hello. i have a customer with voip phones. im not too well informed on voip systems. they want paging and i want to use an ata unit to do the paging. can i just buy one and use it or will it need programing to work. thanks dave

Every system is different, what do they have?

i dont know much about it. the phones are cisco. does that help. i plan to go over there tomorow and i will see what else i can learn about the equiptment

I know at one point you needed an additional server to provide paging on Cisco systems. That is why you often see two phones on desks .... the expensive Cisco IP phone and the old tried and true digital phone so they could page!

Check out the Snom PA1 paging interface. It registers as a SIP extension on the system and provides an output for paging amps. And yes, it has to be configured via web interface.

Cisco most likely will require a router/voice gateway box with a paging port. PITA if you ask me!

There is at least one post on this topic in the Cisco section. That might help you.

You can do overhead paging through an ATA, but you'll need more stuff hooked to it. All you can do to the ATA is make it ring. Connect the ATA to a device that answers the ring, then connects the audio through to the page in port/connection of you amplifier. Viking makes a RAD that handles this quite nicely.

You may also need to provide talk battery in the circuit. Viking or Val Com makes equipment for this.

One of my clients, I installed a Linksys PAP2T-NA and a Viking Electronics CPA-7B amp hooked to the client's existing paging system (just two loud bullhorns). I needed to tweak some settings in the ATA to get the paging to go on and off hook correctly. It's worked 100% since I put it in years ago. I can dig out those ATA settings if you need them.