IP Office Music on Hold

I've seen a lot of questions regarding Music on Hold on the IP Office. It's not nearly as simple as music was on the BCM but it's still quite easy. Starting with IP Office 3.1 you can use an external source There's always the easiest solution - plug it in to an audio source. There is a 3.5mm jack on the IP Office Control Unit. This will allow you to play anything and is a frequent solution for people who are happy to have the radio play as their hold music. There is no real effort required here - you just plug it in and point the IP Office to use this source and PRESTO! you have hold music. You can also configure an internal analog trunk as a music source. I've never seen this implemented myself, however my experience is quite limited. I'm guessing this would be an easy way to integrate a third party MoH source. This is supported on IP Office 6.1 and up. The way that seems to confuse people is using the internal source. This is a WAV file that is housed on the IP Office. There are some rather severe limitations here. The IP Office 500 and 500 V2 can support up to 90 seconds of recording time. The IP401 does not support an internal music source. Up to Release 4.2 there was only one supported source. In release 4.2 and up there are up to four supported sources, This is also the release in 90 second length is supported. Prior to Release 4.2 you can only have up to 30 seconds. Now on to loading the hold music. The IP500 V2 system can have the hold music loaded during the initial setup. I'm copying this right out of the Avaya documentation:

By default the IP Office will use internal music on hold by uploading a music file from the IP Office Manager PC. For IP500v2 systems, you can load a file onto the System SD card prior to installing it in the IP Office. The file must be of the following format and must be called holdmusic.wav. 1. Rename the music file holdmusic.wav. 2. Using a card reader, copy the file into the /system/primary folder on the System SD memory card. 3. If the IP Office is or will be configured for additional hold music files (up to 3 additional files), copy those files to the same location. The name of the additional files must match those specified in the IP Office system's configuration.

The format of the Wav file is important as well. In order to be played by the IP Office the file must be recorded with a bitrate of 128kbps and be recorded in a single channel (mono). The sample size must be 16-bit with an 8Khz sample rate. 

Post-install the Music on Hold can be added using Embedded File Management. Just switch to Embedded File Management mode and copy the file to the IP Office SD Card and upload holdmusic.wav to the PRIMARY folder on the SD Card. The other method of loading the IP Office hold music is to use the TFTP Server. When the IP Office is rebooted it will always look for a copy of holdmusic.wav on a TFTP server (if present). The IP Office Manager acts as a TFTP Server while running so this is an easy solution that requires no additional software. The file can just be placed in the working directory of the IP Office Manager software. If you need assistance in configuring additional MoH source files (IPO 4.2+) it is in the documentation. I hope this little bit helps people with their questions.

The IP Office supports multiple hold music selections, based on the incoming call route. You can use a WAV file or an analog extension to provide the music. In order to use different WAV files you need to add them to the control unit using embedded file management. You can enter a friendly name for the source. The source number is specified by the system, starting with 2.

Specify a WAV file using WAV:filename.wav. Specify an extension using XTN:222 (replace 222 with the extension number). When using an extension you need to change the extension to show that it is a music on hold source.

Once you have added your sources you can add them to the incoming call route: