3CX Hotel Module and BLFs

[guzzitech]

Hey so.... v20 update 7

Front Desk Yealink T54W - firmware 96.86.0.75 (update available)
Room phone Fanvil x303

Currently have a guest, let's call him, Jimbo Jones in room 113. The integration is working.

However, the front desk has a BLF for each room. Even though the guest in room 113 is updated to "Jimbo Jones" the BLF still only shows "Room 113". Also, when the guest in room 113 calls the front desk, the caller ID on the front desk phone only shows "7113" (the extension). Can it not display the extension and or the guest name?

In summary:

1. Is it normal for BLF on front desk phone to remain static even if name changes for extension? Will the name change on a reprovision?

2. Can we have caller ID on the front desk phone show 'ext-guestname' or will it always only show ext?

Thanks
Kevin

ps - I selected my system below this post but I guess this login is only tied to that one instance. The question above is in regards to a different system.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

1. Is it normal for BLF on front desk phone to remain static even if name changes for extension? Will the name change on a reprovision?

Yes and yes. So it will only show correctly after reprovisioning (24h interval or manually)

2. Can we have caller ID on the front desk phone show 'ext-guestname' or will it always only show ext?

It shows whatever is currently this moment stored in the Yealink phonebook. You can set it to refresh every 60 mins if that helps, from Phones > Options > Set Yealink to 3600 seconds.


I think it might be best if you have a reception PC with the 3CX desktop client or webclient. You can even have the client on a tablet or smartphone.

You don't necessarily have to answer from there, if you prefer to use your Yealink, but the 3CX clients always show live information so you will not have to reprovision often. We show pop-ups during an incoming call too, so the client can even stay minimized. Hope this helps!

 

[VoIPTools]

Provided your receptionist is in the same network as the guest phones, we can force a reboot of the guest phone on check in/out. That will reprovision the guest phone rather than wait for the normal reprovision schedule.

 

[guzzitech]

Yeah I think the desktop app is the way to go. We haven't gone live with the system yet (tomorrow) but I told them yesterday that the app may solve these little issues. Call comes in, look at the app instead of the exp50.

I might remove the EXP50 and use the onboard BLF for offices and common rooms and then tell them to use the app when it comes to identifying calls from guests.

Thanks!

- edit -- I tried to set the phonebook interval to 3600 but after an hour it didn't seem to update the BLF labels on the T54W's exp50.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

- edit -- I tried to set the phonebook interval to 3600 but after an hour it didn't seem to update the BLF labels on the T54W's exp50.

That's to be expected, BLFs are not related in any way to the Phonebook.

The phonebook is what the Yealink uses to match and display the name of an incoming caller. If there is no phonebook entry, it will display whatever 3CX sends during the incoming call (the more up-to-date information).

BLFs are a different story, the phone must reprovision in order to update the BLFs. But keep in mind, phones are not really designed around the ability to reprovision constantly. This is why I suggested using the apps for this specific scenario.

 

[guzzitech]

Just to follow up... we used the desktop apps on the front desk phones so when calls come in they can see the up to date caller id info there, instead of on the handsets.