Hello,
I've taken over a network with an IWATSU system that has all of the handsets statically/manually programmed. I'm re-architecting our network and will be changing addresses. Instead of reprogramming 200+ phones manually, I was hoping these phones will work via DHCP. Unfortunately, my phone vendor does not seem to have gotten DHCP to work correctly and has since been programming everything manually. Could someone help with giving me some hints or point me to documentations that may assist?

Currently our phones are on a separate circuit, while data is also on their own. In the new network, i'm hoping to go from wall plate to phone, to PC. Using VLAN tagging and DHCP options should work. I've gotten DHCP to work with our data network, but when a phone is plugged in it doesn't seem to be passing on to the correct VLAN. I've tried using vendor class IWATSUIP and predefined an option of 132 (dot1q VLAN ID according to IANA) with my VLAN's hex.

Thanks in advance.

The phones will work DHCP provided everything is in the same subnet. Remote phones and DHCP do not make good bedfellows. You will have to manually program each phone as far as VLAN tagging goes, though. Once you have everything somewhat connected, there are ways from the programmer to access all the phones and set up a good deal of things all at once. Check out Tools>IPConfigurator for possible ways to get things done without physically visiting every phone.

@JBean3329. Thank you so much for responding. For as long as I have been a tech and in this IT field, I have always hated vendors that keep things proprietary and not allow the end-customers to do what they want with their own equipment. I had reached out to ICON Networks and pretty much received the finger and they did not allow me to even access any documentations to figure it out on my own. I knew it was possible and even randomly guessing encapsulation option codes, I was able to relay the CCU IP address. My phone support person finally gave me a document that outlined the DHCP options and sub-options. I now have it working and below is my solution for anyone else having this issue. I can't wait to get a different phone system and move away from ICON and their partners.

IPs are for demonstration.
-We have tagged VLAN ID 200 for voice network (192.168.200.0/24) on our switches
-We default untagged traffic for data vlan id 100 on (192.168.100.0/24) on our switches

In Window's DHCP console, I created scopes for both subnets. Under scope options on VLAN 100 (Data) - which is what every device will connect to first, option 43. In option 43, the following header bytes, vendor id, and sub-options are needed:

01 08 49 57 41 54 53 55 49 50 02 04 c0 a8 c8 02 04 02 00 c8 (type it in w/o spaces)

01 = required header
08 = 8 bytes to follow
57 41 54 53 55 49 50 = IWATSUIP (this is configurable on the phones, but by default this is the specific vendor ID IWATSU uses)
02 = (sub-option 2) - Data header for point to CCU IP
04 = 4 bytes to follow
c0 a8 c8 02 = this is the IP address to the CCU card, use a decimal to hex converter. For my demostration, this is translated to 192.168.200.2
04 = VLAN ID sub-option, Data header for assigning VLAN to the phone
02 = 2 bytes to follow
00 c8 = VLAN TAG 200 - use hex to convert.

There's additional sub-options you can still add, such as QOS and VLAN priority levels.

05 02 03 xx, xx will go from 00-07 :: VLAN Priority
06 04 00 xx 01 yy, xx is for voice payload, yy = voice signaling dscp :: QOS


I hope that helps anyone else needing this in the future.

Don't be too hard on the vendors. After all, they charge their dealers and distributors stupid money for training and tech support access, so they all try to protect their golden geese. It has more to do with the way things are than any sort of malice. We all have to put up with it to some degree...