Audiocodes MP-118 FXS Configuration with Elastix

EACOMM just upgraded the extensions for our Elastix PBX System from using antiquated Linksys PAP2 devices to an Audiocodes MP118 8-port FXS. The Linksys PAP2’s were simply too buggy and tend to die after a year or two and we’ve given up on finding replacement devices in the local market.

Audiocodes being a top of the line product, we thought we won’t get into too much issues in configuring it but it seems much of the information we found online did not directly apply to the device we purchased (even the included quick start guide seemed out of date) and a lot of the configuration settings are not that easy to find. Therefore, we decided to share this walkthrough in case other people are going through the same headaches. Note that these steps worked with our specific Audiocodes model and firmware with Elastix PBX but we do not make any guarantees you will have the same experience configuring your own device.

Our Hardware is an Audiocodes MP-118 with 8 FXS Ports purchased from Elisha Telecom. The Audiocodes Firmware Version is 6.20A.022.003.

The first step is to configure the MP-118’s IP Address. Note that the MP-118 does not offer an option for DHCP. By default the FXS-only and mixed FXS/FXO is set to:
IP Address: 10.1.10.10
Subnet: 255.255.0.0
Gateway 0.0.0.0
What you need to do is attach the device directly to your PC using an RJ45 cable. The manual states you need a cross-over cable, but we were able to make it work using a standard RJ45 cable. Next you need to change your computer’s IP address to match the MP-118’s domain. For example you can change your PC IP settings to:
IP Address: 10.1.10.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 0.0.0.0 (for Windows, just leave blank)
Once you’ve configure your PC’s IP settings, open a browser and go to http://10.1.10.10 to access your MP-118. The MP-118 default login is Admin and password is Admin (case sensitive!).
Once in the panel, click the Configuration button on the upper left, expand the VoIP Folder and then the Network Folder and click IP Settings. From here you can edit the IP address, Subnet Mask and Gateway to match your PBX Settings.
Once done Click Submit. Note that the device has now adapted the new IP Settings and as such the web page you are viewing is no longer working!
Attach the MP-118 to your VoIP PBX Network and reconfigure your computer’s settings to that of the PBX network as well. Type in the new IP Address for the MP-118 Â in your browser to go back to the admin page. At this point, press the “Burn” Button on the top of the screen to save the settings into ROM. Otherwise, all the settings will revert back when power to the device is lost. Remember to press BURN whenever you make significant configuration changes moving forward.
Next we can configure the codec you will be using. For our ROM version we found this at Configuration -> VoIP -> Coders and Profiles -> Coders. From the table here you can define codecs to use in order of priority.
After that, you can configure the MP-118 to detect your PBX Server. This is done via Configure-> VoIP->SIP Definitions->Proxy & Registration. For this menu, set Use Default Proxy to “Yes” and Enable Registration to “Enable”. Press Submit to save changes.
Under the Use Default Proxy option there is a button for “Proxy Set Table”, click this to open a new window where you can set the PBX Server(s). Press Submit to save changes.Â
Go back to the previous menu and you can now press the Register button at the bottom to register the device to your Server.
Now you can finally configure your Extensions. This is where we took the most time as we could’t find the section of the menu where you’re suppose to do this! Finally we found it at: Configuration->VoIP->GW and IP to IP->Analog Gateway->Authentication. From here it is a straightforward process of typing the username/extension and the password you will be assigning to each FXS port. It is worth noting that in our version of the firmware the Submit button on the lower right was not working. However, there is another submit button on the top and this works just fine. Submit and Burn your configuration once done.
There is one final step that we needed to do before we could complete our configuration. We noticed that when dialing out, after the third digit, the MP-118 was already making the call. You can change this at Configuration->VoIP->GW and IP to IP->DTMF and Supplementary->DTMF and Dialing. The top most setting is Max Digits In Phone Num, and for our device this was preset to only 3! Change this to a more sensible number (especially if you allow direct NXXXXXX dialing to dial out) and you’re set!