The following flowchart shows the process for phone on-boarding.

You can use Activation Code Onboarding to quickly set up new phones without autoregistration. With this approach, you control the phone onboarding process using one of the following:

• Cisco Unified Communications Bulk Administration Tool (BAT)

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration interface

• Administrative XML Web Service (AXL)

Enable this feature from the Device Information section of the Phone Configuration page. Select Require Activation Code for Onboarding if you want this feature to apply to a single on-premises phone.

Users must enter an activation code before their phones can register. Activation Code Onboarding can be applied to individual phones, a group of phones, or across an entire network.

This is an easy way for users to onboard their phones because they only enter a 16-digit activation code. We recommend that you use a secure method to give users this information. But if a user is assigned to a phone, then this information is available on the Self Care Portal. The audit log records when a user accesses the code from the portal.

Activation codes can only be used once, and they expire after 1 week by default. If a code expires, you’ll have to provide the user with a new one.

You’ll find this approach an easy way to keep your network secure because a phone can’t register until the Manufacturing Installed Certificate (MIC) and activation code are verified. This method is also a convenient way to bulk onboard phones because it doesn't use the Tool for Autoregistered Phone Support (TAPS) or autoregistration. The rate of onboarding is one phone per second or about 3600 phones per hour. You can add phones with the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administrative, with Administrative XML Web Service (AXL), or with BAT.

Existing phones reset after they are configured for Activation Code Onboarding. They don't register until the activation code is entered and the phone MIC is verified. Inform current users that you’re moving towards Activation Code Onboarding before you implement it.

For more information, see Device Onboarding with Activation Codes Task Flow in On-Premise Mode in System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 12.5(1)SU1 and later

You can use Activation Code Onboarding with Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) when deploying your phones for remote users. This feature is a secure way to deploy off-premises phones when autoregistration isn’t required. But you can configure a phone for autoregistration when on-premises, and activation codes when off-premises. This feature is similar to Activation Code Onboarding for on-premises phones, but it makes activation code available for off-premises phones also.

Activation Code Onboarding for MRA requires Cisco Unified Communications Manager 12.5(1)SU1 or later, and Cisco Expressway X12.5 or later. Smart Licensing should be enabled also.

You can enable this feature from the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, but note the following:

• Enable this feature from the Device Information section of the Phone Configuration page.

• Select Require Activation Code for Onboarding if you want this feature to apply just to a single on-premises phone.

• Select Allow Activation Code via MRA and Require Activation Code for Onboarding if you want to use Activation Onboarding for a single off-premises phone. If the phone is on-premises, it changes to MRA mode and uses the Expressway. If the phone can’t reach the Expressway, it doesn’t register until it’s off premises.

For more information, see the following documents:

• System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 12.5(1)SU1 and later

• Mobile and Remote Access Through Cisco Expressway for Cisco Expressway X12.5 or later

You can use the service domain onboarding with Mobile and Remote Access (MRA) when deploying your phones for remote users. This feature is a secure way to deploy off-premises phones when autoregistration and activation code onboarding aren't required. When users choose and enter a valid service domain, they will be prompted to enter their user credentials for the MRA authentication.

Domain onboarding for MRA requires Cisco Unified Communications Manager 12.5(1)SU1 or later, and Cisco Expressway X12.5 or later.

You can enable this feature from the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Administration, but note the following:

• Configure the MRA service domain from Advanced Features > Mobile and Remote Access Service Domain.
• Select a service domain from the drop-down list Activation Code MRA Service Domain on the phone device page (Device > Phone).
• Create end users and associate the phone with the end users.
• Assign the end users to the access control group "Standard CCM End Users".
• Enable User Credentials Persistent for Express Sign in if you want to make it easier for the users to log in. When enabled, the login credentials are saved on the phone after the first-time sign-in.

For more information, see the following documents:

• System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 12.5(1)SU1 and later
• Mobile and Remote Access Through Cisco Expressway for Cisco Expressway X12.5 or later

Before you install your phone, you must choose a method for adding phones to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) database.

By enabling autoregistration before you install the phones, you can:

• Add phones without first gathering MAC addresses from the phones.

• Automatically add a phone to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database when you physically connect the phone to your IP telephony network. During autoregistration, Cisco Unified Communications Manager assigns the next available sequential directory number to the phone.

• Quickly enter phones into the Cisco Unified CM database and modify the settings, such as the directory numbers, from Cisco Unified CM.

• Move the autoregistered phones to new locations and assign them to different device pools without affecting their directory numbers.

Enable autoregistration on Cisco Unified CM

For the information about how to enable and configure autoregistration, see Enable Autoregistration in System Configuration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 11.5(1) or later.

Configure TAPS autoregistration on Cisco Unified CM

You can also add phones with autoregistration and the Tool for AutoRegistered Phones Support (TAPS). TAPS works with the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) to update a batch of phones that were already added to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager database with dummy MAC addresses. Use TAPS to update MAC addresses and to download predefined configurations for phones.

We recommend that you use autoregistration and TAPS to add fewer than 100 phones to your network. To add more than 100 phones to your network, use the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT).

For the information about how to configure TAPS autoregistration, see Configure TAPS Autoregistration in Bulk Administration Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager version 10.0(1) or later.