Using Outlook Contacts

[rowan.bradley]

I've just downloaded and installed 3CX VoIP Phone. I would like to be able to make outgoing calls using my Outlook contacts. I thought I'd read somewhere that this was possible, but I can't find it. I have over 1000 contacts, so I really don't want to have to re-enter these. I either need my SIP client to use the Outlook contacts, or I need a way of importing them and synchronising regularly to keep up with changes.

Thanks - Rowan

 

[Vali_3CX]

Hi Rowan

3CXPhone has its own contact book - I said some time ago here, it would not be nice to get as an installer error message "In order for 3CXPhone to work, you will need to install first Microsoft Outlook. Installer will now exit".

Then, true - Microsoft Outlook phonebook integration is available, but only for 3CX Call Assistant, also true, it comes bundled with 3CXPhone.

Last, if your 3CXphone is connected to a 3CX PBX - 3CX Phone System - 3CXphone suports provisioning for both account data and phonebook. Therefore, in your 3CX PBX you have only to generate the company phonebook and 3CXphone will get it.

Hope it clarified.
vali

 

[rowan.bradley]

I didn't mean that the soft phone app should not have its own contacts - just that it should be able to use Outlook Contacts as well or instead, as an option.

I'm not quite sure what you mean about 3CX Call Assistant. It doesn't seem to be part of my installation. Do I have to download this separately? Where from?

Does it require the 3CX Phone System, or will it work with just the 3CX Phone application, connecting directly to a public SIP server (SIPgate in my case)?

Thanks - Rowan

 

[dataunit]

Hi

i've got the same problem. i want to use my outlook contacts maybe in the search from the 3cxphone (with Hotkey F11).
The outlook crm, i think, is only to call a contact from your contact-list in outlook?

Best regards
Rafael

 

[qa1]

Outlook API need to be developed I think

 

[rowan.bradley]

I just want to be able to use my Outlook contacts to make outgoing SIP calls. Skype does this very well, and with no fuss at all. It simply shows me all the people in my Outlook contacts, I click one, it shows me all the phone numbers (home, office, mobile) etc. that it's got stored for that person, I click one and it makes the call. I'm therefore tending to use Skype for outgoing calls rather than SIP. I would prefer to use SIP if there was a client that worked in a similar way to Skype.

Does anyone know of such a SIP client?

Thanks - Rowan

 

[rgallini]

Try SIPTAPI:

http://www.ipcom.at/en/telephony/siptapi/

 

[cfive]

Hi,

I don't understand the issue. If the assistant is installed, and Outlook integration is enabled (and working), you can make a call directly from the contact in Outlook by r>click call.

It seems to work fine, I've used it with a hardphone only install, softphone only install, and both hardphone and softphone install.

Is this not visible in your installs? Not to say there won't be "issues", as there can be. But this is intended to work.

- Les.

 

[cfive]

/light goes on/

I see the issue is most likely that the assistant is not in use, only the 3cx phone - so there is no outlook integration available.

I agree, it would be a feature for the 3cx phone to be able to use Outlook contacts without the assistant - but I don't see it as a show-stopper in a business environment where 3cx is licensed and the assistant is available.

A possible exception might be 3cx phone installed as a remote extension (laptop, for example), where the user didn't want to install the assistant, but have the phone available.

- Les.

 

[rowan.bradley]

I have got 3CX Assitant installed. It starts automatically on reboot, and I sometimes leave it running, although I haven't yet found a way of making it do anything useful. What I don't have though is a 3CX PABX or server. I just don't need these things, since it's just me working here, and it seems too much complication just to get Outlook integration. So - can I dial using my Outlook contacts (and preferably see the names of incoming callers) if I've got 3CX Assistant running, but no 3CX PABX/server? If so, how do I set this up?

Thanks - Rowan

 

[cfive]

Hi Rowan,

Sorry, I don't know the answer - I've not used the 3CX phone outside of a 3CX PBX. I imagine if one wasn't using the 3CX PBX, and didn't really care about assistant/3CX phone integration, that there might be other softphones "out there" that would integrate directly with Outlook.

- Les.

 

[rowan.bradley]

Thanks for your reply.

> there might be other softphones "out there" that would integrate directly with Outlook

I would have thought so too (it seems an obvious requirement, especially as Skype does it pretty well), but I haven't yet found one.

Rowan

 

[NETWRECK]

I did find a solution for me personally, but requires that you have a Cisco SPA IP Phones (SPA900 or SPA500) which luckily we did. I guess it talks to the phone directly, not 3CX so it can be used w/ any PBX as long as you have a SPA phone.

http://www.uctrlit.com/CallCtrl

Hopefully it will help someone out.