With the focus on smart phones and Teams enabled devices, the idea of using a classic Mickey Mouse rotary phone from my childhood with Microsoft Teams might seem both whimsical and impractical. However, with the right hardware and a bit of technical know-how, it’s entirely possible to bridge the past with the present. This blog post will walk you through the process of using an Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) to connect a vintage Mickey Mouse rotary phone to Microsoft Teams SIP. Let’s first review some of the background information.
An analog telephone adapter (ATA) is a device for connecting traditional analog devices to a digital telephone system. In context of SIP gateway, it connects these analog devices via SIP gateway to Teams. A single ATA can connect any number devices via ports (RJ11 interface). Each port represents a SIP device from TAC (Teams Admin Center) perspective and there is no notation for ATA. This means if you have an ATA with 2 ports, you can have 2 devices connected. However, the hardware ID of each device is composed of the MAC address of the ATA and a port number. For example, “9C-AD-ED-84-05-62:001” which represents ATA MAC address 9C-AD-ED-84-05-62 and port number 001.
TAC (Teams Admin Center) doesn’t have a notion of ATA and each ATA port is abstracted as an independent device. However, ATA onboarding to SIP Gateway is done per ATA instance versus port. In other words, ATA as a “box” MUST be factory reset and Server URL of ATA MUST be set with appropriate regional HTTP URL, as documented in Configure SIP Gateway. Analog devices are required to have Admin interaction. An Admin MUST use remote sign-in/sign-out from TAC, for analog devices. Before remote sign-in admin must enroll the port of the ATA by dialing the feature code (*55*) + verification code from an analog device connected to that port to validate that it is a trusted device.
ATA Settings are managed via Web interface of ATA. However, user’s settings are sent to the device by SIP gateway device manager, like every SIP Phone, for each port in case of analog devices connected. The ATA port will be listed as a regular SIP device in TAC. At this time, there is no option to restart a single port on an ATA, and Admin should use ATA management tool to perform this command. Furthermore, all accounts that are signed in MUST be within same region, since there is no option to “transfer” a port to another region due to regulations.
In this post, we will use a rotary phone from my childhood, a Obi300 ATA and Microsoft Teams. The Mickey Mouse rotary phone is a charming piece of nostalgia, while it lacks modern features like touch-tone dialing, it’s a fully functional analog telephone. The OBi300 ATA is a versatile device that converts analog signals from traditional telephones into digital signals that can be used with modern VoIP services. I am using a modern touchtone phone for setup as this model does not support pulse dialing. In the steps below, the process will be highlighted and explained. I would recommend reserving at least 60 minutes to run through this test. It is also important to review the compatible devices and required firmware (Poly Obi300 ATA Firmware).
Connect the OBi300 ATA and update firmware
- Open a web browser on a computer connected to the same network and enter the IP address into the address bar. This will bring up the OBi300 web interface and log in. Log in using the default credentials. Unless changed, the default username is ‘admin’ and the password is ‘admin’.
- Update the firmware by navigating to Device Update. Select the firmware file and then Update. Note: the update can take a few minutes.
- Connect the ATA to your network, power on and capture the IP Address of the device.
- After the device reboots, verify the version by navigating to the System Status
Updating the provisioning server URL to apply the Microsoft Teams SIP gateway provisioning service.
- Navigate to the Auto Provisioning and update the ConfigURL, select Submit and Reboot. For example if you are provisioning in NoAM region, use the below URL. For EMEA, and APAC regions, edit the provisioning URL string given below to include emea and apac respectively.
ConfigURL = http://noam.ipp.sdg.teams.microsoft.com
Note: URL above points to SIP Gateway production system and URL MUST be appended with /mac.cfg
The gateway obtains the onboarding configuration and reboots. When device recovers from reboot, access the device and verify it is SIP registered with onboarding account. This is located under the System Status, SP1 Service Status.
Provision the ATA within the TAC
- Select Teams Devices, SIP Devices, Actions, Provision Devices.
- Add Hardware ID addresses manually. Remember to include the port of the device.
- Select the item and select Generate verification code
- Plug analog phone (I had to utilize a Touchtone phone as this ATA does not support pulse) to FXS port, off hook and dial *55*Verification Code
- The system will play confirmation tone – on hook and in TAC switch to Waiting for sign in tab, select the MAC address and press Sign in a user
- Complete the web sign-in process by following the instructions on screen, use the account you want to be assigned to FXS port.
Now it is time to test the connection. Calling my number results in the Mickey Mouse Phone ringing!
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