Grandstream FXS Gateways and SP6

[KBRV]

Hi, wonderful to see Grandstream support brought back into 3CX...Great work guys !

We have 11 GXW4248's currently in use with 3CX running SP5 and many extensions configured on them as unprovisioned. They were installed before Grandstream support was pulled from 3CX a while back.
What I would like to know is what happens to them once I upgrade to SP6 ? Will the existing gateways be picked up and show up in 3CX now ? Will I need to wipe and reconfigure them all with a new configuration generated by 3CX.
We have roughly 700 analog extensions that use these gateways and are connected to the hotel PMS so I would like to know what is likely to happen after the upgrade; thanks in advance.

Glen.

 

[eddv123]

They may still register and connect to 3CX without issue but will still be in their "UNPROVISIONED" state.

To take advantage of the pro's of provisioning you best options are to:

* Reset the device(s).
* Upgrade to the latest firmware for the Grandstream: http://www.grandstream.com/support/firmware.
* Follow this guide: https://www.3cx.com/voip-gateways/grandstream-gxw-fxs/

It may seem like a bit of work but it will be worth it to give you that extra piece of mind.

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Hello @kbrv

Please note that if you upgrade to SP6 your current configuration will not change. The templates will be included in the PBX but you will need to reset your devices and provision them with the included template to have them in a supported state.

 

[KBRV]

Fantastic. So if I have this right they will continue to function after the upgrade and I can then reset and provision them through 3CX one at a time without significantly disrupting operations?
Thanks a bunch for bringing this back into your fantastic PBX.

 

[YiannisH_3CX]

Fantastic. So if I have this right they will continue to function after the upgrade and I can then reset and provision them through 3CX one at a time without significantly disrupting operations?

Yes, they will continue to function as they are and then you can choose to provision them (recommended) using the included templates.

Thanks a bunch for bringing this back into your fantastic PBX.

Thank you for your kind feedback.

 

[Mike83]

Question about provisioning. We have a couple of extensions that were previously set on the GXW4248 with an "Offhook Auto-Dial". They are for public area phones to auto dial the operator, to prevent them from dialing other extensions directly. Or we have a few lines that are "intercom" style phones with just a push button to initiate the call, so those require the offhook hotline feature.

It appears after upgrading to the 3CX provisioning, every time the switches reboot it is clearing the offhook setting. Is there a way to permanently keep this setting on specific FXS ports?

 

[leejor]

I think is you edit a template to include the option, it becomes non-standard, and will probably earn you a red triangle. As a "hotline" phone there probably won't be a lot of, if any, changes done, you could manually set the option to what you want, then, in the phone disable any future updates.

 

[Mike83]

How do you edit the 3CX template for the GXW4248 to set a hotline number for one specific extension (let’s say it is extension 610)?

I have 13 other GXW4248s, so it can’t hardcode by port number, because I don’t want the other switches to do the hotline on any of their ports.

You say to disable future updates for that extension for the auto provisioning, where in 3CX is that setting for “FXS/DECT” connected phones? I have noticed under the “Phone Provisioning” tab it only lists the “3CX Client” as one of the programmed phones, it doesn’t list any FXS/DECT provisioning settings there.

Would this require a 3CX feature update to include a “Hotline” or “Offhook auto-dial” field setting somewhere within the Extension setup?

 

[craigreilly]

On the FXS - just do not put in the config/provisioning server link.

 

[Mike83]

On the FXS - just do not put in the config/provisioning server link.

It may seem like a bit of work but it will be worth it to give you that extra piece of mind.

I am just trying to get the benefit of having the auto-provisioning. That is why I have asked if there is any way. But if not, then I guess I will have to stick with the manual provisioning.

Point in case, now all my extensions have the little "Warning" sign next to it, because they were originally created with the pre-SP6 password rules of only needing 7 digits instead of 10 for the authentication ID and password. So if I had auto-provisioning, I could just "regenerate" the passwords with a simple click of a mouse and be done. But now I have to go in one extension at a time and manually update them on the switches so I can get rid of the annoying signs on every extension.

 

[lneblett]

The regenerate also resets more than what you have stated. It also alters the Voice Mail Pin and the password for the device Web GUI access. Its not a problem for many situations and especially handy if needing to change an extension up if a new user comes in and takes over an existing, But if you have users on the gateway that use VM, you will need to send them a new welcome email or advice of the VM PIN change.

 

[Mike83]

After doing many more searches on the forum here, I found another post that had some answers relating to Wellgate switches. I found how to fix the issue.

I needed to create a custom template SPECIFIC TO (only used by) the one FXS switch in question, at "C:\ProgramData\3CX\Instance1\Data\Http\Interface\provisioning\<random letters>\CustomTemplates\fxs".

Once I created the custom template (copying the default template from "C:\ProgramData\3CX\Instance1\Data\Http\Templates\fxs"), then I needed to re-create the FXS/DECT entry for that FXS switch, and re-upload the configuration.

On the Custom Template, there is a section at the very bottom for each port, you can edit the "Offhook Auto-Dial" setting there.

Once I rebooted the switch after this, the auto-dial option was not cleared, but it was able to reprovision extensions when the ID/passwords had changed.