Do you need an audible chime when too many people are waiting in the queue? This add-on enables you to set a threshold for the maximum number of people in the queue or maximum hold time.
1.1. How 3CX Queue Notifier works?
Scenario: Your staff is often busy and spends much of their time away from their desks. Perhaps they need a nudge to remind them people are waiting in a queue. With 3cx Queue Notifier (Queue Chime) you can play over an overhead paging system (or through the phone speakers) a chime indicating the number of people waiting in the queue. Alternatively, you can play a text-to-speech message stating the number of people in the queue and the longest hold time.
Before you begin with the installation steps mentioned in this guide, you need to ensure that your computer meets the minimum requirements mentioned below for installing 3CX Queue Notifier.
1. 3CX Version 12 to 15.5 or above (Professional or Enterprise Version Only)
2. Windows 10 and above / Windows Server 2012 and above
3. Microsoft SQL Server 2008-2016 (Including Free Express Edition)
4. .Net 4.6.1 or above
5. Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 and above
6. Installation on a domain controller is not supported
2.1. Create Folder in 3CX Server to Store Audio Files
To upload audio files from the local path to 3CX Server, you need to create a folder in the 3CX Server.
1. Log in to 3CX Server with valid credentials.
2. Navigate to the root path: C:\ProgramData\3CX\Instance1\Data\Recordings
3. Create a folder and name it as, ‘QueueNotificationAudios’
Download software
You can order 3CX Queue Notifier on-line at http://www.voiptools.com. Your order confirmation email will include your license key and a link to download the software.
Install Prerequisites
There are a number of prerequisites that must be installed prior to installing 3CX Queue Notifier. These prerequisites include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft SQL Server
Install 3CX Queue Notifier
This User Guide contains step-by-step instructions to successfully install 3CX Queue Notifier. Begin by extracting the installer from the downloaded zip file (Step 1 above), then run the setup program named 3CXQueueNotifierInstaller.exe
Register your License Key
You must register your license key to activate 3CX Queue Notifier. Your license key is included in your order confirmation email, and can also be found in your order history on our website.
The following section guides you through a detailed walk-through of the installation process.
Step 1: Download 3CX Queue Notifier
You can check for the software download link included in your order confirmation email. As an alternative, you can also find the link from your order history on our website.
Step 2: Extract the installer from the downloaded .zip file
The file you downloaded in the above step is a compressed .zip file.
1. Position the mouse on the zip file and right-click.
2. From the popup menu, select Extract All to extract the software
Step 3: Start the installation process
1. From the extracted folder, find the file 3CXQueueNotifierInstaller.exe
2. Double-click the file to start the VoIPTools Setup Wizard.
3. Click Next to continue.
Figure 1: Setup Wizard
Special note for Multi-tenant installations:
1. If you are installing 3CX Queue Notifier on a 3CX Cloud (Multi-tenant) server, an additional screen will display with a combo box containing a list of all installed tenants. Select the correct tenant and continue.
2. If you are installing 3CX Queue Notifier on a separate server and pointing it to a 3CX Cloud server, you will need to tell the installer the name of the specific tenant desired. Start the installer from a command window and include an additional parameter: tenantname=<your-tenant-name>. Passing the tenant name to the installer will pre-fill the combo box with the correct tenant name. For example:3CXQueueNotifier.exe tenantname=the3CXtenantname
Step 4: Download the VoIPTools 3CX Relay (if required)
3CX permits one 3rd party application to communicate with the 3CX server at a time. To overcome this limitation, VoIPTools created the 3CX Relay Service. The Relay is a lightweight application that is installed directly on the 3CX server. The Relay exposes the 3CX Call Control API (and other VoIPTools services) to all our applications, and manages requests and events between VoIPTools products and 3CX. The Relay also makes it possible to install our VoIPTools products on a remote server (including over the internet).
1. If you have not previously installed the Relay on your 3CX Server, you can download the Relay installer by clicking on the Download Relay button. The Relay must be installed directly on the 3CX server.
2. If you are installing 3CX Queue Notifier directly on the 3CX server, you can install the Relay simply by clicking the Install/ Upgrade Relay button and following the Relay install instructions.
Step 5: Test Relay Settings
1. In the Relay Services Host field, enter “localhost” if installing 3CX Queue Notifier on the 3CX server. If 3CX resides on a different server, enter the IP address or FQDN of the 3CX server.
2. In the Relay Services Port field, enter the value as 8700
The default port number is 8700 but will likely be different in multi-tenant environment
3. Click Test Relay Settings to confirm 3CX Queue Notifier can communicate with the Relay services running on the 3CX server.
Figure 2: Test VoIPTools 3CX Relay settings
4. If the 3CX Queue Notifier is successfully able to communicate with the Relay services that run on the 3CX server, Success message box appears. Click OK.
5. Click Next to continue the installation.
Step 6: Configure the database
If this is your first install then, select a valid SQL server and if you are reinstalling then select the existing database.
1. When prompted for the database connection information, click Configure.
Figure 3: Configure Database
2. In the Connection Properties dialog box, enter the SQL server name. If using the free SQL Express edition, the default SQL Instance name is <your-server-name>\SQLExpress.
Figure 4: Connection Properties
3. Enter the login credentials.
a. If using Windows integrated security, select Use Windows Authentication. The VoIPTools installer will create a local windows user name as “VoIPToys” and will give sufficient rights to this user to create / update the SQL database.
Figure 5: Windows Authentication
b. If SQL Server authentication is desired, select Use SQL Server Authentication. Be sure to select a SQL Login that has sufficient permissions to alter the database and create SQL objects. Enter the User name and Password, and select appropriate database value from the Select or enter a database name drop down.
Figure 6: SQL Server Authentication
4. Click Test Connection button to confirm you can connect to SQL
5. Click OK to close the test results dialog
6. Click Next to continue the installation
Figure 7: Configure Database
Step 7: Run the Application
Once the installation is complete, click Run Application
Figure 8: Run Application
To access the ‘3CX Queue Notifier’ web portal, click on the desktop icon that was created during the installation process (3CX Queue Notifier).
Connect to Web Portal
The 3CX Queue Notifier (Chime) configuration screen enables you to set ‘Recording Path’ in order to store recordings locally, check for updates, and connect to web portal. From here, the 3CX Queue Notifier automatically uploads all the recordings to the 3CX Server.
Steps:
1. On the 3CX Queue Notifier (Chime) configuration screen, in the Instructions tab and in the Recording Path field, browse the desired path in order to store all the recordings locally and click Save to save the path.
2. Click Web Portal button to connect to the 3CX Queue Notifier Web Portal.
3. To check for new releases, click Check for Updates button.
Figure 9: 3CX Queue Notifier (Chime) – Configuration Screen
Login to Web Portal
When connecting to the web portal, you will be asked to provide login credentials:
1. In the Extension field, enter your 3CX extension number
2. In the PIN field, enter your 3CX Queue Notifier PIN
3. Click Login button to login to your account
Figure 10: 3CX Queue Notifier Web Portal Login
Registration is required to authorize your software. Registering also makes it possible for VoIPTools to provide a replacement key if your license key is ever lost. Also, it enables VoIPTools to notify you of any product updates.
1. On the License screen, enter your registration information in all the fields (Note the red dot denotes a required field).
2. Click Register.
Settings screen enables you to start or stop a service, and configure 3CX paging dial code that allows you to play notifications through your phone speakers.
4.2.1. Service Status
In this section, you can start or stop a service.
Figure 12: 3CX Queue Notifier – Start/ Stop Service
• Start/ Stop: A Windows Service (3CX Queue Notifier) runs in the background monitoring for active calls. You can monitor the status of this service here (Running, Stopped, Unknown)
• Refresh: The ‘Refresh’ link will update the status if changes to the service status were made directly in the Windows Service Snap-in.
4.2.2. 3CX Settings
This section enables you to configure 3CX paging dial code.
If you wish to play notifications through the speakers of your phones, you can cause the phones to automatically answer and play the notifications by prepending the 3CX paging dial code.
Queues screen enables you to configure Max Wait Time, Max Calls in Queue and the Paging Extension that needs to be notified.
Figure 14: Queues Screen
| Monitor | Check the check box of the specific queue for which you want to activate ‘Queue Notification’. |
|---|---|
| Extension | Extension of the Queue for which the queue notification is activated. |
| Queue Name | Name of the Queue for which the queue notification is activated. |
| Paging Extension | Extension of the user to whom you want to notify. As soon as the Max Wait Time or Max Calls in Queue is reached, the paging extension automatically receives the ‘Queue Notification’ call. |
| Intercom | Prepend paging dial code. If you wish to play notifications through the speakers of your phones, you can cause the phones to automatically answer and play the notifications by prepending the 3CX paging dial code. |
| Frequency | The amount of time (in seconds) after which the event of queue notification repeats. |
| Max Wait time | This setting allows you to configure queue notifications based on max wait time of a caller in the queue. |
| • Max Wait | The maximum amount of time (in seconds) a caller can wait in the queue after which, the paging extension receives queue notification. |
| • Notify By | You can notify either by ‘Chime’ or ‘TTS’ (Text to Speech). |
| Max Calls in Queue | This setting allows you to configure queue notifications based on maximum calls in the queue. |
| • Max Calls | The maximum number of callers waiting in the queue after which, the paging extension receives queue notification. |
| • Notify By | You can notify either by ‘Chime’ or ‘TTS’ (Text to Speech). |
Security screen enables you to configure ‘Services Credentials.
4.4.1. Services Credentials
Optional: If for some reason you need a custom account instead of the VoIPToys user, you can set it here. This will change the user on the windows service and the AppPool for the website as well as create a SQL user for the windows account.
| Domain | If using a domain account, enter the domain name. If using a local user account, enter the name of the server where the local user resides. Note that using a local user is only applicable if the application is installed on the same machine as the SQL server. |
|---|---|
| User Name | Enter valid user name |
| Password | Provide the password associated with the specified user name. |
| Test Access | You can test that the account is valid. |
| Save button | Once you have successfully set up a customer user account, you can save the settings by pressing the “Save” button. |
If you need support, would like to request an enhancement to 3CX Queue Notifier, or are interested in discussing a custom solution, you can contact as at the following:
Address: 2306 Shimmering Bay Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45244-2760
Hours: Monday – Friday (8:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M. Central Standard Time)
Phone: USA: +1 801-642-4655
Skype: VoIPToys
Email: info@VoIPTools.com
Whether through one of our commercial products, or a custom solution built to meet your specific needs, we can help you get the most out of your 3CX investment. Call us today!
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