Cisco SPA 303 Series User manual

Phone.com Setup and Troubleshooting Guide
Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
Revised: May 28, 2014 Page 1 of 11
Setup and Troubleshooting Guide
Cisco SPA303 IP Phone

Phone.com Setup and Troubleshooting Guide
Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
Revised: May 28, 2014 Page 2 of 11
Welcome!
This guide contains instructions to help you set up and use your
Cisco® SPA303 IP Phone. It describes some of the features your
phone and your Phone.com® service provide, so you can take
advantage of what the two together have to offer you. The guide
also provides insight into common network problems and how to
troubleshoot them.
Expect to spend about 15 minutes getting your SPA303 set up and
ready to use. Once it’s set up, your phone will work in nearly the
same way as your typical office phone. Some familiarity with
networking may be required, especially if you have to change your
network’s configuration or settings.
If you need additional help after reviewing this guide, check out the
Additional Service and Support section at the end of this guide.
You’ll find multiple means of contacting us there.
Getting Familiar With Your Phone
Thoroughly review Cisco’s Quick Start Guide to get familiar with the
features and functions of the SPA303. The guide is included in the
box, and is also available on the web
(www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/csbpipp
/ip_phones/quick_start/guide/spa_300_quick_start.pdf).
Setting Up Your Phone
Before your SPA303 was shipped it was tested with a Phone.com
account to make sure it was working properly. Many configuration
parameters are set by Phone.com so you don’t have to.

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Connecting It To Your Network
Figure 1: Phone diagram and network setup
Use the Ethernet cable that came with your Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
to connect an available LAN port on your router to the SW port of
your phone (see the solid blue line in Figure 1).
If you only have one Ethernet connection nearby and need a
computer to share that connection, use another Ethernet cable to
connect the network port on your computer to the PC port of your
phone (see the dashed blue line in Figure 1).
The first time you plug in your SPA303, it will take a
few minutes and will reboot twice. Your phone is
ready for use once you see both of the following:
•A text logo on the screen that says
“Phone.com”
•Your phone’s extension number next to a
green line key
Don’t power-cycle your
phone if the screen
shows the firmware
updating. You might
corrupt the firmware
and cause the phone to
malfunction.

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Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
Revised: May 28, 2014 Page 4 of 11
Using Your Phone
The Cisco Quick Start Guide already covers basics like placing or
answering calls, and putting a call on hold, but not these other
commonly used features.
Reviewing Your Call History
1. Press the (menu) button, then select the Call History
option.
2. Select Redial List, Answered Calls, or Missed Calls.
3. Scroll up and down to review the list of calls.
4. Scroll to the right to see the save softkey, which will save
that entry to your phone’s Directory.
Using Three–Way Conference Calls
Create a conference call at any time between an active call and a
call on hold. Conference calls are limited to three participants.
1. Place or answer your first call.
2. Press the conf softkey when you’re ready to place your
second call.
3. Press the confLx softkey when you're ready to join all calls
together.
Place your three–way conference call on hold and resume each call
independently.
1. Press the (hold) button. Your line key will flash red, and
the other two calls will hear hold music.
2. Press the line key to resume your first call.
3. Press the line key again to swap over to your second call.
4. Press the confLx softkey to resume the conference with all
lines.

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Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
Revised: May 28, 2014 Page 5 of 11
End your three–way conference call using either of two methods.
1. Hang up to end the call for everyone.
2. Press the join softkey to drop out and let the other
participants continue.
Transferring Calls
Transfer calls to other extensions or phone numbers using your
Cisco SPA303 IP Phone.
1. Press the xfer softkey during a call to place it on hold.
2. Dial the transfer destination number.
3. Press the xfer key at any time to transfer the call — this
could be while you hear ringing, or after someone answers.
If you start the transfer process but change your mind, you can
resume your original call.
1. Press the cancel softkey. Your call to the transfer destination
will disconnect.
2. Press the line key to resume your original call.
Storing Personal Directory Entries
Store a list of Personal Directory Entries in your Cisco SPA303 IP
Phone for quick access. Press the dir softkey to access the options
to add to or search through the list.
Don’t forget you can add entries from your Call History lists using
the save softkey.
Additional Phone.com Features
Recording Incoming Calls
Record incoming calls using the Call Recording feature. Check
state, federal, and international laws for all parties involved before
using this feature.

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Press [*][7] during an incoming call to start or stop recording, and
you’ll hear a confirmation message.
Figure 2: The Call Logs screen, showing a recording available for review
Review recordings on the Call Logs page in your Phone.com
control panel (Figure 2). Recordings will show up a few minutes
after the call ends.
Blocking Calls
Block incoming calls from unwanted callers using Phone.com’s Call
Blocking feature. With it, you can block incoming calls from specific
numbers or number patterns to your account.
Press [*][9] to block an incoming caller’s number while you’re on
the call. If you block a number by mistake, you can press [*][9]
again to undo it as long as you’re still on the same call.
Once you hear the confirmation message, you’re all set. After the
call disconnects, that caller will not be able to call again.

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Figure 3: The Manage Spam Callers List screen
Visit the Manage Spam Callers List page in your Phone.com
control panel (Figure 3) to review and edit any entries you may
have.
Troubleshooting
If I Lose Power or My Internet Connection, Will I
Lose Phone Service?
Yes — if you lose power, or if your Internet service is unavailable,
you will lose phone service. Battery backup systems can help, but
remember to put all of your network and phone hardware on
battery power.
Why Do My Calls Sound Choppy?
If your calls sound choppy, or if words regularly get dropped, it
usually means you don’t have enough bandwidth between your
network and Phone.com’s servers. File transfers, streaming video,

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Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
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or other heavy network activity can adversely
affect your call quality. Limit heavy Internet use
during VoIP calls if you experience this problem.
Why Don’t I Get A Dial Tone?
If the line key on your Cisco SPA303 IP Phone is orange, check the
Connecting It to Your Network section again, and make sure
everything is set up correctly.
If the phone is connected properly but the line key is still orange,
your network may be interfering with the VoIP traffic between your
phone and Phone.com’s servers. Check out the Do I Have To
Change My Network Settings or Hardware section below for some
tips.
Why Doesn’t My Phone Ring?
First, make sure your phone’s call forwarding feature (the cfwd
softkey) or Do Not Disturb feature (the dnd softkey) are disabled.
If these features are disabled but you’re still having problems
receiving calls, your network may be interfering with the VoIP traffic
between your phone and Phone.com’s servers. Take a look at the
Do I Have To Change My Network Settings or Hardware section
below for more info.
Why Do My Calls Drop After 15 Minutes?
Unlike a few of the issues above, there’s only one explanation to
this problem — and it’s the network. Head down to the Do I Have
To Change My Network Settings or Hardware section for some
guidance.
Do I Have To Change My Network Settings or
Hardware?
Although VoIP devices are designed to work with all types of
routers, you may encounter issues getting VoIP to work properly,
You can test your network
performance at our VoIP Phone
Service Test page
(www.phone.com/voiptest/)

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Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
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and certain network settings or hardware might need to be
modified.
Here are some general observations and rules, based on our
experience. Consult the user guide for your network component, or
contact the manufacturer’s support department if you need specific
guidance.
Make Sure You Don’t Have A "Double NAT" Network
“Double NAT” (network address translation) is an issue where two
routers are placed one after another. This can be a common
scenario if, for example, your ISP provides a modem/router
combination device, but you’ve also added a wireless router of your
own. Although a computer behind a double NAT setup will usually
work fairly well, a VoIP phone will exhibit unusual behavior.
To resolve this issue, you’ll need to put your modem/router device
into “bridged” mode; most will allow this. This will disable all routing
(NAT) functions on the modem/router, so only your standalone
router will perform these functions. Contact your ISP if you need
specific guidance.
You could also choose to purchase a standalone modem, to avoid
hassling with the ISP’s hardware at all.
Disable the SIP Application Layer Gateway (ALG)
Originally designed to be a security component to help certain
types of traffic get through your router, most SIP ALGs actually just
make things worse.
Not all routers have SIP ALG enabled if they even have it to begin
with, but those that do interfere with VoIP traffic, often preventing
the traffic from reaching your phone correctly — or at all. We’ve
seen all of the following behavior:
•Your phone might not get a dial tone
•You could drop out in the middle of a call
•Your phone might not always ring on incoming calls
•The wrong phone might ring (if you have more than one)
•Your phone might continue to ring after being answered

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If you have a router that doesn’t let you disable SIP ALG, consider
purchasing a different router that either doesn’t have SIP ALG, or
lets you disable it. Check out the table in the Network Hardware
Recommendations section for general guidelines.
If replacing your router isn’t a viable option, you could put one
phone in your router’s DMZ. Although this will expose your phone
to the open Internet, it eliminates the SIP ALG issue without
requiring you to purchase new hardware.
Network Hardware Recommendations
The table below isn’t comprehensive, but provides general
recommendations and notes for selected router manufacturers.
Apple, Cisco, DD-WRT,
Linksys, WatchGuard
XTM
Usually works with Phone.com
without any configuration
changes
Actiontec, Asus,
Comtrend, D–Link,
Motorola Netopia,
Siemens SpeedStream,
SonicWALL TZ,
SonicWALL NSA, Ubee,
Westell
Usually requires configuration
changes (i.e., bridging or
disabling SIP ALG)
2Wire, Arris, Belkin,
NetGear, SMC, ZyXEL
Incompatible with Phone.com
service

Phone.com Setup and Troubleshooting Guide
Cisco SPA303 IP Phone
Revised: May 28, 2014 Page 11 of 11
Additional Service and Support
Thank you for reviewing this information! We hope it helped if you
experienced any trouble setting up or using your Cisco SPA303 IP
Phone.
If you still have any questions or require further assistance,
Phone.com Customer Support is here to help, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.
Web: www.phone.com/support/
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Live Chat
Twitter: @phonecomsupport
© 2014 Phone.com, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Phone.com Public Information.
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