Recently we released a ‘prototype’ of a Skype Gateway - 3CX Gateway for Skype 1.0 which was based on an open source component. This allowed you to make and receive calls to Skype users. Using Skype you can allow customers to call you at no charge, and you can also leverage Skype clients on popular mobile platforms (Windows Mobile and Iphone).
However, we have been busy on building our own Skype Gateway. We wanted to make it easier to install, more performant and also develop a platform on which we can easily add features in the future.
So, 3CX Gateway for Skype 2.0 was developed – it’s all in pure C++ code now - so its very fast and efficient – and it can easily handle 20 simultaneous calls or more. Currently, 3CX Gateway for Skype 2.0 will not run on a Domain Controller.
It also supports the use of a master account, so that you can transfer calls from the master account to other accounts as the calls come in. This allows you to keep a single Skype ID as a main number without it giving a busy tone. We have also given it a better looking interface as you can see in the screenshot below.
A nice feature is that the Skype gateway can run on the same machine, eliminating the need for a separate box. Compare that to a Linux based appliance where you will need a separate box or machine to run the Skype gateway!
You can try out the beta here – comments welcome! Configuration guide is here
For those of you who adore the Apple Iphone or even Ipod Touch, it is possible to connect your Iphone to 3CX Phone System. It requires the purchase of a small SIP phone from Appstore, but the voice quality is good and its fairly easy to use.
You can view the full configuration guide here:
http://www.3cx.com/sip-phones/sipphone-on-iphone.html
As with any application, a VoIP phone system needs to be secured, and this article outline some important things you can do to keep your phone system secure:
1. Install your phone system behind a firewall
The most basic step that you can do is to install your phone system behind a firewall. Open only the ports that you need: If you use external extensions and bridges, you can choose to use the 3CX tunnel and only open a single port for the tunnel.
2. Ensure strong extension passwords
Weak extension passwords are extremely dangerous. Do not use the extension number as the pin code or password. Ensure that you use strong, random passwords to avoid remote hackers registering with their soft phone to your PBX. As simple and obvious as this may sound, weak extension passwords are the number one source of security breaches.
3 Keep your windows up to date
Windows can automatically download critical updates. This means your OS is protected against serious vulnerabilities. Out of the box, and up to date, a Windows Server System is pretty secure.
4 Check your call logs weekly, better daily
Check your call logs weekly or better daily. This way you can quickly pick up on misuse of the phone system by either hackers or indeed legitimate users of the phone system. Use the inbuilt call reports to see calling trends.
5 Use an IP PBX that is security tested
Even if your Operating system is fully secured, and your firewall is properly configured, you depend on how securely your phone system has been coded. 3CX is built on .NET (which has many inbuilt security features) and it is regularly tested by outside security consultants.
6. Use a VPN.
If you want to add an additional layer of security, use a VPN. 3CX Phone System fully supports the use of VPNs - use the free openVPN for Windows and secure bridges and external extensions easily and cheaply. A detailed how to guide has been written and is available here
7. Lock down which IPs or networks can access the phone system.
A further additional level of protection is to narrow down from which IPs you will allow registrations. This locks out the rest of the internet and provides a good additional level of defense. For example, if you have remote workers that always work from a particular location, you can consider purchasing dedicated IPs for these locations so that you can further limit access to the phone system by IP. This configuration is done at firewall level.
We have created a new voice prompts sets for many languages - and more to follow! These are the ones we have just created / updated and are available today:
German (new)
French (new)
Swedish (new)
Dutch (new)
Danish (updated)
Italian (updated)
Polish (new)
Japanese (new)
To install the promptset:
Go to system updates
Select the language you want
Click download (IGNORE that interface says that it is up to date)
Restart IVR service (because it keeps a cache of the old prompts)
As you know, in paid version of 3CX, it is possible to record all conversations for a particular Extension. 3CX puts recordings in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\3CX\Data\Recordings folder. Each file stores its name based on this mask
DisplayName_Ext_DialedNum_YearMonthDayHourMinuteSecond.wav, where
DisplayName - caller name Ext- caller Extension DialedNum - called number YearMonthDayHourMinuteSecond - time of the call
So, this filename contains all housekeeping information about a particular call. The current 3CX release does not yet contain an easy search mechanism for these recordings. Although you can find specific recordings manually, it wise to use a special software utility.
The main purpose of such utility is to filter recordings based on part (or mask) of recording’s filename.
For this purpose I can recommend Instant File Name Search utility. http://www.sowsoft.com/download/InstantSearch.zip
To start using this utility all you need is to install it, provide a folder, where recordings exist, provide a file type of recordings and create an index database file, where index data will be stored. Then you will make searches providing parts of recordings filename that correspond to housekeeping information of you interest.
Lets see how this works.
1. After installing, click on Databases link and choose the folder, where recordings are stored - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\3CX\Data\Recordings. Also turn on Full Path option (to search in subfolders) and turn off Find Folder option.
Be sure to provide folder by pressing on Add drive or folder…! If you type folder name manually, the program will add unnecessarily symbols (as you can see on the picture).
2. Set file type wav in and click Save DB to make index database file. I named it recordings.idb.
3. Now press Rescan button. Then click on button with ellipsis and specify Extension number and date, for example. Use AND / OR operators! Click OK and Search. The program will filter recordings based on provided values!
4. I would recommend to hide unnecessary columns in search results window. Also pressing Options button you can set startup options of the Instant File Search utility.
An updated build has been released with some improvements and fixes.
Note on upgrading:
If you are uninstalling 3CX Phone System version v7.1 6589 and you make heavy use of the 3CX Tunnel Service, it may happen that the 3CX Phone System service will not stop in a timely fashion. To proceed with the installation open Task manager (right click on the task bar, Task Manager), right click on the 3CXPhoneSystem.exe process, and Click End Process. The installation will then proceed automatically as usual.
Change log:
Added: Template of actio.pl - Polish provider
Added: Snom 820 template for provisioning
Added: Parameter to enable / disable VmAIL pin VMPINREQUIRED 1= ON , 0=OFF
Fixed: Improved logging notifications in PBX Logs
Fixed: Added a cache limit in Tunnel to reduce memory usage in larger environments
Fixed: Tunnel not starting when port is in use
Fixed: Stuck calls in call assistant server in particular situations
Fixed: Permissions in the viewing of extensions in different member groups has been improved
We have been performing a number of bench mark tests, in order to give 3CX users an idea what sort of memory and processing power is required by a 3CX installation.
First off - in many cases a dedicated server is NOT required. Modern servers have ample processing power to handle 3CX and other server applications on one box. This is also a huge advantage compared to an appliance or a linux based systems - use an existing server and save on hardware costs, energy and admin time!
To proove this point, we loaded up a modest machine with Small Business Server 2003 R2. Machine specs: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, E 4500 @ 2.20 GHz, 4 Gb of RAM, 50 Gb Hard disk SATA, 100Mbps Network connection.
Next we loaded up IIS, Exchange Server and Active Directory and run an instance of Exchange Load simulator to simulate 25 users making heavy use of Exchange (Sending of mail, scheduling meetings, checking inbox etc)
We then installed 3CX Phone System Configuration V7.1.6591 on the same machine, selecting Cassini as the web server. We selected Cassini because it keeps 3CX independent of IIS updates and any configuration changes of OWA, Sharepoint and so on. Cassini will do fine on this environment.
We then triggered our call simulators to create a total of simultaneous calls 16 continuously. The rate of the calls was 0.5 calls/second so that in 1 hour it processes roundabout 2000 calls. Note that 16 calls simultaneously is for an install of about 40 to 50 extensions.
During this time, total CPU usage for all 3CX services was less then 15% CPU.
Total Memory usage for all 3CX services was about 300 megabytes (With 100 megabytes taken up by Cassini)
At the same time Exchange was not using more then 10%. The machine rarely went above 30% processor usage in total, on average it was much lower.
Clearly a home run for 3CX & Windows in the game against appliances and Linux!
The 3CX Hotel Module has just been released. It allows you to turn 3CX Phone System into a hotel PBX. Read the full press release here, or watch the presentation below.
