SOLVED Grandstream GXP2130 and Intercom Mode

[anomaly0617]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get intercom functionality from one extension to another working on some Grandstream GXP2130's. Eventually I'd like paging functionality as well, but for now I'm just looking to be able to call from one room to the other and have the destination room's phone automatically answer in speakerphone mode. This way when I'm in the Depot Repair room, my hands are in the guts of a server, and the phone rings, it auto answers and I can provide whatever information the caller needs and get them off the phone again.

So, I found this thread which seemed pretty straightforward. There is no Turn off speaker on remote disconnect option on the GXP2130, but I found the Allow Auto-Answer by Call Info option and set the Custom Call-Info for Auto Answer = answer-after=0 feature.

I made sure that the firmware was up to date (see attached image GXP2130-1.PNG).

For each extension, I tried setting the Intercom setting (see attached image GXP2130-2.PNG).

I'm using the OSS Endpoint module, and using the GXP2120 template for these phones.

It still didn't work after all of the changes and a reboot of each endpoint, so I SSH'ed in and ran "asterisk -rvvvvvvvv" to show me some debug info (See attached GXP2130-Debug.txt). This was a test call from extension 5002 to extension 5004. I've blurred out the people's names in the logs, just FYI.

So, I'm fresh out of ideas. I don't see in the debug logs where auto-answer=0 is being sent to the destination phone, but I don't know that I should/would see that. Any thoughts?

 

[mainenotarynet]

I have GXP 2140's so should be similar.
I disable the internal auto answer on PBX side and you shouldn't need the custom alert-info either just Yes on the Auto Answer by Alert Info.

By your txt file I suspect you are dialing the extension number only e.g.5004 -- this is not an intercom call its a straight call to the extension

try *805004 and see what that does the log will show the *80 going into the intercom coding which your txt file I saw none of it.

Paging is the same thing set the paging groop (say 5000 [if that is NOT an extension already]) and put in all the extensions in the group list.

Mine works fine so yurs should too with these settings

Good Luck

 

[anomaly0617]

Thank you for this, Kevin. It lead me in the right direction. I had multiple settings contributing to my intercom feature not working, but the smoking gun setting was under "Admin - Feature Codes" where "*80" had been set to "Disabled." Once I fixed that and then set "Force All Internal Auto Answer" to "True" in "Settings - Advanced Settings", I got the desired behavior, which is where when someone calls an extension from another extension and the destination is not on the phone, it auto answers into speakerphone.

 

[mainenotarynet]

Good to hear.

 

[anomaly0617]

Hey, I'm going to add to my own thread here...

For intercom to work, Kevin's advice was gold. It got me going on this. For paging to work, however, the GXP2130/GXP2140/GXP2160 has two options:

1. [Less favorable] Multicast Paging and Receiving, which works by assigning an arbitrary network IP and port between 224.x.x.x:1 and 239.x.x.x:65535 and then telling all of your Grandstream phones to listen to this port. This can be found in Settings - Multicast Paging under the phone's web interface, and then you can program a soft key (Settings - Programmable Keys) to do Multicast Paging, setting the Value to the IP and Port that you defined before. In my case, I assigned 237.11.10.9:6776 to be the All Page group and then set the soft key Description to All Page and the Value to 237.11.10.9:6776. There is nothing wrong with this feature set and it worked for me, except it only works on Grandstream phones. If you have a mixed/hybrid environment and have anything other than Grandstream, this method may not work.
   
2. [More favorable] Asterisk Paging Module, which works by defining an extension and then assigning people to that extension. This can be found under Applications - Paging and Intercom and it did not work for me initially, which is why I went to #1 above. The key was figuring out why it worked on my Polycoms and my Cisco that connects to the amplifier and drives the speakers in the warehouse, but did not work on the Grandstream's. The question was "what's up with the Grandstreams?" and I figured it out. This is where the answer-after=0 setting comes into play. So, on the Grandstream GXP2130/2140/2160:
   1. Under Accounts - Account X - Call Settings
      1. Allow Auto Answer by Call-Info to Yes
      2. Custom Call-Info for Auto Answer to answer-after=0 (no quotes).
   2. Under Settings - Programmable Keys
      1. Set one of your MPKs like this:
         1. Mode = Busy Lamp Field (BLF)
         2. Account = Account X
         3. Description = All Page
         4. Value = [Defined Paging Extension]

I would test this on one phone and reboot it before you roll it out to a bunch of them.
Hope this helps someone else who finds themselves trailblazing.
So far I like the Grandstream GXP21x0 phones, and I just got a GXV3240 with the EXT100 module, and it rocks too. I also picked up a DP715 cordless phone, and so far my review on it is "Meh" - it does what it's supposed to do. DECT works decent from a distance. The phone rings, but it's a "no frills" cordless phone. IMHO, you could do just as well with a Cisco SPA-112 and a decent DECT 6.0 cordless analog phone from Costco/Sams/Wal-Mart.