Advice on Seting up Secondary Server

[Yellow_Flash]

Hi,

I have something that I need your advise on.

We have a 3cx server in the office(call center) and in case of a network failure in the office, we are having difficulty in reaching the support services.
Because of this, there was a proposal to install another 3cx server in our remote location, and in case of a network failure in the office, the phones registered to the secondary server can be used to contact the support services.
Secondary server will be reached through a broadband connection.

My question is,
Since we are only using this for emergency purpose and maybe once in a year or so.
Isn’t it better to have a free version running as we will only be making one call at a time in these scenario.
Or is there another easier alternative?
The only requirement is that we should be able to make calls when the office network goes down.

What is the best way to achieve this?


Thank you.

 

[Saqqara]

Pleas specify how the remote location is connected to office. If the office network goes down do you lose connection to the remote office

What do you mean by office network going down - internal or access to the internet

 

[JohnS_3CX]

In addition to what @Saqqara said: If you consider hosting your server in the cloud and using an SBC at the office, then the office network going down completely means the PBX remains online.

Now it's just a matter the office agents of using the mobile client to have access to your PBX either via a secondary WiFi internet connection, or directly using mobile internet from your phone.

Using an SBC also means that if you have a failover connection in the office, the deskphones can continue to work if the main internet access goes down

 

[Yellow_Flash]

Pleas specify how the remote location is connected to office. If the office network goes down do you lose connection to the remote office

What do you mean by office network going down - internal or access to the internet

THank you for the reply.
The connectivity to the remote location is through a broadband connection, which is different from the main network. So, there is basically 2 networks one of which is used for the server and the other to connect to remote location.
The scenario is when the main connection drops or internet goes down.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

In addition to what @Saqqara said: If you consider hosting your server in the cloud and using an SBC at the office, then the office network going down completely means the PBX remains online.

Now it's just a matter the office agents of using the mobile client to have access to your PBX either via a secondary WiFi internet connection, or directly using mobile internet from your phone.

Using an SBC also means that if you have a failover connection in the office, the deskphones can continue to work if the main internet access goes down

Thank you for the reply @JohnS_3CX
The primary server is already hosted on premise. We don't want to change anything about it.
All these scenarios come into play when the connectivity to the primary server goes down, or the internet connectivity goes down.
In such a case, we should be able to make outbound calls using the secondary server which will be connected via a secondary network connection.
Cloud hosting isnt something that company is very fond of, we need everything to be hosted on premise, that is the problem.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Understood. In this case you are better off going with a second unique PBX that will be under a different public IP.

You existing phones will not be able to use it (without reprovisioning them each time), but you can attach specific phones to it or use the mobile clients during the emergency.

The free version should work in this case.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

Understood. In this case you are better off going with a second unique PBX that will be under a different public IP.

You existing phones will not be able to use it (without reprovisioning them each time), but you can attach specific phones to it or use the mobile clients during the emergency.

The free version should work in this case.

@JohnS_3CX Yes, a second unique PBX is what we are planning on.
Since there are 4 lines on the IP phones that we are using, Can't one of these lines be registered on to the secondary server?

 

[JohnS_3CX]

We only support a relation of one PBX per device.

If you wish to make your device register on two PBXs then you will have to do this manually but your setup will not be supported by 3CX.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

We only support a relation of one PBX per device.

If you wish to make your device register on two PBXs then you will have to do this manually but your setup will not be supported by 3CX.

@JohnS_3CX Does that mean only extensions from a single PBX can be registered at a time?!

If I wish to register 2 extensions from 2 seperate PBX, what are the things that I have to do manually?

Thank you.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

Yes exactly. That scenario is not supported by 3CX, you will have to do some research and do it manually if you wish to proceed.

I could not advise you how to do it though since it may introduce unforeseen issues that won't be covered under 3CX support.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

Yes exactly. That scenario is not supported by 3CX, you will have to do some research and do it manually if you wish to proceed.

I could not advise you how to do it though since it may introduce unforeseen issues that won't be covered under 3CX support.

@JohnS_3CX I understand, thank you for the information.
The issue can be resolved by keeping a dedicated IP phone registered to the secondary server, so the issue isnt major.

Can you let me know what are the other things I should consider when going for a seperate PBX in the remote location? What all are needed? Since I'm doing implementation of 3CX for the first time, I'm not sure what all are the requirements needed.

I know about Network & Firewal config, Ports to be opened, Host machine pre-req, Public IP, licence, a custom FQDN has to be arranged, SSL cert to make sure browser is comaptible.
Is there anything else required to setup the secondary server?

Thank you.

 

[digitaldaz]

Are you not bothered about inbound calls?? Everything you seem to have described here relates to the ability to do outbound calls. That's easy to bodge together but what about inbound for that you are going to need some real failover with something like srv or low TTL A records

 

[JohnS_3CX]

The main thing is to ensure your ports are open on the secondary modem, and that you have a registered trunk with rules to get calls working in/out.

I would do some testing of course to ensure everything runs smoothly and that the users know which phone to use when the time comes.

I would also recommend you take the time to do the Academy course, as this will help you both with setting up a new system but also with maintaining the existing main PBX and can help you with troubleshooting too. You can also search through the course content if you quickly need to check anything specific or use it as a reference.

https://www.3cx.com/3cxacademy/

 

[Yellow_Flash]

Are you not bothered about inbound calls?? Everything you seem to have described here relates to the ability to do outbound calls. That's easy to bodge together but what about inbound for that you are going to need some real failover with something like srv or low TTL A records

@digitaldaz I understand, Inbound calls is actually the second scenario.
First and foremost, as per the requirement I was asked to make sure there is a connection through which we will be able to contact the support in case of emergencies like this.
So as of now, the requirement is to make outbound calls.

 

[Yellow_Flash]

The main thing is to ensure your ports are open on the secondary modem, and that you have a registered trunk with rules to get calls working in/out.

I would do some testing of course to ensure everything runs smoothly and that the users know which phone to use when the time comes.

I would also recommend you take the time to do the Academy course, as this will help you both with setting up a new system but also with maintaining the existing main PBX and can help you with troubleshooting too. You can also search through the course content if you quickly need to check anything specific or use it as a reference.

https://www.3cx.com/3cxacademy/

@JohnS_3CX okay, thank you. Will do what you have told.