This guide provides an overview of the program Fuze offers for customers who want to migrate third party session initiation protocol (SIP) devices to Fuze services. 

Click here to download a PDF version of this guide

Introduction

Fuze provides a flexible, cost-saving service that allows customers to take advantage of previously purchased session initiation protocol (SIP) devices when migrating to Fuze services from other service providers. 

This program, however, is designed to be a temporary measure so that customers can migrate to Fuze in the short term, with the long term expectation that all SIP hard phones are migrated to models supported in the Fuze platform.

Long term use of phones under this program is prohibited. Fuze does not have customer support tools available to troubleshoot issues with devices in this program and therefore, customers may have a sub-par experience.

Who is this program for?

This program is for customers who meet the following criteria: 

• Customers looking to use their current inventory of phones which are not part of the Fuze Hardware Portfolio due to budget constraints, and/or who are unable to replace all of their hard phones at the date of signature, but who have a plan to replace them during the term of their contract with Fuze
• Customers using third-party SIP devices for basic calling capabilities only and do not require any phone capabilities outside of making and receiving calls
• Customers who have devices for specific purposes such as hearing impaired or braille devices that are SIP-enabled

Note: Fuze only supports very limited and specific capabilities on third-party SIP devices which may not address all customer requirements from an accessibility standpoint. Please carefully review the list of supported devices, here, when evaluating this program.

Who is this program NOT for?

Customers that meet the following criteria must fully migrate to devices included in the Fuze Hardware Portfolio:

• Customers or Partners using a phone model in the Fuze Hardware Portfolio wanting to customize their own phone configuration while connected to the Fuze platform

• • The exception to this is customers or partners who are using the following devices:

• • • Polycom TRIO8800

• • • Polycom TRIO8500

• • • Yealink CP960

• Customers/Partners migrating from an on-prem system that require a seamless transition upon receiving SIP credentials

Technical Requirements for Third Party SIP Devices

Third-party SIP devices that are migrated to Fuze must meet the following requirements:  

• In order to assure the best experience, all third-party SIP devices must be currently under manufacturer support, and not in an End of Support (EoS), or End of Life (EoL) phase
• Devices must support Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or later
• Devices must support the FQDN of the customer’s regional Fuze Border Proxy.  This FQDN address can be supplied by the Fuze Support Services.
• Devices must support Name Authority Pointer (NAPTR) records in order to connect to the Fuze border proxy
• Devices must be able to accept alphanumeric SIP Names including ‘-’ characters
• Devices must be able to accept alphanumeric SIP Passwords 

Deployment Requirements

Third-party SIP devices that are migrated to Fuze must meet the following basic requirements: 

• Customers must deploy and use Fuze Desktop as either the primary calling endpoint or as a backup in order to provide business continuity in case the third party SIP devices fail.

• • SIP devices are bound to a Fuze Voice SKU, which allows customers to access the Fuze apps  
  • Customers must deploy the Fuze Desktop as part of their implementation

• Third party SIP devices will be provisioned in the Fuze Portal using a generic Hardware model for tracking purposes. This device type will generate a singular SIP credentials.
• Customers are fully responsible for device-specific configuration of their third party SIP devices. Fuze does not manage any configuration files for 3rd party SIP devices
• Fuze will provide credentials and server details to be used by the customer to configure their third party SIP devices 

• • Fuze will support issues with the server and credentials provided, however no other device-specific functionality is supported

What features are supported by third party SIP devices?

The following features are supported for phones provisioned as a third party SIP devices:

• Inbound and outbound calling 
• Internal and external calling
• Voicemail (Star Code version ONLY)
• Agent Log In/Out (Star Code version ONLY)
• Call Transfer will be best effort ONLY

What is NOT supported for phones provisioned as a third party SIP device?

The following features are not supported for phones provisioned as a third party SIP device:

• Fuze does not provide feature configuration capabilities for third party SIP devices through Fuze Hub or Portal, with the following exceptions:

• • Admin capabilities for the phone number itself will still be available  
  • Admin capabilities for tracking which user is using a third party device will be available

• Fuze does not provide any configuration files for third party SIP devices, including preferential user settings, digitmap dialing patterns, etc.
• Fuze does not provide any directory/contact access for third party SIP devices
• Fuze does not honor any local settings related to call management, and it is expected that Call Forwarding features are managed through Fuze Desktop or Fuze Portal

Handling SIP Credentials

Fuze SIP Credentials must be handled in the same way as end-user data to ensure it meets all existing and upcoming GDPR specifications.

Where SIP credentials are to be provided to a customer for third-party endpoints the following policy must be followed:

• The SIP Peer usernames and passwords are exported to two password protected separate Excel/Google Sheet spreadsheets. 
• The username and passwords correlate by the row number they occupy. 
• The spreadsheets are compressed and (strong) password-protected as well, with two separate names that do not indicate their purpose.
• The Fuze owner will email the two files separately to a pre-agreed customer data handler. The email subject headers will be nonsensical and not reveal their purpose.
• The Fuze owner will only communicate the Zip passwords and Excel/Google Sheet password over the phone, via text message or via Fuze Message to the customer data handler recipient.

Acknowledging Receipt of SIP Credentials

Fuze will send and receive the Statement of Works document to underwrite the legal transaction of a Fuze SIP credentials.

Within the SoW, the following additional statements are issued:

• By signing this statement of work the customer acknowledges that they are the customer data handler and have securely received the SIP Peer username and passwords and assume responsibility for the distribution, security and implementation of the credentials.
• Ensuring this data is used and handled correctly is the sole responsibility of the Customer and the signatories indicated on this SoW.
• Toll Fraud, calls made and billing resulting from the correct, incorrect and fraudulent use of the credentials are the sole responsibility of the Customer.

FAQ

The following are frequently asked questions related to this service. 

Q: Will my phones always be supported?

A: System changes may affect endpoints in this program at any time. Third party SIP devices are not certified in the Fuze platform so any future changes or improvement to the Fuze platform will not be QA’ed against third party SIP devices. Technical requirements updates will be communicated through Fuze community.

Additionally, access to the SIP credentials will always be available to customers under this agreement.

 

Q: How do I get my SIP credentials?

A: SIP credentials are provided to new customers as part of the project implementation.  For current customers, please reach out to our support team.

 

Q: I have a phone model that does not meet all requirements, what do I do?

A: The minimum requirements for connecting third party SIP device the Fuze platform are firm.

If your devices cannot meet the minimum requirements, Fuze is happy to work with you on an alternative solution.