Avaya ip400 Remote worker Question

[scott345]

Hello,

I have a client who wants to install an ip office ip400 and would like remote phones for home installed.
Now their like supplier (BT) are suggesting that this feature will only work on their lines and BT would have to control the line as they need to enable ports and so on.

My Question: how does remote worker work? does it work over the internet i.e. using open ports or would a vpn need to be setup at the clients home to log into the ipoffice?

Thanks for your help people.

 

[amriddle01]

Remote workers either NAT or VPN require 96xx or 96x1 handsets, they aren't supported on 400 chassis only 500 and 500v2. They work by port forwarding or VPN, whoever is implementing it on the system needs access to and control over the router/firewall, it isn't something you can learn on the fly either.

But no it isn't dependant on any one providers lines/services

 

[scott345]

Thanks for your advice, i dont intend to program it as i dont have the experience but will pay someone to do the work. i just need to know which way is possible as i thing BT are trying to con my client out of business.

Which way would you recommend this be implemented? VPN or NAT?

Thanks again for your advice.

 

[amriddle01]

VPN is best as it doesn't require special licences, NAT does. VPN is far more secure as NAT requires you to forward a whole range of ports to the system and make you router pingable etc etc. VPN is also more reliable and achievable as NAT gets interfered with a lot and can be very hit/miss.

VPN does require a better spec of router/firewall though, like Cisco or Watchguard etc. A Draytek or provider freebie just will not work due to the type of VPN required

 

[scott345]

Ok thats interesting, BT are suggesting a nat option but i can only assume they are suggesting this as it needs a license and that is chargeable.
When you say a draytek wont work due to the type of VPN, what do you mean by this? What type of VPN is required? Also how much would you charge for programming this system? It seems like you know quite a bit about this. Feel free to PM me and perhaps we can do some business.

Thanks

 

[amriddle01]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, but there is no PM facility on this site and we don't take on this kind of ad-hoc work really.
The handsets need to use a policy based VPN, Drayteks and the likes don't have that option available

 

[Westi]

I have not dealt with BT but I hear a lot here and it seems, IMHO, they want to go for the NAT option because it is easier for them to setup. It is simple if you have no experience with the VPN phone setups and that might explain why they suggested it.


Joe W.

FHandw, ACSS (SME), expired ACIS (SME)


"This is the end of the world, make sure to buy your T-shirt before it is too late"
Original expression of my daughter

 

[dialtonebone]

Don't even bother with Remote H323 extensions. It's dangerous (port forwarding a bunch of ports to your IPO directly) and puts your phone traffic on the WAN in the clear.

The right way is to configure a VPN router (You can do this for a few hundred bucks with the right routers) and use that to terminate VPN phones on. It's a tried method and works well. You should only need to pay for a couple hours of labor to get the VPN part configured (unless you have to replace the existing router, then some more hours).

Also, new install with an IPO400? Why not a IPO500?