4. Devices

Devices types

At 1&1 Versatel, 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, 1&1 Versatel 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 1&1 Versatel.

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 1&1 Versatel Admin Portal in advance. This is the most common type of provisioning available for 1&1 Versatel-certified devices.

The process is as follows:

  1. Order the phone from 1&1 Versatel

  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 1&1 Versatel-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 1&1 Versatel

  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 in to the device web interface

  6. Set the provisioning address to 1&1 Versatel
    ⇒ 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.