Contact Center Pro desk phone network requirements

Overview

Contact Center Pro desk phones plug into your office network with a cable and connect to ServiceTitan over the internet. This article covers what your network must support before setup, how your network administrator can check each requirement, and what goes wrong if one isn't met.

Things to know

• Desk phones need a wired connection. They don't support Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

• This article is for desk phones. For computers that use the webphone, see Contact Center Pro network recommendations and setup.

• Satellite internet, including Starlink, doesn't support VoIP calls consistently. It can cause long delays, make calls choppy, or drop them.

• Buy new phones. Used or refurbished phones may be locked to a previous provider. If any of your phones were used, send their MAC addresses to your ServiceTitan onboarding contact right away.

• During the first setup, each phone may restart several times. This is normal.

Key requirements

Your network must meet all of these requirements before your setup session. Have your network administrator review each one before you contact onboarding.

• A wired port and a Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, or Cat8 cable for every phone

• No network hubs between the phones and your router

• Power over Ethernet (PoE) or a Poly power adapter for every phone

• SIP ALG turned off, and no inspection of phone traffic (such as SPI or IGMP Snooping)

• One layer of NAT, and one internet connection at a time (SD-WAN dual stream is OK)

• IP addresses, DNS, and time available to the phones

• Nothing left over from your previous phone system

• Voice VLANs, if you use them, that meet every requirement in this article

• At least 100 kilobits/second of bandwidth per call

• Outbound access to the ServiceTitan destinations and ports

Wired connection and power

Connect every phone with a cable

Have your network administrator plug each phone into a switch or router port. Wi-Fi adapters, mesh extenders, and powerline adapters aren't supported.

• How to verify: Every desk that will have a phone has a working network jack or switch port.

• If it isn't met: The phone can't connect.

Use Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, or Cat8 cable

Make sure your network administrator doesn't use Cat7 cables. They don't work with these phones.

• How to verify: The category is printed on the cable jacket.

• If it isn't met: The phone doesn't connect, or drops its connection. Have your network administrator replace the cable.

Don't use network hubs

Some older offices still have network hubs. A hub looks like a switch, but it sends all traffic to every port, which crowds out call audio. Have your network administrator replace any hub between the phones and your router with a switch.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator check the label or model number on each box between the phones and the router. If the label or the manufacturer's website calls it a "hub," replace it. Boxes labeled "switch," including inexpensive unmanaged switches, are fine.

• If it isn't met: Every device gets the same traffic at the same time, which can make the wrong phone answer a call it can't connect.

Power each phone

Have your network administrator use a PoE switch port that supports IEEE 802.3af or newer, a PoE injector, or a Poly power adapter. Plug the network cable into the phone's LAN port, not its PC port.

• How to verify: The phone turns on, and the switch has enough PoE power for every phone on it.

• If it isn't met: The phone doesn't turn on, or restarts on its own.

Router and firewall settings

Traffic handling

Turn off SIP ALG

SIP ALG may also be called SIP Helper or SIP transformations. For more, see Disable SIP ALG to improve ServiceTitan call quality.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator check the router and firewall settings.

• If it isn't met: One-way audio, no audio, dropped calls, or phones that don't register.

Don't inspect phone traffic

Turn off deep packet inspection, stateful packet inspection, intrusion prevention, IGMP Snooping, SSL/HTTPS inspection, and flood protection, or exempt the ServiceTitan destinations from them.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator review the firewall's security policies for traffic from the phones.

• If it isn't met: Setup fails, or calls drop or lose audio. Your network administrator needs to resolve this.

Use one NAT device

Only one device between the phones and the internet should translate addresses.

• How to verify: Your network administrator or internet provider confirms it.

• If it isn't met: Calls fail intermittently or have one-way audio.

Use one internet connection at a time

If you have two internet connections, set phone traffic to fail over between them, not load balance across both. SD-WAN dual stream is OK.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator check the router or firewall's multi-WAN settings.

• If it isn't met: Phones drop their registration, or calls fail.

Network services

Provide addresses, name lookup, and time

Phones get their IP address and DNS from DHCP, or your network administrator assigns them statically. Phones get the time from your DHCP server (option 42) or public time servers.

• How to verify: A computer plugged into a phone's jack gets an address (from DHCP or set by your network administrator), opens websites, and shows the correct time.

• If it isn't met: The phone never finishes setup. A phone with the wrong time can't connect securely to ServiceTitan. Have your network administrator confirm this is set up correctly.

Remove settings from your previous phone system

Your DHCP server can't hand out an old provisioning server (options 66, 150, or 160). Disconnect old phone equipment, such as an on-site phone server or gateway, or move it out of the path.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator check the DHCP options and the equipment in your network closet.

• If it isn't met: Phones contact the old system and never finish setup. This causes the longest setup delays.

Make sure voice VLANs meet every requirement

If your phones use a voice VLAN, have your network administrator make sure that VLAN meets every requirement in this article, including addresses, name lookup, time, and access to the ServiceTitan destinations and ports.

• How to verify: Have your network administrator run the pre-setup check from a port on the voice VLAN.

• If it isn't met: Phones on the VLAN can't get an address or reach ServiceTitan.

Call quality

Provide at least 100 kilobits/second per call

Each simultaneous call needs that much upload and download bandwidth. If your router supports quality of service (QoS), prioritize DSCP 46 (call audio) and DSCP 26 (call signaling).

• How to verify: Have a user run the Contact Center Pro Network Test from a computer on the phones' network. The user needs the Run Network Test permission and a Basic or Advanced seat. For more, see Run a network test in Contact Center Pro.

• If it isn't met: Choppy, robotic, or delayed audio, especially when the network is busy.

Required destinations and ports

Desk phones only make outbound connections. If your firewall restricts outbound traffic, have your network administrator allow the phones to reach these destinations, and allow the replies back in.

Tip: Allow servers by name (FQDN) where your firewall supports it. Names keep working if addresses change.

Server addresses

Pre-setup check

Before your setup session, have your network administrator run this check at each location that will have desk phones. Use a computer plugged into a jack where a phone will go, on the voice VLAN if you use one.

1. Confirm the computer gets an IP address and shows the correct date and time.

2. Run the Contact Center Pro Network Test and confirm it passes. For more, see Run a network test in Contact Center Pro.

3. Confirm the router and firewall match every setting in Router and firewall settings, and that the destinations and ports are allowed.

4. Confirm each desk has a working port, a Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, or Cat8 cable, and power for the phone.

5. Tell your ServiceTitan onboarding contact the check is complete. Include the MAC address of any phone that was previously used.

Note: We schedule your setup session after you confirm the check is complete.

Common problems

Start with the likely cause, and use the questions to guide the conversation with your network administrator.

Glossary

Want to learn more?

• See Contact Center Pro network recommendations and setup

• See Disable SIP ALG to improve ServiceTitan call quality

• See Best practices for optimal VoIP experience and reliability

• See Run a network test in Contact Center Pro