Large Installation Stories

[davesampieri]

Hi - I am looking for success stories from anyone who installed 3CX in a multi-location company with more than 1,000 phones.

I am currently looking at Avaya to replace our old, old, old Centrex system, but am investigating alternatives.

We have 11 locations, 1500 phones and approximately 100 fax lines. We will be moving to SIP trunks.

I know that I can purchase a variety of server licenses to cover the numbers of users and the concurrent conversations, but I can't find anyone who has done a project of this size.

Some other background:

We have Verizon TLS circuits to all of the locations (10 Mb minimum)
We are looking at Cisco/Linksys SPA phones
We have Cisco switches in all our locations
Some switches support POE, some don't (we'll buy power bricks)
My network guy isn't sure about creating VLAN's for the phones and having them run over the same wire (from wall jack to phone then to the computer)

I am willing to work with a vendor/partner, but because I work for a government, there is a lengthy bid process to go through. Before I do that, I would like to know if there are other customers out there of our size.

One last point, we will probably end up using Verizon for our SIP provider. Has anyone installed 3CX using Verizon?

Any assistance would be appreciated...Thanks!

Dave

 

[SY]

We have Verizon TLS circuits to all of the locations (10 Mb minimum)

How do you use it at the moment?
Is it connected to "old, old, old Centrex system"?

Thanks

 

[davesampieri]

We have Verizon TLS circuits to all of the locations (10 Mb minimum)

How do you use it at the moment?
Is it connected to "old, old, old Centrex system"?

Thanks

No, the TLS circuits are currently used for our data networks. We will configure them to support both voice and data when we implement.

Speaking of SIP trunks, we will be adding a 10 Mb connection to Verizon for the SIP trunks which will feed our main location and then the WAN will transport voice and data.

 

[sigma1]

Dave:

As far as I know our deployment for the hosted/cloud platform is somethinmg close that matching your scenario. Whith over 200 3CX servers capable of over 20000 end user deskphones we have the capability, experience and knowledge to deploy 3CX to meet your needs. Cisco SPA-5XX is certainly a great choice but in your scenario several distributed 3CX servers would be ideal. We will talk later this morning about your needs.

Regards,
Charles

 

[jtrollen]

Running VLAN's for the phones is a very common way to deploy VOIP. Especially for larger installations because you will only need one network drop for phone and computer. I run them on my network with QOS and I wouldn't do it any other way. The only problem I have ever had was a few computers with older network drivers would bluescreen when the phone reboots. Upgrading the NIC drivers fixed the problem.

 

[SY]

Hi jtrollen,

Sorry, but I'm not agree with

Running VLAN's for the phones is a very common way to deploy VOIP.

Do you have an example how to run

We have 11 locations, 1500 phones and approximately 100 fax lines

in VLAN environment?
Thanks

 

[sigma1]

VLANs should be used to control your routing and switching infrastructure. There is never a one size fits all and, for example, in our case we segregate via VLAN each client EoIP tunnel (PPTP).

VLANs can be used for load sharing, QOS, redundancy and obviously breakdown of large, high density switches into "smaller" units.

The comment was vague and size and scope dictate the use of VLANs (if, how and when).

 

[jtrollen]

Hi jtrollen,

Sorry, but I'm not agree with

Running VLAN's for the phones is a very common way to deploy VOIP.

Do you have an example how to run

We have 11 locations, 1500 phones and approximately 100 fax lines

in VLAN environment?
Thanks

Hi SY,

Why do you disagree with running VLAN's? My VLAN comment was in response to the original question about running the phone and computer over the same cable to the wall. In my opinion, the industry best practice for daisy chaining computers from phones is to separate your voice and data traffic with VLAN's and QOS. There may be many small businesses successfully running voice and data on a flat network, but I doubt you would find many large networks set up that way. Certainly, this will add some complexity to a network with 11 locations and 1500 phones, but running VOIP in a distributed environment is going to require a solid network infrastructure to avoid call quality problems. He mentions that they have Cisco switches in all of their locations so they may already have most of the equipment needed to implement this. It's just a matter of creating the VLAN's for each location and updating your routing tables.

 

[SY]

Hi jtrollen,

Second post changed my mind.

Thanks

 

[onestopps]

Hello,

I'm trying to get in contact with someone that has installed 3CX in a high volume environment. With the number of extensions you stated, it sounds like you are the one. We have 12 locations all VPNed together and get from 2000 to 2500 calls per day. We have one main call center, a secondary smaller call center, and extensions at each of the other locations. We need to get a better phone system and 3CX seems to fit our needs. However, because our phones are our lifeline, I need to make sure before buying a system that it won't die on us when we are swamped with calls.
We have PRIs vs. (I believe you said you are using SIP trunking) SIP trunk. How has your experience been? If you could explain your use, I would appreciate it.

If you could update how the install went and how it's going today, I would appreciate it.

Thank you in advance.

Adam Gruener

 

[RichardCrabb1]

Hello Onestopps,
We have installed 3CX where there were PRI's and changed over to SIP. The user base is relatively small at 100, but as there is a call centre they are getting around 1400 calls per day - a similar order to yours. The changeover was complicated by the fact that that we could not change all users over on the same day. About half had to stay on the old Toshiba PBX before being changed over. This posed challenges with DDI numbers on the ISDN and the gateway. Once they were all changed over, we changed it from ISDN to SIP trunks. This was easy once it happened and users did not even notice. Both sets of changeover were straightforward (first to 3CX, the second from ISDN to SIP). The planning however was not, and was complicated by the type of ISDN that the customer had. As long as the planning and testing before are good enough before hand, then you will have no problems migrating to a new 3CX solution.

Once the user base is of any significant size - I would say 10 or more, then the computer that runs 3CX must be of server specification with good hardware warranties, and the OS must be Windows 2008. Virtualisation does work well - but if the user base is really large, then a dedicated machine is preferred.

With multiple sites I suspect that you would need a good plan to make sure all users had a good experience of the change over. You mentioned VPNs, but are they proper QOS type VPNS that can deal with voice and data? Maybe MPLS EFM or TLS or similar?

Kind regards

 

[onestopps]

Richard,

Thank you for replying. I just got back from vacation and saw your response which was great. Just to answer some of your questions/concerns....We currently have a Toshiba system also. It is coping with the call volume but we are seeing the cracks.

Windows 2008 R2 is planned - I have the server here and just need to install the OS. Originally, I was going to go the VM route but after seeing how everything can be easily backed up, decided I would install directly on the server.

I planned on testing on a minor scale to get a feel for how 3CX will work - set up the queues, ring groups, extensions, etc. and use with several phones and multiple soft phones. Calls from a SIP provider. If we are comfortable then continue down the road.

No, the VPNs are just a standard mix of bonded T1s, Ethernet over Copper, etc. (6 Megs in/out of the main location). No QOS connections such as an MPLS. However, as of today, the various other locations only have 1 or 2 extensions (and not used for call center functions) so I'm not too worried...yet. As of today, they are IP phones that go back to our main call center with only VPN connections - no issues. When we split our current call center, then I will get an MPLS for the two sites and probably leave the other sites regular T1s.

Thank you again for responding.

Adam

 

[RichardCrabb1]

Hi Adam,
It is a pleasure to help. If you need any more info then please let me know. SIP providers work well as long as you have a dedicated line or QoS.

Kind regards
Richard

 

[lneblett]

Out of curiosity, what size license for 3cx is being used or envisioned in this scenario? The number of calls per day may or may not be significant as it depends on how many extensions are needed to accommodate the volume and how many of these are simultaneously engaged in calls and the average duration of a call and if there are certain times when peak call activity occurs. In other words, some traffic analysis is needed to determine your real needs so that you can size the license size and broadband connectivity correctly (along with any projected growth or other impacting issues).