Cisco 7960 and 303

[thereverend]

I am trying to set up a remote server and use a Cisco 7960 and Cisco 303 phones that are located remotely. I have been reading that this can happen with SBC. The problem is that the directions for setting up SBC are very vague and I can not figure out the exact steps to get this to work. Can someone please help me with step by step directions for the Cisco 7960 and 303 phones?? I did make the 7960 SIP a long time ago and had been using it in a local configuration with 3cx but have a need to change this to a remote server. Thank you all for the help in advance.

 

[Nick Galea]

An SBC only makes sense if you have multiple phones in one location. If each phone is "single" at the remote location its much better to buy a supported phone - they are available from as low as $50 each. Else consider asking them to use a softphone app. Note that the Cisco phones are end of life and old - and generally insecure as well.

Now if you have a group of phones then an SBC makes sense - you will need a raspberry PI or a mini PC and install Debian or Raspian. Follow this Debian / Rasbian install guide. Alternatively install on an always on windows machine, guide here.

 

[eddv123]

I would not say that the setup guides from 3CX are vague - it is really that simple to setup the 3CX SBC. From the 3CX side they cover everything they should from the point of having your OS installed.

That being the case installing the Windows SBC (see guide from Nick above) should be a breeze, however if you want to use the Raspberry Pi or Linux variants you would need to:

Linux: Acquire the OS https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/ and using a tool such as rufus make a boot-stick and load it onto your machine of choice. You can then follow the graphical installation to get your system up and running.

Once logged in a "root" then run an apt-get update and follow the guide: https://www.3cx.com/docs/3cx-tunnel-session-border-controller/

Raspberry Pi: Just buy the "Pi Kit" with OS pre-loaded (much easier), and follow the above guide also.

I do also know of some 3CX partners who offer pre-loaded Raspberry Pi's which they will configure with your requested settings and ship to site. Then only plug and play provisioning over SBC is required (for 3CX Supported/Preferred Phone models only - Yealink, snom, Htek, Fanvil).

The advantage of the Windows SBC is that it is easy to setup and configure (as Windows knowledge is most common) but you will need to buy a Windows licence for the environment obviously.

Linux is Open Source (so no licence is required to be purchased) however you will need a little Linux knowledge to get the SBC up and running.

 

[simply7]

https://www.3cx.com/sip-phones/cisco-7940g-7960g/

According to this page the 7960 has no SBC support.