Telephony in Odoo: What an Integrator Should Check Before Promising Integration

A customer switching to Odoo may want to integrate their phone system as well: view the calling customer’s record, make a call with a single click from an opportunity, and access call history at CRM or Helpdesk. Odoo offers its Phone app for this purpose—the former Odoo module VoIP, which was renamed in Odoo 19. The app installs like other Odoo apps, but it requires a VoIP and phone numbers, which are part of a separate project.

Odoo Phone relies on a provider VoIP, and what the app can do depends on that provider; Odoo also sells phone numbers through its Odoo Phone Service, which are required for its call flows. For an Odoo integrator, the promise of “telephony in Odoo” therefore entails a second project, with its own constraints regarding phone numbers, service continuity, and regulatory compliance.

What is Odoo Phone, and which edition is it?

Odoo Phone routes calls over the Internet and integrates them with Odoo applications, such as CRM and Helpdesk. It records call history in the records and offers call routing, call recording, and call volume analytics. The edition chart published by Odoo lists it as part of the Enterprise edition; the Community edition does not include it.

Once the app is installed, a Phone icon opens a widget that remains open while you navigate through Odoo. Three roles control access: “No,” with no access; “Officer,” who can view all calls and generate reports from them; and “Administrator,” who also manages the settings. Odoo notes that a database administrator does not automatically receive the Phone administrator role.

There are two limitations regarding workstations:

• On a cell phone, the Odoo app allows you to make calls, but it doesn't ring for incoming calls; Odoo redirects to a SIP app that stays connected in the background, such as Zoiper;
• Odoo states that it will no longer maintain its Android and iOS apps on app stores and will limit the support it provides for them.

Three verified suppliers, and two requirements for the others

Odoo Phone requires a provider VoIP. Odoo recognizes three as verified providers:

Another provider must meet two requirements: provide access to a SIP server via a WebSocket connection, and support the WebRTC protocol. Odoo states that it should then be possible to add it, but recommends a verified provider and does not guarantee compatibility with all others.

In practical terms, a standard SIP trunk—the kind a carrier provides to a PBX—is not enough: you need access to a WebRTC-compatible SIP server over WebSocket. A carrier that does not offer this cannot serve as a provider for Odoo Phone, even if it provides excellent business telephony services to the customer.

At DIDWW, Odoo also notes that SRTP media encryption and SIP over TLS are disabled by default, and that you must request that DIDWW enable them.

Odoo 20 call flows require a phone number purchased from Odoo

The Odoo 20 documentation describes a call flow editor that allows you to configure a PBX directly within Odoo: extensions, time slots, call groups, voice menus, queues, voicemail, and on-hold music are combined in a node-based diagram. These call flows require at least one phone number purchased through the Odoo Phone Service.

So the decision must be made early on. Without a number purchased through Odoo, queues and voice menus are not included in Odoo’s call flows. For example, the Odoo documentation describes those in the Axivox console, which agents access via the Odoo widget.

Phone Numbers: Number Portability and Coverage—Check by Country

For each of the three providers, the Odoo documentation specifies the same prerequisite: the company’s phone numbers must be transferable to that provider, as some carriers cannot release a number due to local or regional regulations. It also requires verifying that the provider covers the locations where the company is based and the people it calls.

These rules vary from country to country and from carrier to carrier. A company with locations in Switzerland, France, and Belgium may encounter three different number portability scenarios. At DIDWW, a new number must also be able to receive incoming calls and display the local calling line identification (Local CLI).

Maintaining the Existing Standard: The Example of Integration 3CX

Not all companies replace their phone systems when switching to Odoo. 3CX On September 4, 2026, CRM announced a native integration with Odoo, included in 3CX Version 20 Update 10 for the Pro and AI editions. As of October 5, 2026, this version is in beta, and 3CX recommends it for testing only and advises against using it in production. The integration recognizes the caller in Odoo contacts, searches for an Odoo contact via the web client at 3CX, logs calls and chats on the contact’s record, creates a contact for an unknown number, and initiates a call from Odoo using the Click2Call extension from 3CX for Chrome and Edge.

The configuration requires an OdooAPI key, the instance URL, and the database name. A call is logged only if the caller’s number matches that of an Odoo contact; for web chat, the match is based on the email address. The quality of the numbers stored in Odoo therefore becomes a prerequisite for the project.

Microsoft Teams Phone does not appear among Odoo Phone’s providers, and the Odoo documentation does not describe how to connect to Teams Phone. A customer whose phone system is already running on Teams Phone therefore keeps their calls in Teams ; the connection to Odoo would require a third-party solution, to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Call Recording: Storage and Legal Framework

Odoo Phone can record calls and transcribe them. The settings are configured by service provider: recording can be disabled, left up to users, or required for everyone, and transcription can be disabled or required. Recordings are routed through the Cloud Odoo Storage integration, which stores the files on Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure ; without this integration, recording cannot be enabled.

The storage location is therefore selected using your Google account Cloud or Azure the customer’s Google account, and it is as much a matter of data protection as it is a technical one. The conditions under which a call may be recorded—including when recording is mandatory for all users—are governed by each country’s laws and data protection regulations, such as the GDPR in the European Union and the nLPD in Switzerland.

Our Reading

Odoo’s native module is well-suited for a sales or support team that wants to make calls directly from customer records and track those calls within Odoo, using a verified provider that covers their countries and offers numbers that can be ported there. For a small customer service department, Odoo 20’s call flows may even be sufficient, provided they are willing to use numbers purchased from Odoo.

It is not as suitable when a company wants to keep its phone numbers with a carrier that does not offer WebRTC access, when its employees need to be reachable on their cell phones without a third-party app, or when its phone system is already running on a working PBX. In these cases, we would keep the phone system where it is and connect Odoo to the PBX via an integration CRM, such as the one 3CX has announced for its Version 20 Update 10.

The factors that cause a telephony project to fail lie outside of Odoo: the date for porting phone numbers, the continuity of incoming calls during the switchover, call queues and call transfers that must function on day one, call recording and its legal framework, and the routing of emergency calls—all of which must be verified with each carrier and in each country. These are the areas of expertise of telecom operators and integrators, which fall outside the typical scope of an Odoo integrator ERP. We deploy Teams Phone, 3CX , and SBC AudioCodes ourselves, and it is this aspect—telecommunications—that we handle alongside the Odoo integrator, who managesERP.

What to Check Before Promising Phone Service in Odoo

• The client version of Odoo: Odoo Phone is part of the Enterprise edition.
• The provider VoIP : one of the three verified providers, or a provider that offers a SIP server using WebSocket and WebRTC.
• The supplier's coverage in the countries where the company and its business partners operate.
• The portability of each number to the chosen provider, by country, and the porting date.
• The need for call queues and voice menus, and where they will be managed: Odoo call flows using a number purchased from Odoo, or PBX from the provider.
• Reachability via mobile, using a SIP app such as Zoiper if necessary.
• Call encryption at the service provider.
• Call recording: settings, storage on Google Cloud or Azure, and the country’s legal framework.
• How the provider handles emergency calls in each country.
• The existing phone system or telephone service, and the option to keep it by connecting it to Odoo; for 3CX, the status of Version 20 Update 10 and the edition (Pro or AI).
• The quality of phone numbers in Odoo contacts, on which caller identification depends.

The telecommunications terms used here, such as SIP, SBC or “trunk,” are defined in the glossary.

Sources

• Phone — Odoo 20.0 Documentation
• Call Flows — Odoo 20.0 Documentation
• Odoo Phone with Axivox
• Call Queues (Axivox)
• Odoo Phone with DIDWW
• Odoo Phone with OnSIP
• Devices and Integrations
• Cloud Storage — Odoo 20.0 Documentation
• Odoo Editions: Community and Enterprise
• Odoo CRM Integration with 3CX
• 3CX + Odoo CRM: Now Natively Integrated with 3CX
• 3CX V20 Update 10 Beta