PageAll Button Needed

[telligent]

My client has GXP 2120 handsets (firmware 1.0.3.30). I'm trying to provision one of the buttons (the bottom button, #7) to be a page-all button. I've provisioned the phones successfully so that the top three buttons are a shared parking button BUT I can't get the page-all button to function correctly.

here's how I've provisioned the phones for button #7:
Custom Speed Dial ---> 6280#

 

[craigreilly]

Does a normal speed dial work to an extension when programemd on the 2120?
Does 6280 work when you dial it manually for paging?

 

[telligent]

Thank you for asking. Actually, I tried it earlier and it only rang the other phones. After seeing your question I tried again and this time I walked around the offices to make sure that they all were ringing. While walking around, near the third ring I heard a beep, the ringing stopped, and then I could hear the 'intercom' working properly. Is there any way that I can eleminate the initial ringing before it beeps?

 

[telligent]

Does a normal speed dial work to an extension when programemd on the 2120?

Good question... When I select "Speed Dials" for the 'type', I am only offered existing extensions for the 'action', with no option to choose any Ring Group extensions... what's up with that? But to answer your question specifically, yes, I can 'speed dials' to one of the normal extensions that it offers to me.

 

[telligent]

Also found something that was causing trouble... before today the phones' custom buttons were configured only for BLF's of other extensions. Today the task was to make the top three custom buttons to be call parking/pickup feature and the bottom custom button (#7) to be a PageAll button. This is to make it easy for people to park a call and then PageAll to let everyone know who was parked. The top three parking buttons were successfully programmed after reprovisioning the phones but none of the bottom custom buttons (#7) were provisioned successfully... those buttons remained the same as what they were before. I find this VERY strange. However, after going to the phones physically and resetting them to factory defaults, and then provisioning the phones, that did the trick for that button #7.

My lesson learned: provisioning phones (specifically GXP 2xxxx's) with 3CX is not as simple and reliable as I thout it would be or think it should be. So, in the future, any time I need to reprovision a phone I will make my changes on the provision tab and then reset the phone to factory default. One big problem in doing that though!: I support these phone systems remotely and I don't think there is any way to remotely reset the GXP 2XXX via the phone's web interface. If this is the case, it would make it very hard for me since I would require someone to be onsite.

Why so much grief!!!!

 

[telligent]

Is there any way that I can eleminate the initial ringing before it beeps?

I would like the phones, once the paging extension is dialed, to immediately beep and page rather than the person paging having to wait two or three rings before they can make their announcement.

 

[craigreilly]

My system rang once before Paging began. I think that is for the system to make contact with the IP Phone.
I noticed on some phones that buttons are locked down... and I can not modify the assignment.

You could alter the template manually to change a button, instead of using the BLF's on the Extension Edit screen - or using "Custom Speed Dial" and enter the extension manually.

 

[telligent]

My system rang once before Paging began. I think that is for the system to make contact with the IP Phone.

After continued 'fiddling' with the handsets in other tasks, the amount of rings became less and less and now it only rings just once.

I noticed on some phones that buttons are locked down... and I can not modify the assignment.

You could alter the template manually to change a button, instead of using the BLF's on the Extension Edit screen - or using "Custom Speed Dial" and enter the extension manually.

I haven't seen any of the GXP buttons to be locked down.
I've altered templates before but it didn't turn out happy.
What I did have to do to accommodate the GXP 2020's that I have on the system as well as the GXP 2120's is this:

I created an actual Extension 6288 called PageAll. I modified the properties of that extension such that vm was disabled, and all calls immediately forwarded to my Ring Group "PageAll". I then used the Phone Provisioning tab and for button #7 I set 'type' to 'Speed Dials' and set action to the 6288 PageAll extension. I modified the BLF fields on all 'Phones' appropriately (3 shared parking buttons at the top, and the tricked-out PageAll at the bottom). I Finally reset all phones to factory default, browsed into the phones to set the provisioning server address, updated/rebooted and now all is well.

I don't quite understand why 3CX doesn't have a better solution for this. I think that they surely do and that I just haven't found it yet and nor has the tech support people I've talked with there. This seems like an obvious need... anyway, it's working now.

I would like to highlight the importance, IMHO, of resetting phones back to factory default to ensure that the provisioning happens successfully.

 

[telligent]

Thank you craigreilly for your posts. They were helpful. As a partner with 3cx, I especially appreciate the fact that there is someone else out there that can help.

 

[craigreilly]

Interesting approach. My Page group works fine but I manually added it to my template.
I should try the custom speed dial blf in an extension.

You should try the template approach so you do not have to maintain the blfs on every single extension. I can't help you there as I am using mostly Yealinks with a few Aastra. Haven't tried the page all on an Aastrra yet as I only have 3 of them going in - left over from another project and in low use areas (they also will wall mount which the yealink t38s will not do.)

 

[telligent]

I have only deployed Grandstream devices with 3CX. I've considered switching to Yealink though. What is your opinion of Yealink phones? How is there tech support? I think they look a little better than the Grandstreams.

 

[craigreilly]

I have only just purchased my 60 handsets and still getting 2 phones solid (me and my boss). I haven't needed tech support. I have exported the config a few times from the yealink to find some hint at making a config change and it helps.
The phone is solid and sounds good. Our main reason for getting this unit (t38) was the gigabit switch as we just upgraded our network to gigabit and a recommendation by our local 3cx vendor.