3cx system for multiple countries

[Chris Chunsi]

Hello, I am looking to setup a 3cx system in the cloud for multiple countries. What I can't work out is the best topology for this.

So, I have offices in UK, PL, NL, DE, FR, RU, VN

Do I setup a PBX for each office and then use the bridge function to link them together to get the dial by extension, presence information etc... Or do I setup a single PBX and use SIP providers from each office location to get the local numbers etc...

Are these even valid configurations?

I understand that multiple PBX's would provide some redundancy.

We want to achieve - Local numbers for each country, dial by extension between offices, a common directory across all offices linked to Office 365.

Any help or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

 

[sip.bg]

Depends whether you have good VPN connections between offices, how many extensions you have in each office, what is the number of simultaneous calls, etc. If answer is yes, you can put the PBX in your best connected location or cloud. You may consider having network redundancy by using 2 internet providers in location, BGP if possible, etc. The task is mostly proper network planning.

If you experience drops in connectivity or low quality, better use several PBXs in several different locations, connected via bridges -- you will have local survivability. This could be more expensive as a solution (more 3CX licenses, nevertheless smaller than only one license, but bigger plus more servers).

Regarding trunks you may carry various local trunks through VPN to the central location or use a provider like DIDlogic to have trunks from many countries in your central location.

 

[Chris Chunsi]

thanks for your answer sip.bg. I understand about VPN connections etc... but II am talking specifically about hosting the system/s in the cloud... Also with regards to DIDlogic there are limitations there..

So, I guess what I really need to know is... is it possible to have a single or maybe 2 (for redundancy) 3cx PBX's in the cloud connecting to to several SIP trunk providers in different countries?

 

[sip.bg]

You can negotiate SIP trunks with local providers as well. In some countries you need to provide documents like address registration, passport copy, regardless which telecom operator you are using. Germany is one of the countries with strictest regulations.

If you have VPN tunnels you can use also local PSTN and/or ISDN trunks with SIP gateways.
Depends how many extensions you plan to have in each country from your list and how many trunk channels you need.

Redundancy could be difficult to implement, depends too much on your connectivity and providers you use. 3CX offers active-passive failover, but I personally prefer failover solution provided by virtualization platform, it's almost realtime switching between primary and backup server (active-active). In your case connectivity redundancy is more important. Please check private message I sent.