I need some info on using IP phones on the BCM50. I have done a few BCM's, but none of them have ever been equipped with IP phones. Do these phones require static IPs? do they require VPN gateways at both ends?

The scenrio is this. The customer will have a BCM. The two company owners want to work from home, as well as having a couple of project engineers work from remote projects. Right now they all have data access through their computers using a cytrix client. The remote project guys just plug their laptops into DSL modems and get their internet connection. There is currently no hardware in place. Do the Nortel IP phones come with their own VPN software? The customer basically wants a phone he can just plug in and connect back to the office. I told him it is not always as simply as it sounds.

Help???

You are right - it's not as simple as it sounds.

You would need VPN routers on both ends to make the phones work properly. The other option is to have them use the i2050 softphone on the laptops that have VPN access...

so just so I am clear, I will need VPN routers on both ends of any IP phone used? This probably won't be a big deal with the owners home phones, but it will require them to always setup a VPN router at any remote site.

I don't think the softphone is an option, as he wanted to have just a "plug and play" telephone without worrying about having a computer running.

I am wondering if I am making the setup of a VPN router at the remote site more of a deal than it is. If the user is going to be onsite for 3 months or more, then wouldn't taking 30 minutes to configure a router be worth it? Also, does anyone have any recommendations as to what type of VPN routers to use?

i've had good luck with netgear fvs318 with my BCM system. call quality has always been good.

Does the BCM require its own seperate public IP? or do we just used the public IP of the customers network?

i give it a private ip 192.168.1.X, set up a vpn between the locations and then have the remote phone register to the IP address of the bcm. all traffic will go over the VPN link.

mine link is over basic adsl line at both locations (1.5down/768up).

The customers IT guy is asking why we have to have VPN instead of using NAT. He didn't appreciate my "because the manual says so" answer.

Am I understanding correctly that both VPN routers would actually be configured with public IP addresses so as to make the connection, correct? Then the BCM looks across the VPN for the IP address of the phone, and vice versa, correct?

yes you can used dyndns.org with a FQDN, no need to get static ip.