Connecting Grandstream GXW4216, GXW4224, GXW4232, GXW4248 FXS Gateways to 3CX

Introduction

The latest 3CX v15.5 Update 6 update adds support for FXS and FXO Grandstream gateways. The FXS gateway is an excellent solution in a situation if you already have a large fleet of analog phones and need to quickly update the company's communication core without changing the devices. There is also another situation - a PBX operating in a hotel. The rooms are often already installed special hotel phones with additional features and a consistent design. It makes sense to leave them, especially since they do not perform any special corporate telephony functions.

The main advantage of gateway support from the 3CX side is semi-automatic configuration, in which it is enough to create users on 3CX, specify the gateway parameters and upload the configuration file. Thus, you do not need, for example, to manually fill in the credentials of 48 extensions on the gateway. And if there are several hundreds of such users? ..

In addition to analog phones, you can connect fax machines, analog DECT phones and, for example, electromechanical locks to the FXS Grandstream ports.

Please note - if you plan to save money by offering the customer an analog gateway and regular phones, you will not save anything. The specific cost of the FXS-gateway port, the cost of an analog telephone, as well as additional telephone cabling in the amount turn out to be more expensive than the same number of low-cost IP phones. And the functionality of such a telephone system will be significantly limited by the basic capabilities of an analog device. This will affect the user experience and user productivity.

Configure Gateway in 3CX

All Grandstream FXS gateways connect to 3CX in a uniform way. Before connecting the gateway, you should already have created extension numbers (users) that should be assigned to the gateway ports. If you plan to connect fax machines to the gateway, create extension fax numbers in the 3CX Fax Interface section.



When the user and fax extensions are ready, in the FXS / DECT section, add the Grandstream gateway of the desired model.



In this example, the 24-port GXW4224 is added. Specify the manufacturer, model and MAC address of the device.

After adding the gateway, the settings interface will open. On the General tab, select the fax mode — FAX in T.38 or Fax in Audio G711 (Pass Through) . As a rule, it is recommended to use the T.38 protocol.



On the Extensions tab, set which 3CX extensions to be configured on the gateway ports.



Save the gateway settings, re-open the Basic tab, and save the gateway's XML configuration file to disk.



This completes the configuration of the gateway on the 3CX side.

Grandstream FXS Gateway Setup

First of all, reset the gateway to its default settings. To do this, hold down the reset button on the gateway for 5 seconds. After reset, the gateway receives an IP address via DHCP. The current address must be visible on the LCD of the device. If it is not visible, click the down arrow.



Then go to the gateway interface (default password is admin) in the Maintenance - Upgrade and Provisioning - Upload Device Firmware section and install the latest firmware from the Grandstream website .

Go back to the same section, the Upload Device Configuration section, and upload the 3CX configuration file that you generated earlier.



The gateway will apply the configuration and boot. Gateway readiness is determined by the appearance of an IP address on the LCD screen. At this setting is over.

In the 3CX Management Interface Users section, you should see that all extensions configured on the gateway have successfully registered. If the gateway is used to connect fax machines, fax extensions will be visible in the section Home - System numbers.