Interlink Blog

Last week I received a new snom 320 phone from our Network Administrator who is building out our VoIP Network and being an IT guy I set out to discover extensible features.  So, as I find them I’ll post about them here.

Switchvox has authored the Switchvox Fire Dialer Extension; it’s a Firefox Browser Plug-in that integrates the Browser with Switchvox to make VoIP calls directly from your computer.

I found this plug-in to be exceptionally simple to install and configure. Here are the steps I took.

Things You’ll Need

1. VoIP capability on your network.
2. Firefox Web Browser.
3. A microphone and speakers or a headset on your PC.
4. Inform your Network Administrator.

Regarding #3, you’ll definitely want to discuss this with your Network Administrator first because having phone conversations through your PC is going to put some voice traffic on your network.  Our VoIP implementation that we have in our offices today is segmented such that our Voice and Data are on separate network segments and so trying out the Fire Dialer meant that I’d be taking voice over the Data network. Not a huge deal for a single user but that might present some problems for our Data Applications if everyone in our office attempted to do this.

Step 1

Environment

Determine what version of Firefox you’re running by clicking the Help Menu and then selecting “About Mozilla Firefox.

You can locate the version number here.

Step 2

Download

Download (opens new window) the Fire Dialer plug-in that supports your Firefox Web Browser version. The download options will look like this.

After clicking the Download link the Firefox plug-in installer dialog will launch. Click the “Install” button.

Note: I have verified directly with Digium that this plug-in was created by Switchvox. I don't have any reason to believe that they should not be a trusted source.

Once the installation is complete you’ll be prompted to re-start Firefox.

Step 3

Configuration

After you’ve restarted the Firefox web browser you’ll need to configure Fire Dialer. To do so, go to the Tools --> Add-ons menu option.

This will launch Add-ons management console. Click the Options button for Fire Dialer.

You’ll need to add some information here.

1. The IP Address of the PBX (Switchvox box for me).
2. Your Phone extension.
3. Your Phone password.

Click Save. You’re now ready to go dialing!

Step 4

Kick the Tires

Using your Firefox web browser, navigate to a web page that has a Phone Number displayed as text. I’ve navigated to our Home Page.

Over-score the Phone Number that you wish to call.

Place your mouse cursor over the over-scored phone number and right click on your mouse. This will launch the context menu. Choose the Dial option and get ready to call.

Oh, make sure that you either have your headset on or your mike and speakers ready :)