4. Devices

Devices types

At DFN, there are two main categories of devices:

  • certified devices

  • any other SIP devices, or unprovisioned SIP devices

Note

Please note that if a device is not listed under certified devices, or if you have manually configured it, DFN will not support it. Devices like that are referred to as unprovisioned SIP devices.

Provisioning

Provisioning is the process of automatically and remotely configuring a device without having to directly interact with it on-site. This feature is only available for devices that are certified by DFN.

The provisioning process includes:

  • authorisation (checking that the device is configured on a customer account)

  • firmware management (upgrading / downgrading the device firmware, if required)

  • pushing configuration to the device:

    • SIP settings (e.g. SIP proxy server, voice encryption)

    • device configuration (e.g. dial plan options)

    • line and phone display information

    • additional features

    • soft keys configuration (e.g. voicemail button, XML menus)

    • function keys (e.g. speed dials, Busy Lamp Field)

    • refreshing the configuration on a regular basis or when a change has occurred (e.g. a user has logged into the device)

Types of provisioning

  • zero-touch provisioning

  • auto provisioning

Please note that devices that are not provisioned and are configured manually are referred to as unprovisioned SIP devices.

Zero-touch provisioning

Devices that support zero-touch provisioning just configure themselves, straight out of the box, without any human intervention, as long as they have been added to the DFN Admin Portal in advance. This is the most common type of provisioning available for DFN-certified devices.

The process is as follows:

  1. Order the phone from DFN.

  2. Get it delivered straight from a distributor.

  3. Get the device out of the box.

  4. Plug the device into a network with internet access.
    ⇒ The device configures itself and is ready to use.

In other words, zero-touch provisioning is plug and play.

Auto provisioning

Some DFN-certified devices don't quite support zero-touch provisioning. In this case, the devices need to be manually configured.

The process is as follows:

  1. Order the phone from DFN.

  2. Get it delivered straight from a distributor.

  3. Get the device out of the box.

  4. Plug the device into a network with internet access.

  5. Log into the device web interface.

  6. Set the provisioning address to DFN.
    ⇒ The device reboots and starts configuring itself and is ready to use.

Please note that both zero-touch provisioning and auto provisioning use two-factor authentication.