🔌Connecting your own phone numbers

Yes. Under Administration → Telephony, the first tab is Connection. There you connect Aurora Hive once to the connection your phone numbers are on. After that, everyone with an extension calls from the browser under your number and is called on it.

The Aurora Hive exchange registers in one of two ways:

• With your phone provider (route A): using the SIP credentials your provider gives you — for example sipgate, Placetel, easybell or Telekom CompanyFlex. Nothing needs to be changed on site.
• On your FRITZ!Box or phone system (route B): the numbers stay there; Aurora Hive registers like an additional IP phone. This is the route for connections whose credentials only work on that connection itself — for example Telekom residential lines, Vodafone and O2.

The wizard works out which route fits from two questions: which provider your numbers are with, and which router or phone system you have.

Rule of thumb: if your provider issues SIP credentials and allows them to be used from elsewhere, take route A. It does not depend on whether the router in your office is running.

To our knowledge, that applies to cloud phone systems and SIP providers such as sipgate, Placetel, easybell and to Telekom CompanyFlex.

Take route B through the FRITZ!Box if

• your provider only accepts the credentials on its own connection — as with Telekom residential lines, Vodafone and O2,
• a phone system (3CX, Starface, Auerswald, Swyx, Agfeo, Lancom, Digitalisierungsbox) distributes your calls and Aurora Hive is to run alongside as another extension.

Route B is not suitable for a Telekom Speedport, the Vodafone Station or connections with IPv6 only (DS-Lite). What to do then is covered in the answers about these cases.

In five stages:

1. Route: provider or your own phone system. If you are unsure, simply answer the next questions — the wizard suggests the route.
2. Provider or device: you choose from the list. For combinations that cannot work (a Telekom residential line directly, for instance), the wizard says so straight away and shows the way out.
3. Account: server or MyFRITZ! address, user and password. For well-known providers, the server is already filled in.
4. Check reachability: the wizard checks in advance whether the address you entered can be reached from outside and whether it only has IPv6.
5. Status: after “Save and connect”, the exchange registers; the colour shows the result.

Then check the connection with the test call (outgoing) and the incoming test (incoming).

At sipgate, create a separate device for Aurora Hive and enter its credentials (route A).

1. In the sipgate web interface, add a new device as an admin. In the current interface this is under Apps and devices; in the older interface, under the relevant user in account management. A device that does not belong to a person is called a VoIP additional line at sipgate.
2. Assign the device to the person or number that is to be used for calls.
3. The device details show the SIP ID and SIP password — not the login details of your sipgate account.
4. In the wizard, choose “sipgate” and enter the SIP ID as user and the SIP password. The server sipgate.de is already filled in.
5. In the call routing of the number, check that the new device rings too — otherwise incoming calls will not arrive in the browser.

Do not use the SIP ID of your desk phone: two devices with the same credentials interfere with each other.

Encryption is possible too: under “Advanced (port, transport)”, choose TLS, server sip.sipgate.de, port 5061, and switch on speech encryption — sipgate requires both together with TLS. According to its own help pages, sipgate does not offer encryption for sipgate trunking.

Provider help: help.sipgate.de

Both are cloud providers; you take route A.

easybell — phone numbers and SIP trunk:

1. In the my.easybell customer portal, open the details of the connection under Telefonanschluss → Verbindungen.
2. Enter the SIP user name and SIP password in the wizard under “easybell”. Server: voip.easybell.de.

easybell — Cloud phone system:

1. In my.easybell, under the cloud phone system’s list of devices, add a new device and choose the manual configuration.
2. Edit the device; its configuration tab shows user name, password and server. According to easybell, the server for the cloud phone system is pbx.easybell.de — enter that server, not voip.easybell.de.

easybell also offers TLS (port 5061) and speech encryption.

Placetel:

1. In the Placetel interface, create a new VoIP destination under Administration → VoIP-Ziele.
2. Include the VoIP destination in the call routing of the number or group you want.
3. Enter the user name and password from the destination’s VoIP credentials in the wizard under “Placetel”. Server: fpbx.de.

Provider help: easybell, Placetel

That depends on the contract.

Telekom residential lines (MagentaZuhause) and standard business lines: Telekom only accepts registration with these telephony credentials from its own network — as the Telekom team states in its answers. The Aurora Hive exchange sits in a data centre, that is, outside. Route A therefore does not work. The way forward is a FRITZ!Box on your connection (route B):

1. Run a FRITZ!Box as the router on the Telekom connection; it sets up telephony with your Telekom credentials.
2. Then create Aurora Hive as an IP phone on the FRITZ!Box — see FRITZ!Box.

If you have a Speedport, read the answer about the Speedport.

Telekom CompanyFlex (SIP trunk for business customers): according to Telekom, CompanyFlex can in principle be operated on any suitable internet connection, but then requires encrypted signalling and speech. In the wizard, choose “Other SIP provider”, enter the credentials from the CompanyFlex portal and, under “Advanced (port, transport)”, switch on TLS and speech encryption. The CompanyFlex portal or your Telekom contact gives you the server addresses.

Provider help: CompanyFlex help, section on operating CompanyFlex on another provider’s connection

Try route A first:

1. In the 1&1 Control Center, open the credentials of the phone number under telephony. You set the password for internet telephony there yourself.
2. In the wizard, choose “1&1 / IONOS Telefonie”. The user is the phone number with country code, without a plus sign and without the leading zero of the area code, for example 49301234567. Server: sip.1und1.de.
3. Click “Save and connect” and wait for the colour.

If registration is rejected (403) even though the credentials are correct, your contract does not allow use from elsewhere. Then take route B through the FRITZ!Box on your 1&1 connection.

Provider help: 1&1 configuration data for internet telephony

Through a FRITZ!Box on your connection (route B). According to its own help pages, Vodafone only allows its phone services at the agreed connection point, not from other locations or other networks — which rules out route A.

1. With a Vodafone Station: the Station does not accept an IP phone from the internet, and you only receive the SIP credentials once your own router is registered. So you need your own FRITZ!Box (a FRITZ!Box for cable on a cable connection).
2. Register your own FRITZ!Box. After activation, Vodafone provides the SIP credentials — according to Vodafone in the MeinVodafone app under the device settings of your internet and landline contract. The password is only shown once, so store it safely right away.
3. Set up telephony on the FRITZ!Box. Newer FRITZ!OS versions list Vodafone as a provider for this. Follow Vodafone’s instructions.
4. Create Aurora Hive as an IP phone on the FRITZ!Box — see FRITZ!Box.

Use “Check reachability” in the wizard to see whether your FRITZ!Box has an IPv4 address. Many cable connections can only be reached via IPv6; route B then does not work at present.

Provider help: Vodafone: your own cable router

Through a FRITZ!Box on your connection (route B). According to the O2 forum, O2 does not allow its SIP credentials to be used on other networks — which rules out route A.

1. Run a FRITZ!Box as the router on the O2 connection. O2 provides the credentials for your own router in your customer account; for some connection types, O2 does not issue them — ask O2 in that case.
2. Set up telephony on the FRITZ!Box with these credentials.
3. Create Aurora Hive as an IP phone on the FRITZ!Box — see FRITZ!Box.

If you have an O2 HomeBox rather than a FRITZ!Box, there is no proven route. The ways out are the same as for the Speedport.

Source: O2 forum: VoIP on other networks

In principle like any third-party phone: Aurora Hive is created at NFON as an additional SIP device of an extension (route A).

1. Create, or ask NFON to create, a non-provisioned SIP device for the extension you want. NFON only configures devices bought through NFON automatically; for other devices, NFON issues the credentials but provides no support.
2. Enter the user, password and server that NFON gives you in the wizard under “Other SIP provider”.
3. If NFON specifies TLS: under “Advanced (port, transport)”, switch on TLS and speech encryption.

Your NFON partner or the NFON help pages can tell you exactly how this works for your contract — we have not been able to verify it ourselves for every version.

You create an IP phone on the FRITZ!Box just for Aurora Hive and allow it to register from the internet. This is how we run the browser phone ourselves.

1. In the FRITZ!Box interface, go to Telephony → Telephony Devices → Configure New Device, then choose a telephone connected via LAN/WLAN (IP telephone).
2. Give it a name, for example “Aurora Hive”.
3. User name: at least eight characters, for example “aurorahive01” — AVM requires this length if registration from the internet is to be allowed.
4. Password: long and random, at least 16 characters, clearly different from the user name. Ideally from a password manager.
5. Outgoing number: the number Aurora Hive uses to call out.
6. Incoming numbers: the numbers on which Aurora Hive should ring — all of them or only certain ones.
7. Save the device, then edit it again and, in its account information, switch on the option that allows registration from the internet. Without it, the FRITZ!Box will not accept the exchange.
8. Find your MyFRITZ! address under Internet → MyFRITZ! Account. If you do not have a MyFRITZ! account yet, create it there and confirm AVM’s email. The address looks like abc123xyz.myfritz.net.
9. In the wizard, choose “Through your own phone system” → “FRITZ!Box” and enter the MyFRITZ! address (without https:// and without a path), user name and password.
10. Click “Check reachability”, then “Save and connect”. Once it turns green, run the test call and the incoming test.

Menu paths vary slightly between FRITZ!OS versions; the terms stay the same. AVM itself advises registering IP phones from outside preferably over a VPN. The exchange cannot do that, which makes the long password all the more important.

Manufacturer help: AVM: setting up an IP telephone

In the order in which they occur:

1. Registration from the internet not allowed. The option is not offered when creating the device, only afterwards when editing it, in the account information. Result: registration rejected (403).
2. User name too short. Below eight characters, the FRITZ!Box does not allow registration from the internet.
3. Wrong address. Enter the full MyFRITZ! address, without https:// and without a path. Not the address of the MyFRITZ! website and not fritz.box.
4. IPv6 only (DS-Lite). If “Check reachability” reports IPv6 only, the FRITZ!Box cannot be reached from outside via IPv4 — see the answer about “IPv6 only”.
5. No outgoing number selected. The device then shows green, but outgoing calls fail.
6. Incoming numbers not ticked. Everything works, except that incoming calls do not ring.
7. Guest access. IP phones cannot register through the guest network — irrelevant for the exchange, but relevant for tests in the office.
8. A second router in front. If the FRITZ!Box sits behind another router (such as a Speedport), the front router must pass SIP through to the FRITZ!Box. That is error-prone; it is better to have the FRITZ!Box as the only router.

Not through the Speedport. A Speedport does not accept IP phones from the internet, and route A does not work on a Telekom residential line either (the credentials only work within the Telekom network).

Three ways out, from simplest to most involved:

1. FRITZ!Box instead of Speedport. A FRITZ!Box as the router on the Telekom connection, telephony set up there, then Aurora Hive created as an IP phone. This is the proven route.
2. A cloud provider for the number. Book a number with sipgate, Placetel or easybell, or move your existing number there (porting), and then take route A. The Telekom connection stays for internet access.
3. FRITZ!Box behind the Speedport. Possible, but then the Speedport has to pass SIP through to the FRITZ!Box — for experienced users only.

You request porting from the new provider; they will tell you the procedure and the date.

Telekom’s Digitalisierungsbox comes from bintec elmeg; both accept IP phones. Registration from outside has to be explicitly enabled — usually by whoever looks after the system.

1. On the box, create a user with a SIP device for Aurora Hive and assign it to a phone number.
2. Allow SIP devices to register from the internet (port forwarding for SIP to the box, or the corresponding rule).
3. Restrict this to the address of the Aurora Hive server: 217.154.165.69.
4. In the wizard, choose “Through your own phone system” and enter the box’s public address (DynDNS name or fixed IP), the SIP user and the password.

The exact menus differ by model and version; we have not been able to verify them for every device. Give your system administrator these four points.

Almost all professional phone systems support external SIP extensions. Aurora Hive is created there like another phone:

1. In the phone system, create a new extension for a generic SIP phone.
2. Allow this extension to register from outside the office network.
3. On the router, set up port forwarding for SIP to the phone system — if possible only for 217.154.165.69.
4. In the wizard, enter the system’s address, the extension user and the password.

What this is called for each manufacturer is in the chapter Phone systems and routers. If it does not work, give these four points to whoever looks after your phone system and ask them to set up Aurora Hive as an external SIP extension.

Cable providers’ routers usually do not accept IP phones from the internet, and the telephony credentials only work on your own connection. The route therefore almost always goes through your own FRITZ!Box for cable:

1. Register your own router with the cable provider and set up telephony on it (for Vodafone, see the separate answer).
2. Create Aurora Hive as an IP phone on the FRITZ!Box.
3. Use “Check reachability” in the wizard: cable connections can often only be reached via IPv6 (DS-Lite). Route B then does not work at present.

If that is not possible: move the number to a cloud provider such as sipgate, Placetel or easybell and take route A. Some cable providers also let you request a public IPv4 address.

With four checks, each for a different part of the path:

1. Echo test: dial *43 in the phone in the bottom right corner. You hear an announcement and then yourself. This checks microphone, speaker and the path to the exchange — and works without any connection at all.
2. Check reachability: in the wizard. Checks whether your provider or FRITZ!Box can be reached from outside and whether it only has IPv6.
3. Test call: in the Connection tab, enter a German mobile or landline number. The exchange calls it through your connection and plays an announcement. This checks the outgoing path and which number the person called sees.
4. Incoming test: start it in the Connection tab, then call your own company number from your mobile. The wizard confirms that the call has arrived, with time and caller number. This checks the incoming path.

If all four succeed, the browser phone works in both directions.

The causes, in the order in which they occur:

1. Password or user mistyped. Re-enter them with “Change connection” — ideally by pasting.
2. Account details instead of SIP details. With sipgate, Telekom and 1&1 there are two different sets of credentials; what is needed are the SIP or telephony credentials.
3. FRITZ!Box: registration from the internet not allowed, user name too short or the MyFRITZ! address wrong.
4. The provider only accepts its own connection (Telekom residential line, Vodafone, O2). Then go through the FRITZ!Box.
5. IPv6 only. See the answer about DS-Lite.
6. The device is already registered elsewhere — create a separate device for Aurora Hive.

What lies behind “rejected” and “unreachable” in detail is explained in troubleshooting.

In the Extensions tab, enter a user name and a display name and create the extension, then assign it to the person.

Best leave the password field empty: Aurora Hive then generates a long random password and sets up the extension with it on the exchange. Nobody has to type it — the phone in the browser fetches it itself. Once created, the list shows the extension’s extension number.

The person reloads the page once and then sees the 📞 phone in the bottom right corner. Outgoing calls go through the connection from the Connection tab.

Yes, if your provider offers it. Between browser and exchange everything is encrypted anyway; this setting concerns the stretch from the exchange to the provider.

1. In the wizard, open “Advanced (port, transport)”.
2. Choose TLS as the transport. The port changes to 5061 unless your provider specifies otherwise.
3. Switch on speech encryption (SRTP) if the provider supports it. Some require both together.
4. Enter the server your provider specifies for TLS — it may differ from the usual one.

To our knowledge, sipgate (not for sipgate trunking), easybell and Telekom CompanyFlex offer this, among others. With a FRITZ!Box, the usual transport remains.

Aurora Hive does several things to prevent that:

• The credentials for your connection are stored encrypted and are no longer displayed after saving.
• Extensions register only over the encrypted browser connection, each with its own random password; every customer has their own area on the exchange, separated from all others.
• The exchange itself registers with the provider or your phone system. There is no open SIP access on our side that strangers could knock on.
• International and premium-rate numbers are blocked by default — the numbers that toll fraud makes money with.

Your part on the route through your own phone system: give the IP phone a long, random password, allow registration from the internet for this one device only and, where your system or router can do so, restrict it to 217.154.165.69.