Can we feasibly upgrade?

[steve_d]

For the past 8 years we have happily been using 3CX version 3.1 (yes, you read that right - version 3.1)

And it's worked just fine. Yes, we have hardly any features, but it just works. But for the past 7 years or so I've been thinking that we should upgrade. Looking at 3CX now there are a lot of great features - and the cost seems entirely reasonable. We have 20 users, so I'm thinking that Pro edition 8 SC should suit just fine (we use Exchange 2013).

But the problem would appear to be our hardware - in the intervening years all our hardware has gone from being subject to 'strategic partnership' to being unsupported.

Our current hardware is -
Vega Europa 50 BRI ISDN gateways
Vega Europa 50 POTS gateway
Mostly Grand.stream handsets - GXP2000, 2010, 2020, 2140, 2160. A couple of old Linksys.
A Grand.stream TA for an analogue conference phone.

Now of course with v3.1 there was no provisioning, and so we have configured all these devices manually, and are happy to carry on doing so.

Obviously if we have to replace all our hardware, then that makes the overall cost rather untenable, especially as the supported Snom and Yealink handsets cost (almost) exactly twice as much as the Grand.stream equivalents.

So my questions are -

1. if we upgrade to v14, can we continue to use our unsupported hardware with manual configuration?

But it would be nice to use some provisioning, so...

2. Does v14 still include the provisioning support for the older Grand.stream handsets that appeared to exist up to about v12?

3. If not, should we just use an older version (v10?, v12?) instead?

4. Would it be feasible for us to devise our own provisioning templates for the GXP21xx phones? (although we've got very few, as it happens)

And assuming that we start buying different handsets...

5. What is your support timeline for the Handsets that you currently support? (i.e. how many years into the future will you support the handsets that you say you support right now?)

I'm assuming that we will carry on with manual configuration of our Vega gateways.

Thanks,

Steve.

 

[Allen_Miller]

I think you should forget about the old junk that you have and get rid of the thinking that something new will cost more than $0. Your phone system is a business tool and worthy of some amount of investment. Modern Yealink phones are inexpensive although I would point you toward the T4x series that cost a little bit more but are worth it. Patton gateways are tops and their support is tops. With this combination your life will be easy. Set up DHCP Option 66 and provisioning is a breeze. Then you can free up the time you might be using on manually provisioning phones to do some of your real work. Step up to the current version and that way you can actually get support if you ever need it.
If this stuff doesn't make sense then maybe 3.1 is best for you???
Regards,
Allen

 

[leejor]

If you are happy with the hardware you have, and feel comfortable provisioning it manually, then I don't see why you can't keep using it. There is not going to be support for any GS products by 3CX going by past "occurrences", but that doesn't mean you can't use them. I believe that the GS site has 3CX provisioning templates available for some sets.

I would think that the biggest hurdle would be re-provisioning the new PBX version. Obviously you won't be able to do a back-up and apply it to version 14. You will have to manually re-provision it all.

I would download the demo version of 14. You will obviously have to have new hardware, 64 bit processor, etc. Try manually provisioning your gateways and sets, on a weekend or other low traffic period, they can be moved back as required. If you keep most settings that same (server IP, etc.) you can pull the Ethernet plug on the old, and plug in the new, then start to set things up, when you are finished for the night, just plug back in the old server. Once you have everything working as required, and you are satisfied, buy the licence. Don't forget to do back-ups on the new system as you make any changes. You want to be able to fall back to the previous days backup if you do something that causes major issues and you're not quite sure what that was.

 

[eagle2]

Grаndstrеаm phones can be provisioned in version 12.5 unofficially (templates found in forum, GS webpage, etc.). This means the template could be adjusted for version 14 (removing %%port%%), somebody could have done it already.

Configuring VEGA gateways should be done manually, the configuration should be the same, as it used to be in your old version of 3CX.

 

[jpillow]

There is zero reason to purchase all new hardware if you like what you have keep on using it, recommended & supported hardware is just that recommended and supported but that doesnt mean you cannot use anything else. The Grandstream phones you have will work just fine there are templates on Grandstreams resellar site and I believe that 3cx does continue to support the older Grandstream handsets before they were moved to unsupported thought I'm not 100% sure, however if any issues arise Grandsream has a support team that can assist with handset issues. Just purchase a new license, manually configure and you will be good to go.

 

[jasit]

you could always download a demo version, set it up, and create the extensions using the same numbers you already have, then after the extensions are created, change the user id password so it uses the same ones your phones used. then on the phones you just need to change the ip address to your new server address.

This way you can test out the new system, see how it fits your needs and go from there.

 

[RLester]

It has been a log time since I have keep up-to-date with this forum and the 3CX versions but from time to time I check in and I recall reading some place here that 3CX was giving free upgrade to version I think 12 or 12.5. Can anyone here confirm this?


OK Sorry I found it
http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/upgrade-v10-v11/

sorry ver3.1 guy (I was hopping to make your day)

 

[nb]

Hi
The only problem I see is that you are going to have to create the pbx again from scratch.
But you have a powerful import extension feature that can import extensions in bulk.
And I would leave the hardware as it is - as in their configuration settings - just configure the exact same properties you have in your 3.1 system (ID, Passwords etc) and simply replace the phone system... The ancient vega's or other phones dont care whether they talk to a sip server v 3.1 or v14. Just keep the configuration on the new pbx exactly identical and you can have an upgrade made in no time.

You should keep provisioning everything manually yes... But you have been doing this for the past 8 years, so it's ok if you keep on doing it for a while longer.