How to Connect Cisco IP Phones to Bluetooth Devices (with Pictures)

This article will cover how to pair Bluetooth devices with Cisco IP Phones 8800 series.

Cisco Phone Bluetooth Pairing Guide

Voice over IP VoIP technology had already gone way beyond basic telephony services. With the different collaboration capabilities integrated into it, this technology became a crucial part of many businesses.

As in many sectors in the network industry, Cisco Systems again got the leadership in this sector.

Before diving into the pairing guide, let's overview the Cisco Phone Bluetooth portfolio.

Cisco IP Phones Portfolio

Cisco has a very versatile IP phone portfolio, ranging from very simple and basic models, and ending up with the most advanced and most sophisticated collaboration endpoints.

The basic model can be represented by the Cisco 3900 IP Phones and the Cisco 6900 IP Phones series. These are simple phones that provide user-friendly and cost-effective collaboration. They can be used for hospitality and in locations with basic communication requirements.

How to Pair Bluetooth Devices with Cisco 8800 series IP Phones

The next series is the Cisco 7800 IP Phones series, which has many more features and can provide more collaboration capabilities to the end users. This series can be used in the enterprise to gain full-featured yet affordable collaboration endpoints.

How to Pair Cisco 7800 IP Phones Series

For users aiming to have a premium collaboration experience, the Cisco 8800 IP Phone series offers many models with different advanced capabilities. All of those models have many advanced features as a standard. One of those standard features is Bluetooth support. So, how can we pair Bluetooth devices with Cisco 8800 series IP phones?

How to Connect Bluetooth: Pairing Steps

1. Turn on the Bluetooth headset and get its passkey prepared. If you want to pair your mobile phone, turn on the Bluetooth and make it discoverable.

But why pair your mobile phone with the IP phone? Here is the catch. Cisco 8800 IP phones can act as hands-free devices for your mobile phone. What a nice feature!

2. Press the "Applications" button on your IP Phone.

3. Choose Bluetooth using the “Navigation” button.

Bluetooth Pairing

4. Move the “Navigation” button right or left to toggle the Bluetooth setting to On.

 5. Move the Navigation button right or left to choose the preferred Bluetooth mode. The options are:

• Phone: Your IP phone pairs with a Bluetooth headset. Choose this option if you use a Bluetooth headset as the voice output device during your VoIP calls.

 • Hands-free: Your IP phone will operate as a hands-free device with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone.

 • Both — Your Cisco IP phone uses a Bluetooth headset or operates with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. Your IP phone will connect to only one device at a time (either the Bluetooth headset or the Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone).

6. Choose “Devices”, then press the “Navigation” button.

7. Press the “Scan” softkey to search for available Bluetooth devices.

8. Press the "Navigation" button up or down to choose your preferred Bluetooth device, then press the "Connect" softkey.

9. Once the Bluetooth device has been paired, a check icon will be displayed next to the configured device.

Why won't my Bluetooth Connect?

10. After these steps, most users ask themselves: Why won't my Bluetooth connect? This step is getting forgotten by most users, so PLEASE pay attention to it.

Press the "Back" button on your IP Phone to go back to the Bluetooth settings screen. Now press the "Set" softkey to save the configured Bluetooth device.

11. Now the Bluetooth pairing procedure will be done, and you should see an icon confirming that on the screen:

Please note that Cisco 8800 IP phones can connect with up to 50 headsets, but only one at a time. The last connected headset is used as a default.

Pairing is typically performed once for each headset. The Bluetooth connection is maintained after a device is paired, providing both devices (phone and headset) are enabled and within range of each other.

The connection typically reestablishes itself automatically if either of the devices powers down and then powers up. However, some headsets require user action to reestablish the connection.

You can SHOP Cisco IP Phones now or CONTACT US for any further questions.