Algo Paging and Intercom Setup Guide

← Hardware & Devices

Algo IP speakers and paging adapters make a good paging endpoint for SIPSTACK Nova PBX: the device registers as an extension and answers every call to that extension on its speaker, so a paging group can page it with *80. SIPSTACK can generate the device’s SIP settings; you register it in Switchboard, turn on Partial Provisioning on the device, and point it at your organization’s provisioning URL.

Every Algo model is marked Beta in the Switchboard model picker and on this page.

Supported Models

Model	Type	Status
8180G2	IP audio alerter	Beta
8186	IP horn speaker	Beta
8188	IP ceiling speaker	Beta
8189	IP surface-mount speaker	Beta
8190	IP speaker	Beta
8301	IP paging adapter and scheduler	Beta
8373	IP zone paging adapter	Beta
8305	IP multi-interface paging adapter	Beta
8028G2	IP door phone	Beta
8201	IP PoE intercom	Beta
8039	IP video intercom	Beta (discontinued by vendor)

Before You Start: Your Provisioning URL and PIN

Every Nova PBX organization has one provisioning URL and one provisioning PIN that all of its devices share:

https://<slug>:<PIN>@cfg.sipstack.com/<slug>/

<slug> is your tenant slug (also the username).
<PIN> is your provisioning PIN — 8 digits for organizations set up since September 2026.

Both live in Switchboard → Nova PBX → System → PBX Settings → Provisioning Access. The URL is shown with the PIN masked; the Regenerate PIN button reveals a new PIN, once. The PIN is shown once when generated. Lost it? Rotate it in Provisioning Access — devices keep working on the old PIN for 24 hours.

There is no per-device password and nothing to copy from an individual device’s page: the same URL provisions every device in your organization.

Step 1: Register the Device in Switchboard

Log in to Switchboard.
Go to Nova PBX → Devices → Devices and click Register device. If the page asks you to generate your provisioning PIN first, do that in PBX Settings → Provisioning Access — devices cannot be registered until the PIN has been generated.
Enter the device’s MAC address from its label.
Pick Algo and the model (it shows a Beta badge), then click Register device.
Assign an extension to line 1. On a speaker or paging adapter this is the page extension; on an intercom it is the intercom’s own extension. Algo devices have one line.
Click Apply Changes. Applying publishes the device’s configuration to the provisioning server — until you apply, the server has nothing to hand the device.

Step 2: Turn On Partial Provisioning (Required)

SIPSTACK sends Algo devices an incremental file (algom<MAC>-i.conf). An incremental file changes only the settings it lists and keeps everything else on the device: your volumes, multicast zones, admin password and the provisioning settings you enter below. A device with Partial Provisioning off never asks for that file, so it gets no configuration from SIPSTACK and keeps registering with whatever it had before.

Step 3: Point the Device at the Provisioning Server

Find the device’s IP address (check your router’s DHCP list for its MAC address) and open http://{device-ip}. Sign in as admin.
Go to Advanced Settings → Provisioning.
Set the provisioning server to cfg.sipstack.com/<slug>/ (no https://) and choose HTTPS as the download method.
When the device asks for provisioning credentials, enter <slug> as the user name and your provisioning PIN as the password.
Save, then reboot the device. It downloads its SIP settings and registers.

Some devices can also read the provisioning server from DHCP (option 160, or option 66). Partial Provisioning still has to be turned on by hand first.

Step 4: Page It

Create a paging group in Nova PBX → Collaboration → Paging Groups with the speaker’s extension as its member, then click Apply Changes. Dial *80 followed by the group’s extension to page the speaker. See Paging Groups.

What SIPSTACK Configures

The SIP account. The Nova SIP server, the extension’s username, authentication ID and password, and its display name.
Outbound proxy set to the Nova SIP server, so a proxy left over from a previous provider can’t redirect registrations.
Transport: UDP, or TLS if your organization uses TLS.
NTP server, when one is set.
Removing the extension in Switchboard clears the credentials on the device, so it stops registering.

A speaker or paging adapter answers every call to its page extension on its own, so pages need no auto-answer setting.

What SIPSTACK Does Not Configure

Partial Provisioning and the provisioning server settings. You set these once on the device. Your PIN is never written into the configuration file.
Time zone. Set it on the device.
The ring extension, multicast zones, volumes and the intercom’s call-button target. Set these on the device; SIPSTACK leaves them alone.
Keys. Algo devices have none; any key you add in Switchboard is skipped with a warning.
Instant updates. Algo devices do not receive SIPSTACK’s “reprovision” signal. After you change something in Switchboard and click Apply Changes, reboot the device to pick it up.
Firmware. SIPSTACK does not update Algo firmware unless you pin a firmware version for the model in Switchboard, and only where its firmware catalog lists one.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
The device never picks up its SIPSTACK settings	Partial Provisioning is off, so the device never asks for its incremental file	Turn on Advanced Settings → Provisioning → Partial Provisioning, then reboot
Device shows not registered	The device has no configuration yet: MAC not registered, no extension on line 1, or changes not applied	Check the MAC in Nova PBX → Devices, assign an extension to line 1, click Apply Changes, then reboot the device
Provisioning fails with `401`	Wrong slug or PIN	Compare with PBX Settings → Provisioning Access; after a rotation the previous PIN stops working 24 hours later
Provisioning fails for every device at once	100 failed attempts within an hour paused provisioning for your organization	Correct the PIN, wait for the hour to pass, then reboot one device before the rest
Paging the group doesn’t play on the speaker	The paging group’s member isn’t the speaker’s extension, or changes weren’t applied	Check the group’s member and click Apply Changes
Registration fails, then the device can’t reach SIPSTACK at all for a while	The device is registering to the wrong SIP server or domain, often a value left over from a previous provider. Repeated failed registrations from your network can trigger a temporary IP block	The SIP server must be your organization’s SIP server exactly as shown on the extension’s SIP Auth tab. Let provisioning set it (or correct SIP Domain (Proxy Server) under Basic Settings → SIP), wait for the block to clear, then try again. Contact support if it continues
One-way or no audio	SIP ALG or NAT on your router	Turn off SIP ALG; see Network & Firewall

For additional support, contact SIPSTACK at https://www.sipstack.com/contact.