The new 3CX Relay Agent for Windows is used by VoIPTools products to communicate with 3CX either locally or in the cloud. 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 via a REST-based API, as well as phone system events using SignalR. The Relay 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). 1.1. What are the Benefits? 1.2. What’s New? 1.3. How does it work? 3CX Relay Agent is used in combination with other VoIPTools products. The agent accepts multiple connections from VoIPToys products while making a single connection to 3CX. 1.4. How often should you install it? When you upgrade 3CX to a new FULL version, you must upgrade the Relay too. If you have already installed the Relay for your version of 3CX, you need not install it again unless a newer version of the Relay is required by a newer VoIPTools add-on.

Before installing the 3CX Relay Agent for Windows, you need to ensure that your computer meets the minimum requirements mentioned below:

Download software

You can download the Relay from our website at https://www.voiptools.com.

 

Install Prerequisites

There are a number of prerequisites that must be installed prior to installing the 3CX Relay Agent For Windows.

 

Install 3CX Relay Agent

This User Guide contains step-by-step instructions to successfully install the 3CX Relay Agent for Windows.  Begin by extracting the installer from the downloaded zip file (Step 1 above), then run the setup program named RelaySerivcesInstaller.exe

The following section guides you through a detailed walk-through of the installation process.

Step 1: Download the 3CX Relay Agent for Windows

You can visit online at https://www.voiptools.com and download the free utility.

Step 2: Login to 3CX Server

VoIPTools applications interact with 3CX through the VoIPTools 3CX Relay Service. The Relay MUST be installed directly on the server where 3CX is installed.

Step 3: Extract the installer from the downloaded .zip file

The file you downloaded in the above step is a compressed .zip file.

Step 4: Start the installation process

4. When the software installation is complete, click Close.

1. When the installation is complete, the setup program will display a message with the URL needed to access the web-based Relay administration console. Open your browser and in the address bar, enter a URL similar to the following:

http://<3cx-server-ip>:8800

  Replace <3cx-server-ip> with the IP / FQDN of your 3CX server.

2. You can login to the Relay with either your 3CX Administrator credentials, or with any 3CX extension that has 3CX System Admin rights.  To login with an extension, use your 3CX extension number and WEB password.

Figure 3: Voiptools Relay login

  You can obtain your web password by editing your extension in the 3CX web console.

You are permitted 3 attempts to login to the Relay console successfully.  After 3 unsuccessful attempts, the Relay console will be locked FOR ALL USERS for the next 15 minutes.

  The only way to clear a failed login before the 15 minute lock period, is to reboot the Relay service.

When the installation is complete, the setup program will display a message with the URL needed to access the web-based Relay administration console. Your URL should be something similar to the following:

http://<3cx-server-ip>:8800

If you previously registered your Relay, the existing licensing information will be preserved. For new installs, select the licensing option from the left-side panel. Enter your license information and press the “Register” button. If you do not have a license key, you can still use our free tools. To access the Relay API, you must register with a valid license key.

When registering your license key, the contact information should be the end-user (customer). Be sure to include the Reseller company name if purchased through a 3CX Reseller. When complete, press the “Register” button to activate your license key.

Figure 4: Register License

The Relay can be configured to respond to an IP address or FQDN (or both), and you can change the default port used (not recommended). Typically the default settings are sufficient, but you can use the “Server Bindings” field to define the URLs accepted by the Relay/REST API.  You can enter multiple URLs separated by a space.  For example:
http://192.168.1.20:8800 https://mydomain.com:8801

Figure 5: Services

3.3.1 Web Server Bindings

To change these settings, select “Services” from the left-hand side panel. After making changes to either the server bindings or port, it is necessary to restart the Relay. You can restart the relay by pressing the “Restart” button.

3.3.2 Update Time

The Relay Auto-Update service checks for software updates daily. If an update is found, the service will download the latest available Relay and install the update.

You can enter the hour and minute that the service checks for updates. Pressing the “Start” button saves your settings and starts the service. To disable the service, simply press the button to stop the service.

Figure 12: Update Time

3.3.3 IP Restrictions

As a security measure, it is prudent (where feasible) to limit what devices can access your Relay. Normally you would restrict what IP addresses are permitted to communicate with your relay at your firewall. However, if your firewall does not support this feature, or you do not know how to implement this feature in your firewall, you can easily implement this restriction at the Relay.

By restricting what IP addresses can communicate with the Relay, you block hackers access even if they obtain passwords and authorization tokens. If you enable this feature, only the authorized IP addresses will be able to access the Relay. At this time we do not support entering ranges of IP addresses.

Figure 13: Enable IT Restriction

To authorize an IP address (device) to access the Relay, press the “New” button. You can also edit or delete existing entries using the “Edit” and “Delete” buttons.

3.3.4 IP Enable 3CX Events

The Relay can “publish” 3CX events to client applications using SignalR (websockets under the covers). The Relay can publish phone call events, as well as file events (new recordings, voicemails, and CDR files). These events are enabled by default, but can be disabled at the recommendation of VoIPTools support if not needed by any of the tools you have installed. Disabling unused events will reduce the resources required by the Relay.

Figure 14: Update Events

Visit our website to access our on-line manuals and receive quick answers to most of your questions. Otherwise, you can contact us by phone, email, live chat and on the VoIPTools forums.