Auto Provisioning Overview

Auto Provisioning lets you configure, deploy, and maintain IP (Internet Protocol) phones and gateways from a single place in Cloud Voice, instead of touching each device by hand. It removes most of the repetitive setup work, so rolling out and managing devices stays fast even at scale.

Note

“Provisioning” means pushing the settings a device needs (accounts, server addresses, feature keys, firmware) to that device automatically. With Auto Provisioning, the PBX (Private Branch Exchange, the phone system that routes your calls) sends those settings to each phone or gateway for you.

Devices you can auto provision

Cloud Voice can auto provision both IP phones and Cloud Voice TA FXS (Foreign Exchange Station) gateways. An FXS gateway provides analog ports, so you can connect traditional analog phones or fax machines to the system.

• For IP phones, follow Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely with Proxy or Auto Provision IP Phones Remotely via RPS Method.
• For gateways, follow Auto Provision Cloud Voice TA FXS Gateway.

For the full list of models that Auto Provisioning supports, see Auto Provisioning - Supported Devices.

Tip

Before you plan a rollout, check the supported-devices list first. If a phone or gateway model is not on that list, it cannot be auto provisioned and you will need to configure it manually.

How Auto Provisioning works

Knowing how each provisioning method connects a phone to the PBX makes it easier to plan a deployment and to pinpoint where a problem lies when a device fails to provision. Cloud Voice offers two approaches: provisioning through an Onsite Proxy and provisioning through the RPS method.

Provision with Proxy

An Onsite Proxy is a service that sits on the customer’s local network. It registers phones to Cloud Voice through an encrypted tunnel, so the devices never need direct public access to the PBX. How a phone reaches the proxy depends on whether it supports PnP.

Tip

Because the Onsite Proxy keeps traffic inside an encrypted tunnel and does not expose the PBX to the public internet, it is the safer choice on sites where security matters.

Phones that support PnP (Plug and Play, meaning the phone announces itself on the network and is set up automatically) are discovered and configured once they are on the same network as the proxy.

Caution

PnP discovery only works when the phone and the Onsite Proxy are on the same local network. If a phone sits on a different network or subnet, the proxy will not find it, and you should use the DHCP method below instead.

Phones that do not support PnP are provisioned with the help of a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, which points them to the proxy. DHCP is the same service that hands out IP addresses on a network; here it also tells the phone where the proxy is.

Provision via RPS Method

With the RPS (Redirection and Provisioning Service) method, phones are redirected to the PBX for provisioning through a central redirection service, so no Onsite Proxy is required. This makes it well suited to deploying and updating large batches of devices with little manual effort.

Tip

Reach for the RPS method when you need to roll out or update phones in bulk, especially across remote sites. It saves the most time and cost on large deployments.