Select outbound line without losing support on phones

[darthvader167]

Hi everyone.
I know that there are some other threads about this, but they are outdated and the solutions for them end up being the need to add another SIP account to the phone.

So basically, I have 4 different DIDs (phone numbers) all under 1 main SIP trunk. I need to be able to choose which DID I want to call out on; A, B, C or D. DID "A" needs to be the default line when you pick up the receiver/get dial tone. I want to be able to use lines B, C and D without having the need to add extra SIP accounts. I've tried this with the dummy extensions and extra SIP accounts on phones, it works fine, but I just got some new phones (Grandstream GRP2614's and GRP2616's), and I want to be able to have them provisioned by 3CX. If the phone is provisioned and I add multiple sip accounts, they don't work (3CX overrides the phone config). They might still be shown on the phone, but it's just unstable.
Ideally, I would like to have some sort of outbound rule that distinguishes between what line to dial out on based on a prefix (maybe 9, 8 or anything else-I don't care). The reason I don't want to have separate dummy extensions on SIP accounts on my phones is because they don't work when the phone is provisioned and managed by 3CX. I can only have separate SIP accounts when the phone is manually configured (still talking about the new GRP phones).
Actually, having separate dummy extensions on SIP accounts on the GRP phones would be okay only if they could be configured via the 3CX management console, as then they would still be supported.
I would really, really, really appreciate it if someone out there knows and could let me know how I could set an outbound rule to let me choose what line to call out on, or how I could assign multiple extensions to a phone via 3CX (maybe there's a template someone has?). The dummy extensions work fine on phones that are unsupported anyways, but I bought new phones for their support on 3CX. I really like the easy provisioning that 3CX offers for the supported phones. I've tried EVERYTHING, and I can't get it to work! I know that there are so many others out there that are experiencing the same issues/frustration. We upgraded to 3CX from an old Talkswitch PBX, and the Talkswitch had the option to set dial codes/line appearance to phones. I have serviced Nortel, Talkswitch and other Asterisk/FreePBX, etc. systems for a long time, and THEY ALL have this super simple option!! Nortel calls it a "line pool code" (on the BCM's), and I think that Talkswitch and FreePBX calls it a prefix/access code. When I upgraded to 3CX, I thought that they would have this option built-in, since they want something like $300+ a year for a PRO license, which is what I use.
I'm using the latest version of 3CX.
Thanks

 

[leejor]

If the phone is provisioned and I add multiple sip accounts, they don't work (3CX overrides the phone config). They might still be shown on the phone, but it's just unstable.

Any "manual" changes you make on a set, will be over-ridden when the set re-provisions, using the file that was created by 3CX. For this to work, you would have to customize the template, so that the changes you want, are uploaded by 3CX.

https://www.3cx.com/docs/custom-ip-phone-templates/

I would like to have some sort of outbound rule that distinguishes between what line to dial out on based on a prefix (maybe 9, 8 or anything else-I don't care).

You can achieve this by requiring a different prefix, for each outbound route, If you have four different trunk groups. The prefix would be used by the outbound rules you create. You write the rule to remove the prefix, before and sending the call out on the trunk you have chosen.

This has not been updated, but gives you an idea of how the rules work. if you are unfamiliar.

https://www.3cx.com/blog/voip-howto/outbound-rules-a-complete-example/

What you are trying to achieve is the sending of different caller ID based on a prefix dialled, a feature which we are awaiting.

https://www.3cx.com/community/threads/ability-to-set-a-caller-id-for-outbound-calls.42840/page-5

 

[darthvader167]

leejor, thank you for your response.
Yes, I have tried the custom templates, but I don't want to have to use them because I will lose support, and I like being able to fully manage the phones from the 3CX management console and still be able to ask for support.

You can achieve this by requiring a different prefix, for each outbound route, If you have four different trunk groups. The prefix would be used by the outbound rules you create. You write the rule to remove the prefix, before and sending the call out on the trunk you have chosen.

Yes, I have figured that out now. I set up 9 for my main line and 8 for my secondary line, and the prefixes work great for selecting which trunk you want to dial out on. I need to be able to choose what DID I want to dial out on via a prefix (I have several DIDs under ONE main trunk and I have some other separate trunks as well). I have achieved this on my other unsupported phones by assigning them extensions that have a specific caller ID so that they can resemble calling out from a specific DID. Is there a way I could do this via the 3CX management console for supported phones, or is this a dream for now?

You're right with the fact that I am trying to send a different Caller ID based on a prefix dialed-that's what I meant, but you made it more clear.

Thanks

 

[leejor]

Is there a way I could do this via the 3CX management console for supported phones, or is this a dream for now?

Not until the feaure request link, that I posted, is implemented.

 

[VoIPTools]

You have excluded some options, but for others I'll cover all the options I know:

• Use multiple trunks: Some SIP providers will allow you to register multiple trunks without incurring additional costs. In this case, you can set the outbound caller ID on the trunk and then use outbound rules filtered by extension/group to send calls out the desired trunk, or use a prefix ("9" for example) to select the desired trunk.
  
  
• Manually add multiple accounts on your phone: It has been several years since I did this myself, but in my experience, you can let 3CX auto provision the primary account on your phone, and then later manually add additional accounts.
  
  
• Set the extension CID: You can change the extension's caller ID via the 3CX Management Console prior to placing the call. It's an administrative hassle, but it can be done.
  
  
• You could use our 3CX Caller ID add-on tool or our REST API to easily change the extension caller ID without giving them access to the 3CX Management Console.

 

[darthvader167]

voiptoys, yes, I am aware of those options.
As I said, I have set 9 and 8 prefixes for my multiple SIP TRUNKS (NOT DIDs), and this works fine for selecting what SIP TRUNK to use.
I have tried adding multiple accounts to phones manually, but 3CX overrides those settings after reboot (at least on the phones that I'm using-GRP2614+GRP1616). I have added multiple SIP accounts to unsupported/unprovisionable phones manually to be able to have a specific caller ID/use a chosen DID, but as I said, that doesn't work on the new supported phones.

Has anyone heard of SIP providers giving clients a separate set of SIP credentials (auth ID + password, etc.) for a DID that is a branch of a connected trunk? If this is possible, setting up prefixes would be easy since I could just set the DID as a separate trunk and use prefixes to choose where I want to dial out from.

Thanks

 

[leejor]

The DID is not a separate trunk unless you order that number, on a trunk of its' own. It is simply additional incoming information (the DID number) that lets the PBX know where to send the calls, based on your settings. Outbound, you don't call over a particular DID trunk (unless it is a separate, single number trunk group), it is just a mater of sending the outbound caller ID that is your DID number. If a provider allows this, it can be sent out over any trunk, via any provider.

 

[darthvader167]

Okay. I understand.
I guess that for now we'll just have to wait until 3CX enables a function that would allow us to set a prefix to change the outgoing caller ID so that we can use outgoing DIDs without any dummy extensions.

FYI: The reason I wanted to know if I could set up a prefix to call out from a DID/change outgoing caller ID was because if I have user that has multiple dummy extensions, and other users need to be able to know when they are busy on the phone when someone else, the other users don't know when the dummy extensions are in use unless they have BLF keys for all the dummy extensions would be over complicated for the users.