Platform side
The platform side is operated by 3CTel, not by you. Ask the specialist for the continuity details that apply to your account; they are set out in your agreement.
For the technical buyer
What a hosted PBX is, and what you actually administer.
If you have run an on-premise PBX, you know the parts: trunks, extensions, dial plans, registration, failover. A hosted PBX keeps the concepts and moves the box. This page describes how those parts look on 3CTel.
- Standard SIP endpoints: desk phones, softphones, adapters
- Extensions, groups, queues and dial plan rules in a portal
- Failover rules per number, site and user
Example
Incoming call+1 (416) 555-0198
Main menu9–17
11 — Appointments
22 — Renewals
33 — Billing
After hours
Reception queue90 s → Callback offered
AI receptionist
Voicemail to email
A hosted PBX is a private branch exchange run as a service by the provider rather than on hardware in your building. Your desk phones, softphones and adapters register to it over the internet as SIP endpoints; extensions, ring groups, queues, menus and dial plan rules are configured in a web portal. 3CTel operates the platform, provisions the endpoints, connects Canadian numbers and builds failover rules with you.
The PBX without the chassis
An on-premise PBX does three things: it registers your phones, applies routing logic to calls, and connects to the public network through trunks. A hosted PBX does the same three things from the provider's platform. Your phones register outbound over the internet, so no inbound ports need to be opened on your firewall. Routing logic lives in the portal. The trunk side is handled by 3CTel and simply appears as numbers on your account.
The practical result is that the skills transfer. If you have built a dial plan, you can read one in the portal. What disappears is the hardware lifecycle, the software patching and the trunk contract.
PBX (Private Branch Exchange)
The private switch that connects a company's extensions to each other and to the outside world.
Learn more: PBX (Private Branch Exchange)Cloud PBX (hosted PBX)
A business phone system run by a provider and delivered over the internet, with no switch on site.
Learn more: Cloud PBX (hosted PBX)SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
The signalling standard that starts, changes and ends VoIP calls.
Learn more: SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)Endpoints and registration
- Desk phones: standard SIP phones from the common manufacturers register to the platform with credentials pushed by provisioning. Configuration is central, so a replacement phone picks up the same settings.
- Softphones: the 3CTel desktop and mobile apps register as endpoints for the user's extension, alongside or instead of a desk phone. Multiple endpoints per extension ring together or in sequence.
- Analogue adapters: an ATA connects a fax machine, an older door phone or an overhead paging amplifier as a SIP endpoint.
- Registration over the internet: endpoints register outbound, typically with transport encryption, so remote and on-site phones behave the same and no VPN is required.
- NAT and firewalls: because registration is outbound, most routers need no special rules. The specialist reviews SIP handling on your firewall for the few that interfere.
Devices
Phones and headsets that arrive ready to plug in.
Learn more: DevicesSoftphone
An app that makes a computer or cell phone act as a business phone extension.
Learn more: SoftphoneVoIP phone system
Business calling over your internet connection, with Canadian numbers and porting.
Learn more: VoIP phone systemExtensions and dial plan
Extensions are the addressable units: users, groups, queues, menus, voicemail boxes and conference rooms. The dial plan decides what happens when a number is dialled, inbound or outbound. On a hosted PBX both are configured in the portal, and a typical inbound plan looks like the example below.
| Step | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound number | Which number was dialled | Main line, sales line, a direct-dial number for a user |
| Time condition | Open, closed or holiday | Weekdays 8 to 6; provincial holiday calendar |
| First destination | Menu, group, queue or extension | Main menu with three options; sales line straight to the sales queue |
| Ring strategy | How a group or queue rings | Ring all for a small group; longest idle for a queue |
| Timeout and overflow | What happens when nobody answers | Escalate to a second group, then voicemail or AI receptionist |
| Outbound rules | Caller ID and permissions per user | Main number shown by default; direct-dial for account managers; international restricted |
Call routing
Decide who answers, in what order, and what happens when they cannot.
Learn more: Call routingCall routing
The rules that decide where each incoming call goes and what happens when nobody answers.
Learn more: Call routingIVR (Interactive Voice Response)
A phone menu that responds to keypad presses or spoken choices before a person answers.
Learn more: IVR (Interactive Voice Response)DID (Direct Inward Dialing)
A phone number that reaches a particular extension or department directly, bypassing the main menu.
Learn more: DID (Direct Inward Dialing)Failover and continuity
Site connectivity
If a site loses internet, its endpoints drop registration. Numbers for that site can be configured to route automatically to mobile apps, to another site or to an external number.
User level
An extension with a desk phone and a mobile app keeps ringing on the app when the desk phone is unreachable. No manual forwarding is needed.
Number level
Each inbound number can have an unreachable-destination rule distinct from its busy or no-answer rules, so an outage is treated differently from a missed call.
Administration
The portal exposes users, endpoints, numbers, time conditions, menus, groups, queues, recording, voicemail and reporting. Administrator roles can be scoped to a site or to a subset of settings. Changes apply immediately, and the change history shows who altered what.
For organizations that prefer to delegate, 3CTel support makes changes on request. Most technical customers do routine changes themselves and involve support for larger restructures or number moves.
Technical questions, answered
Can we bring our own SIP phones?
In most cases, yes, provided they are standard SIP devices rather than models locked to a specific PBX vendor. The specialist checks the models and firmware, and provisioning templates exist for the common manufacturers. Phones that cannot be provisioned centrally can sometimes be configured manually, but a supported model is easier to manage across a fleet.
How do direct-dial numbers map to extensions?
Each user or destination can have its own DID, a public number that bypasses the main menu, or share the main number and be reached through the menu or by transfer. DIDs are ported or provisioned per user, and the dial plan sends each one straight to its extension while still applying time conditions and overflow rules where you want them.
Is a hosted PBX the same as UCaaS?
They overlap. Hosted PBX describes the telephony core: registration, routing and numbers as a service. UCaaS describes a broader bundle that adds messaging, video meetings and presence on the same platform. 3CTel's service includes both: the hosted PBX described here plus business SMS, video meetings and the desktop and mobile apps.
UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service)
Phone, messaging, video and presence delivered together as one cloud service.
Learn more: UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service)Business Phone Numbers
Local, toll-free and campaign numbers that all land in one system.
Learn more: Business Phone NumbersVideo Meetings
Meetings in the app you already use for calls — no second subscription.
Learn more: Video MeetingsMigrating from an on-premise PBX
Export the current dial plan
Extensions, groups, time conditions and numbers are documented from the existing system so nothing is rebuilt from memory.
Rebuild and test on temporary numbers
The plan is recreated in the portal and tested end to end with real endpoints, while the old PBX keeps carrying live calls.
Port numbers, in stages if needed
Numbers can move in groups, for example one site or one department at a time, with the old PBX forwarding in the interim.
Decommission
Once every number has moved and the last endpoint is registered, the old PBX and its trunks are retired.
Number porting
How a port works, what you need to provide, what causes delays, and what 3CTel does at each step.
Learn more: Number portingSIP trunking
Canadian numbers and call paths for the PBX you already run.
Learn more: SIP trunkingCloud phone system
No server in the closet. One portal for every user, site and rule.
Learn more: Cloud phone systemRelated pages.
Business Phone
Reliable calling with routing your team will actually use.
Learn more: Business PhoneCloud phone system
No server in the closet. One portal for every user, site and rule.
Learn more: Cloud phone systemSIP trunking
Canadian numbers and call paths for the PBX you already run.
Learn more: SIP trunkingCloud PBX (hosted PBX)
A business phone system run by a provider and delivered over the internet, with no switch on site.
Learn more: Cloud PBX (hosted PBX)Cloud PBX vs traditional PBX
Own the switch or rent it: ownership, maintenance, remote users and the path between them.
Learn more: Cloud PBX vs traditional PBXEnterprise
Contact centre and back office on one platform, migrated in stages.
Learn more: EnterpriseFrequently asked questions.
Usually not. Endpoints register outbound to the platform, so no inbound ports are opened. The specialist reviews your firewall's SIP handling during setup.
Yes. Numbers can be forwarded or ported in stages, and the two systems can coexist while users move across.
Yes. Recording is enabled per user, group or queue with the caller announcement configured with you. Reports cover volumes, wait times, missed calls and per-agent activity.
Yes. Roles can be scoped so a site administrator manages only their location's users, greetings and hours.
Analogue adapters connect these as SIP endpoints. Faxing is usually moved to online fax, which is more reliable than fax over a voice adapter.
Bring your dial plan. We will rebuild it.
Share how your current PBX is set up and a specialist maps it onto 3CTel, tests it on temporary numbers and quotes the migration.