BLF (Busy Lamp Field) monitoring

[fgc92210]

Greetings all,

We are trying to bid on a hospital installation, where one of the requirements is shared extension on multiple phones.
What they want is each phone to have 4 line buttons -which we can do- , but they want a replica of those 4 lines buttons on other set to "share" calls.

Typically:
Extension 1000 has its own 4 lines buttons
Extension 2000 has its own 4 lines buttons, but also the 4 buttons from 1000

So if extension 1000 is on the phone (1st button) and a 2nd call comes, its 2nd button is going to ring/blink, and on extension 2000 the 2nd button for line 1000 will do the same.

Any way / work around to do this on 3CX?

Thank you

 

[Evolute IT]

This is not a supported setup in 3CX. The provisioning only does 1 ext per phone.

You can always use a custom template, but no official support will be provider. However, many people done it. A quick search on the forum will give you a lot of infos, depending on which phones you plan on using.

 

[fgc92210]

I plan on using Fanvil phones. Issue is.. If it's not supported and shit hits the fan, I'm going to be like a dead fish in the water. I'll see how important this is for them. If not, I'll sell another type of system which can do it. Thanks.

 

[SweetAction]

We do this in Hotels (Yealink's though) with custom templates where a supervisor needs to monitor front desk + their extension and have it ring for both extensions. Custom Templates are really not so bad, any issue you have can be easily tested by switching 1 phone to the 3CX supported template and seeing if the issue remains. If it does - you can get support. If not - you can start looking at what changes you made that caused it (make 1 change at a time).

 

[fgc92210]

We do this in Hotels (Yealink's though) with custom templates where a supervisor needs to monitor front desk + their extension and have it ring for both extensions. Custom Templates are really not so bad, any issue you have can be easily tested by switching 1 phone to the 3CX supported template and seeing if the issue remains. If it does - you can get support. If not - you can start looking at what changes you made that caused it (make 1 change at a time).

I will check it out.
I just have to be very cautious because I'm in the USA, and you get sued for anything in this country.
Hotels are more laid back than hospital, where everything need to be up and running 24x7 with never an issue.
It's a touchy subject if one little little thing does not work, you might lose the entire account if you can't fix and someone else can fix with another brand. I'm not saying it's impossible, and I understand it's doable from your post, but once again it's a sensitive vertical to play with. Well'' test this in a lab and see how it goes. Thanks

 

[fgc92210]

@SweetAction would you mind sharing how you do that? I checked in the forum tonight but could not find anything relevant to my scenario. Thanks a ton!

 

[SweetAction]

3CX docs on custom templates:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/custom-ip-phone-templates/

How I build them.

1) Export the config from the phone
2) Make the changes I want on the phone itself (if need be, remove provisioning link)
3) Export the config from the phone
4) Compare the configs to see the changes
5) Edit the copy of the template you made (based on the 3CX link above) and apply the changes.
6) Factory reset the phone and apply the new template to the phone
7) Test and adjust

I'm also USA based and understand the legal ramifications. Stop putting yourself in hot seat is all I can say - you can and should empower the client. "Dear client, here are the options. I think we should do this because ___, but ___ can also be used if you accept this limitation, etc."
A CUCM solution is 3x the cost - but will better support this need. So if cost is the most important piece to the client, let them make the decision to do something unsupported. If support is more important - their decision. Be their trusted advisor, not their dictator (unless you have been hired to be their dictator, but doubtful).

 

[fgc92210]

3CX docs on custom templates:
https://www.3cx.com/docs/custom-ip-phone-templates/

How I build them.

1) Export the config from the phone
2) Make the changes I want on the phone itself (if need be, remove provisioning link)
3) Export the config from the phone
4) Compare the configs to see the changes
5) Edit the copy of the template you made (based on the 3CX link above) and apply the changes.
6) Factory reset the phone and apply the new template to the phone
7) Test and adjust

I'm also USA based and understand the legal ramifications. Stop putting yourself in hot seat is all I can say - you can and should empower the client. "Dear client, here are the options. I think we should do this because ___, but ___ can also be used if you accept this limitation, etc."
A CUCM solution is 3x the cost - but will better support this need. So if cost is the most important piece to the client, let them make the decision to do something unsupported. If support is more important - their decision. Be their trusted advisor, not their dictator (unless you have been hired to be their dictator, but doubtful).

Thanks for the info. I'll check this out in my lab this week. Totally agree with the client mentality. We always offer different solutions, and go above and beyond to accommodate, giving information about the possibility of "it will work, it can break anytime, they won't support it, we might change it down the road". It usually works well.

Just so I understand the BLF: You create regular users, regular phones (for example x1000, x1001) and if 1000 needs to monitor 1001, you simply create a new template for 1000 where you manually add the key lines for 1001 ?

 

[SweetAction]

Yeah, you can either hardcode in the values to the template or you could (really really unsupported) place variables into the database and call them that way.

You make a regular extension and add a phone like normal, except when selecting the model/template you select the custom one.

You could also just remove the provisioning link and manually program phones too.