Conferences in 3CX Phone System
Today we will tell you, colleagues, how to congratulate all the ladies on the occasion of March 8 in one big audio or video conference!
As you may know, the 3CX Phone System is an excellent voice conferencing system. You can organize a conference in it up to 64 simultaneous participants (the number of participants is limited by your license, i.e. the number of simultaneous switching). You can also organize several parallel conferences - the main thing is that the total number of participants of all conferences does not exceed 64.
There are three ways to organize a conference - from a hardware IP phone, using 3CXPhone branded clients for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone, and through the web conference system 3CX Webmeeting .
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To start a conference from any SIP phone:
If you wish, you can protect access to the conference server with a PIN code. In this case, users after dialing the server number (70) must enter the PIN code in the following form: Conference ID + * + PIN code + #.
Some large clients ask for the creation of dedicated conference numbers to simplify the work of employees. For example, the accounting department should hold conferences at number 71, sales department at number 72, etc. At a certain time, each accountant simply dials 71 and enters his conference. The advantage of this approach is that people do not need to remember the conference ID and the long dialing sequence.
This can be implemented in two ways.
1. Create a technical extension number and set it to unconditional forwarding. For example, you can create the number 71 and set it forwarding to the number 70 * 71. At the same time a conference with ID 71 will be created. All those who dial 70 * 71 will automatically get into this conference.
Remember to also set the current status of the extension to None .
2. Set a speed dial button 70 * 71 in a 3CXPhone or supported IP phone. Perhaps this is the preferred option, but it implies the presence of additional programmable buttons on the phone.
On the other hand, you can always use the CTI client mode of 3CXPhone (i.e. desktop IP phone control mode) and “expand” the capabilities of your low-cost desktop SIP phone.
This is how a conference is created in 3CX Phone System from a regular IP phone.
And now we will consider a more convenient way to work with conferences - through the 3CXPhone client.
To create a conference, go to the Conferences tab (the second icon at the bottom right), click on Create a conference and just select the necessary employees. Then click Start Conference .
All specified participants will immediately receive an incoming call and after the answer will be connected to the conference. The figure shows that one of the participants could not answer the call, and the system tries to call it again.
Obviously, the 3CXPhone client has advanced features for managing participants. In particular, you can turn off the microphone for a specific user. This is convenient with a large number of participants, because allows everyone to speak calmly.
With the help of the 3CXPhone client, you can not only create a conference on demand, but also schedule it for a specific time. This is done in the same Conference tab after clicking the Assign Conference button.
Here you specify the name and description of the conference, and the period of its holding. If you specify the Conference DID Number , external participants will be able to call this number from their mobile phones and join the discussion. Of course, for this you need to configure an incoming call routing rule. The Enable Ads option notifies all connected members when a new user is logged on.
When you have scheduled a conference, all invited participants will receive an e-mail notification with a reminder and an attachment in iCalendar format. If you use Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar and other schedulers, a conference reminder will be automatically set for you. At the appointed time, 3CX Phone System will automatically call all participants and the conference will begin.
Note that, on demand and in a scheduled conference, not only extensions (internal users) of the system can participate in the conference, but also any external numbers. All external users are also automatically called by the system when the conference starts.
In the latest version of 3CX Phone System, you can create not only regular voice conferences, but also more functional audio and video conferencing 3CX Webmeeting. In this case, Google WebRTC technology is used and the connection of conventional SIP devices is currently not supported (although the situation may change in future system releases).
Note that for Webmeeting videoconferencing to work correctly, you need to correctly configure the 3CX Phone System server, which we will look at in one of the following articles. Now suppose that the server part is activated and configured.
To create an on-demand 3CX Webmeeting conference, simply click on the Webmeeting icon in the phone interface.
Video conferencing will immediately start in the default browser. Please note that 3CX Webmeeting works in Google Chrome only.
Having created a conference, you can add participants in two ways:
Any 3CX Phone System commercial license supports free Webmeeting video conferencing for 10 participants in the Standard edition and 25 participants in the Pro edition. For an additional fee, you can create conferences for up to 100 simultaneous participants without the need to purchase any equipment.
The article discusses all available methods of audio and video conferencing in 3CX Phone System. Currently, SIP and WebRTC conferences are supported, both on desktop and mobile devices, as well as on ordinary phones, including mobile ones. Additional information on working with conferences is available at the following links:
As you may know, the 3CX Phone System is an excellent voice conferencing system. You can organize a conference in it up to 64 simultaneous participants (the number of participants is limited by your license, i.e. the number of simultaneous switching). You can also organize several parallel conferences - the main thing is that the total number of participants of all conferences does not exceed 64.
There are three ways to organize a conference - from a hardware IP phone, using 3CXPhone branded clients for Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone, and through the web conference system 3CX Webmeeting .
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Creating a conference from an IP phone
To start a conference from any SIP phone:
- Call extension 70 (or 700 if you are using three-digit numbering).
- Enter any conference ID, for example, 1 and #. Other participants must know this ID to join this particular conference.
- Confirm your selection with *.
- Introduce yourself (say the name), for example, Igor Snezhko, and press any button. Music will be played on hold and the conference will wait for other participants.
If you wish, you can protect access to the conference server with a PIN code. In this case, users after dialing the server number (70) must enter the PIN code in the following form: Conference ID + * + PIN code + #.
Dedicated conference rooms
Some large clients ask for the creation of dedicated conference numbers to simplify the work of employees. For example, the accounting department should hold conferences at number 71, sales department at number 72, etc. At a certain time, each accountant simply dials 71 and enters his conference. The advantage of this approach is that people do not need to remember the conference ID and the long dialing sequence.
This can be implemented in two ways.
1. Create a technical extension number and set it to unconditional forwarding. For example, you can create the number 71 and set it forwarding to the number 70 * 71. At the same time a conference with ID 71 will be created. All those who dial 70 * 71 will automatically get into this conference.
Remember to also set the current status of the extension to None .
2. Set a speed dial button 70 * 71 in a 3CXPhone or supported IP phone. Perhaps this is the preferred option, but it implies the presence of additional programmable buttons on the phone.
On the other hand, you can always use the CTI client mode of 3CXPhone (i.e. desktop IP phone control mode) and “expand” the capabilities of your low-cost desktop SIP phone.
This is how a conference is created in 3CX Phone System from a regular IP phone.
And now we will consider a more convenient way to work with conferences - through the 3CXPhone client.
Creating a conference through the 3CXPhone client
To create a conference, go to the Conferences tab (the second icon at the bottom right), click on Create a conference and just select the necessary employees. Then click Start Conference .
All specified participants will immediately receive an incoming call and after the answer will be connected to the conference. The figure shows that one of the participants could not answer the call, and the system tries to call it again.
Obviously, the 3CXPhone client has advanced features for managing participants. In particular, you can turn off the microphone for a specific user. This is convenient with a large number of participants, because allows everyone to speak calmly.
Conference Planning
With the help of the 3CXPhone client, you can not only create a conference on demand, but also schedule it for a specific time. This is done in the same Conference tab after clicking the Assign Conference button.
Here you specify the name and description of the conference, and the period of its holding. If you specify the Conference DID Number , external participants will be able to call this number from their mobile phones and join the discussion. Of course, for this you need to configure an incoming call routing rule. The Enable Ads option notifies all connected members when a new user is logged on.
When you have scheduled a conference, all invited participants will receive an e-mail notification with a reminder and an attachment in iCalendar format. If you use Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar and other schedulers, a conference reminder will be automatically set for you. At the appointed time, 3CX Phone System will automatically call all participants and the conference will begin.
Note that, on demand and in a scheduled conference, not only extensions (internal users) of the system can participate in the conference, but also any external numbers. All external users are also automatically called by the system when the conference starts.
Video conferencing via 3CX Webmeeting
In the latest version of 3CX Phone System, you can create not only regular voice conferences, but also more functional audio and video conferencing 3CX Webmeeting. In this case, Google WebRTC technology is used and the connection of conventional SIP devices is currently not supported (although the situation may change in future system releases).
Note that for Webmeeting videoconferencing to work correctly, you need to correctly configure the 3CX Phone System server, which we will look at in one of the following articles. Now suppose that the server part is activated and configured.
To create an on-demand 3CX Webmeeting conference, simply click on the Webmeeting icon in the phone interface.
Video conferencing will immediately start in the default browser. Please note that 3CX Webmeeting works in Google Chrome only.
Having created a conference, you can add participants in two ways:
- Click on the Invite button and specify the name and e-mail of the user. The participant will receive a personal invitation to the e-mail and simply click on the link in the letter. No additional authorization is required.
- Copy the open WebRTC connection link to the web conference and send it to the desired users in any convenient way. To connect the user will need to enter your name.
Any 3CX Phone System commercial license supports free Webmeeting video conferencing for 10 participants in the Standard edition and 25 participants in the Pro edition. For an additional fee, you can create conferences for up to 100 simultaneous participants without the need to purchase any equipment.
Conclusion
The article discusses all available methods of audio and video conferencing in 3CX Phone System. Currently, SIP and WebRTC conferences are supported, both on desktop and mobile devices, as well as on ordinary phones, including mobile ones. Additional information on working with conferences is available at the following links:
- Creating Web and Audio Conferencing - Administrator's Guide
- Creating conferences in 3CXPhone: Windows , Mac , Android , iOS
- Creating a conference from a regular call to 3CXPhone: Windows , Mac , Android , iOS
- Creating a web conference - instructions for 3CXPhone for Windows and Mac.
- Calls from an IP phone through a desktop application — using CTI mode in 3CXPhone for Windows.
- Download 3CX Phone System
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/278709/
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