Share a PBX between several companies

This article allows to share a PBX (OXO Connect, OXO Connect Evolution, or OmniPCX Enterprise) between several customer companies (multi-company).

With OXO Connect, OXO Connect Evolution, and OmniPCX Enterprise not configured for multi-company (option Centrex Version set to False), the numbering plan is common to all companies, and no restriction applies to inter-company calls.

When an OmniPCX Enterprise is configured for multi-company (option Centrex Version set to True), each company has its own range of numbers and a short numbering plan is available for intra-company calls. Customization per company (attendant, music-on-hold) and restrictions to inter-company calls can be applied. In this case, the OmniPCX Enterprise is declared in Rainbow as OTEC-S.

To share a PBX between customer companies:

1. Declare the PBX in Rainbow
2. Connect the PBX to Rainbow
3. Associate the PBX to the target customer companies

After sharing the PBX, you can:

• Display the number of customer companies to which the PBX is associated
• Remove the PBX from a customer company

Prerequisites

Before beginning, you must know the following:

• Dialing information (country, national prefix, international prefix, outbound prefix)
• Numbering rules
• If the PBX is an OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution taken from your fleet: The couple fleet reference and installation reference enabling to identify the PBX in your fleet
• For OmniPCX Enterprise: The connection parameters to the public network:
  • In case of direct access: The DNS server IP address
  • In case of access via a HTTP proxy (on customer request): The HTTP proxy parameters (IP address, credentials, and port)
• In case of OTEC-S, for each customer company, the Company Call Number prefix of the associated entity

Declaring the PBX in Rainbow

1. From the Rainbow application, click on Manage your customers in the left panel.
2. In the GENERAL VIEW panel, click on Equipment.
3. In the right part of the window, click on the Shared tab, then Create.
4. In the Server name field, enter the name of the PBX.
5. In the Server type field, select the type of PBX:
   • OXO Connect if the PBX is an OXO Connect or OXO Connect Evolution
   • OmniPCX Enterprise if the PBX is an OmniPCX Enterprise not configured for multi-company (option Centrex Version set to False)
   • OTEC-S if the PBX is an OmniPCX Enterprise configured for multi-company (option Centrex Version set to True)
6. Complete other fields:
   • For details on OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution declaration: see article: Associate an OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution to a company
   • For details on OmniPCX Enterprise declaration: see article: Associate an OmniPCX Enterprise to a company
7. Click on Create.
   If the Specify equipment ID and activation code check box has not been selected, a pop-up window opens with the equipment ID and activation code generated by Rainbow. Click on Close.
   
   Note: This information will be required when Connecting the PBX to Rainbow.

The PBX is created and displayed in the equipment list of the Shared tab with the Pending status.

Connecting the PBX to Rainbow

Connecting an OmniPCX Enterprise to Rainbow

1. Connect to the OmniPCX Enterprise with the mtcl account, run the netadmin -m command, and configure the network parameters (DNS server or HTTP proxy).
2. From the OmniPCX Enterprise management tool, select the Rainbow menu, set the Enable Rainbow Agent parameter to YES and enter the parameters previously got from Rainbow Admin: Equipment ID and activation code.

For more details on the OmniPCX Enterprise configuration, see article: Associate an OmniPCX Enterprise to a company.

Once the OmniPCX Enterprise connected to Rainbow, its connection status changes to Running in the equipment list.

Connecting an OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution to Rainbow

When the PBX (OXO Connect or OXO Connect Evolution) is taken from your fleet, no configuration is required: The Rainbow parameters are automatically filled on PBX, and Rainbow is enabled by default.

When the PBX is an OXO Connect not taken from your fleet, connect to the PBX via the OXO Connect Console Management (OMC), enable Rainbow, and enter the equipment ID and activation code generated at PBX declaration in Rainbow. For more details on the PBX configuration, see:  Associate an OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution to a company.

Once the PBX connected to Rainbow, its connection status changes to Running in the equipment list.

Associating the PBX to the customer companies

1. From the Rainbow application, click on Manage your customers in the left panel.
2. In the MY CUSTOMERS panel, click on Customer companies.
3. In the customer list, click on the name of the customer company to associate to the PBX.
4. In the left panel, click on Communication.
5. In the right part of the window, click on the Shared tab.
6. In the Server type field, select the type of PBX.
7. In the Equipment field, select the PBX.
8. Complete other fields:
   • For details on OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution declaration: see article: Associate an OXO Connect/OXO Connect Evolution to a company
   • For details on OmniPCX Enterprise declaration: see article: Associate an OmniPCX Enterprise to a company
   • For OTEC-S server, in the Company prefix field, select the Company Call Number prefix among listed available prefixes
9. Click on Create.
   The PBX is created and displayed in the equipment list of the customer company with the Shared column set to Yes.
10. Repeat the procedure above to associate the PBX to other customer companies.

Displaying the customer companies sharing a PBX

1. From the Rainbow application, click on Manage your customers in the left panel.
2. In the GENERAL VIEW panel, click on Equipment.
3. In the right part of the window, click on the Shared tab.
   The Companies column indicates the number of customer companies sharing this PBX. In the example above, the PBX cs80 is shared between three customer companies.
4. To get the list of customer companies using this shared PBX, click on , and select Companies list or Companies prefixes (only available for OTEC-S server type).
   The list of customer companies is displayed at the bottom of the panel.

Removing a PBX from a customer company

1. From the Rainbow application, click on Manage your customers in the left panel.
2. In the MY CUSTOMERS panel, click on Customer companies.
3. In the customer list, click on the name of the customer company associated to the target PBX.
4. In the left panel, click on Communication.
5. In the right part of the window, click on the Comm. Servers tab.
6. Move your mouse over the target PBX, click on , and select Remove equipment.
7. Click on Remove.
   

   The PBX is removed from the equipment list (Comm. servers tab).