3CX IP PBX

[abarlow73]

Hello,

Can somebody please confirm whether the vicidial software is compatible with the 3CX software based IP PBX system.

I have done searches to find the answer but was unable.

Thank you,

A.

[williamconley]

They both speak "SIP" which makes them compatible. But there is no need for both, as they are both PBXs. It's like asking if your Ford is compatible with your wife's Geo Metro because you're going on a road trip together. They will both accomplish the same task on the same road. And driver's can switch between the two. LOL

While we've never cross-linked them with SIP or IAX trunks, there is no reason whey they cannot be made to do so ... just like FreePBX and SwitchVox.

[abarlow73]

Thanks for the answer, another question though.

Would we be able to use the predictive dialer on the vicidial system but send the calls through the 3cx system??

Thanks Again,

A.

[williamconley]

"able"? Yes. "want to". Bad Idea.

Also: You are a little vague: "Send calls through" could be construed in two ways: Agents phones vs Prospect calls. Agents could use phones on the 3CX system as their "Vicidial phones" by redefining the "Admin->Phones" in Vicidial to route each agent's call to their 3CX phone. We usually do this with a "carrier" that captures a specific dial pattern and sends those calls (for instance 7XXX which would be four digit numbers starting with 7) to the 3CX system landing directly in an agent phone.

But Prospect calls would mean you are trying to use 3CX as a "carrier" for Vicidial. Sounds like a marvelous idea until you consider that Vicidial is capable of generating more than 200 calls per SECOND and maintaining hundreds (or thousands on a large system) simultaneous calls. I've not yet encountered a "PBX" capable of handling even a fraction of that traffic. So most will simply send those calls directly to a Real Carrier unless there is some overburdening reason to go through a PBX. And then you had better be using it for a very small call center with very few calls. Adequate for an inbound only system with 20-30 simultaneous calls (many of which on hold, lol) or an outbound system with under 5 agents perhaps. Even that few can overload a FreePBX system if it is not on decent hardware.

Welcome to the Party

[abarlow73]

It would generally be for outbound sales calls in a small call center less than 20 phones. At the moment we are manually dialing from a list of numbers but the problems we have are all the dead numbers and answer machines, we would like to be able to filter these calls out so we just get live calls.

An external company manages our voip lines and has the 3cx pbx system in place. we would have liked to use the vicidial predictive system as it is a 'free'. that was basically the reason for my questions. The external company said that it wasn't compatible but they would sort us one out for a 'fee'. I just thought I would ask the people in the know rather than taking their word for it as they obviously want us to pay for one.

Do you know of any other solution that would work for us.

Thank you again for your help.

A.

[williamconley]

Unless they require use of 3CX phones (ie: proprietary linkup ...), they are wrong. If you can (for instance) use Zoiper or X-lite or other soft phones, then Vicidial will work with it as well, but there is a challenge for configuration. It may be a limitation that each phone can only generate one call. If that is the case, you'd have to devise a method to allow Vicidial to link to many phone lines on the 3CX system, instead of using 3CX as a single carrier (so 3CX would become Many Carriers by using all available 3CX agent connections, each with a single line ...). Complex, but doable.

But this sidesteps the basic (underlying) issue. Even with 3CX, there is still a "Carrier". And sending the calls directly to the carrier (not through 3CX) is the desired method of making calls. However, if you have a "package deal" (ie: ripoff), then they require you to use them for the carrier and likely charge you a pretty hefty fee for doing so. Understand that "today's PBX" is FREE (FreePBX, primarily, but also systems like Vicidial which can completely replace your 3CX system!). There is no monthly fee associated with a Free PBX or other PBX like Vicidial unless it is "Hosted" (and then the fee is not for the software, but for the hardware and the internet .... So purchase the hardware (no more monthly fee) and if you can, host it yourself. Now you pay only for internet. If your internet is not sufficient, look for a place to host it for you so you can use their internet. Then the only internet you need at your facility is for ONE call for each agent TO the host location wherever the PBX is located. So instead of 35 calls to support those 5 agents, it will be FIVE calls to support those five agents locally, the rest would be internet at the hosting facility (which always has enough).

You pay per minute for the actual minutes you use, the only "monthly" fees are hosting (if you need it), leasing hardware (if you don't own it) and the "ownership of an inbound number" (aka: DID). That is usually $1-3 per month or $8-10 per month for unlimited inbound (not recommended, though, as they have to limit the number of channels on those unlimited). So you pay $3/month for your DID and per minute for everything else. And in "little" offices like yours that can be a very small number, with no commitment except for the $1-3/month for the DID. IF they are charging you "per user" ... you would do well to find out exactly how many minutes you used during the last billing cycle. Then multiply that by 2 cents. If you come out to less than you were charged for all fees for 3CX service ... you got hosed.