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Prerequisites: Your clinic needs a phone number with call routing set up, and you need access to Settings. If someone has already added the phone in Decoda and sent you credentials to type in, skip to Enter the settings by hand.
Getting a desk phone working takes three things: adding the phone in Decoda, getting the settings onto the handset, and adding it to a ring group so calls reach it. A phone that skips the last step registers correctly and still never rings.

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Step 1: Add the Phone in Decoda

Follow Add a Desk Phone in Settings > Phones > Devices. One choice there decides what you do in Step 3, so it’s worth getting right now:
A phone owned by a staff member never appears under Shared desk phones, and a shared phone never appears in anyone’s Desk phone menu. If a phone isn’t where you expect it in Step 3, this is almost always why. You can change the owner later with Edit.

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Step 2: Get the Settings Onto the Phone

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Phones That Set Themselves Up

Grandstream and Yealink phones do this on their own — including both recommended phones. There is nothing to type into the handset.
  1. If the phone connects over Wi-Fi rather than a network cable, join it to your Wi-Fi network first, using the phone’s own screen. It can’t fetch its settings until it’s on the network.
  2. Power the phone on. If it’s already on, unplug it for ten seconds and plug it back in.
  3. Wait a minute or two. The screen shows a line ready to make calls when it’s done.
If nothing has happened after a few minutes, see The phone never set itself up.

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Enter the Settings by Hand

For Polycom, older Grandstream models, a Yealink model that isn’t in the Model list, or any other SIP phone, an admin gives you five values from Decoda and you type them into the phone’s web interface — reached by entering the phone’s IP address in a browser.
The password is shown once, when the phone is added. If the credentials window has been closed, ask the admin to use Rotate password to issue a new one — the original can’t be retrieved.
Click Copy all in the credentials window to get every value at once, or copy each field individually using the icon next to it.
Decoda phones must use TLS transport with SRTP for media encryption. If you set the phone to UDP or TCP, it won’t register. Most phones have a separate “Voice encryption” or “SRTP” setting — enable it.
The exact menu names vary by brand and firmware. Look for an “Account” or “SIP Account” page, fill in the fields above, then save and reboot the phone.
  1. Open the phone’s IP address in a browser and log in (default password is on a sticker on the phone).
  2. Go to Account > Register and pick a free line (usually Account 1).
  3. Set Line Active to Enabled.
  4. Fill in Label, Display Name, Register Name, and User Name with the SIP username from Decoda.
  5. Paste the SIP password into Password.
  6. Set SIP Server 1 > Server Host to the SIP server from Decoda, and Server Port to 5061.
  7. Go to Account > Advanced and set Transport to TLS.
  8. Set RTP Encryption (SRTP) to Compulsory (or Optional, depending on your firmware).
  9. Click Confirm and reboot the phone.
  1. Open the phone’s IP address in a browser and log in (default user is Polycom, password is on the phone or 456).
  2. Go to Settings > Lines and pick a free line.
  3. Fill in Display Name, Address (use username@SIP-server format), and Authentication User ID with the SIP username from Decoda.
  4. Paste the SIP password into Authentication Password.
  5. Under Server 1, set Address to the SIP server, Port to 5061, and Transport to TLS.
  6. Go to Settings > SIP and set Outbound Proxy > Transport to TLS.
  7. Enable Media > SRTP for incoming and outgoing calls.
  8. Click Save and reboot.
  1. Open the phone’s IP address in a browser and log in (default password is on the phone).
  2. Go to Accounts > Account 1 > General Settings.
  3. Set Account Active to Yes.
  4. Fill in Account Name, SIP User ID, and Authenticate ID with the SIP username from Decoda.
  5. Paste the SIP password into Authenticate Password.
  6. Set SIP Server to the SIP server from Decoda.
  7. Go to Network Settings under the same account and set SIP Transport to TLS and Local SIP Port / NAT Traversal as your network requires.
  8. Go to SIP Settings and set SRTP Mode to Enabled and Forced.
  9. Click Save and Apply and reboot.
After the phone reboots, it should show the line as registered — a green dot, a checkmark, or “Registered”, depending on the brand. If it doesn’t, see The phone won’t register.

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Step 3: Add the Phone to a Ring Group

A registered phone still rings for nobody until it’s a member of a ring group. Ring groups live on a phone number, so pick the number you want this phone to answer.
1

Open the phone number

Go to Settings > Phones > Numbers and click Configure call routing on the number the phone should answer.
2

Edit a ring group

Click the pencil icon on the ring group you want, or click Add Ring Group to create one. See Ring Groups for what the settings do.
3

Add the phone

For a shared phone, tick it in the Shared desk phones section. For a phone owned by a staff member, make sure that person is checked, then pick the phone from the Desk phone menu on their row.
4

Save

Save the ring group. The phone now rings whenever that group is called.

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Step 4: Test It

1

Call the number

From a mobile, call the phone number the ring group is on.
2

Answer on the desk phone

The handset should ring within a few seconds. Pick it up.
3

Check both directions

Make sure you can hear each other. Audio working one way only is a common sign that encryption isn’t set correctly — see Calls connect but sound wrong.
4

Confirm in Decoda

Open Settings > Phones > Devices. Within a minute, the phone’s status changes to Active.
Status is based on the most recent answered call, not a live check of the phone. That’s why a test call is the only way to confirm a phone works — a correctly registered phone that has never taken a call still shows No calls yet, and a phone that’s been unplugged still shows Active for a few days.

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Troubleshooting

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The Phone Never Set Itself Up

For a Grandstream or Yealink phone that’s been powered on for several minutes with nothing on screen: Still nothing? Send your Decoda contact the phone’s MAC address and serial number.

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The Phone Won’t Register

For a phone you set up by hand:

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The Phone Registers but Doesn’t Ring

The phone isn’t in a ring group, or it’s in one that isn’t active when you’re testing. Check Step 3, and check the ring group’s schedule — a group scheduled for business hours won’t ring outside them. If the phone is owned by a staff member, also confirm that person is checked as a member. The Desk phone menu only rings alongside their slot; it isn’t a member on its own.

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Calls Connect but Sound Wrong

If a hand-configured phone still won’t work, copy the SIP server, port, and username into a support ticket — never include the password.

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Outgoing Calls and 911

  • Caller ID — Outgoing calls from a desk phone show your clinic’s primary phone number, regardless of which staff member or location the phone is assigned to.
  • 911 / 988 / 211 — These calls go through from desk phones, but the operator may not receive an automatic location. Staff should state their address immediately when calling 911 from a desk phone. Emergency calls are not recorded or transcribed.