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3CX Phone System for Windows System for Windows
Page 37
5. Adding lines hosted by a VOIP Provider
Introduction
VOIP providers “host” phone lines – they can assign local numbers in one or more cities
or countries and route these to your phone system. In addition, VOIP providers are often
able to give better call rates because they have an international network or have
negotiated better rates. Therefore, using VOIP providers can reduce call costs. However
be aware that each VOIP call requires bandwidth. VOIP is real time, so it does place a
demand on your internet connection. As a rule of thumb, each call will consume
approximately 30k-120k per second, depending on which codec you use. This chapter
describes with which VOIP providers you can set-up an account and how to configure
3CX Phone System accordingly.
Requirements for using a VOIP provider
If you plan to use a VOIP provider, you will have to have a firewall/router/NAT device that
supports STATIC PORT MAPPINGS. Often routers will perform port address translation,
which will cause problems such as one way audio, failing inbound calls and so on. It is
also highly recommended that you have a static external IP. If your external IP changes
at certain intervals, inbound calls will fail. Please see our support FAQs for more
information and sample router configurations.
Step 1: Create an account with a VOIP Provider
To add a VOIP line you need to have an account with a quality VOIP service provider.
3CX Phone System supports most popular SIP based VOIP service providers and we
recommend using one that has been tested by 3CX. 3CX includes pre configured
templates for these VOIP providers. Simply click on the ‘Add VOIP’ link to see a list of
supported providers.
Note that you can use any SIP based provider but we will not be able to support you in
the configuration of the VOIP provider, nor can we guarantee that it will work. Therefore,
unless for your country no VOIP provider is listed, use a supported VOIP provider.
Step 2: Add the VoIP provider account in 3CX Phone System
After you have created the VOIP provider account, you will need to configure the account
in 3CX Phone System. To do this:
1.
In the 3CX Phone Management console menu, select Add > VoIP provider.
2.
Enter a friendly name for this
VOIP provider account and choose the VOIP provider
that you are using. If it is not listed, select ‘Generic VOIP provider’, or ‘Generic SIP
Trunk’. A generic SIP trunk is a provider that does not use an authentication ID and