Bitrix24 Telephony is a business tool that helps you call to any mobile phone or landline, domestically or internationally. It is developed using WebRTC API that permits making and answering calls directly from a browser.
There are three ways to set up telephony in your Bitrix24:
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connect to your number — for outgoing calls only;
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rent a number — for outgoing and incoming calls at Bitrix24 rates;
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connect your PBX — for outgoing and incoming calls at your provider's rates.
Let’s examine each way in greater detail.
Connect Bitrix24 telephony to your number*
You can connect your office or mobile number to Bitrix24 and set it as default number for outgoing calls. However, this way permits you to connect Bitrix24 telephony only to one phone number thus you should choose which one you are going to use.
It’s important to note that you can accept incoming calls on your phone, but they will not be added to your Bitrix24 CRM.
Also, due to security reasons, the connected number will stay active only for 3 months. After that, you will need to reconnect number and re-confirm its ownership.
As for the charges, if you call from Bitrix24, money is deducted from your Bitrix24 Telephony balance, not from your phone number balance; but if you call from your mobile or office phone, not from Bitrix24, you get charged by your provider.
*This feature is currently unavailable.
Rent a number in Bitrix24
If you want to manage both outgoing and incoming calls within your Bitrix24, you can rent a number. It will allow you to have an unlimited amount of incoming lines and to access extended phone number configuration settings (call recordings, CRM integration, call routing, etc.).
You can rent as many numbers as you need, including local phone numbers in 60+ different countries or toll-free ones (1-866), create internal phone number extensions for your employees, and set up call queuing and call forwarding. By using a rented number, you can record incoming phone calls, if necessary. Also, all incoming phone calls are automatically forwarded to a manager who is responsible for a particular lead or client.
If you don't want to set the rented number as a number for outgoing calls, you can hide it and substitute for any other office number.
Connect SIP PBX to Bitrix24
Last but not least, you can accept incoming calls and perform outgoing calls via your SIP PBX. In order to connect both cloud or regular office PBX, you need to purchase the "SIP connector" module subscription.
There are three main advantages of using a SIP connector:
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you can work with your existing phone number;
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you pay for the phone calls to your current telephony provider;
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you get access to some new features, like the ability to record phone calls, automatically create a new lead in case of a call from a new client, or forward phone calls to a responsible manager when an existing client calls from a phone number that’s listed in your CRM.
As PBX settings are configured individually on the client side and may vary significantly from vendor to vendor, you might need to hire a Bitrix24 partner to connect your PBX to Bitrix24.
All incoming phone calls are free of charge thus you pay only for outbound calls at your current telephony provider’s rates.
If you would like to connect your cloud hosted PBX, please note that maximum 10 PBX can be simultaneously connected to one Bitrix24. But each Cloud hosted PBX connection is not limited by the number of incoming lines. In case of office PBX, the number of connected PBX is not limited.
Also you can connect SIP phones (also called VoIP phones or USB phones) and softphones to Bitrix24. All SIP phone models are supported. Softphone use is currently in the process of beta testing, approved vendors include Media-5, Zoiper and CSipSimple.
Use ready-made solutions in Bitrix24 Marketplace
If you believe that neither of the ways listed above meet your demands or you manage a call-center and need to perform some complicated calls scenarios, you can inquire customization from a licensed Bitrix24 partner or use one of the ready-made solutions available in Bitrix24 Marketplace.
For instance, we have developed an app that integrates Bitrix24 with Asterisk. It allows you to keep your own number and analyse telephone load, speed and call processing quality. In addition, we have created an app that receives agents’ info — about the queues, ongoing calls, etc. — from Bitrix24 and Asterisk and displays it in a real-time mode. With the Supervisor Panel you can monitor and control the operators’ work in an online environment.
