Polycom VVX 500 video without camera

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure we found the issue, we will be testing it tomorrow. Our solution is always to have Asterisk on public IP and the handsets behind NAT, that's a huge difference to how most peoples labs are.

On the LAN we can get it to work via direct IP with 2 vvx 500s and 1 camera.

We even tested over layer 3 with a router between 2 different subnets.

We put 1 phone on public IP and 1 phone behind NAT and could not establish video. Camera less phone was on public IP and camera phone was behind NAT. We hoped that the camera phone would have opened ports on the NAT/Firewall and the public IP phone would see the video from the camera phone, however it wouldn't connect. Our assumption is that the public IP phone is trying to reply to the internal IP in the SIP header vs the public IP since the public IP phone doesn't know about the NAT. 

So my guess is that, with a camera the VVX 500 setups an audio channel and video channel so that's why it works via NAT behind a firewall. However, without a video camera the phone won't setup an outgoing video port and thus it won't get the incoming video from the public server. 

We are the provider who set this up. We were polycom certified in Soundpoint and Video solutions. 

I assume others are doing NAT, but most are not. 

[SteffenBaierUK]

Hello anakaoka,

being a certified Polycom reseller simply get this into support if you believe our phones are violating an RFC or this being a bug.

You may have to pay a PPI / Pay Per Incident fee if the phone in question is out of warranty.

Please ensure to provide some feedback if this reply has helped you so other users can profit from your experience.

Best Regards

Steffen Baier

Polycom Global Services

[Anonymous]

The issue is that a Polycom phone without a camera will not send out a video request. It assumes you are not behind NAT.

A simple fix would be for Polycom to have a setting on the VVX 500 to always send a video call, thus the firewall its behind would open a port for it and the phone without a camera would receive video.

While the cost of the USB camera isn't a lot, it is ~50% of the VVX 500. That being said, most offices don't want to see each other, but they do want to see the doorbox - like an Algo 8039 or Algo 8036... thus having the ability to see video without a camera behind NAT would be welcome.

[SteffenBaierUK]

Hello

So far I have not seen any evidence that this is a Polycom issue.

The only way to get this looked at is via opening a ticket with Polycom support.

We cannot do this via the means of a community forum. It is in your best interest to do this ASAP

Replied via mobile device

[Chad_A]

anakaoka  I think you are on the right path. There's no video traffic sent from the VVX without a camera so the NAT/FW sees the incoming video RTP as unsolicited traffic. With video sent out from the VVX with a camera the FW sees this incoming traffic as expected (source and destination ports) and allows it.

The only suggestion I have is to possibly whitelist the source IP for the incoming video.

And like Steffen said, I think you'd need a support ticket if it is anything other than that.

[Anonymous]

Did you find any solution?

I have the same problem. When I use the camera the video call works, but if I remove the camera I can't get video on my phone. 

[SteffenBaierUK]

Hello @Torino Cap,

welcome to the Polycom Community.

Both the community's Must Read First and the community's FAQ reference the basic minimum information a new or follow up post should contain.

This ensures the questions having to be asked are limited and any new or follow up post contains the right amount of details to ensure any voluntary participant within the community does not spend additional time chasing basic information.

As a reminder the basic information asked for:

• Provide the exact Software Version of your Phone
• Provide the Phone Model
• Provide the Call Platform (aka openSIP, Skype for Business, Lync)
• If applicable provide a backup of the phone in question

UC Software 4.0.0 or later via the Web Interface Utilities > Phone Backup & Restore > Phone Backup > Phone Backup

• If possible provide a Log and either attach them or use the Code Tag.Consult the Troubleshooting Section found within the FAQ if applicable
• If possible provide the MAC Address or Serial of the device
• Provide details if the issue is a day 1 issue or only happened after an upgrade or any other relevant details

Two senior Polycom Employees already answered everything there is.

If your issue is the same as the one being discussed in this community post then you have two options:

• Whitelist the traffic from the VVX on your Firewall
• Open a Support Ticket

In order to raise a support ticket you need to work with your Polycom reseller as they need to do this for you.

End Customers are unable to open a ticket directly with Polycom support.

If this is some sort of an Internet discounter providing your MAC address or your Polycom devices serial will enable us to look up who would be able to support you. This may not be who you purchased the Polycom device from.

If the unit is no longer within warranty please be prepared to Pay Per Incident / PPI. This is all outlined in detail here

Please ensure to provide some feedback if this reply has helped you so other users can profit from your experience.

Best Regards

Steffen Baier

Polycom Global Services

[Anonymous]

Yes, we bought cameras. It was the only fix other than using other video phones. Luckily the camera price has come WAY down. We first bought cameras @ $150 or so each, they're 50% of that now if not less.