password="sip_password" reg.1.address="enterextension" reg.1.displayName="EnterUserName" />

</phone1>