You run a company in Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha or Kuwait City and want a cloud PBX on 3CX instead of the old switchboard in the office. You read plenty of offers, and most are written for the UAE: 800 numbers, a local trunk, a UAE telecom licence. So you ask: what applies to me in Saudi Arabia or the rest of the Gulf? We are an official 3CX partner based in the UAE, and we deploy the system for clients in more than one Gulf country. This article separates clearly what does not change from country to country (the system, the licence and the hosting) from what really does (the numbers, the trunk and who is allowed to sell them).
Quick Answer
3CX works in Saudi Arabia and every Gulf country, because its licence is global, from 3CX, and not tied to a country, and it can be hosted with us in Dubai or Europe, or on a server in your office. What changes by country is the numbers and the trunk: calls over the internet are a regulated telecom service, and the number provider must be licensed by your country’s regulator. We provide 3CX licensing and hosting to any Gulf customer, numbers for any country after a legal-document review, and toll-free numbers for the UAE only. What determines the licence cost is in our 3CX phone system price guide, and the current price is on the portal.
One 3CX for the Whole Gulf: What Does Not Change
The larger part of a cloud PBX project knows no borders. These elements are the same for our client in Sharjah and our client in Dammam.
The licence. The 3CX licence is bought from 3CX and activated on one instance of the system wherever it is hosted. It is a flat annual fee, not a per-user monthly charge, as 3CX describes on its partner page. We buy it for you as a partner and manage it, whether your company is in the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Qatar.
The hosting. 3CX lets the system run hosted by 3CX or self-hosted on Windows or Linux in a cloud of your choice, per the same page. We host it on our managed virtual servers in the UAE, Germany or the USA, and we manage updates and backups. The geographic choice is a technical decision rather than a legal one in most cases, and we will come back to it.
The apps and features. The mobile and desktop apps, conferencing, call queues, the auto attendant, recording and reports. They are all part of the system and do not change with the country. If customer service is your concern, read our article on a contact centre for small businesses; what it says applies to Riyadh as much as to Dubai.
The support. Our team works around the clock in Arabic and English and reaches your PBX remotely wherever it is.
Licensing and Numbers: What Changes from Country to Country
This is where the differences begin. For the PBX to receive calls from the public network and place calls to it, it needs an account with a SIP trunk provider that gives it DID numbers, as the 3CX trunk configuration documentation explains. That provider is the one subject to the telecom law of each country.
In the UAE the position is explicit: the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority treats voice-over-internet services as telecommunications services that require a licence or an exemption under the Telecom Law, per the FAQ on the authority’s website. That is why we provide UAE trunks and numbers only through licensed providers. In the rest of the Gulf the practical rule is the same: the regulator in your country is the reference, and the number provider must be licensed by it. We do not summarise each country’s regulations here because they change, but we know how to reach the right provider.
What does “legal-document review” mean? That the number provider in each country requires proof of the company’s identity before assigning it a local number; we collect these documents from you, send them to the provider and follow up on activation. The documents required differ from one country to another, and we tell you what they are before you pay anything. If the request is refused for a regulatory reason, we will not sell you a number that cannot be activated.
Why are toll-free numbers for the UAE only? Because we provide them through our licensed provider in the UAE, and today we have no licensed channel for toll-free numbers in the other countries. If you need a Saudi toll-free number, the right route is a licensed Saudi provider, and it can be connected to your PBX with us as an ordinary trunk. For the types of numbers and which suits each case, read our guide to business phone numbers.
Hosting the PBX: Dubai, Europe or Inside Your Country
Where is the server that runs 3CX hosted? Three options, each with its case.
Dubai. The option we recommend for most of our Gulf clients. The network distance between your office in Riyadh or Doha and our server in Dubai is short, and voice quality depends on the stability of that path more than on anything else. The system runs on a managed virtual server dedicated to your PBX alone, not shared with other customers.
Europe or the USA. Suits a company with teams and customers in Europe or America more than in the Gulf, or one that prefers the lower hosting cost. It works well, with a longer path from Gulf offices.
Inside your country. If your regulator, or your contract with a government client, requires the system and call recordings to stay inside the country, the choice is settled: a server in your office or at a licensed cloud provider in your country, and we install 3CX on it and manage it remotely. We say this plainly because we do not own servers inside Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait.
In every case, if the trunk comes from a provider in your country and the PBX sits in Dubai, that is a normal, supported setup: the trunk connects to the PBX over the internet, and the only condition is that the provider allows registration from an address outside its country, which we check before purchase. To understand what drives trunk cost and how to compare offers, read our article on the cheapest SIP trunk for 3CX.
Connecting Branches in Two Countries on One PBX
This is the case we see most often: a company headquartered in Dubai with a branch in Riyadh, or the reverse. The solution is one 3CX PBX, not two.
One extension per employee wherever they are. The Riyadh employee and the Dubai employee are on the same system, call each other by internal extension for free over the internet, and appear in one directory and the same queues.
One trunk per country. We add a UAE trunk from a provider licensed in the UAE and a Saudi trunk from a provider licensed in Saudi Arabia, on the same PBX. 3CX supports more than one trunk, and routing inbound DID numbers to the right destination is part of its basic setup as described in the trunk documentation: the Dubai number rings the Dubai team, and the Riyadh number rings the Riyadh team.
Outbound rules. We set outbound rules so that calls to Saudi numbers leave through the Saudi trunk and calls to UAE numbers through the UAE trunk, so your customer sees a local number and the call is billed at a local rate. Outbound caller ID, per the documentation, is the main trunk number, or the DID assigned to the extension where one exists.
What to watch for. Each trunk is subject to its country’s documents, so prepare the legal entity’s documents in each country (the Saudi branch is a Saudi entity with its own registration). And if your branch is in a country that requires the PBX to stay inside it, the solution is two PBXs connected by a bridge between them, a setup we do, but one more complex than a single PBX.
What We Need from You to Go Live
To give you an accurate quote and start the installation, this is the list we send every Gulf client.
Usage size. The number of employees who need an extension, and the maximum number of calls taking place at the same time, because the 3CX licence is sized by simultaneous calls, not by number of users.
Countries and branches. Which country each branch is in, and whether you want a local number in each country or a single number.
Existing numbers. Do you own numbers you want to move to the new PBX? Whether they can be ported depends on your current provider and your country’s rules, and we check before promising anything.
Company documents. Whatever the number provider in your country requires; we give you the exact list once the country is set.
Office network. The type of internet connection at each branch, and whether you want desk phones or the mobile and desktop apps are enough.
Hosting location. Dubai, Europe or inside your country, as read above.
Send us these answers through the contact page or WhatsApp, and we reply with a quote that itemises licensing, hosting and numbers separately. Current prices are on the portal in the 3CX cloud PBX store; we do not quote them here because they are updated there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does 3CX work in Saudi Arabia?
Yes. The 3CX licence is global and not tied to a country, and the system can be hosted in Dubai, in Europe or on a server in your Saudi office. What differs is the numbers and the trunk: the Saudi number must come from a provider licensed by the Kingdom’s regulator, which we arrange after reviewing your company documents.
Can I get a Saudi number on a 3CX PBX with you?
Yes, after a legal-document review of your company, because the licensed number provider in Saudi Arabia requires proof of the entity’s identity before assigning the number. We collect the documents, follow up on activation, then connect the number to your PBX hosted with us. If the request is refused for a regulatory reason, we suggest an alternative.
Is an 800 toll-free number available outside the UAE?
No. We provide toll-free numbers for the UAE only, through our licensed provider there. If you need a toll-free number in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait, the right route is a licensed provider in that country, and its number can be connected to your 3CX PBX with us as an ordinary trunk, from one system.
Can I connect my Riyadh branch and Dubai branch on one PBX?
Yes, and it is the setup we repeat most. One 3CX PBX carrying a licensed Saudi trunk and a licensed UAE trunk, with an extension for every employee in both branches. Internal calls between the branches are free over the internet, and external calls leave through the local trunk in each country, so your customer sees a local number.
Sources
- Configuring SIP Trunks / VoIP Providers in 3CX Phone System (accessed 2026-10-18)
- Join 3CX’s Channel Partner Program (accessed 2026-10-18)
- FAQs, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) (accessed 2026-10-18)
- Communications, Space and Technology Commission (CST), Saudi Arabia (accessed 2026-10-18)
- Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), State of Qatar (accessed 2026-10-18)
- Communication and Information Technology Regulatory Authority (CITRA), Kuwait (accessed 2026-10-18)
Where We Are
BIGBANG ITS has planned and run technology for UAE businesses since 2003, headquartered at the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park with a branch in Business Bay, Dubai. Support runs 24/7 and the office is open Saturday to Thursday, 09:00–18:00 Gulf time. Contact us or message us on WhatsApp.
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