Inter-Tel Axxess 8000 series and NAT

[ttrsux]

I have an Inter-Tel Axxess 8000 series phone system. Until recently, we had a public IP address assigned to the VOIP card. Now, we've changed it to 192.168.1.189 because we had to move the system to another location. This new location is connected to our colocation facility via point-to-point T1, and there are no public IPs available without purchasing one. We are using system version 9.002.

I've managed to get the IP phone to successfully initialize with the system, but something funky is happening. I have a Firebox X1000 and have set up a 1-to-1 NAT that forwards from the public IP to the 192.168.1.189 address; then set up an "any" rule that allows any port to and from this IP address. I am able to intercom both ways, but for some reason I cannot hear anything coming out of the external IP phone. If I speak through the external phone, I can hear myself on the regular digital (internal) phone. If I speak through the regular digital (internal) phone, I cannot hear anything coming out of the IP phone. This seems really weird since I'm allowing any port from ANY IP to ANY IP. If anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate them. If you need any more info please ask.

Thanks a million in advance.

t

 

[VoIPGuyNSC]

Gosh, its been months since I last worked on a Firebox. Is it perhaps a TCP vs. UDP thing? I seem to recall having to setup a separate rule for UDP on the firebox that I used to manage.

John Lever
Telecommunications
Richland School District Two

 

[ttrsux]

Thanks VoIPGuyNSC. I tried opening UDP ports 5004-5069, and also 5567 but still no luck. Our "phone guy" that originally installed it said the Axxess can't do NAT. I don't believe him. Besides, it's the firewall that's doing the NAT not the phone system!... it just needs to be configured properly. I'll keep digging around. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[silentjsd]

Your phone guy is right. On Access Systems version 8.0 to 9.0 Inter-Tel will not allow the IPRC card to be programmed through a NAT translation. I know your thinking that how does the IPRC card know what I'm doing after the data gets send out, but unfortunatly it does. You have to have your IPRC card on your public DMZ. Security shouldn't be that big of a concerd since it is a Linux kernel loaded on the IPRC card and there's no access to your network if anyone gets into it. It takes 5 min. to reload the boot and bin files if needed.

Inter-Tel will be releasing there next versions of software with NAT support again. 7.0 has NAT support, 9.x, 9.2?? will have the support for NAT again. Inter-Tel 5000 series based on the Linux Debian Platform has NAT for networking and IP phones already built into it at it's first release.

Please keep in mind that the reason Inter-Tel did this was to cut down the latency and delay you experience from being routered thought a NAT and Firewall. In the first years of deployment for the IPRC and IP Devies there has a huge learning curve and Inter-Tel spent millions of $$$ and time TS customers networks to prove it wasn't the IPRC card.