The Call Flow Designer can write to your 3CX in two ways. Knowing the difference is what keeps your live numbers safe. The badge next to the page title tells you which ways are open: “Sandbox: your numbers are not changed”, or “Sandbox and live: you choose when you publish”.
The two modes
| Test in sandbox | Publish live | |
|---|---|---|
| Menus, queues, ring groups, smart steps | created with sandbox numbers (8900 to 8949 by default) | created with real numbers (8000 to 8899 by default) |
| Your phone number (inbound rule) | never changed | pointed at the new menu, as the last step |
| Callers notice | nothing | the new flow |
| How to try it | dial the sandbox number from a desk phone | call the number |
| Shown on the card | Sandbox 8900 | DN 8000 |
| Undo | Clear sandbox objects | Undo last publish |
| Who can | any administrator | needs live publishing switched on for the account |
Both go through the same review. Nothing is written until you confirm, and a live publish asks twice.
A normal day with the designer
- Build or change the flow. Save.
- Publish…, keep Test in sandbox, confirm. Dial the sandbox number, walk through every key, hang up.
- Fix, save, test again. The sandbox objects are updated in place.
- Publish…, switch to Publish live, confirm twice. The designer keeps a copy of the current routing, creates the live objects, and switches the number.
- Call the number once. Done.
If step 5 disappoints: History… › Undo last publish. Two minutes, no Admin Console.
Sandbox and live at the same time
A flow remembers two sets of numbers, sandbox and live. Testing a change never touches the live objects, and publishing live never touches the sandbox objects. The header shows both stamps: “Published 8.9.2026, 13.22 by Name” and “Sandbox test 8.9.2026, 13.40 by Name”.
Cleaning up sandbox objects
Sandbox objects stay on 3CX until someone removes them. They cost nothing, but they show up in the Admin Console. Clear sandbox objects on the flow list asks “Remove every object the designer created in sandbox mode?”, deletes them for all flows, and the flows forget their sandbox numbers. Live objects are never touched by it.
Why “Publish live” may be missing
- Live publishing is switched on per customer by JEDWare. New accounts start with the sandbox only. Ask your partner to enable it once the first flow has been tested. Hovering the badge shows “Live publishing follows the license”.
- Your partner can also pin a mode on the PBX itself: sandbox only while a project is being built, or “Dry run: publishing is disabled” for review only. Hovering the badge then shows “Mode set in the integration settings”.
- Only administrators can open the module at all. See Who can use the Call Flow Designer.
Next: Publishing a call flow.