3CX phone for Android problems

[Rémy Faure-Vincent]

We recently deployed around 20 Samsung Galaxy Xcover for use with our new 3CX phone system, and they have been randomly unable to receive calls even after re-doing the entire Firebase configuration and checking twice that everything should be running fine.

• "no network" issue (while phone is running over reliable 4G mobile access)
• phone that doesn't ring at all, or does so a minute later (probably when finally acknowledging the firebase push)
• touchscreen accepting input from users' ear while on a call (what is the proximity sensor option for, really ?)
• application not restarting properly when asked to quit or quit without push
• application not coming to front when call is received on some phones (only the notification appears)
• calls take one to several seconds to be connected when touching the accept button
• bluetooth headsets have audio and microphone routing issues, not working at all in most cases

we tried a variety of solutions including switching from wifi to 4G, removing the lockscreen pattern, automating an application restart every minute but none worked reliably.

all the phones are running the same official Samsung Android build, with all Samsung system apps disabled via Gsuite admin (ensuring a nearly pure Android OS), with the same lack of restrictions.

Please take a look at Zoiper for something that works and take example.

We are extremely disappointed in this system, given that we switched to those smartphones because our old Aastra DECTs "have not been tested" by 3CX and thus are "incompatible".

We would also appreciate the application to be allowed for install on Chromebooks, since it is still locked out on the Play Store.

I am available for any inquiry and/or test on our deployment, before we switch back to the reliable SIP/DECT solution we had before.

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

The 3CX app will recognize the config attachment only when it's opened by the Gmail app. If it's opened via Gmail in the browser that's another story. It's something we unfortunately cannot fix.

Android does not allow us to associate filenames with a certain app, and hence all the issue about opening the 3cxconfig file on Android requiring a file manager app like "Total Commander".

 

[net-products]

I have tested this on a user that experiencing always issues with the app.
- Samsung S7 Edge
- Version app: .208
- Connection: 4G

Open the app, register is all working fine.
Open the app being called is working fine.
Use the home button to go to the begin screen, calls will stop being received after 2 or 3 minutes already.
Use the home button, lock the phone, not any call will be received.

I must say im a little bit in doubt, i dont have many users that have this such extreme. Mostly it keeps on running for 15 minutes before it stops but this one almost directly stops.

We have checked energy settings as far as we can, nothing should block nor de-activate any services for being idle.

I have a verbose logfile from the phone itself, not from the PBX currently but i can get this logfile if requested.
Is it adviced to add the verbose logging of the phone in a attachment in this post?

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

Is it adviced to add the verbose logging of the phone in a attachment in this post?

No.

Use the home button, lock the phone, not any call will be received.

Do me one favor and exit the application using the "Exit" button and re-check if you receive PUSH calls.

 

[Peter Richardson]

Here's an idea:

In Zoiper they give you the option of having a status icon in the status bar so that the user can see that the soft phone is connected without having to open the app. Would this be difficult to implement?

 

[Otto Lodewijk]

Just a quick reply to this thread to mention that we're experiencing the same problems as described above.

I want to contribute one other scenario to this topic:
Walking around in a multi-cell Wi-Fi system with an active call, sometimes results in a dropped (lost) call. Most Wi-Fi roaming transitions go smoothly, except in cases where the client switches to 4G for a really short time (1 second) before going back to Wi-Fi. This drops the call.

Also, leaving the office while calling (so, when transitioning from Wi-Fi to 4G) drops the call.

An other (generic) VoIP app called Bria didn't have this behaviour.

The reason why we prefer to keep our customers on the 3CX app are the added features such as presence and a company addressbook. Zoiper and Bria don't support this, unfortunately.

 

[Vali_3CX]

@Otto Lodewijk
How does Bria handle network transition if, for instance, Line 1 is held and Line 2 on hold? Or Line 1 has an incoming call?

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

I'd advise for any 3CX Android Client users to be a bit more patient with us. We are very actively looking into and fixing various Android Client issues at the moment, as well as implementing new minor features for improved app usage.

We hope to eventually address all issues as well as to implement features that will greatly separate us and completely remove the need to even compare the 3CX Android app with other similar apps.

Most issues in this thread have already been addressed, we are going to be working on the few left and that's gonna take time. I hope you understand that.

 

[Shawn]

thank you for addressing these issues diligently as fast as you are able to. you said most of these issues have been addressed. are they addressed in the ga or beta version? do you recommend us using the ga released version or the beta version?

in my eyes, the most important issue is the phone ringing reliably. has this been addresses? if so, what version?

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

Here's a link to signup to the beta version:
https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.tcx.sipphone14

Also here's a list of changes, you can see for yourself what was fixed since .170 to .208
https://www.3cx.com/blog/change-log/3cxphone-android-build-history/

 

[net-products]

Many of the problems have been solved here too. I will test it further but so far so good. Hopefully this will be released fast to a non-beta version.

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

There are a few final tweaks and fixed in progress related to permissions. We expect to have something fully released in the next few weeks sooner or later.

 

[Sopock]

Most issues in this thread have already been addressed, we are going to be working on the few left and that's gonna take time. I hope you understand that.

I hope that app will return restrictions like PBX url:

All apps return an app restrictions (managed configurations) schema. If the call returns an empty schema, then the app doesn’t support manage configurations. If the call returns a schema containing a set of restrictions, then the app supports managed configurations.

 

[Rémy Faure-Vincent]

The January 30th update DOES NOT solve push calls not working.

• start app
• lock / sleep phone
• call user
• no ringing

it also somehow apparently takes ownership of phone microphone and speaker on some phones, so Zoiper can't use voice anymore (and uninstalling 3CX gives voice back to Zoiper so yeah, confirmed)...

why is this thread marked solved ? :/

 

[net-products]

Does this happen on multiple phones or just one? We have tested this aswell and for us the problem got solved on many many phones. I just noticed there is a new version of the 3CX app, i will right now let all my users of 3cx update and test again.

 

[LeonidasG_3CX]

The January 30th update DOES NOT solve push calls not working.

• start app
• lock / sleep phone
• call user
• no ringing

it also somehow apparently takes ownership of phone microphone and speaker on some phones, so Zoiper can't use voice anymore (and uninstalling 3CX gives voice back to Zoiper so yeah, confirmed)...

why is this thread marked solved ? :/

Open any issues you have with the 3CX Android application in a new thread.
Most issues reported in this thread have been resolved.

Regarding the points you mentioned above.

PUSH calls: Push works. We've tested it. What you're experiencing is something isolated and most likely related to configuration on your side and it needs more troubleshooting from your side to figure out what the problem is.

Start app: Not enough information to understand what this means.
Lock/Sleep Phone: Not enough information to understand what this means.
Call user: Not enough information to understand what this means.
No ringing: Not enough information to understand what this means.

Please provide more information on the above and a more detailed description of what the issues are that you're experiencing. We've fixed a lot of issues in the latest release. It's not possible that none of them work for you. More troubleshooting is required from your side and more info in your posts to understand what's happening.

Regarding the audio issue you're experiencing, yes this is not yet resolved. This is an issue our application has had forever and is something we are leaving to fix for last as it's not a small thing to do. If you took some time to read the previous posts you'd see i've mentioned this before.

A lot of effort has been put in this release of the 3CX Android client to address the issues you've mentioned in your first post. Please test carefully and provide the appropriate feedback with detailed information if you'd like to receive meaningful feedback or feedback at all via the 3CX Forums. For the issues you're experiencing, i suggest you open a ticket with customer support as much of it sounds like it's misconfiguration.

 

[Rémy Faure-Vincent]

it's ONE issue, with steps to reproduce :

1. start app
2. lock / sleep phone
3. call user
4. no ringing

steps to reproduce the "push call not waking up phone" problem, not separate issues. Sorry if that was unclear, I have 20 users angry that their calls do not get through yelling at me.

Our 3CX server has been setup by one of your resellers, with Firebase push setup as described in your documentation.

before today's update, Zoiper was used as a way to receive calls reliably (setup as a direct SIP client), but now that 3CX takes ownership of mic/speaker I have no choice but to uninstall it (and lose the contacts list feature).

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Please try the following and let me know if that works for you:
Navigate to Dashboard / Push Account and delete the server key and sender Id values (save them somewhere as you might need them after the test). Press on to save the settings
Now the dashboard should say 3CX account next to the Push account.
Navigate to Activity log / Settings and set the logging level to verbose
Restart all 3CX services
Log back in to the management console once services finish restarting
Send a new welcome email to an affected device (very important)
Re-provision the device with the new welcome email.
Put the 3CX client to the background or lock the device and wait for 1-2 minutes to make sure that the PBX will use Push.
Make a call to the extension.
Let us know if the call was successful or not

 

[Otto Lodewijk]

Update from our end, as we also have/had a lot of these problems:
Switching the clients' phones to 4G only (and forgetting the corporate wifi network entirely) and refraining from using any bluetooth devices as extension, seems to migitate the problems for now.
So for now, it's 'solved' as of my knowledge.

 

[agentsmithitaly]

I have 10 users on Android app, will provide feedback as well once updated.
I was using the beta for the past week and the screen is not reactivated anymore by notifications while on a call.

 

[Rémy Faure-Vincent]

@YiannisH_3CX
I will try the procedure when I can schedule a downtime for the phone system.