Is there somewhere I can find what IP phones support remote provisioning?

[checkinyyz]

Hi everyone, we have a bunch of Polycom VVX500's that I learned don't really work with 3CX if it's in the cloud. I set up our VPN which did make them work, but we're having some issues like dropped calls periodically and what not so I'm thinking I'd rather ditch the VPN and just connect fully remotely over the Internet. I've seen mention of Snom or Yealink as being preferred phones for this. I don't want to buy something wrong or find out features are missing. Just wondering if anyone can recommend or if there's a list of which phones work best remotely with 3CX and have the most features. I will always use CTI with the 3CX client, so switchboard, presence etc are not really a huge deal but I also don't want them to look like budget phones like some of the Yealink ones where they have a tiny LCD with a super thick bezel around it!

Was looking at the Snom SMD745 or SMD765 but now I don't see those under phone provisioning in 3CX. Is Yealink the best to use then? I really find their phones ugly so hate to go with them but please let me know.

 

[Brian Cross]

Yealink using a SBC at the remote site is your best solution. Depending on the amount of phones depends on the SBC solution. I.E. Pi vs. Windows.

Also using a SBC will allow the phone to dial via CTI and not do that "Make Call" crap when using the software.

 

[DSXVOICE]

Brian is quite right. If you are going to use 3CX, then Yealink is by far the better choice. Fanvil is also an option.

 

[jimbo59]

I have Yealink and love Htek

 

[checkinyyz]

Thanks everyone. This is on Amazon AWS so don't think I can use a SBC there as aren't they physical? I'm still confused over all this, as 3CX all over their website promotes this "cloud based PBX" that's so easy to turn up jumping aboard the "3CX express!" But so far every issue we keep having I'm told to use something that isn't supported on this platform or that certain phones won't work if 3CX is in the cloud and so on. Would have been nice if maybe that was actually explained in detail, as if you go by 3CX.com I was under the assumption that this is the preferred way to use 3CX since they promote it as this cloud based PBX so much.

 

[DSXVOICE]

In this case, the SBC is on the phone-end, not the PBX end. You will need it to make a cloud-pbx practical - in most cases. If you put your PBX on AWS, use an SBC, and use Yealink phones your life will be simple. BTW - this forum loves to argue the advantages of onsite vs. cloud. IMHO - if you care about 100% uptime on your phone system - put it in the cloud. If you have a sense of humor about phones being down, then onsite is okay.

 

[complex1]

@DSXDATA,

What about OVH France as cloud server?
A few weeks ago their Data centre was almost 1 day down due to power issues and network backup errors.
Not so 100% uptime I should say.
Personally I recommended onsite installs and you don’t have to use SBC.

 

[DSXVOICE]

See?

 

[complex1]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/09/ovh_datacenters_go_titsup/

 

[Brian Cross]

I only do on-prem installs

 

[checkinyyz]

I'm not against going on prem personally, it just makes me nervous due to bandwidth. We are a SD-WAN provider, so I have 500/20 cable as primary with 250/250 fibre as redundant, both load balanced and bonded over VPN back to AWS, so all voice traffic is duplicated across both WAN. That way if a packet is dropped it isn't an issue and if the cable goes down the calls don't drop as the fibre is active and so on.

My main challenge is that 2 users work remotely, and most work from home often vs being in the office. So being in the cloud just seems much easier (seems being key word there!). We also ring all calls to our cell phones, so I just mentally feel like there's less delay or latency that way, as the SIP provider is very close to AWS so it's about 3ms between 3CX and the SIP provider, but having the calls come here on prem then forward out to the cell phones I feel like would cause more delays, but I guess it's something I could look into. Previously when we only had cable or DSL I'd never want to use that as a primary connection, but having the SD-WAN now with cable/fibre/LTE it might be okay.

To DSXDATA, when you say the SBC is on the phone end, you mean it's built into the Yealink? Or I need something extra?

 

[BrenttG]

we host a bunch of cloud based 3cx instances, and have even mitigated the need for the SBC in most cases, and yealink phones are the best we have found, feature wise, option 66, etc.

Static DHCP the phones and apply the provisioning link to option 66 for their ips, and they even provision themselves just by hitting that factory reset button, or just turning them on, if their new and never used.

 

[DSXVOICE]

Sorry - the SBC needs to be on the same LAN as the phone. Typically, its a Raspberry PI or a Debian instance.The phones communicate to the PBX through the SBC, which sets up a tunnel to the PBX. The SBC also contributes a modicum of local intelligence, so it connects local calls to each other avoiding the need to go out to the cloud and back for a simple call down the hall. It also consolidates BLF signalling, which can create a boatload of needless traffic. So, generally speaking, an SBC earns its keep

 

[checkinyyz]

Thanks that makes sense. I guess my issue is that most users are remote and only use 3CX softphone so having a SBC at each of their homes might be tricky. Or is the SBC more to assist with the IP phones vs softphone?

I'm debating on trying to deploy this on prem now instead just to see. One issue my remote users have is periodically for one, he'll click the "play voicemail on my phone" option, but his phone never rings, he has to instead dial into the VM system. Or another employee will randomly get dropped off a call, but then it still shows she is on it on the switchboard, but then her 3cx client all freezes and she has to reboot as it won't reopen if she force quits it. I then have to go into the admin console to forcibly end the call it shows her on. Not sure if those issues are related to it being in the cloud or not. Both users work from home and just use the 3cx client on their laptops.

 

[BrenttG]

SBC is not nessicery with softphones.

 

[daktur]

We've used Grandstream since we became 3CX partners back in 2009. They work well on LAN, STUN and SBC and provision remotely

Hi @trifif , do you have the template for provisioning the gxp1625 and the 1200?
Thanks

 

[daktur]

Which version of 3CX are you using?

I am using version 15.5 w/ SBC on the remote location.

The phones are unsupported by default.

Thanks!

 

[Exchange]

I use the Yealink T46G and the HTek UC924 with 3CX, they both work well with remote provisioning with STUN.

 

[us1]

https://www.3cx.com/sip-phones/

Look under the section "supported IP phones." These are the phones you can purchase that will support remote IP provisioning.

I build out only hosted instances using Yealink phones. Works great. Haven't had a large enough install to require the SBC yet but working on a deal for 70 extensions which would use the SBC.