Support Policies and Procedures

3CX offers technical support to Partners that stick to tried and tested SIP Trunks, IP Phones and configuration methods, as per our manuals. 

Installations that are not within our guidelines could experience issues when upgrading, possible loss of service or even security issues. We will not be able to assist you in unsupported scenarios.

In order to have the best possible experience using 3CX, please stick to our support procedures!

3CX provides support in English, German, Italian, French, Russian, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish (subject to availability). The default support language is English and may be applied to international requests.

Support Ticket Prerequisites

Who can open a support ticket?

System Admins with IT and networking knowledge are qualified to open Support Tickets.

Prior to opening a support ticket, it’s expected you study and check the information below:

What should I check on the install, prior to contacting Support?

  • Are you using any unsupported third party software or hardware? If so, please remove it and retest for the issue.
  • Is the system installed and configured as per the 3CX manuals? If not, please amend as per our admin manual.
  • Are you using an unsupported SIP Trunk provider? 3CX will assist with issues related to supported providers only.
  • Check your network for issues:
  • If your instance is Self Hosted or On Premise we will not offer network level troubleshooting in regards to the firewall or network. This must be done by the system admin themselves. Check if the issue can be replicated on a Hosted by 3CX system (use your NFR), if not - the issue is within your network.
  • The Version and Service Pack of the system. We support the latest versions only.
  • Log Files in Verbose mode.
  • If the issue involves a supported third party vendor - SIP Trunks and IP Phones - contact the third party vendor for feedback first. 
  • If self-hosted, ensure your machine meets the minimum recommended hardware specs.

What information should I include in my ticket?

  • The License Key of the affected system. Do not use your NFRs.
  • A clear and detailed description of the issue.
  • Steps taken prior to opening the ticket.
  • Instructions on how to replicate the issue.
  • Support Bundles and/or Logs, if relevant.

Ongoing Communication after the opening of your ticket

  • We will investigate 1 issue per ticket.
  • The maximum investigation time per ticket is 1 hour.
  • Provide all the information requested.
  • Ensure you answer any questions correctly.
  • Keep your correspondence polite!

3CX has the right to deny support to any party who is rude to our support desk. Tickets opened regarding issues resulting from unsupported installs may result in an hourly charge.

Phone Support

  • Offered to Silver+ Partners only.
  • Depending on the complexity of your inquiry, you may be asked to open a Support ticket.
  • Wireshark Analysis is not offered prior to the opening of a ticket.
  • 3CX Support contact numbers should not be shared with third parties.

Support Levels

All Support tickets are reviewed initially by Level 1 Support, and thereafter escalated accordingly.

  • Level 1: Includes guidance and advice by L1 Engineers. We will check logs, support info, Management console error prompts and admin mail notifications.
  • Level 2: Includes troubleshooting by L2 Engineers. Offered to Silver Partners+  and/or Hosted by 3CX installs and SMB PBXs. L2 Support is not offered for customers with only one 4SC system.
  • Level 3: Includes troubleshooting by L3 Engineers in collaboration with the Research and Development Team. Offered to Silver Partners+ , and/or installations with over 20 extensions and/or Hosted by 3CX installs and SMB PBXs.

Partner Levels and Support

  • Bronze Partners are offered Level 1 Support. This excludes any issues relating to network and operating systems such as audio and upgrade issues. Level 2 Support is only available for 3CX Hosted or SMB PBXs for this partner level.

Bronze Partners are encouraged to post their technical inquiries to the 3CX community via the Partner Forum. Keep in mind the same rules apply within the forum.

  • Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium Partners are offered L2 and L3 Support, plus access to Phone Support.
  • Platinum and Titanium Partners’ tickets are given priority.

Partner Forums

The 3CX Forums are an extension of our Support desk - plus a great place to engage with the 3CX community. The 3CX Support policies also apply to our Forum. Please read more about our Forum Terms and Conditions here. 3CX maintains the right to remove access to our Forums from parties who do not abide by these guidelines.

Not included in Support

  • 1st line Support. This is offered by 3CX Partners.
  • Remote installation of 3CX and remote device provisioning.
  • Troubleshooting of networking and operating system issues for On-Premises or Self-Hosted instances.
  • PBXs not on the latest version and service pack.
  • Configuration of IP Phones using STUN.
  • EOL IP Phones.
  • Unsupported SIP Phones.
  • Unsupported CRM and PMS integrations.
  • Building of CFD projects.
  • Issues related to Unsupported SIP Trunk Providers.
  • Headsets or Gateways.
  • Firewall Configuration.
  • Issues affected by the use of custom templates.
  • Call Control API issues.
  • Call fraud analysis. We will offer advice for installations exceeding 64SC.
  • Level 3 Support for Microsoft Teams. Admins are expected to be well versed in Teams and able to configure Teams settings in order to achieve the desired settings to interoperate.
  • Conference calls with 3rd parties.
  • Teamviewer on demand. A support ticket must be opened prior, and Teamviewer will be offered at the Support Engineer’s discretion.

SLAs

3CX’s SLA is 48 hours upon the creation of the ticket. Tickets are handled within office hours,  excluding weekends and international holidays.

Support FAQs

Why do you recommend specific VoIP Providers?
We recommend 3CX Preferred and Supported Providers. Preferred Providers are thoroughly tested with each build of 3CX and require no manual configuration. You can simply plug and play your PBX. Supported Providers are tested and fully compatible with 3CX - including 3CX FREE and 3CX SMB.

Why does 3CX recommend specific IP Phones?
3CX invests a lot of time into making deployment and management of popular phones very easy. This involves a lot of work in terms of initial and ongoing testing, liaising with hardware vendors, template development, plus the training of our internal teams. This is not possible for all vendors, therefore, we select popular vendors based on product feature sets, pricing, availability as well as the vendor’s support and willingness to work with our team.

Why doesn’t 3CX offer support for STUN configuration of IP Phones?
3CX is designed to be used with SBCs. STUN is less reliable, less secure and more cost intensive to support.

Why doesn’t 3CX provide support for EOL IP Phones and Headsets?
3CX is committed to continuously updating our software to ensure the highest level of security and stability for your UC system. All hardware products, at some point, reach the end of their life cycle and stop receiving updates. For this reason, when a hardware device is flagged as EOL, we can no longer guarantee that it will continue to work on the latest versions of 3CX.

Why doesn’t 3CX offer evaluation support?
Installation and configuration of a complete VoIP Phone System takes time and cannot be included in the cost of a support package. Keep in mind that 3CX cannot be compared to a simple office package, which is easily installed and supported - 3CX is more complex.

Support Ticket Packages

We strongly advise end-users to contact a 3CX Partner in their area of Silver Level and above for 3CX Support.  If you do decide to purchase a support package from 3CX keep in mind the Support Policies and Procedures apply as specified above.