Ring groups

[Mclagg]

If I have a ring group with 5 members and member 1 is on the phone when the ring group is called, member 1 does not get notification of the group being called other than hearing the other members phones ring. If member 1 hangs up before the ring group is answered that member still does not ring (not that I would expect it to at this point) and member 1 must go to a different phone to answer the call. All member extensions are set up to receive multiple calls, what am I missing?

 

[Panayiotis_3CX]

Hello @Mclagg,

Multiple calls are not possible in Ring Groups. The "Accept multiple calls" option, when enabled, is for direct calls to extensions.
What you're describing is the default behavior of Ring Groups.

You can find more information here >> https://www.3cx.com/3cxacademy/videos/intermediate/ring-groups/
and here >> https://www.3cx.com/docs/manual/ring-groups-paging-intercom/

 

[THCO]

If I have a ring group with 5 members and member 1 is on the phone when the ring group is called, member 1 does not get notification of the group being called other than hearing the other members phones ring. If member 1 hangs up before the ring group is answered that member still does not ring (not that I would expect it to at this point) and member 1 must go to a different phone to answer the call. All member extensions are set up to receive multiple calls, what am I missing?

There "IS" an "EXPERIMENTAL parameter that allows multiple calls to ring groups.
param name ALLOWUSEBUSYOPTFORGROUP
Read desc and set it to 1 and restart sip server. Check and see how it works.

3CX Management Console > Settings > Parameters is where you will find this.

 

[Mclagg]

Obviously that didn't help with my issue so I did some more digging and found the answer I needed. 1st I'd like to point out that the default behavior for a ring group should NOT skip an "in use" extension. In our scenario a store employee is working alone. The other phones ring when they're on the phone so they have to put their call on hold, then go to another phone to answer the call. Who came up with that being the default action for a ring group? For anyone wanting your ring group to work properly:

Change the “Busy Option for ring group” from ‘PBX Status’ to “Busy Status’


1. Go to settings then Parameters

2. Use the search bar, and type in – ALLOWUSEBUSYOPTFORGROUP

3. Change the Value to 1


Multiple calls from a ring group will now be presented to users.

 

[Mclagg]

There "IS" an "EXPERIMENTAL parameter that allows multiple calls to ring groups.
param name ALLOWUSEBUSYOPTFORGROUP
Read desc and set it to 1 and restart sip server. Check and see how it works.

3CX Management Console > Settings > Parameters is where you will find this.

Thanks for that, I literally just found the same answer

 

[THCO]

Thanks for that, I literally just found the same answer

I needed this exact same thing and I changed this parameter and has worked great for me, I haven't seen any issues with enabling it.

 

[Mclagg]

I needed this exact same thing and I changed this parameter and has worked great for me, I haven't seen any issues with enabling it.

Same here only no need to restart the PBX, just worked right away

 

[leejor]

Multiple calls from a ring group will now be presented to users.

My understanding, is that this will work for you IF there is a second appearance, of the same extension (one that is in the ring group), on the set. It will not make a difference, if there is only one extension appearance, that line is busy, but hangs up while the ring group is ringing. The available extensions status is not rechecked.

 

[Mclagg]

Thanks leejor, good to know. As it happens I have 2 extension appearances on these phones so I was lucky.

 

[NickD_3CX]

A word of caution about this parameter. There are known issues when enabling it. There are currently no plans to fix the issues caused by enabling this option. These may include:

• Calls getting 'stuck'
• People leaving VMails and the vmail files being blank'
• Same as the above for recordings
• Issue with attended transfers.
• Calls unexpectedly dropping when being transferred.

There is no such option in the Management Console as a check box for a reason. If you experience any of the above issues or similar, disable the option and try again.
Also as this option, as someone very correctly pointed out, was EXPERIMENTAL, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will continue to work in future versions.

The official answer to whether multiple calls for Ring Groups members work reliably or not is "No".

I would also suggest upvoting the following topic in 'Ideas': https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/ring-group-answer-multiple-calls.48689/

 

[THCO]

A word of caution about this parameter. There are known issues when enabling it. There are currently no plans to fix the issues caused by enabling this option. These may include:

• Calls getting 'stuck'
• People leaving VMails and the vmail files being blank'
• Same as the above for recordings
• Issue with attended transfers.
• Calls unexpectedly dropping when being transferred.

There is no such option in the Management Console as a check box for a reason. If you experience any of the above issues or similar, disable the option and try again.
Also as this option, as someone very correctly pointed out, was EXPERIMENTAL, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will continue to work in future versions.

The official answer to whether multiple calls for Ring Groups members work reliably or not is "No".

I would also suggest upvoting the following topic in 'Ideas': https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/ring-group-answer-multiple-calls.48689/

NickD . There has been a thread since 2015 that has been upvoted. The thread is located here. Do you think this will make it in the SP2 update?

 

[NickD_3CX]

NickD . There has been a thread since 2015 that has been upvoted. The thread is located here. Do you think this will make it in the SP2 update?

If I am being honest, I have not seen it in the list of new features for V15.5 SP2.

 

[Umbrella]

100% this is an essential feature that really needs to be addressed as soon as possible. it's been almost 3 years since this thread was started, is there anyway someone at 3cx can pick this up??

 

[jbryant84]

Its important to note that if you configure phones to have BLFs of other phones in the same ring group, pressing a blinking BLF of a phone that's ringing will "grab" that call.

 

[Umbrella]

while changing this parameter is not 'supported' it works (for now). all the phones show the incoming calls on the screen as they come in and you can toggle between them (T48s). with that being said NickD's comment above is not reassuring, I'd expect 3cx to address this issue as it was requested by the community almost 3 years ago. I'm fairly new, and not sure of what other installs requires but in my case 100% of the installs requires this feature as a 'given" meaning you cant tell customers they cant do that, they'll tell you "pack your things and go" or "you must be joking". from my short experience with 3cx forums, it doesn't look like we are being heard., who needs hot desking, or qr code when you ring groups cant accept multiply calls. someone has dropped the ball on this one, it's time they pick it up.

it needs to be escalated and pushed out in the next build as soon as possible instead of warning us about the dangers of using it.

VERY frustrated partner here. you could say it is my fault for not researching 3cx more before going in, but I can tell you this: had I seen in the features "you can only accept one call at a time with ring groups" I'd stay away.

 

[leejor]

If it is that important that a person, already on a call, take a second ring group call, then what is the problem with creating a second line key on that set, with a different extension number, that is part of the same ring group. It will allow them to put the first call on hold, and take the ringing call. This also allows calls direct to the sets "main" extension number to go off to voicemail, when busy. That won't happen with duplicate extension appearances.

 

[jbryant84]

The problem with that is you have to disable provisioning on the phone, and add the second extension manually in the webui. From that point forward all BLFs have to be set up in there as well.

 

[Umbrella]

If it is that important that a person, already on a call, take a second ring group call, then what is the problem with creating a second line key on that set, with a different extension number, that is part of the same ring group. It will allow them to put the first call on hold, and take the ringing call. This also allows calls direct to the sets "main" extension number to go off to voicemail, when busy. That won't happen with duplicate extension appearances.

this is too complicated and can't scale, what if the ring group is getting 6 calls at the same time? also we need the caller id on each call.
there are multitude of business in the US that under municipal law can NOT have an IVR or Queued calls, meaning they must answer calls as they come in without delay.

the functionality is there and it is working (for now...) all 3cx needs to do is polish out this feature and take it out of its unknown state.
there is no reason to come up with hacks just to get a basic functionality to work as intended.

did anyone notice these issues while activating this feature?

• Calls getting 'stuck'
• People leaving VMails and the vmail files being blank'
• Same as the above for recordings
• Issue with attended transfers.
• Calls unexpectedly dropping when being transferred.

i'm curious to know how those issues were discovered, was it during an attempt to release a stable version of it ? in that case at least we know it's being worked on. give us hope, not frustration.

 

[leejor]

this is too complicated and can't scale, what if the ring group is getting 6 calls at the same time?

A person can only handle one call at a time, any additional call to their set means that someone goes on hold.. If you have a busy ring group, and you are required to answer calls without delay, then you obviously need to have the correct number of staff. If there is a requirement (do you have some specific examples?) that you cannot use a queue or IVR, then I'm sure whomever came up with that won't be too happy it you answer a call, but tell them they have to hold, then take a while to get back to them, because you are helping some else, and, in the meantime, someone else that could handle the call, is now idle...that doesn't make sense. This is why we have queues, first come, first served.

I can understand wanting a feature to work the way you think it should, but, while you wait, you'll have to make do with things the way they are.

 

[Umbrella]

@leejor ,

the mandate in this kind of businesses is that they have to answer the calls, placing someone on hold after you pick up is allowed.
to name a few: Tow services, emergency road assistance services, CHP contractors etc..
based on what you are saying if at any point they get 6 calls at the same time then they should have 6 people on staff, that's not realistic.

you'll have to make do with things the way they are.

this is exactly what we are doing.