Polycom Phones Are Displaying the Incorrect Time & Date

If you have a Polycom desktop or conference phone, you might notice that the Time and Date display is wrong or that the display is flashing. The method for fixing either of these display problems depends on how the phone is connected to a network and how it is configured.

Polycom VoIP phones get their current time and date over the network from a time server sometimes known as an NTP (Network Time Protocol) or SNTP (Simple Network Time Protocol) server. The phone must be configured with the correct time server address as well as the appropriate time and date settings. The time and date settings for the phone include the format, time zone (GMT offset), and daylight saving settings.

If the phone cannot connect to a time server, the time/date display on the phone will flash. If the time/date display is not flashing but is wrong, then either the GMT offset or daylight saving settings are incorrect on the phone, or the time is wrong on the time server.

If the Polycom phone is configured to use a DHCP server, the server gives the phone its IP address and acts as the phone's time server. If this is the case, check the DHCP server's time and date. If you want to override the DHCP server's time and force the phone to use another time server, you can do so by changing the phone's network settings.

If you have multiple phones configured by a provisioning server, verify the phone's time and date settings on the server. These time and date settings can be changed in the XML template file used by the server and phone in this scenario. Refer to the phone software's administrator guide for specific file names and parameters.

If the phone settings are not controlled by a provisioning server, you can check the Time and Date configuration using the phone's Web interface. To access the Web interface, enter the phone's IP address into a Web browser's address field. You can see the IP address on the phone's screen. When you log in to the Web interface, note that the default password for "User" is "123," and the default password for "Admin" is "456." Navigate to Preferences and then Date & Time, to verify or change the settings.

If none of these actions fixes your problem, make sure you are running the latest version of software on the phone, and check the release notes to determine whether any known issues exist. Some problems with time settings or interoperability with other devices on the network may be documented. If all else fails and the flashing or incorrect display is distracting, you can disable it altogether by changing the display format of the time and date in the phone's local interface. From Menu navigate to Basic Settings, and then Preferences for Time & Date.