Introduction #

Whether you are a small school, or a large campus of buildings, you need to know immediately who dialed 911. With 3CX Emergency Notifier, your emergency responders will know exactly where to go.

What is 3CX Emergency Notifier? #

With 3CX Emergency Notifier, you will have complete control over 911 notifications. You can control the content of notifications, who is notified, and how they are notified (email, SMS, and phone call), in addition to informing emergency responders exactly where the problem is located. This is a “MUST HAVE” solution for educational facilities and businesses with multiple buildings.

Why 3CX Emergency Notifier? #

The important features of 3CX Emergency Notifier include the following:

• Know immediately who dialed 911
• Send calls, emails or texts to any phone number or email address you choose
• Notify critical staff immediately when 911 has been dialed. Notifications include:
  • Who called (extension, mobile number, first and last name)
  • Where (address, floor, pillar, cubicle)
• Notifications are easily customizable
• Know exactly where the emergency exists and who made the phone call to 911
• View the logs of all events to know how and who was notified and update notes accordingly for future reference

How to Use 3CX Emergency Notifier? #

3CX Emergency Notifier is a onetime installation process. Once you install it, the product allows you to gain complete control over 911 notifications using a simple web portal.

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Prerequisites #

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 Emergency Notifier.

• 3CX Version V16 and V18 (Professional or Enterprise Version Only)
• Windows 10 or above / Windows Server 2012 or above
• Microsoft SQL Server 2014 or above (Including the free SQL Express edition)
• Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 or above
• Net 4.7.2 or above

Note:

• Since the add-on ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ includes a CFD application, you will need to install either Pro or Enterprise version of 3CX
• Windows 8 has a much better Text-To-Speech engine compared to Windows 7
• When installing SQL Server, we recommend you install it in “Mixed Mode” to include SQL Authentication, and install SQL Management Studio
• When installing IIS, be sure to install Basic Authentication, .Net Extensibility, and ASP.Net 4.X

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Installation #

	Download software #	You can order 3CX Emergency Notifier on-line at 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 Emergency Notifier. These prerequisites include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Microsoft SQL Server
	Install 3CX Emergency Notifier #	This User Guide contains step-by-step instructions to successfully install 3CX Emergency Notifier.  Begin by extracting the installer from the downloaded zip file (Step 1 above), then run the setup program named EmergencyNotifierInstaller.exe
	Register your License Key #	You must register your license key to activate 3CX Emergency Notifier. Your license key is included in your order confirmation email, and can also be found in your order history on our website.
	Configure General, Email, and Voice Settings #	To control the access and storage of 911 notifications, you need to configure certain settings by logging into Emergency Notifier Web Portal.

Step-by-step Installation Procedure #

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

Step 1: Download 3CX Emergency Notifier #

You can find the software download link in the Order Confirmation Email, or you can find it in your order history on our website.

Step 2: Install the Prerequisites #

Click on the software installer downloaded in Step 1. The installation wizard will automatically identify the prerequisites and assist you with each installation required to 3CX Emergency Notifier. It includes .NET Framework (Web Installer), SQL Server Express (Web Installer), and SQL Server Management Studio.

1. Click the downloaded installer executable to launch the Prerequisites Setup Wizard and click Next.

2. In the Prerequisites window, install all the required prerequisites identified by the installer, or select/ unselect the applications based on your requirements and click Next to continue.
   

The installer will download and install the selected applications. It may take several minutes to complete.

3. The Microsoft SQL Server License Terms page gets displayed if you install SQL Server Express. Click Accept to acknowledge the license terms and continue.

4. In the Media Location field, browse to change the location and click Install to begin the installation of SQL Server Express.

Installation is in progress. It may take several minutes to complete the installation.

7. Click Yes in the Confirmation Message Box to reboot the computer.

Step 3: Start the installation process #

1. Click Next on the 3CX Emergency Notifier Setup Wizard screen.

2. On the Select Installation Folder window, the Folder field displays the path where the 3CX Emergency Notifier gets installed. You cannot change the location path.
3. Click Next to continue

Step 5: Configure the Relay Services: #

1. Click the Test Relay Settings to confirm ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ can communicate with the Relay services running on the 3CX server.
2. If the ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ is successfully able to communicate with the Relay services that run on the 3CX server, a Success message box appears. Click OK. If the test fails, you will not be able to continue until communication with the relay is established.

NOTE:

• You must set the Relay Port to 8801.
• If the test was unsuccessful
  • Confirm you have the correct firewall port open (default TCP 8801) on the 3CX server and the firewall protecting the 3CX server.
  • Confirm that you have entered the correct IP address / FQDN for the 3CX server.
  • Confirm that the 3CX Emergency Notifier and Relay use the same port and protocol.

NOTE:

If the Relay test fails, you cannot continue the installation until you establish communication with the Relay.

Step 6: Configure SQL Database #

1. On the SQL Database window in the Server field, select the desired instance of SQL Server.
2. To use SQL Authentication, uncheck the Trusted Connection checkbox.
3. In the Username and Password fields, enter valid SQL login account credentials.

NOTE:

• We recommend you use SQL Authentication rather than Windows authentication. Many of our tools leverage a Call Flow Designer (CFD) application running on the 3CX. Frequently our CFD applications require access to a SQL database. If the 3CX server and the database server are not in an Active Directory domain, Windows authentication will fail.
• To use SQL Authentication, you must configure the SQL server to run in Mixed Mode. If you install SQL Server with our tools, we configure SQL in Mixed Mode.

4. To use Windows Integrated Authentication (not recommended), check the Trusted Connection (Windows integrated authentication) checkbox.

NOTE:

In the Database field, the installer will automatically display the default database name. We encourage you to use the default name. To upgrade or reinstall 3CX Emergency Notifier, select the current database name from the list.

5. Click the Tool buttons to confirm connectivity to SQL Server. and click OK on the Test Results message box.

6. Click the CFD buttons to confirm connectivity to SQL Server and click Ok on the Test Results message box.

7. Click OK on the Test Results dialogue box.

Step 7: Installing 3CX Emergency Notifier #

1. Click Install in the Ready to Install window.

The application installation may take several minutes to complete.

2. Check the Launch 3CX Emergency Notifier checkbox and click Finish when the installation is complete.

Step 8: 3CX Emergency Notifier Setup #

If you wish to run 3CX Emergency Notifier as a user other than the default local VoIPTools user, you can specify the desired user in the 3CX Emergency Notifier Setup screen. For example, you may need to change the user to a domain account if you are using SQL integrated security and a remote SQL server. Applying this change will perform several tasks:

• Change the 3CX Emergency Notifier IIS Application Pool login user
• Recycle the IIS Appication Pool and Website
• Change the 3CX Emergency Notifier Windows Service login user
• Grant the user “Login as a service right”
• Restart the 3CX Emergency Notifier Windows service

Windows tab #

1. In the 3CX Emergency Notifier Setup screen, click Windows tab
2. In the Hub URL field, enter the Hub URL (in most cases, the default value should work)
3. In the Web Portal Password section, select the desired 3CX Password type option based on which using which you want to login to web portal.
4. Click Save

Services tab #

1. In the Services tab, click Start button beside the service you want to start
2. Click Stop button beside the service that you want to stop
3. Click Save to save the changes

Step 9: Check for default data in database server #

To verify if you have successfully installed 3CX Emergency Notifier application, you need to log into the data base and check for default data in the basic tables.

1. Log into the SQL database.
2. In the Object Explorer accordion, expand Databases and then expand Tables
3. From the tables list
   • Open dbo.EmergencyNumbers table to see the emergency contact number “911”
   • Open dbo.Messages table to see message type for the emergency number as Email, SMS and Email Subject.
   • Open dbo.NotificationSettings table to see the emergency contact number “911”
   • Open dbo.Settings table to see the default database settings.

Installing the Desktop Alert Application #

In addition to sending emergency notifications by phone, email, and SMS text, you can also receive
notifications on your desktop.

The following instructions outline how to install the desktop notification application:

Note: Before you launch the application, you need to ensure that the following prerequisites are installed:

• Microsoft .Net Framework 4.6.1 (x86 and x64)

If the above component is already installed, you can launch the application. Otherwise, follow the instructions as outlined below to install the component.

Note: The Desktop Notifications application receives events and client software updates from the VoIPTools server.  You will need to configure your public facing and Windows firewalls to open ports 5600 TCP and 5610 TCP.

1. On the File Explorer, navigate to:
   • C:\\ProgramData\VoIPTools\Data\Http\wwwroot\3CX Emergency Notifier\Alert

• 2. Double-click EmergencyAlertUpdater to display Emergency Alert URLUpdate popup.

2. In the Emergency Alert URLUpdate popup, enter your URL in the format http://localhost:5600/Alert/EmergencyAlerter.htm and click Update.

Note:

It is important that your FQDN resolve to an IP address that is accessible by your client workstations.  If, for example, your VoIPTools server is hosted in the cloud, the FQDN should resolve to the public IP address of your VoIPTools server.  It may be necessary to update your DNS, or you can update the workstation’s Host file to map the FQDN to an accessible IP address.

Note: To access the folder, ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ ensure that you have full admin rights.

3. In the Emergency Alert Application Update URL popup, click OK.

4. Open web browser and in the address bar, type the URL: http://localhost:5600/Alert/EmergencyAlerter.htm

Note: In the url mentioned above, replace with your local host value.

5. The following web page appears:

6. Click Install to install the prerequisites.
7. You can now launch the application.
8. On the taskbar and in the notification area, click the  Show hidden icons icon to display notification area overflow

9. In the notification area overflow, right-click on the  Emergency Alerts icon and in the right click menu, click Preferences.

10. In the Preferences screen and in the Server URL field, enter the URL:

Note: In the url mentioned above, replace with your FQDN value.

11. Click Save to save the url and then click Close to close the Preferences screen.
12. In the notification area overflow, right-click on the  Emergency Alerts icon and in the right click menu, click Exit to exit from the Emergency Alerts.

13. On the desktop, click the 3CX Emergency Notifier icon to launch the application.

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Web Portal #

To access the 3CX Emergency Notifier web portal, click the Web Portal button on the configuration program, or
click on the desktop icon that was created during the installation process (3CX Emergency Notifier Web).

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 voicemail PIN
3. Click the Login button to login to your account

Setting up 3CX Emergency Notifier (Settings Screen) #

The Settings screen enables you to register 3CX Emergency Notifier, configure general settings, email server, voice settings, and customize brand settings.

Hover over the mouse on Settings tab to display the drop down menu with the following menu options:

• Emergency Notifier Settings
• Site Settings

Emergency Notifier Settings #

• Emergency Notifier Settings enable you to register 3CX Emergency Notifier, and configure general settings, email server and voice settings.

License tab (Registration) #

For registration, you need to log into ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ web portal and perform the following tasks:

1. In the 3CX Emergency Notifier web portal, hover over the mouse on Settings tab and from the drop down menu, select Emergency Notifier Settings.

2. In the Settings screen, click License tab
3. In the Registration section, enter License Key and other details appropriately
4. Click Register

Configure General Settings (General tab) #

Start/ Stop – A windows Service (3CX Emergency Notifier) runs in the background monitoring
for emergency calls. You can monitor the status of this service here (Running, Stopped,
Unknown).

Note: If you make changes to ‘Settings’, it is necessary to stop and start the service.

• Refresh link will update the status if changes to the service status were made directly in
  the Windows Service Snap-in.
• Status field shows the current state of the Windows service (Started/ Stopped).

Note: If you make changes to ‘Settings’, it is necessary to stop and start the service.

Configure Email Server (Email tab) #

1. In the Email tab, under Email Server section, in the Server field, enter the IP address or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of your email server. Examples: 192.168.1.20 or mail.mydomain.com
2. In the Port field, enter SMTP Port number. Default port number is 25.
3. In the From Email: field, enter the reply email addresses for email and SMS notifications.
4. In the Authentication section, enter Username and Password.
5. Click Test button to test if Email Server is able to communicate with 3CX Phone System.
6. Click Save to save the data.

Configure Voice Settings (Voice tab) #

3CX Emergency Notifier can call your contacts and “play” a recording. The recording can be prerecorded, or dynamically created using Text-To-Speech. A dynamically created recording can list information about the extension where the emergency number was dialed. The following settings make it possible for you to modify some of the attributes of the voice used to make dynamic recording.

1. Under Voice Settings section, check Dynamic Recording check box to turn on Dynamic recordings. Uncheck the check box if you want to use a prerecorded recording rather than Text-To-Speech. Prerecorded messages are uploaded on the “Messages” tab
2. From the Locale dropdown list, select the desired culture.
3. From the TTS Type drop down list, select the TTS Type as Windows TTS or Amazon Polly as per your requirement.
4. Select TTS Type: Windows TTS if you want to create dynamic play files by using the voices installed in your computer.

5. From the Voice Name drop down list, select the voice that you want to use for dynamic recordings. Usually, this field displays all of the voices installed on the computer.
6. From the Gender dropdown, select Male or Female so that the Emergency Notifier will play the .wav file in male or female voice.
7. From the Volume drop down list, select the volume that you want to apply for your recording.
8. From the Speech Rate drop down list, select the desired speech rate to adjust the speed of the speech.
9. Select TTS Type: Amazon Polly if you want to create ‘Self Identification Message (.wav file) using Amazon Web Services.

10. In the Amazon Id and Amazon Key fields, enter valid details. To learn how to create Amazon Web Services (AWS) account and generate AWS access key ID and secret key id, click here.
11. From the Voice Name drop down list, select the voice that you want to use for dynamic recordings. Usually,
12. this field displays all of the voices installed on the computer

Site Settings #

Site Settings enable you to customize branding settings for the application that include the following:

• Customize the gradient color of ‘Application Header’
• Customize grid color in screens that display grid data
• Customize logo on the ‘Application Header’
• Customize ‘Header Title Prefix’ on the ‘Application Header’

Custom Brand Settings

Hover over the mouse on Settings tab and from the drop down menu, select Site Settings

1. In the Custom Branding Settings form, perform the following Brand Setting Customizations:
   1. Customize Application Title Header – Gradient Color
      1. Beside Header Gradient Color and from the Top Color palette, select the desired color that you want to display as the top color for the ‘Application Title Header’.

1. 1. 2. From the Bottom Color palette, select the desired color that you want to display at the bottom of the ‘Application Title Header’ in gradient to the selected Top Color.

1. 2. Customize Grid Color
      1. From the Grid Color palette, select the color that you want to display for the grid in screens that display grid data.

1. 3. Customize Logo
      1. If you are uploading the logo for the first time then, beside Upload New Logo field, click Browse and select the logo that you want to apply. You will now observe that the logo is added to the Custom Logo drop down list.
      2. From the Custom Logo drop down list, select the logo that you have just uploaded.

1. 4. Customize ‘Header Title Prefix’ Text
      1. In the Header Title field, enter the text that you want the application to display as ‘prefix’ for the existing title in application header.

2. Once you perform desired customizations, click Apply.

Log Screen #

Log screen displays list of all the event logs since the time you have installed 3CX Emergency Notifier. The
information includes event date and time, extension, phone number, floor, pilar, cubicle, street, city,
state/ province, and postal code details.

Extensions Screen #

In the Extensions screen you can import extensions from either 3CX phone system or CSV file, and export the extension records in the available various formats like pdf, xls, xlsx, rtf or csv.

Import Extensions from 3CX Phone System #

1. In the Extensions screen, select 3CX radio button
2. Click Import Extensions button

Import Extensions from CSV file #

1.  In the Extensions screen, select CSV radio button
2. Click Choose File button
3. Enter the file path and click Import Extensions button

Add New Extension #

1. In the Extensions screen, click  to add a new extension
2. In the Extension field, enter valid extension number
3. In the First and Last fields, enter the first and last name of the contact respectively
4. Enter valid Mobile, Floor, Pillar, Cubicle, Address, City, State/ Province and Zip Code details for the new extension
5. Click Save to save the extension

Note: You can create multiple extensions (batch edits) before you save the data.

Contacts Screen #

Add New Contact #

1. In the Contacts screen, click  to add a new contact
2. In the First field, enter the First Name of the contact
3. In the Last field, enter the Last Name of the contact
4. In the Phone field, enter the Phone Number of the contact
5. In the Email field, enter valid Email Address of the contact
6. In the SMS Address field, enter valid SMS Address of the contact
7. From the Extension Group drop down, select the extension group to which you want to assign the contact to
8. Click Save to save the contact

Note: You can create multiple contacts (batch edits) before you save the data.

Speed Dials Screen #

When a ‘Speed Dial’ group receives a call, all the contacts in the group will receive the notifications. The notifications include email or SMS or both. Simply check the email and/ or SMS check box to apply the notification type for the speed dial group.

‘Voice App’ and ‘Alarm’ are the two CFD extensions created manually with a unique id. ‘Voice App Extension’ is programmed on phone and its purpose is to connect the call to its associated contacts. Once the contact receives the call, the ‘Voice App Extension’ internally activates its respective ‘Alarm Extension’ so that it plays the respective audio file for the contact that has received the call.

Only ‘Voice App Extension’ is revealed to the customer and ‘Alarm Extension’ is confidential.

Create Speed Dial #

1. In the Speed Dials screen, click  to add a new speed dial
2. Enter valid Voice App Extension and Alarm Extension fields respectively
3. In the Description field, enter the description for the speed dial call
4. Check Email and/or SMS check boxes to apply the notification type for the speed dial call
5. Check Repeat check box if you want to repeatedly play the ‘Audio’ file for the speed dial call
6. From the Audio drop down, select the audio file that you saved on your computer. This file will play as the alarm for the speed dial call
7. Click Publish link to create ‘Voice App Extension’ and ‘Alarm Extension’ in the PBX system

Note: Once you publish the speed dial, ‘Voice App Extension’ and ‘Alarm Extension’ will be created in the PBX system with the name same as that of ‘Description’ you mentioned for the speed dial, extended by the terms ‘Notification’ and ‘Alarm’ for ‘Voice App Extension’ and ‘Alarm Extension’ respectively.

Add New Contact to Speed Dial #

1. In the Speed Dials menu click the Browse button.
2. Select the Add Contacts icon.
3. Enter the details of the contacts and click Save to save the contact.

Emergency Numbers Screen #

In the Emergency Numbers screen, you can view the list of all the emergency numbers. You can also create a new emergency number here. When an emergency number receives a call, the notification is sent to all the extensions of the extension group to which the emergency number belongs to.

Create New Emergency Number

1. In the Emergency Numbers screen, click  to add new emergency number
2. In the Number field, enter valid extension number
3. In the Description field, enter valid description in brief
4. In the Play File field, select the audio file that you already uploaded
5. Click Save to save the data

Note: If you have not selected any audio file in the ‘Play File’ field then, the ‘SMS’ notification that you set for the extension will play as voice file for all the extensions that received the notification.

Messages Screen #

Messages screen enables you to create an email and SMS to send as notification for a specific speed dial group or emergency number. Here you can either create a new email and SMS message, or edit an existing one.

Create Email Message #

1. In the Messages screen, under Notification Messages, select the extension from the extension drop down to which you want to send the email notification
2. In the Email Subject field, enter the subject of the email
3. In the Design editor, type the email content that you want to send as notification to the selected speed dial group or emergency number
4. Click Update to create the email notification

Create SMS Message #

1.  In the Messages screen, under Notification Messages, select the extension from the extension drop down to which you want to send the SMS notification
2. In the text box, type the SMS content that you want to send as notification to the selected speed dial group or emergency number
3. Click Update to create the SMS notification
4. IVR extension number

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Locations Screen #

The ‘Locations’ screen enables you to create a location (building) by associating an IP address range to the desired group. When a user moves from one location to another, the ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ automatically updates the group based on the IP address of the phone.

Create Location

1. In the Locations screen and on the column header, click Add button.
2. From the 3CX Emergency Group dropdown list, select the desired group to which you want to add IP address range.

Note: ‘3CX Emergency Notifier’ retrieves the ‘Emergency Group’ details from ‘3CX Management Console’ and displays them in the ‘3CX Emergency Group’ dropdown list.

3. In the IP Address field, enter the IP Address range in either of the two supporting formats as mentioned in the example below:
   • For Example:
     • Format 1: 192.168.5.0/24 which means that the IP range is from 192.168.5.0 to 192.168.5.24
     • Format 2: 192.168.5.0-192.168.5.24 which means that the IP range is from 192.168.5.0 to 192.168.5.24

Note: In a subnet, if you want to associate a specific single IP address to a different location, then you will need to divide the IP address range and then associate to different locations. For instance, in a subnet mask with range 192.168.5.0 – 192.168.5.254, if you want to associate specific IP address 192.168.5.100 to a different location then, create one location for IP range: 192.168.5.0 – 192.168.5.99, another location for IP 192.168.5.100 and another location for IP range 192.168.5.101 – 192.168.5.254

4. At the footer of the Locations page, click Save.

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Generate Amazon Associate Product Advertising API Keys #

Click here to know how create Amazon Web Services account and generate Amazon Web Services Access Key IDs and Secret Key IDs.

Support #

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.

Our team is ready to assist you with answers to your technical questions and we now offer 24/7 support, 365 days a year.

Windows Event Log (Applications and Services) #

• The Windows Event Log lists various errors, information messages and warnings related to all our VoIPTools applications and services. The data here can be used for troubleshooting various application errors.

Forums #

• Our forum is intended for VoIPTools customers to collaborate on real-life challenges, solutions and best practices. You can participate on our forum at: https://www.voiptools.com/community/

Submit a Bug #

• If you suspect a bug in any of our VoIPTools products, you can bring it to our notice by reporting your issue at: https://www.voiptools.com/report-a-bug/

Live Chat #

• Our chat support team is ready to acknowledge your queries in real-time. You can start a live chat with us by simply clicking on the Live Chat button at the lower right corner of our web page.

Email #

• You can email us at: support@voiptools.com. Be sure to describe your issue in detail. We’ll get back to you within one business day of receiving your request.

Phone #

• You can call us at +1 801-642-4655 to reach a representative. VoIPTools will accept calls at this number from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Central Standard Time).

Support Services #

• Free Support:
  • If you purchased our products through a VoIPTools Partner, your Partner will provide first level support. Partners have access to 100% free technical support, provided they participate actively in the troubleshooting process.
  • VoIPTools customers have access to our on-line manuals and we will respond to emails (next business day) and live chat, but we will not login to your servers remotely.
• Paid Support:
  • If you purchase “Installation Support’ our support team can login to your servers and install and configure all our tools for you. This includes installing SQL Server Express and Internet Information Server if required. Our team will work with you to configure our applications to best meet your needs.