3CX Gateway for Skype: Righ...

I recently installed a 3CX Phone System for Windows v9 beta in the lab for testing purposes.  Once I got a couple of extensions working, I wanted a way to dial out to the outside world and I remembered that I had my Skype account lying around with Skype Out (and Skype In) configured.  Many of you may not know that 3CX offers the 3CX Gateway for Skype for free which allows you to make and receive calls to your Skype contacts – and ordinary telephones if you have the Skype Out/In service.

Following the instruction located here, I had it configured and working on an XP box in about 15 minutes – which included downloading both the Skype client and 3CX Gateway for Skype.  One note – if you are only configuring one Skype account and you plan to use it for both inbound and outbound calls.  Be sure to deselect the checkbox “Act as master inbound Skype port” in the 3CX for Skype Gateway configuration when creating the Skype channel (this is checked by default).

I have been using it for a couple of days now with no problems, and surprisingly the call quality is good, with no echo.  I even have DTMF working (I’ve seen this reported in the forums as a problem). I was able to do this by editing the configuration in the phone itself and changing the DTMF method from “in audio” to “SIP Info”.  For the most part the DTMF is working fine!

So why is it a “pretty good deal” right now?  Well .. some of you may be aware that Skype has “SIP for Skype” in beta right now and it is going to be their long term solution for supporting IP PBX’s with Skype.  While promised to be a much cleaner solution – it is also going to be quite a bit more expensive to use with an IP PBX.  The cost of SIP for Skype will be on par with other major SIP trunking providers, which is still a good value.  However – 3CX Gateway for Skype just uses (one or more) Skype personal accounts, and for the small office looking to add a minimal number of Skype channels to their 3CX IP PBX, it is much more economical.  As an example – with my Skype personal account I purchased $10 in call credit and $18 for a 3 month DID number.  No service contract, setup fees, or monthly recurring costs (unless you want them).

3CX Gateway for Skype is available free of charge and works with both the free edition of 3CX Phone System as well as the commercial edition.

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