SBS 2011

[tbxi]

Moved my 3CX (9) install over from an old Win Server 2003 Standard installation to a new Win SBS 2011 Standard installation and running into the following issue:

Outbound (External) calls through a Patton SN4114 gateway (PSTN) provide no audio to either party. The call connects, but neither end can hear each other!
Seemingly 1 out of 4 or 5 calls will result in audio and no issues, but the rest of the time - nothing!

What WILL work, is calling from the outside world in. I am able to connect and receive audio on both the local handset and externally calling device.

I have noted that when the call connects but receives no audio, it does not show that any of the lines are in use on 3CX, but does show on the Patton itself... wwWWIIEEEeerrdd...

I have done the following:

- Disabled SBS 2011 Firewall
- Tried (on both Extensions and the Patton) a combination of "PBX delivers audio"
- Re-Exporting/Importing Patton config
- Tried enabling the firewall and opening ports
- Monkeyed with handset codec order
- Tried a 3CX phone over 3CX tunnel (this actually yielded slightly better results)
- Tried kicking it
- Performed an exorcism
- Drowned my sorrows
- Cried in the fetal position
- Talked to a therapist

If anyone has any better suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated.
If you need more details - please let me know!

 

[leejor]

Outbound (External) calls through a Patton SN4114 gateway (PSTN) provide no audio to either party. The call connects, but neither end can hear each other!
Seemingly 1 out of 4 or 5 calls will result in audio and no issues, but the rest of the time - nothing!

Intermittent problems are the worst! Does the 3CX log (in verbose) give any indication of the problem if you compare a working call and a non-working call?

You might have to get out Wireshark to help track down the cause. It almost sounds like, perhaps, some sort of firewall problem on the new machine, maybe some sort of confusion/blockage that arises when certain ports are used for voice. Wireshark might help you find a pattern, which can lead to a solution.

 

[sigma1]

SBS (Microsoft Small Business Server) + 3CX = BAD COMBO

Never use PBX delivers audio for any reason if you mind voice quality...

Please tell us what make/model phone are you using, what Codec priority you setup and what firmware you have on the Patton. Sounds like something I recently saw and the client insisted on pushing G722 on top of the phone priority.

 

[eagle2]

'PBX delivers audio' can be important for external extensions. This is also default setting for trunks. Otherwise you may lose RTP packets -- no audio in result (or special care should be taken in routers, not possible with all of them).

Regards

 

[tbxi]

Patton is FW ver. R5.2 2009-01-14

Phones are all Grandstream GXP2000s and GXP2010s. Codecs are set as:
PCMU
PCMA
G.723.1
...and so on.
PCMU wins out.

Voice quality would be a bonus.

Would it be a better idea to VM an XP box to throw 3CX on, or should I go with a separate box altogether? My reasoning for not doing that is it's one more piece of hardware to run (and fail).
Do most people run 3CX on a mechanical drive or something flash based?
Mirrored?

What's the best option here?!?

 

[eagle2]

PCMU & PCMA use widest bandwidth (something like 88.1 kbit/s) and provide better quality (they are used with ISDN also).
PCMU is used in North America and data rate is 56 kbit/s, while PCMA is used mainly in Europe (64 kbit/s). Using PCM codecs and avoiding unnecessary codec changing is recommended for minimizing CPU load (very important for many simultaneous calls on a less powerful machine). You may obtain this by restricting the number of codecs allowed. If you have enough bandwidth to the provider(s) it is better to stick to PCM (also called G.711a/µ). Internal extensions should also use PCM codec.

For business use it's better to run 3CX on a server platform like MS Windows 2003R2 or 2008R2 server. Very good and inexpensive choice is MS Windows 2008R2 Foundation Server. Some vendors bundle it for a very little price with their servers. For home use or really small business it could make sense to run 3CX on Windows 7 machine (but not Home edition). Although it is possible to run 3CX on XP (SP3), I don't recommend it, as well as running on Vista.

In theory you should be able to run 3CX from flash drive (as it is a standard windows service / application) if you are not recording calls, etc. However, I haven't met in forums any comments on this. Life of a flash disk is relatively limited (if extensive write operations happen), which could be an issue.

 

[davidbenwell]

We have been running 3CX on our new Dell SBS 2011 Server for the last couple of months without any issues.

SBS 2011 is Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010 and 3CX is also supported on SBS 2011

without having a look at your setup its hard to say what the problem is, since you changed to SBS2011 is your Patton set get the IP address from DHCP or Static, if its DHCP make sure the IP Address has not changed.

Another thing you can try is resetting the Patton to factory defaults and then regenerate the config file from 3CX and apply the configuration again and see if that helps.

 

[tbxi]

Well it is certainly good to hear that 3CX does work with SBS 2011 - what version are you running though?

The Patton static did not change - and I had tried factory resetting and regenerating the config - no such luck.

 

[eagle2]

No reason for 3CX not working with SBS2011. 3CX is more or less standard Windows application / service and SBS2011 is enough backward compatible with previous Windows releases.

The problem in your case seems to be the configuration of your Patton.

Regards

 

[tbxi]

I would tend to agree with the exception that the Patton configuration hasn't changed, just the PC running 3CX. Also, it seems that the Patton will still connect the calls, but it does not always reflect that a call is being made on the 3CX side. I still think something's up with the 3CX/SBS side...

Any thoughts on that?

I find it strange that the call connects but NONE of the lines show in use on 3CX.

:S

 

[eagle2]

The behavior is strange. May be you can make a log and analyze it.
If nothing has changed in configuration it could be something stupid like wrong IP address or port. Double check it or try to reproduce on another machine, even not under SBS2011. Reinitialize the Patton. No other idea.

Regards

 

[cfive]

This might sound like an odd step - but have you run the SBS BPA? Anything reported there?

I presume you have only a single NIC in the SBS, as that's really the only supported scenario for 2k8/2k11.

Is the SBS a virtual machine, or on iron?

Are your NICs broadcom, by chance?

Did you do a migration of any type (MS or SBSMigration) from your 2k3 domain? or is this a new domain?

Have you attempted to disable IPv6?

 

[sigma1]

I am amazed at the fact that so many in here need to defend SBS2011 (or SBS in general).

It is extremely poor practice to install 3CX on a SBS server, especially on machine that serves as a file server, email server and most notably as an Exchange server.

With all VoIP applications, sudden extreme spikes are the enemy, Exchange provides plenty of those while in sync with Outlook, sending out a large attachment or Joe down the hall deciding to retrieve his 3.5GB ISO image file spell disaster.

Does it work, certainly, does it work well? NO

A $250.00 dedicated Atom dual core (N330-D510 or 525) will server you far better than your high price fancy server with SBS.

Take it from a Gold Certified Partner, MCSE and Premium 3CX partner.

 

[cfive]

I don't think SBS is needing or getting any defence, Charles ;-).

If it looked like the OP was running into a performance issue, or an issue related to potential role conflicts, I think we would all have the same answer. But it looks like more of a networking issue; it just happens to be on an SBS.

 

[sigma1]

The OP clearly has a problem that should not relate to SBS, correct but other than asking him to setup his network switch (hopefully a managed one capable of port mirroring) to mirror the 3CX server, phone and Patton to a port with a laptop/wireshark we can't help much.

The practice of having SBS as a 3CX server is a very bad one. When using a SIP trunk the standard setup involves PBX delivers audio. You are bound to have performance issue when you do so.
I agree however that the problem reported by the OP is different and that is why I asked for the Patton FW ver and phones used.