Problems with MS365 Sync on V18 Update 1

[PhilK]

We are in the process of activating the MS365 Sync, but we are experiencing some issues here (3CX Version 18.0.237).
On the "Configure" Tab, everything went fine and works well.
Afterwards I startet to sync only some users from the IT-department, to try it out. This one also works fine.
Signing in worked after I googled and found a thread with an answer from @NickD_3CX (find thread here), where he calls attention to step 5 in the configure tab.

The problems start with sync of contacts. When I activate the sync contacts for all users, but only sync users from IT-department and only sync the calendar from the users out of the IT-department, the status of all users are changing for their calendar appointments anyway. I think this is not how it should work, or am I wrong?

With this setting we experienced another issue.
There were some users (about 10-20 from over 200) that got no sync, but the E-Mail address for the user/extension in 3CX was the same like the one in Azure Active Directory.

What else do we need to look at here? Can somebody help?

 

[NickD_3CX]

Hi!

The problems start with sync of contacts. When I activate the sync contacts for all users, but only sync users from IT-department and only sync the calendar from the users out of the IT-department, the status of all users are changing for their calendar appointments anyway. I think this is not how it should work, or am I wrong?

So you have Users in 3CX which you have synced with MS365 ("All Users" option). For some though you have also synced the calendar events (IT Department).
What this means is that if a member of the IT Department schedules an even in their calendar and he has set it e.g. to show him as "Working Elsewhere", at the set time 3CX shall switch their extension to "Do Not Disturb".

Are you saying that with this setup, this happens, but the same happens even for users that are synced with MS365 but are NOT in the IT Department, when they set a calendar event?

With this setting we experienced another issue.
There were some users (about 10-20 from over 200) that got no sync, but the E-Mail address for the user/extension in 3CX was the same like the one in Azure Active Directory.

So you had some extensions already created with an email set that matched the email in Azure, and when you enable the sync they did not 'pull' the newer data?
If this is the case, could it be that these extensions where created in the past from another Azure sync?

 

[PhilK]

Hi!


So you have Users in 3CX which you have synced with MS365 ("All Users" option). For some though you have also synced the calendar events (IT Department).
What this means is that if a member of the IT Department schedules an even in their calendar and he has set it e.g. to show him as "Working Elsewhere", at the set time 3CX shall switch their extension to "Do Not Disturb".

Are you saying that with this setup, this happens, but the same happens even for users that are synced with MS365 but are NOT in the IT Department, when they set a calendar event?

This is exactly what I wanted to say. Those are users that are not synced. I only sync contacts for all users (tried something out) and did not sync those users from other departments and I also did not sync all calendars. But the other users status changed anyway in 3CX.

So you had some extensions already created with an email set that matched the email in Azure, and when you enable the sync they did not 'pull' the newer data?
If this is the case, could it be that these extensions where created in the past from another Azure sync?

All the extensions are already set. This is an existing 3CX with V18 U1 update since 1 week, where we want to use the sync for signing in and the contact and calendar sync. ATM only testing with the IT department, where we see these errors.
EDIT: all extensions on the system were created on 3CX itself. Since now there was no sync with any other system. With the sync now ca. 90-95 % sync well, but the rest seems to fail. Can I see this anywhere? Is it something else that needs to match between Azure and 3CX?

 

[NickD_3CX]

All the extensions are already set. This is an existing 3CX with V18 U1 update since 1 week, where we want to use the sync for signing in and the contact and calendar sync. ATM only testing with the IT department, where we see these errors.
EDIT: all extensions on the system were created on 3CX itself. Since now there was no sync with any other system. With the sync now ca. 90-95 % sync well, but the rest seems to fail. Can I see this anywhere? Is it something else that needs to match between Azure and 3CX?

From the ones that fail, could you please try this on only 1 extension:

1. Disable the User Sync.
2. Delete the one extension that did not sync.
3. Recreate a new extension with a random name, but the email that matches Azure for that user.
4. Re-enable User Sync

Will this extension after a 1-2 minutes get the right name from Azure?

 

[PhilK]

I will try this in a couple of days and give you feedback afterwards

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

With this setting we experienced another issue.
There were some users (about 10-20 from over 200) that got no sync, but the E-Mail address for the user/extension in 3CX was the same like the one in Azure Active Directory.

Regarding this, we'll be waiting for an update from you once you've managed to try what @NickD_3CX suggested.

When I activate the sync contacts for all users, but only sync users from IT-department and only sync the calendar from the users out of the IT-department, the status of all users are changing for their calendar appointments anyway. I think this is not how it should work, or am I wrong?

For this, we might need more info for which I will send you a PM as I have tried multiple times to reproduce this behavior but to no avail.

 

[PhilK]

Regarding this, we'll be waiting for an update from you once you've managed to try what @NickD_3CX suggested.

Hi @ChrisC_3CX, we have done this now and it seems like I was able to fix this. There were errors with some extensions, where I had to remove the e-mail address from colleagues, that own a personal extension and another one, too. Only one extension needed to be deleted and added again to have a working sync. Now everything seems to be fine in the users sync.
What about having an option in the user sync, to only sync users, that have a match by e-mail? We don't want to remove them all the time and there are some shared mailboxes listed as users, that needed to be excluded.

For this, we might need more info for which I will send you a PM as I have tried multiple times to reproduce this behavior but to no avail.

I received the PM. We still have some errors with this, that we are watching at. There are now some single users beeing removed from the calendar sync, because they don't want to have this. Based on these users we will watch this further and if there occur errors again, that those users have still a calendar sync, we will activate the verbose logging and let you know about it. On the other hand we had also errors with users, that changed their "show as" from away to free on outlook, but it was not synced to the 3CX so they were on away here. Another one has moved an appointment where show as was on away. Afterwards 3CX set him to away on the old appointment time as well as on the new one.

 

[ChrisC_3CX]

Hi @ChrisC_3CX, we have done this now and it seems like I was able to fix this. There were errors with some extensions, where I had to remove the e-mail address from colleagues, that own a personal extension and another one, too. Only one extension needed to be deleted and added again to have a working sync. Now everything seems to be fine in the users sync.

Glad to hear you managed to get this sorted!

What about having an option in the user sync, to only sync users, that have a match by e-mail? We don't want to remove them all the time and there are some shared mailboxes listed as users, that needed to be excluded.

You might want to check our Ideas section to see if anyone suggested anything similar, though, I have to say I doubt something like this would ever get implemented as described since syncing only specific users is already possible by using the "Only these users:" option.

On the other hand we had also errors with users, that changed their "show as" from away to free on outlook, but it was not synced to the 3CX so they were on away here.

Are you talking about changing the 365 presence in a 365 Calendar event? If yes, was this changed before the event had started or during?

Another one has moved an appointment where show as was on away. Afterwards 3CX set him to away on the old appointment time as well as on the new one.

This I'm not sure I understood correctly. When you say "moved the appointment", do you mean changed the appointment's time in 365? Provided this is the case, are you then saying that the extension got it's profile status switched at a time that the calendar no longer had a set appointment? If I understood this correctly, could the user perhaps have modified the appointment after it had already begun?

 

[PhilK]

since syncing only specific users is already possible by using the "Only these users:" option.

That's correct. Our company is not that big with about 300 users, but what about companies about over 1000 users? If it would be possible with a GPO or something would be well too, but atm it is only possible to choose every single user that should be/should not be synced. That could be easier, especially for companies with existing 3CXs.
For many companies it is not usable to create extensions automatically, because that means, that you can not control extensions for example having blocks of extensions for each department.

Are you talking about changing the 365 presence in a 365 Calendar event? If yes, was this changed before the event had started or during?

Correct, that is what I mean. We already had both cases. My colleague changed it before and it didn't work and I already changed it during a event because I forgot to edit it before and it didn't work. When changing the status manually on 3CX it changes back to the events presence after a couple of minutes.

This I'm not sure I understood correctly. When you say "moved the appointment", do you mean changed the appointment's time in 365? Provided this is the case, are you then saying that the extension got it's profile status switched at a time that the calendar no longer had a set appointment? If I understood this correctly, could the user perhaps have modified the appointment after it had already begun?

If I don't say something about changing status in 3CX, I always mean the 365 appointments. As well as with the "show as", I mean the 365 and with status I mean 3CX
Back to topic: You understood it correctly. The appointment on 365 was moved before it began. The presence in 365 was set to busy on the old and the new appointment time. 3CX then set the extension to busy for the old and the new time, but on the old time was no new appointment in the calender (365).

 

[NickD_3CX]

Hi!

That's correct. Our company is not that big with about 300 users, but what about companies about over 1000 users? If it would be possible with a GPO or something would be well too, but atm it is only possible to choose every single user that should be/should not be synced. That could be easier, especially for companies with existing 3CXs.
For many companies it is not usable to create extensions automatically, because that means, that you can not control extensions for example having blocks of extensions for each department.

This is a valid argument and comment, however for the time being this will probably stay as is. Rest assured though that we are continuously looking for ways to improve the MS365 integration, as also explained here.


On to the issue you are facing.
First I want to explain from a top-level, how the sync works. The communication is bidirectional, meaning that both 3CX contacts MS365 to get updates (when you press OK, when System Service is restarted, daily at 04:00), but also MS365 is supposed to send updates to 3CX when something changes.

From the description, it sounds as if when something changes on MS365, the 3CX is not getting notified, or at least, not getting notified on time.
I have a few things to suggest:

• Make sure your Firewall is not restricting any traffic on the HTTPS port (default 5001)
• Turn Verbose logging on, then after such an occurrence, check the SystemService log file. By searching with the Calendar Event title/name, you should find exactly what information 3CX receives and for when its scheduled. This way, you could check for when changes are made.
  Example:
  
• When V18 Update 2 comes out, install it. We have made some tweaks to the way updates from MS365 are handled.

We have spent quite a bit of time trying to replicate the issue you are describing, without success so far. That does not mean there is not something there, just that it needs more investigating.
For this reason, I would highly suggest, if you have noticed this happening on a regular basis with a pattern, that you contact your 3CX Partner/Reseller, who can work with you and liaise with our Support Team to get all the information needed and processed.