Coming from Switchvox - Outbound Caller ID Question

[MD500_Pilot]

So my background in VOIP has always been Asterisk and Switchvox (on the commercial side). We are currently evaluating 3CX for a couple of deployments where it does not make a lot of sense to deploy Switchvox (for various reasons).

In the particular instance that we are looking at, we have a requirement that each extension has the ability to alter their outgoing caller-id by prepending a two-digit code to their outbound call. This allows anyone making outbound calls to appear as the client company calling while doing outbound work. We currently have about 15 different outbound rules setup on a Digium Switchvox install and it works perfectly via Flowroute which fully supports this functionality.

Within Switchvox I create an outbound call rule (say any call starting with 00) to send it to a specific SIP provider (Flowroute in the case) but it passes through a Caller-Id rule checker first that allows me to alter the outbound caller-id name and number before passing it on to the SIP provider.

We basically build a rule that looks like this:

When any extension making an outgoing call through "rule 00 - Modify CallerID - ABC Hardware" change their caller id name to "ABC Hardware" and their caller id number to "8852252397".

So now any extension that needs to make outbound calls for "ABC Hardware" simply prepends 00 to the number they are dialing and Flowroute accepts this via From Header Caller-Id and makes the change. Very easy, very simple.

Now we come to 3CX. I have installed and configured it, I have it connected to Flowroute sending and receiving calls, I have figured out how to hard code a different caller-id onto my extension and Flowroute accepts this caller-id with no issues. I have then tried to remap the caller-id via an Outbound rule in 3CX (didn't work) as well as attempting to do it via outbound source pattern matching on the SIP trunk and that didn't work.

I am sure that I am missing something simple and I am hoping that someone can point me in the right direction.
I am running the free 3CX Version 15.5.15502.6 with a registration based connection to Flowroute.

 

[dan_tx]

You'll probably need to setup sip trunk to NOT send the OutboundCallerID taken from Extension page, but instead send the Outbound Caller ID for the sip trunk.

Then have a sip trunk to flowroute in 3cx for each company, and a rule to use a specific sip trunk in 3cx based on the dialed prefix/code.

Basically instead of trying to remap outbound caller ID, just use the rules to send to a specific sip trunk, based on what company needs to be shown, and that sip trunk has the caller ID set for that company.

 

[MD500_Pilot]

@dan_tx Thanks for your quick reply......however that seems like a huge hammer for such a small nail.

In the one instance we have 15 companies, in another deployment, we have over 50 companies, I don't think this solution scales very well.

I guess what I am looking for is the same functionality that Asterisk and Switchvox provide, a simple way to manage and manipulate outbound caller-id based on a set of call rules. I seriously don't think configuring 30, 50, 100 SIP trunks is the way to go.

I like 3CX so far, but like all things in life, it has to fit the need and maybe in this particular case it is not the right tool for the job.

 

[leejor]

There is an existing feature request, in the Ideas Forum, and it says that it is In Progress, but (sadly) has been this way for a while.

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/ability-to-set-a-caller-id-for-outbound-calls.42840/

For the time being, the outbound caller Id can be set against the extension, or against the trunk, with the number against the extension taking precedent.

See the explanation at the very end of this thread...

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/outbound-caller-id-not-working-anymore.63155/

 

[MD500_Pilot]

@leejor - Perfect. Thank You.

That is the information that I needed to know so I don't spend any more time beating my head against a wall that won't give!

 

[N_G]

Interesting point.... Configurable Outbound caller ID is coming in an update to v16, a few more months off basically...

 

[MD500_Pilot]

Thank you @Nick Galea

I look forward to taking a look at it when it comes out. That would solve this particular client's issue.