Extension Limitations

[reighnman]

Hey all, after playing around with 3CX for a week or two I've decided to replace an asterisk implementation we were testing however I ran into some limitations regarding extensions.

I noticed when I first installed, it only gave me the options to select from 3,4,5 digit extensions. In our current implementation we use 6 digit extensions, so I tried manually editing the ENL (extension number length) parameter to 6 which didn't seem to work. Basically after changing it, it forced me to change the conference extension but then said "Malformed ENL Parameter".

Additionally, some extensions start with 0, which the system didn't seem to allow in any form. Is there a way around either of these?

It'd be nice if the system didn't force all extensions to match the length of the ENL, that's not really an extension "limit". IE if ENL was 5 I should be able to mix 3/4/5 digit extensions.

 

[abc123]

The limit is 2,3,4, or 5 and not flexible (and not too easy to change once installed either). You cannot mix them and you cannot start with 0. but a 5 digit extension gives you 90000 possibilities. Most would argue that if you need more than 90,000 extensions you would probably be better bridging two or more PBX's.

I realize other systems are more flexible in this area but 3cx is better in a lot more areas. You could make a feature request, but to be honest as most of the rules and routing are done on the extension numbers it is a lot more work for the developers and can lead to more errors (which is one of the reasons 3cx is better than most other pbxs).

Most users, once the change has been made get used to their new extensions quickly.

 

[reighnman]

The problem is that the pbx would be hosting phones for many warehouses across the country, and we currently use the first 3 digits of the extension as a prefix to identify the location based on the warehouses internal ID: 008XXX, 009XXX, 032XXX, 096XXX etc..

Since all of our warehouse ID's are 3 digits and start with 0, I could cut out the initial 0 to make 5 digit extensions but would still run into an issue with single digit warehouse IDs (08, 09, etc).

 

[abc123]

OK

I would suggest from both an ease of use and faster processing/call handling that you get many 3cx pbxs (preferably 1 per warehouse) and bridge them.

This means that each set of extensions for a warehouse is handled locally on the lan. You can set up outbound rules that do allow the use of single or double digits to the warehouse (for example you can have a rule that says 08xxx goes to the bridge on warehouse 08, and 32xxx goes to that warehouse)

Also you can send outbound calls across bridges. For example if you were in florida and wanted to dial area code 615 then you can have an outbound rule that says 615xxxxxxx routes through the bridge to the warehouse responsible for that area making it a local call.

Everything is still processed locally but can be spanned over the bridge network (At no cost for the calls).

If you want to know more about this set up, pm me and I can arrange an online meeting with you to discuss it further.