MS Teams calling out to Anynode SBC and 3cx

[ivanlaszik]

Hello,
I am currently testing Teams calling with 3cx coexistance with anynode sbc. I managed sofar to connect a 3cx extension in anynode, so that anynode appears as a phone device for the extension in 3cx. Other 3cx extensions can call that specific anynode 3cx extension and both ms teams user and the 3cx client apps will receive the call. Also works with external calls. The 3cx server has a Sip trunk configured which will stay connected to 3cx.

My problem is calling out from Teams. The call goes to the anynode sbc and goes into 3cx via the configured extension and rings the called 3cx extension, however, inside 3cx the call seems to be coming from the sip trunk, like it would be an external call, even though it is supposed to be coming from the calling 3cx extension, as if it would be an internal call. Via the SBC I tried to format the source or destination name, number, sip uri in different ways but no luck. Because of this issue, if I try to call an external number from Teams, ex. mobile number, the call comes into 3cx via the sip trunk and rings my trunk base number instead of going out into the world.

Any Suggestion is appreciated.

Setup: 3cx 16.0.7.1078 on Debian on prem as VMware VM.

Thanks,
Ivan.

 

[NickD_3CX]

Hi Ivan!

First of all, I want to say that it is on our roadmap to try and include MS Teams integration in a future update, so hopefully when this happens everything will be much easier for you!

For the time being, I can only suggest you using a Supported Provider for external calls, but I understand that this is not the integration you are looking for.

I have a question though, you say "I managed sofar to connect a 3cx extension in anynode, so that anynode appears as a phone device for the extension in 3cx" and then you say "The 3cx server has a Sip trunk configured which will stay connected to 3cx".
So you have registered the SBC to the 3CX as an extension AND as a SIP Trunk?

Maybe you should try only the SIP Trunk and not register as an extension, but this is just guessing as I have not tried this solution.

 

[ivanlaszik]

Hello,

Thanks for the reply.

We have a supported SIP trunk from 1&1 Versatel. We have been using 3cx with it for years.

We are looking into connecting with Teams. We do not want to go away from our current 1&1 Versatel provider because we have a great plan with them and we like the PBX capabilities of 3cx. With anynode sbc, 3cx with a provider sip trunk can be connected with teams users, the correct way is to register anynode sbc as phone for 3cx extensions. This is the official statement from anynode. Anynode is currently registered only for one 3cx extension (plan is to register for all extensions in the end), SIP trunk in 3cx is only the one from 1&1 Versatel and incoming calls (from outside or other 3cx extensions) to the anynode extension is working properly, just with outgoing calls from Teams user is currently problematic, as said, it reaches 3cx, and it rings another 3cx extension as it should, however, the call seems to come from the Versatel SIP trunk, according to the 3cx call logs. Because we are testing, we can't buy support from anynode yet, thus asking where I can look (logs of 3cx) to compare the difference between 3cx internal calls and the calls coming from Teams via anynode sbc? I am sure I am missing some small configuration on the sbc. I am asking for Tipps only on 3cx side (sbc tipps are also welcome), based on which I will manage to configure on sbc side.

Ivan.

 

[NickD_3CX]

Interesting, thanks for the explanation!

In that case I think 2 things would help you a lot to see what is going on:

• Set the 3CX Logging Level to Verbose (Dashboard --> Settings) and use the Activity Log.
• Use the Packet Capture function on 3CX in the Activity Log section and open it Wireshark to see the SIP message more clearly.

 

[ivanlaszik]

I just found out that this is the way it is supposed to work. Thus, thanks for replies.

 

[ivanlaszik]

I finally managed to make it work properly, issue was that the from header from the sbc was not properly formated. This could be configured in the anynode sbc.
@NickD_3CX would you happen to know when, or aprox how long will it take for the 3cx built in Teams connectivity to be available? There are already so many solutions and providers that offer this. Why does it take 3cx so much?

 

[cobaltit]

@NickD_3CX would you happen to know when, or aprox how long will it take for the 3cx built in Teams connectivity to be available? There are already so many solutions and providers that offer this. Why does it take 3cx so much?

Could you name some please because I don't know of any PBX products that have this baked in. There's a number of SBC products like the one you are using, there's a number of providers who can integrate Teams and SIP on the back end (like us). But native Teams support? Nothing that I know of, and certainly nothing at the 3CX price point.

 

[ivanlaszik]

Sorry, I meant with that, that there are ways to do it, like SBCs, and I also know of a cloud pbx/voip provider who offers PBX and Teams integration. And that is why I am asking, because if there are already ways, why can't it be integrated already? Since we started looking into this I saw so many discussions on the internet, and seems there is demand. Not sure how big the demand for 3cx is to have this capability.

 

[NickD_3CX]

@NickD_3CX would you happen to know when, or aprox how long will it take for the 3cx built in Teams connectivity to be available?

Without going into technical details, it is not as simple as it may sound, but that has never stopped us before .

It can be baked into 3CX and we are planning to do this for V18, maybe not in the first release, but at some point.
There a re few technical difficulties to overcome, but nothing that can't be done.

 

[ivanlaszik]

Looking forward to it, because with SBC (regardless of provider) this fun is quite expensive.

 

[cobaltit]

It's still going to be expensive because of the MS licensing. No one can change that

 

[ivanlaszik]

i know, i was refering to the "connecting to Teams" part, only the SBC solutions start from 900€ (some even require an extra "own" license to talk to Teams). Hopefully with the capability built into 3CX it will be less expensive.

 

[cobaltit]

Gotcha. Well I imagine if there's a cost for integration that 3CX carries (outside of development costs) that it will manifest itself as a feature limited to the enterprise license. Which of course, people will complain about, but it is what it is. 3CX tries to keep everything in at one price so I assume they will continue to do so as long as it's feasible