Pre-Sales or Pre-Installation Questions...

[amuzed2pieces]

I have read the manual and trolled the forums and there is no "Pre-sales" forum like most companies have but still have some unanswered questions, . I am new to VoIP PBX systems. 3xC has great potential... but I want to clarify some vague points before I choose either Trixbox or 3cX.

1) Gateways: The BeroNet costs $1600! Yikes, and the Sangoma does NOT support Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 64bit is only, Sangoma does not support x64?? Yikes again, its 2010 already) nor does it support AMD Processors?. So there is no internal Gateway that runs on Windows Small Business Server 2008 and is supported by 3CX less than $200? Or are external gateways my only affordable option? I am surprised there are not more supported gateway options. (OpenVox FXO/FXS internal cards are resonably priced and can be configured uniquely but they don't have Windows drivers it seems).

2) Fax: My understanding is that 3cx uses Windows Exchange Fax Server (which does not support T.38) but the brochure and manual state that Fax over IP is supported. 3cX does not support Vonage which as far as I can find is the only VOip company that supports faxing. The link in the 3cX manual is blank where it claims to support Fax over IP. So does Fax over IP actually work on 3CX or not ? Or for faxing is it limited to only POTS lines? Do you at 3CX headquarters use fax over IP, if not what do you use yourselves? Is Faxing over IP vaporware or does it work well enough to be mission critical (we receive most of our orders via Fax).

2a) ...and if not, any future support for Vonage in the works?

3a) Couldn't 3cx eventually integrate what Faxxbachs does using software instead of hardware? It would be a great feature.

3) Call Forwarding on Busy: Here is my ideal set up, One old POTS line (our internet dies on occassion) and 3 VOIP lines. The POTS line will be our main number, but when a customer calls I want the new call forwarded to the VOip line seemly unknown to the caller. Will 3CX forward from POTS to VoIP seemlessly so that no one calling in gets a busy signal and callers don't get a change in volume or a clicking sound (assuming we have more lines than callers)?

Thanks for enduring my noob questions. A
Amuzed2pieces

 

[KerryG]

#1 - Agree with Matt, Patton external gateways are a preferred device

#2 - http://www.voipstore.com/the-facts-about-faxing/

#2a - Does Vonage finally sell SIP trunks?

3a - Technically, yes they could. They could probably even license some technology from RockBochs if they chose to

 

[leejor]

3) Call Forwarding on Busy: Here is my ideal set up, One old POTS line (our internet dies on occassion) and 3 VOIP lines. The POTS line will be our main number, but when a customer calls I want the new call forwarded to the VOip line seemly unknown to the caller. Will 3CX forward from POTS to VoIP seemlessly so that no one calling in gets a busy signal and callers don't get a change in volume or a clicking sound (assuming we have more lines than callers)?

Not really sure how you expect that set-up to work with more than one call at a time, which it what a single PSTN line will allow. If you used a call forwarding service from the PSTN phone company AND it allowed up to 3 calls at a time to be forwarded (most will only allow one, second caller gets busy or VM) then, it would appear to be seamless to the caller. And by seamless, I mean no change of ringback tone part way into the call as all forwarding would be done by the PSTN phone company. If your ISP went down , you'd have to turn off call forwarding on that line and would be limited to a single call, in or out.

 

[nb]

I will answer you on this because this is the only one left unanswered

2) Fax: My understanding is that 3cx uses Windows Exchange Fax Server (which does not support T.38) but the brochure and manual state that Fax over IP is supported. 3cX does not support Vonage which as far as I can find is the only VOip company that supports faxing. The link in the 3cX manual is blank where it claims to support Fax over IP. So does Fax over IP actually work on 3CX or not ? Or for faxing is it limited to only POTS lines? Do you at 3CX headquarters use fax over IP, if not what do you use yourselves? Is Faxing over IP vaporware or does it work well enough to be mission critical (we receive most of our orders via Fax).

We do not use windows exchange fax server - We have a standalone Microsoft fax sending software - check wiki - downloads section.

The internal Fax server of 3CX Supports T38 yes - FOIP.
we have tested receiving of faxes successfully with Broadvox and nexvortex (settings are needed for port forwarding - check wiki)

faxes can be received over Grandstream gateways, beronet, and patton. ISDN and Analog
Note - Beronet have a box now - which is not a card - so you can buy a standalone box and plug it like a normal gateway. Sangoma - today you can get a windows XP machine and put the card there - or a VM - i do not see what the problem is. If you save something in price, you can afford to create a 32 bit vm and leave it there running only for the sangoma.

Fax can be problematic sometimes because you have to integrate with telco lines, gateways, settings etc etc.

RECAP :

The 3CX fax sending software that integrates with microsoft windows fax was tested inhouse and passed to send faxes over grandstream, patton and beronet gateways. + receiving

Voip Providers: receiving only - the above + the 2 providers i mentioned earlier.

NOTE: Many providers say they support fax. Check with wireshark first. Because Ive seen providers saying they support T38 and then you see a nice 488 NOT ACCEPTABLE HERE in the wireshark capture.

 

[amuzed2pieces]

Thanks for the helpful answers... I don't wan't to use XP as running a VM requires more resourses and I find XP reliability to be lacking.

Thanks for the additional fax resources Nicky...

RE: Call forwarding and how this works in real life. Keeping one POTS line is a requirement due to the old fashioned nature of the owner and the fact that our internet dies once every few months. It can with Verizon forward on busy to any one number. So if set my Verizon to forward on busy to a say a Skype number which is routed through 3CX, and those Skype numbers are also set to forward, will this be seemless to the caller if 3 lines are busy? I am confused when it says in the 3CX Brochure that 3CX provides forward on busy, but everyone on the forum says to have your provider forward on busy.

Also, can 3CX set calling rules so that 911 is always dialed on the POTS line?

Thanks
Van

 

[nb]

You can forward on busy either

a) At the providers responsibility - So the provider from their website will forward the call for you if provider line is busy

b) or 3CX Can forward the call for you and it will be under 3CX's responsibility.

This is just like you can tell gmail to forward your mail or outlook to forward it for you. There is nothing to be confused about.
Same concept. You can perfectly work with both mechanisms offered. 3CX has more options because it can detect more behaviors but you always need the redundant line to go out from. With A provider this is not needed and he will forward the call even before sending it to your pbx (3cx) because the Line registration is in his control and he knows immediately when it has problems or down. This is a feature that you might pay extra for. This is faster.

I would use this method when the line is completely down.

So when line is down tell provider to forward call (because it is in his control and he can do it faster)
When line is busy, tell 3CX to forward call -(because you benefit from more diverse options for forwarding and then the pbx is in control at that point)

Also, can 3CX set calling rules so that 911 is always dialed on the POTS line?

See screenshot
Assume that the Grandstream route you see is your analogue device gateway
Assume that I let anyone call this number - I do not restrict extensuions
You can set call to numbers with a length of - set this to 3 if you want. Like this 911 will be dialled through pots but if someone dials 9111, this rule will not be triggered.

 

[amuzed2pieces]

Thanks Nicky... that is the clarification I needed...