Understanding Foreign Exchange Office

(FXO) Voice Interface Cards

Contents
Introduction
Prerequisites
Requirements
Components Used
Conventions
Product Numbers
Features
Configuration
Platform Support
Related Information

Introduction
The Cisco Foreign Exchange Office (FXO) interface is an RJ-11 connector that allows an analog
connection to be directed at the public switched telephone network's (PSTN's) central office or to a
station interface on a private branch exchange (PBX). The FXO sits on the switch end of the
connection. It plugs directly into the line side of the switch so the switch thinks the FXO interface is
a telephone.

Note: The FXO Voice Interface Card (VIC) is not the same as a Foreign Exchange Station (FXS)
card and therefore does not provide dial tone. Do not plug a telephone set to the FXO VIC.

Prerequisites
Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions.

Conventions

Refer to Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.

Product Numbers
Product Description
Number
VIC-
Two-port FXO VIC
2FXO
VIC-
Two-port FXO for Europe
2FXO-EU
VIC-
Two-port FXO for U.S. with battery reversal
2FXO-M1
VIC- Two-port FXO for Europe with battery
2FXO-M2 reversal
VIC-
Two-port FXO for Australia
2FXO-M3
VIC- Four-port FXO for U.S. with battery reversal
4FXO-M1 only for the MRP
Two-port VIC – FXO (Universal). Also
VIC2- supports Centralized Automatic Message
2FXO Accounting (CAMA) with software
configuration
VIC2- Four-port VIC – FXO (Universal). Also
4FXO supports CAMA with software configuration
MRP3-
Eight-port FXO M1 card for the MRP
8FXOM1

Features
Prod
uct
Description
Num
ber
Voice
Two, four, or eight FXO ports
Ports
Connects to a telco line or to a PBX or key set
that emulates a telco line. Uses RJ-11
connectors.
Note: The end to end connection between the
CO RJ11 jack and the router voice-port must be a
straight-through connection. This means that TIP
goes to TIP and RING to RING. Normally the CO
provides an interface for which a standard rolled
Conn RJ11 cable may be used since the resulting
ection connection is straight. However, sometimes the
s CO may not reverse the pinouts and therefore a
straight RJ11 cable is needed.
Defintions:
● Pinouts for Rolled RJ11 Cable => TIP to
RING, RING to TIP
● Pinouts for Straight RJ11 Cable=> TIp to TIP,
RING to RING
Also note FXO ground-start services are polarity-
 sensitive and undesirable behavior, such as failed
calls, will occur if proper polarity conventions are
not observed.
Cisco
IOS®
Softw
Requires a Plus feature set.
are
Featu
re Set
Requires VIC-2FXO-M1, VIC-2FXO-M2, VIC-
Caller
4FXO-M1, VIC2-2FXO, VIC2-4FXO, or MRP3-
ID
8FXOM1
Batter
Requires VIC-2FXO-M1, VIC-2FXO-M2, VIC-
y
4FXO-M1, VIC2-2FXO, VIC2-4FXO, or MRP3-
Rever
8FXOM1
sal
Groun Requires VIC-2FXO, VIC-2FXO-M1, VIC-2FXO-
d M3, VIC-4FXO-M1, VIC2- 2FXO, VIC2-4FXO, or
Start MRP3-8FXOM1
Loop
Supported on all cards.
Start

Configuration
For configuration of voice features in Cisco IOS Software, refer to Voice over IP for the Cisco 3600
Series.

Note: In Cisco IOS Software, issue the voice-port <slot>/<VIC slot>/<unit> global configuration
command to configure the voice port parameters.

The commands to configure VoIP on Cisco routers are very similar on all of the router platforms
shown below.

For configuration of voice features in Catalyst OS (CatOS) on a Catalyst 4000, see Configuring
Voice Interfaces.

Platform Support
The following table shows which platforms support the various FXO VICs including Cisco IOS
Software release support selection.

Note: The original VIC only works in NM-1V and NM-2V network modules, and VIC2 only works in
NM-HD-1V, NM-HD-2V, and NM-HD-2VE. These are not interchangeable.

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IOS 17 G 6 00 40 8 8 R A at
175 1751 3
Softwar 2 60 2 0 X , 1 2 P D al
02 2
e 0 0, M, 36 1 5 I 2 y
4 4
Support 0 3 26 60 , , C 4 st
 2 3
91 8 1,
, 2 S I
3 4
6 37 1 7 A
4 8 0
1 2 25 3 , 7 D
4 0
0 , 2 5 2
5 0
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- -
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V V
- -
N N, N, W
N H H N N
M MN MN S
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- - MN- MN -
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Not Not t 1 2 2 R R
V VH- VH- 4
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Module qui uire qu N N N q q
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l ool o o N N
1
Al l t t l t t ot ot 1
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All l VSSVSSS S 2.
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VIC- Ver 1 2( 2(
Versi rsi er r ppr p p p p 3
2FXO sio ( 1) 1)
ons on si s pps p p p p a)
ns 3 X X
s o i o o i o o or or X
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l N N
1 2) t t 2t t
l ot ot 1
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VIC- All Ve e u u 1(
Ver 1 2. pp, p p 2( 2(
2FXO- Versi rsi r p p 3
sio ( 0 pp1 p p 1) 1)
EU ons on s p p a)
ns 3 X oo2 o o X X
s i or or X
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l 1 N N N
1 K, tt tt
l 2 ot ot ot
2 1 SS SS 1 1
All V . S S S
. 2. uu u u 2. 2.
VIC- 12. Ve e 1 u u u
12.2( 1 1( pp p p 2( 2(
2FXO- 2(2 rsi r ( p p p
2)XJ ( 2) pp p p 1) 1)
M1 )XJ on s 2 p p p
3 T, oo o o X X
s i ) or or or
) 1 rr rr D D
o T te te te
T 2. tt tt
n , d d d
2, ee e e
s 1
1 dd d d
2
2.
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2
2
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1
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2
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1
1 2
2. .
0( 0
7) NN( NN
A 7
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l N N N
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l ot ot ot
2 1 SSXSS 1 1
All V K S S S
. 2. uu u u 2. 2.
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12.2( 1 1( pp p p 2( 2(
2FXO- 2(2 rsi r p p p
2)XJ ( 2) pp1 p p 1) 1)
M2 )XJ on s 2 p p p
3 T, oo o o X X
s i or or or
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1 1
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o oooo o o 2( 2(
N N N N
t tttttt 8) 8)
ot ot ot ot
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Not S S S S
t u uuuu u u N N
VIC- Su Not u u u u
Su p pppp p p , ,
4FXO- ppo Supp p p p p
pp p pppp p p 1 1
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ort o oooo o o 2. 2.
d or or or or
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te te te te
t tttttt 1 1
d d d d
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d dddd d d Z Z
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1. 1
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6) 3
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l N N N
1 2. tt.tt
12. l ot ot ot
2 0( SS0 SS 1 1
1(5 12.1( All V S S S
. 2) uu u u 2. 2.
VIC- )T, 5)T, Ve e ( u u u
1 T, pp2 p p 2( 2(
2FXO- 12. 12.2, rsi r p p p
( 1 pp p p 1) 1)
M3 2, 12.2 on s ) p p p
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12.2( o o o
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12 ot 5 5 ot ot ot
L, S S 2S 2 1 1
Not .3( S ) ) S S S
12.3( u u . u . 2. 2.
Su 4) u Z Z u u u
VIC2- 4)T, p p 3 p 3 3( 3(
ppo T, p J J p p p
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rte 12 p , , p p p
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4) te 2 2 te te te
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2. 2. ot
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d d d
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5 )
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t ttt Y Y
ot u u u ot ot ot
No S SSS N N
Not S pppS S S
t u uuu a a
Su Not u pppu u u
MRP3- Su p ppp n n
ppo Supp p ooop p p
8FXOM1 pp p ppp d d
rte orted p rrrp p p
ort o ooo 1 1
d or t t t or or or
ed r rrr 2. 2.
te e e e te te te
t ttt 2( 2(
d dddd d d
e eee 1 1
NNN
d ddd 5) 5)
ooo
Z Z
ttt
L L

1
Voice features require a PLUS image in the Cisco IOS Software classic feature-sets, or an
appropriate selection from the list of the Cisco IOS Software cross-platform feature-sets. For more
information, refer to Product Bulletin No. 2089: Cisco IOS 12.3 Mainline and 12.3T Feature Sets
for Cisco 2691 for additional information.
2
On the 1700 voice platforms, one or more PVDMs are needed to support VICs, or voice ports
are missed in the active configuration. The PVDMs hold DSPs that make the VICs fully functional,
and are installed on the motherboard of the 1700 series. For more information, refer to
Troubleshooting Unrecognized Voice Interface Cards on Cisco 1750, 1751, and 1760 Routers. On
the Cisco VG200, 2600, 2600XM, 2691, 3600, and 3700 series routers, the carrier network
modules (NM-1V, NM-2V, NM-HD-1V, NM-HD-2V, NM-HD-2VE, NM-HDV2) come with the DSPs
installed on the module.
3
Voice is not supported on the Cisco 3631 series router.
4
The Cisco 2811, 2821, 2851, 3825, and 3845 voice routers do not support the NM-1V and NM-
2V voice/fax network modules.

Certain FXO VICs include two jumper headers, W3 and W4, to set loop-start or ground-start mode
(see the Features table). One jumper configures each FXO port. The default setting, which should
be satisfactory in most installations, is loop start. In this setting, jumpers are placed over positions
2 and 3 of headers W3 and W4. Most modern central office equipment, such as DMS-100 and
5ESS switches, provides calling party control (CPC) and Ring on Seize on loop-start lines. CPC
allows quicker disconnection, and Ring on Seize minimizes glare (collision of inbound and
outbound calls on the same interface). If your central office does not provide these features on
loop start, you may want to configure the FXO card for ground-start operation instead by moving
the jumpers to positions 1 and 2. For proper operation, both jumpers must be configured
identically. In most cases, jumper setting should have little or no effect on operation.

The FXO interface configured for GroundStart is polarity sensitive. If you see a 0x22 disconnect
cause code from the output of the debug debug voip ccapi inout command, you may have the
telco ground connected to the FXO ground on the router. This can be caused by an incorrect RJ-
11 cable between the FXO port and the telco jack. If you are using a straight through cable try
using a crossover, or if you are using a crossover try using a straight through.

The Cisco IOS Software versions provided are typically the minimum version required to support
the platform, module or feature in question. To find out a complete list of Cisco IOS Software
versions a feature, module, interface card, or chassis is supported in, use the Software Advisor
(registered customers only) only tool.

Related Information
● Voice - Understanding FXO Disconnect Problem
● Voice Hardware Compatibility Matrix (Cisco 17/26/28/36/37/38xx, VG200, Catalyst
4500/4000, Catalyst 6xxx)
● Voice Technology Support
● Voice and Unified Communications Product Support
● Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony
● Technical Support & Documentation - Cisco Systems