Call Journalling mislabelling as Inbound with TAPI and CTI Handset

[MattE]

We have deskphones and the 3cx Softphone installed in CTI mode. When we dial directly on the deskphone the call is journalled as Outbound but when the call is dialled via TAPI the call is journalled incorrectly as Inbound. Is this a known issue, and is there a fix/workaround?

Journalling is done via the 3CX CRM Integration to a webservice

 

[edossantos]

Depending on the desk phone, when you make a call from TAPI, it might be started as an inbound call to your deskphone from "MakeCall", and once connected, 3CX will call the outside number. You can confirm if this is your case if you see the "MakeCall" label in your deskphone when you do this. In this case, you will see the call as inbound. This will not happen with supported IP phones.

 

[MattE]

We're using the Yealink T46S which is on the supported list. Is there some setting we need to use?

When we dial via TAPI, the handset rings, plays hold music and then connects the call if that helps

 

[edossantos]

When we dial via TAPI, the handset rings, plays hold music and then connects the call if that helps

And you see the label "MakeCall" in the phone display?

 

[MattE]

Yes, it says "MakeCall"

 

[edossantos]

Yes, it says "MakeCall"

In that case you will see the call as inbound. Some phones allow a deeper integration with the 3CX client using CSTA, but it seems this is not implemented for this model...

 

[MattE]

Is there a way around this, e.g. not using TAPI. We have an in house development team and the CRM, a Windows application, is developed by us so can be quite flexible.

 

[edossantos]

I think this might work better with the Web Client. You can try making a call using the URL:
https://YOUR_PBX_FQDN:5001/webclient/#/call?phone=123456789

If that works, maybe instead of using TAPI you can launch that URL from the client machine.

 

[MattE]

So they click to dial in our app, that will switch focus to bring up the browser using your link above, they click "Call" and then click back to Windows App to continue call, and every now and then close all the browser tabs that will be piling up . It's not very seamless or is there some trick you can tell me?

 

[edossantos]

The Web Client can also be configured in CTI mode. When you click "Call", your deskphone will start the call, no need to switch to the Windows app.

 

[MattE]

Sorry that wasn't clear, using the webclient the work flow will be
1. Click to dial in Windows CRM
2. Browser opens on call page in new tab
3. Click Call
4. Pick up the handset
5. Close browser tab
6. Close/minimise browser to get back to Windows CRM
7. Continue call in Windows CRM

That's 4 clicks to initiate a call effectively, is there a way with web client to get back to where we were with previous phone system, or at least reduce the clicks, i.e.

1. Click to dial in Windows CRM
2. Pick up the handset,
3. Continue call in Windows CRM

 

[edossantos]

If you use the 3CX Windows client in softphone mode instead of your deskphone, then it will work as you need. The problem is that the 3CX Windows client can't control the Yealink phone through CSTA and then the phone receives the call as an inbound call from Make Call. If you use the 3CX Windows client in softphone mode, this is not needed, and the call will be outbound.

Something else, if you are the developer of the CRM, then maybe you can customize it to consider the call as outbound even when it's reported as inbound, if you can recognize this call being triggered from the CRM.

 

[MattE]

Thanks Ernesto, I've found a reasonable solution. By hosting the browser inside our windows application, using https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/communitytoolkit/controls/wpf-winforms/webview, I can keep the user in our CRM effectively so they just have one extra on the Call button to start dialling