Some users can't answer calls from digital receptionist

[SteveITS]

This is a weird one and I'm not sure what to do with it. It's in our own office. We have three people using the web client/Chrome extension, and one isn't. Of the three, only two have this problem. All have Sennheiser headsets, none have phones. Problem occurs with headset integration in the web client settings set to Sennheiser, and happens using both the Chrome extension and web client (with extension disabled).

- internal or external call comes to our "main" digital receptionist ext 800
- user clicks button in Chrome plugin to answer
- plugin shows the call is answered
- caller thinks call is answered, hears nothing
- user still hears ringing tone/chime in headset as if they haven't answered
- if user then presses headset button, error shows similar to "can't answer call in state 9" (I'm assuming that means "you already answered it")

We have two workarounds:
1) set headset integration to None, and answer call with web client or extension
2) set headset integration to Sennheiser, and answer call with headset button

The digital receptionist sends calls to a ring group. If we call the ring group extension directly, this problem does not happen. If we call the user's extension, this problem does not happen. And to recap the third user (me) does not have this problem.

We didn't have this issue with the Windows client. All three of us switched to using the web client relatively recently. One had been using it for a couple weeks, but didn't have Sennheiser HeadSetup Pro installed so wasn't using the integration and thus didn't notice the issue.

We have restarted the 3CX services and the 3CX server. 3CX version 16.0.4.493. I created a new digital receptionist that forwards immediately to a new ring group (with one extension in it), and don't have this issue with it.

Ideas? Obviously can recreate the main auto attendant but it seems odd that we can only reproduce on some extensions.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

A bit weird indeed. I wonder if you log in to your own extension which seems to be ok, but from the problematic user's station and headset and then see whether it will be replicated.

Wondering if it is related to their hardware/setup somehow

 

[SteveITS]

Good question. If I log in to the web client on one of those PCs I duplicate the problem, so it's a PC problem.
On one of the PCs (that one I tested) we had gone through uninstalling, deleting Sennheiser directories, and reinstalling, because he was having trouble getting the headset integration dropdown to connect to Sennheiser.
On the other PC, no such issues, but after that user installed HeadSetupPro 3.3.12030 and had the same issue, he uninstalled it and installed 3.3.12020 to match my PC, which didn't fix the issue.

 

[SteveITS]

I created a new digital receptionist that forwards immediately to a new ring group (with one extension in it), and don't have this issue with it.

More info. When I said it worked with a different digital receptionist, turns out that was only partially correct.

If we edit the test digital receptionist, and point it at the original "whole office" ring group, it doesn't work.

If we edit the test ring group, and add a second extension, it doesn't work.

So, it's not tied to a specific digital receptionist or ring group, but to a ring group with more than one extension in it!

 

[SteveITS]

We found if one of the two extensions is on a call, so only one extension in the ring group actually rings, the problem does not occur.

Both users had the "3CX Plugins" software still installed even though they had uninstalled the 3CX Windows client. Simply uninstalling that (and doing nothing else) didn't fix the problem.

 

[SteveITS]

Today, I realized my computer is doing this. No changes of which I am aware, other than restarting for Windows Updates a few days ago and any Chrome updates. The server had the recent hotfix installed.

I do have auto-answer turned on when I take the headset off its base, and that works.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

You mean the PC is not sending the answer command to webclient?

 

[SteveITS]

I'm not sure if I understand your question. Or really how to describe it much beyond my original post. In the problem scenario, the Chrome extension thinks the call is answered, 3CX thinks the call is answered, and the headphone doesn't, so the caller hears silence and the employee still hears the headphone chiming that they are receiving a call. So it seems like 3CX/Chrome is not successfully telling HeadSetup Pro to go off hook? And like I said the headset button can't answer the call which is already answered.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

One important detail though, is it the 3CX chime you hear, or the Sennheiser's own chime?

 

[SteveITS]

It's the Sennheiser sound not the 3CX "ring" chime.

Also I should note if we get into this state, and realize it before the caller hangs up, we can park the call via the switchboard and re-offer/re-answer it on pickup.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

What model is the Sennheiser device exactly (and fw version)?

 

[SteveITS]

We all have the SD Pro2. Firmware is the latest, v160. The last firmware update for it was last year sometime. And I think it is end of life now despite us buying them last summer . They just changed everything over to the EPOS name and last I looked the only download available was HeadSetup Pro, not any of the other software or actually the 3CX plugin either.

 

[JohnS_3CX]

There is also the possibility that a delay exists between the time the webclient "answer" action is triggered, and the connection actually being established.

I would recommend to try and bypass the Sennheiser integration temporarily, just use it as a plain audio device without HeadSetup and answer from the client button. This will show us if the problem will persist (hence we can eliminate the integration or device being the issue to some degree)

 

[SteveITS]

bypass the Sennheiser integration temporarily

That's what I was trying to say with my workarounds...if we set the integration to None it works just as a plain headset. We've found we either have to use the integration and the headset button, or no integration and the green "answer call" button in 3CX.

 

[jmitch11]

We all have the SD Pro2. Firmware is the latest, v160. The last firmware update for it was last year sometime. And I think it is end of life now despite us buying them last summer . They just changed everything over to the EPOS name and last I looked the only download available was HeadSetup Pro, not any of the other software or actually the 3CX plugin either.

I have a copy of the HeadSetupPro_3.3.21020 installation and Senheiser_SDK_v8.0.10903_3CX_Plugin_v3.3.11002 - that combination has worked great for us since January with our SC230 headsets if you'd like to give it a try. Looking forward to your results.

https://bit.ly/Senheiser3CX

 

[SteveITS]

Hi @vizualpro, thank you for the offer, however we have those versions also and had the issue. Actually that plugin as I understand it is for the 3CX Windows client so I didn't have that installed. Working from home I haven't bothered installing HeadSetup Pro just to keep from doing it wrong and leaving a client in limbo.

I haven't tried the EPOS (new name for Sennheiser headsets) "version 4" software which just came out. I'm not terribly enthused with their software though...I don't have the URL handy but I posted here about them before. We had a long running issue with them where HeadSetup Pro wouldn't open as a standard user that after 6-8 months they tracked down to their software trying to run C:\Program Files (x86)\Sennheiser\HeadSetup Pro\Plugins\certutil.exe, and it stops, asking for admin credentials in the background. Their solution was to rename that file.

I didn't really connect the two, but I suppose one could argue that this issue might be a side effect of whatever EPOS/Sennheiser is doing with certificates. However I'm not willing to require my staff and all clients run as a local admin user.

 

[jmitch11]

Completely agree with you about having users run anything as admin @SteveITS I'm wondering if that main be a GPO setting in your domain as my users have never been prompted with a Windows UAC prompt running it.
I just installed the new EPOS on a test user yesterday (we are all running the webclient) and so far it's been smooth, perhaps it may just be a difference in headsets.

 

[SteveITS]

my users have never been prompted with a Windows UAC prompt

We aren't prompted either, it just assumes permissions and halts loading waiting for the file to finish in the background. (the prompt was only visible in a debug log file as I recall).

The headsets themselves are just fine, but we have a ticket open with 37 hours on it mostly dealing with their software.