which is the better controller

[AIM-Andrew]

Hi everyone.

We have a 3300 CX controller running our internal VoIP for a small number of phones.

A little while ago I was given a 3300 MXe III controller and a few handsets.

Knowing very little about VoIP (it isn't my area of IT expertise) I would like to know:

1. Which is the better controller, the CX or the MXeIII?
2. If the MXeIII is the better device, is it possible to transfer: licences, configuration, hardware from one to the other?

I understand that it may be a question of 'it depends' as I don't know what the internal specs are; RAM, HDD etc.  Any

Our CX controller currently has a 4 port BRI S/T ISDN card installed, which leads me to another question, termination of ISDN services and our new NBN, which I will create another thread for.

All opinions welcome.

Cheers, Andrew.

[johnp]

The MXe is more robust. You need to let us know what hard drive you have in the current controller. The move may be easy. The licensing is based upon the iButton in each controller.

The MXe will give additional voicemail ports if using embedded and longer MOH file length. There may be additional benefits.

One question would be if the CX has the expanded ons

[VinceWhirlwind]

The MX will chew up more power, so I wouldn't bother unless you actually need the additional resources it provides.

[AIM-Andrew]

Thanks johnp and VinceWhirlwind
I suspecte the MXeIII might have been better; redundant power supplies, 2 x 160Gb HDD, more expansion slots, but thanks for the confirmation.

I can't seem to locate HDD info from the System Administration Tool.

The iButton, is that a hardware or software thing?

As for power, I understand (doubling the number of power supplies) but in the scheme of things, somewhat trivial.

In terms of additional resources, I'm not sure until I know what is there.   If it is something I can use to ease admin/reporting/ease of use I might exploit it.  I found getting call log data out of the CX was a PITA using the Maintenance Commands and ended up writing a script to poll port 1752 and pump the data into a database.

Also, I can't seem to configure an NTP server on the CX, and I'm sure there are a raft of features that the CX has crippled.

johnp, fyi, some of the config:
Purchased Options
  IP User Licenses:    21
  ACD Agent Licenses:    5
  IP Device Licenses:    21
  Mailbox Licenses:    22
  Digital Link Licenses:    1
  Compression Licenses:    0
  FAX Over IP (T.38) Licenses:    0
  SIP Trunk Licenses:    0
  Analog Line Licenses:    0
  SIP User Licenses:    0
  XNET Networking:    No
  IP Networking:    No
  Voice Mail Networking:    No
  Advanced Voice Mail:    Yes
  Voice Mail Hospitality/PMS:    No
  Tenanting:    No
  MLPP:    No
  Remote Management:    No

Thanks again.

[VinceWhirlwind]

The licence is tied to the iButton, which is a round silver battery-sized thing you can't miss if you look in the case.
You pull the button out of one chassis and put it in the other.
Alternatively, you can get your Mitel partner to swap the hardware ID in the AMC licensing portal.

[AIM-Andrew]

Got it.  The dongle isn't dead.

As for a Mitel partner, I will have to find one here in Melb. 

Any suggestions/recommendation (or is that outside forum guidelines)?

[sarond]

Your software version seems quite old looking at the licenses you provided.
Are you sure it is an MXeIII? not an MXeII or older.

On another note, I'm sure others as well as myself would like more info on your script to pump the SMDR into a DB, if your willing to give it up 

On know there is another script around here that does similar but it is linux based.

[x-man]

Also I have a number of cx/cx11's running quite happily on NTP servers. The trick often is to look at your network settings on the cx or on your network itself. I have one place where it doesn't work so well but is a problem with their network that they can't(and I can't either) figure out. But NTP is not crippled on the cx....

[AIM-Andrew]

sarond, our live device is the CX, the snippet is from that controller. 

The MXeIII has been sitting on the floor of the workshop because: a) I know sweet FA about VoIP, and b) I have been busy with development and network admin stuff.

As for the script, sure I will attach it.

It is a PowerShell script and it seems to work reasonably well, though it does have a few shortcomings.

What it does:
- polls port 1752 of the controller
- grabs the output as a string and passes it to the configured database (in this case a Firebird DB) calling a stored procedure with the string as a parameter.
- the stored procedure examines the string, separating it into its columns (the ones I am interested in) and writes the record.

When I was looking for something similar, they all seemed to be specific to a controller or brand and they output the data in their own way and didn't seem very flexible.
I did it this way so all the script has to do is pump the string into a database, it doesn't care about the format, only the length.  I can then get my stored procedure to interrogate the string and write it in whatever format I want.

Shortcomings:
- it doesn't start as a service, I have to start it manually.
- if the network loses connectivity I have to stop/start the script (very rare), I would like it to be able to stop/start itself if connectivity stutters.
- if connectivity is lost, and I stop/start the script again, it grabs all output and doesn't distinguish between records and generates an error. I have to get it to recognize the EOL characters.  This also happens if 2 calls are terminated at the same time (and output for both is at the same time) though here with only 15 users it is rare.

If you (anyone) uses this script, you will need to write your own stored procedure for the DB you are using.  I have attached my Stored Procedure for Firebird for reference.

I hope the script helps.

[sarond]

Hi AIM-Andrew,

Thanks for uploading the script.

The MXeIII is better than the CX but the issue you may have is that the software on the CX and hence the licencing is old.
You cannot install old software on the MXeIII hardware. You need at least MCD4.0 latest SP.

Can you verify the version of your CX? If you have valid Software Assurance you can upgrade.

[AIM-Andrew]

You're welcome.

I didn't think it was going to be straight forward to 'swap' controllers.

I doubt we have SA, the controller went in many years ago and I don't think we deal with the mob that installed it.

We will need to do something when the ISDN services are terminated, might roll it all into a single job - migrate services, upgrade controller etc etc etc.

[sarond]

What licensing and version do you have on the MXeIII?

Does it have enough licensing to allow you to program everything you require.

[AIM-Andrew]

Finding that out will take a bit of effort, I'll have to connect to the RS232 port and poke around.   

I gather I can check the IP address and reset passwords from there?

It only came with 6 handsets, so I'm guessing it's only licensed for 6, but who knows?

I haven't even plugged it in to double check it works.

A job for later in the week.  I'll reply when I have more information.

[AIM-Andrew]

sarond,

I managed to find a null modem cable!

output from the boot up attached.   

What can you tell me, apart from one of the HDDs being dead?

Cheers,

[sarond]

While connect to the RS232 I would type the following command:
ResetLoginPassword "system"

This will reset the system password to password

Then login via browser to 172.16.19.10 (obviously make sure you have an IP within the range)
You should be able to then tell what licenses and version the system is at.