Blogpost from 3CX

First, Myphone does not use 5000 as its port anymore, everything is on 5481 (if using the new – not Cassini – webserver).   Therefore, if like us you are using the external name of your server to connect call assistant V8, the error message will not load as we only had port 5000 open.  First thing to fix that was get rid of 5000 in your firewall rules, and leave in 5481.

If you were using Version 8, and you upgrade, a must is to send your users the new welcome email, which includes a really nice feature to auto install and provision the version 9 Call assistant!   This really is very impressive!   No longer will you have the pain of setting up remote users!

One feature that seems to have gone missing (though I may simply be overlooking it) is the ability to send unanswered calls to one extension to the mailbox of a different extension.   3CX, if you are listening, please can we have that back?

Sad to see that there is not an embedded playback on the Myphone interface, nor a “playback on phone” option.   Hopefully that will make version 10.

Also very glad to see the new Snom 870 in the provisioning templates!   Video on the 3CX Phone also very impressive!

A full list of the new features is available here

Recently, G7Eleven completed a large scale wired and wireless network installation for a College Campus and as part of this project deployment we implented a 3CX VoIP solution that takes full advantage of their new network.

The customer has twenty eight Zone Director managed RUCKUS wireless AP’s throughout their campus property and G7Eleven has limited their VoIP traffic to a special encrypted VLAN. All is working well except one major issue.

Sometimes during a call their WiFi phone roams out of coverage. This is a rare occurrence thanks to the excellent performance of Ruckus Wireless (www.ruckuswireless.com) but it does happen from time to time no matter how good the wireless coverage is.

This is a serious problem as 3CX does not disconnect the handset and the previously live phone call is not cleared by default until the system administrator intervenes and manually closes the call in the 3CX management console.

To make matters worse, when the WiFi phone re-associates to the wireless network it cannot make any further calls until the previous call has been manually cleared. The handset has no knowledge that it was previously on a call and fails to re-register back to 3CX properly and make further calls.

This was very inconvenient for the customer and needed a solution fast.

I therefore had a question?

“Is there a timer in 3CX or setting that I could change to clear the call in this circumstance?”

The answer when it comes to 3CX is of course “YES”

Check the Custom Parameter with name “SIPPINGPERIOD” in 3CX.

Normally this is disabled and when it is enabled it queries the handset so I set the value to 20 seconds. I did not want to set it too short in case the customer lost coverage for a short period of time, for example when they step into a lift during a call and then exit and reconnect to another AP then this call would continue perfectly.

I made a phone call from a WiFi Handset and while on a call placed the phone into a metal box (USA Biscuit Tin actually, aka high tech WiFi signal blocker and very yummy biscuits too..) and after 5-10 seconds the handset lost wireless signal. The call remained open on the 3CX system and after approx 20 seconds was cleared when 3CX SIPPINGPERIOD failed to get an answer from the handset.

Objective achieved. Hope this helps someone else.

We here at G7eleven will be sure to test this in house ready for rollout to our customers once 3CX release the final version.

The new features are welcome!

More details here:

http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/3cx-phone-system-v9-beta-2/

We noticed that the new V9.x software on Portech devices does not work “out of the box” with the
3CX supported method documented here – http://www.3cx.com/voip-gateways/portech372.html

The Portech MV37x series has different motherboards dependent on the manufacture date.   Its
difficult to figure out what version is what, but if on your configuration pages for the portech you
see this:

and not this:

You need to make a change on your 3CX Server settings.   (Version 6 does NOT have this problem).

In 3CX, edit the MV37x entries and add the following to the Call Source Identification section:

Contact: Host Part                  “GWHostPort” gateway/provider host/port”

Then everything should work on the inbound calls for you.

From the 3CX official blog……

3CX appointed Official Technical Supplier

London March 24 – Lotus Racing and 3CX announce that, 3CX has been appointed as technical supplier and that Lotus Racing has installed 3CX Phone System in its technical centre and mobile race track operations. The popular VoIP PBX system will be used for each F1 race around the globe – providing the vital comms link between Norfolk HQ and the track team.

Commenting on this alliance, Lotus Racing Head of IT Bill Peters said “We needed a state of the art PBX that would deliver unified communications and high quality voice across the globe. 3CX and Lotus Racing clearly share the same ethos of excellence and success, with a winning attitude.”

Read more at the Full News Article on www.3cx.com

3CX just recently released an update to Call Assistant – Version 8.1114.

From their blogpost:

“This new 3CX Assistant build has improved updating functionality.

In addition,  we have improved the TAPI driver such that it supports other applications besides Microsoft Outlook. Any TAPI aware CRM package can now launch calls, and if it supports ‘inbound TAPI’, a pop up will show with a customer record, based on the incoming Caller ID.

Some of this functionality might require a reinstall (as it involves the updater), but in many cases you can deploy the Assistant update via the server. (The first time the Assistant will be updated, 2 updates will occur subsequently). The below is the full change log:

Added: New TAPI driver can send caller ID information to any CRM package that supports the TAPI standard
Added: TAPI functionality in SiP Forked ID scenarios
Added: Czech translation
Added: Option to remember selection to either Auto-update or Not to update on login
Added: Virtualization for permissions in Update procedure to make the update procedure more stable in low permission windows user accounts
Added: CRM Outlook add now now compatible with limited User accounts (Standard user)
Added: Ability to update 3CX Assistant when user has limited rights (Standard user) but specifying the local administrator password.
Added: 3CX Assistant now supports switching between users on Vista and win7

Improved: 3CX TAPI driver now supports both outbound and INBOUND notification
Improved: Installation procedure for users with limited rights (Standard users) in Windows Vista and Windows 7
Improved: Faster login of 3CX Assistant on some machines
Improved: Updating of 3CX Assistant is now multi-user aware. Even machines with multiple 3CX Assistant installs can be updated as well as 3CX Assistant installs with limited rights

Fixed: Tapi is now no longer enabled in the 3CX Phone System Free edition
Fixed: Some rare scenarios would cause the Assistant to get stuck
Fixed: 3CX Phone integration remained grayed in preferences even though integration was selected
Fixed: Cancel Button in assistant’s installation was not canceling the installation
Fixed: Installation issues in repair and modify

You can download the update here, or use the check for updates function in 3CX Phone System (providing you have the latest build)”

Simply check the box, and update….    then add your trunk.   

Thanks to the team at 3CX for getting this update out!

Here is a fixed template for the unit.   Hopefully 3CX will include this in an update to V8 shortly, but this will help you in the mean time.

Keep an eye on http://www.3cx.com/blog and here if they do!

Patton 4114 template including IE Tonesets

This is a shame, as it only means that the client has already lost faith in VoIP phone calls before a company like G7Eleven can come along to try to convince them that, in fact, VoIP is the way forward for everyone.  Recently, to bring people back to VoIP solutions, we install a demo of the phone system so they can see the full advantage of the technology, when it is correctly configured!

Without giving away all our secrets, the soution is a simple one.    It is vital, that above all other traffic across the customers internet connection, that the voice traffic is the most prioritised above everything else!    To do this, we must “tag” each of the IP packets leaving the network to the internet as voice, and then at our router, give it the priority it requires.

However, what about when you are using a software based phone system like 3CX?    Well, then the problem is a little more interesting as you need to not only set an advanced option on the 3CX phone system, but you also need to tell windows to allow the header tagging by a registry edit as it disables it by default.

First, set 3CX to tag the packets leaving it with a number you decide.   In our case we always use 47.   Once you have done this, you need to add a registry setting on the 3CX server….

• Open the registry editor: regedit.exe
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
• Create a new DWORD value called “DisableUserTOSSetting” and give it a value of 0 (zero)
• Reboot your server.

Example of Queue Control on MikrotikOf course, the configuration of such a thing is completely dependant on the phone system and phones you are using. For instance, if we have a client that has only one or two Linksys SPA phones connecting directly to our VoIP hosted SIP trunks, then the good news is that the Linksys phone has already tagged the DSCP field (in the IP header) with the number 46. Because of this, on the Mikrotik routers we install we can prioritise the traffic from all phones plugged into the customers LAN going out via our gateway router.

Now you can configure your router to prioritise the packets with the TOS/DSCP number you set in 3CX.

Of course, there is much more we could go into here, but we would end up with a seriously long blogpost!

Simply put, G7Eleven can provide you with the skills necessary to get this working in your company!

EDIT 20-01-2010:

Please note that this method only works on Windows XP based 3CX installs.   Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 2008 server use a completely different method and therefore will not work.   G7eleven have an open case with 3CX to support the newer methods, and will update with a new blogpost if and when we hear anything.