There are (hopefully rare) times when a telecom admin needs to get remote access to on-net dialtone of his Avaya Aura CM PBX. You can accomplish this via remote-access functionality.

display remote-access
                                REMOTE ACCESS

    Remote Access Extension: 8888          Barrier Code Length: 5
Authorization Code Required? n

           Barrier                       Expiration   No. of    Calls
            Code      COR   TN    COS       Date      Calls     Used
        1: 12345      7     1     0      01/30/16     3         0
        2:
        3:
        4:
        5:
        6:
        7:
        8:
        9:
       10:

 Permanently Disable? n
 (NOTE: You must logoff to effect permanent disabling of Remote Access)

“Remote Access Extension” is the extension number where CM will listen for remote access calls; hopefully this is a DID or otherwise translated such that you can reach the extension from anywhere you might need.

Think of the barrier code as a password – if you know that password, you’re granted on-net dialtone. Use the “Barrier Code” field to define a string of digits that is the exact length specified by “Barrier Code Length”. You can also change “Barrier Code Length”, if appropriate; generally the longer the better.

Set COR, TN, and COS exactly as you would on a station form. Your call will be effected by this setting (once you pass the barrier), even if you’re calling from an existing on-net station that has different configuration.

Set the “Expiration Date” and “Number of Calls” as conservatively as possible. I always set the expiration date to the same day that I administer remote-access, so that even if I get distracted and everything possible goes wrong, there is not a door being left wide-open past that same day. The “Number of Calls” field defines how many calls can be completed using that barrier code before the system denies access to it (and the “Calls Used” counter indicates its current state). Note that the “Calls Used” counter resets to 0 each time the “Barrier Code”, “Expiration Date”, or “Number of Calls” fields are changed.

Once you’ve configured the fields however you determine is best, submit the form, and CM immediately begins listening for remote-access calls. To utilize remote-access, simply dial the administered extension, and when you hear a dial tone, enter your barrier code. As soon as your barrier code is complete, the system will give you another dialtone (and that one is on-net).

Please be cautious when administering remote-access. You could potentially be granting malicious actors free reign over your PBX and its associated trunking, which could in turn incur great expense to your organization. I recommend setting your COR/COS values particularly conservatively, and removing your barrier code(s) as soon as you’re done using them.