Paging

Strong features

When using paging, PBX users can broadcast announcements to recipients without the need to pick up a phone. This is a very fast way of communicating in shops, restaurants and other private and public spaces. Paging can be done in one or more zones, addressing different groups. The playback feature can be used to schedule announcements, for example gate announcements at airports and lunch break notifications.

The PBX supports paging through its paging accounts. Paging can be delivered through multicast RTP or through regular SIP calls. In either case the user dials the paging account number and starts to make the announcements. The page ends when the user disconnects the call or after a timeout.

  • Multicast. Multicast RTP is suitable for paging to a large number of supported devices, such as snom phones and the snom PA1, without impacting the PBX or network performance.
  • Unicast. Unicast paging is suitable for a small number of devices that don't need to support multicast RTP.
  • Encryption. Paging traffic can be encrypted by using SRTP. Even though announcements are public in nature, you might want to keep the traffic private, especially when paging only certain groups.
  • Limited paging. The duration for paging can be limited. This makes sure that nobody blocks the channel for too long.
  • Live playback or record mode. The announcements can be played back live or recorded before playback (avoiding echo loops). Playback of messages can be scheduled through the web server on HTTP request basis.
  • Automatic provisioning. snom phones are automatically provisioned when multicast paging groups are available in the domain.
  • HTTP interface. You may schedule paging through simple HTTP calls. That makes it for example possible to build a simple door bell, or automatically generate complex announcements with scripts and schedule their callback.
  • Scheduled playback. You may schedule paging announcements, for example for school bells or for playing out the good night story in a hospital.

External paging system

The paging feature cannot only be used inside the PBX. You may also use it as extension of your existing IP-PBX installation, as long as your PBX is able to send a simple SIP call to the Vodia PBX (most IP-PBX are able to do this today). This makes it easy to add the paging functionality to offices without changing the communication equipment in the office. All you need to do for a live page is to dial the extension number on the existing IP-PBX and start speaking. The Vodia PBX is often a price effective addition to those systems.