Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX, exposes the finer points of the new V9 3CX Phone System for Windows.
3CX has released a service pack for version 9 build 13545. This service pack can be applied to the latest build without re-installing.
To update Update 3CX IP PBX version 9.13545 to SP1.
Important Notification: On some systems, it is possible that the action Starting Services takes between 6-10 minutes. This is a known issue in the previous updater. So be patient and wait. If after 10 minutes the message is still there, go to services.msc and start the services manually. Start/Run/Services.msc and start the 3CX Database server followed by the 3CX Configuration service and the rest of the services.
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Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX, exposes the finer points of the new V9 3CX Phone System for Windows.
Response to the V9 release of 3CX Phone System for Windows continues to be very positive. The rapidly-developed IP PBX for Windows continues to provide features comparable to the front-runners in the IP PBX world, at a fraction of the cost of many of its competitors.
Version 9 is a significant upgrade that adds video support as well as enterprise features such as the ability to monitor remote PBX installations via 3CX Assistant and automatic remote installation and configuration of 3CXPhone and 3CX Assistant.
3CX Phone System 9 is now a complete Unified Communications solution – adding standards based video and support for smartphones as clients. At the same time adding key enterprise features that widen 3CX’s appeal to larger companies.
3CX continues to take market share and now has over 20,000 server installations worldwide and expects these numbers to grow dramatically with the release of V9.
Video support V9 allows single click set-up of video calls with other 3CXPhone users or with standards based video phones such as from Xlite, Yealink or Grandstream.
Android smartphone support
Provisioning of 3CXphone and 3CX Assistant
Deploying and administering 3CXPhone and 3CX Assistant installations is now much easier via the provisioning feature. Phone System users can install the client apps by clicking on an HTTP link which will automatically install and configure them. Changes to the configuration, as well as software updates are automatically pushed out to the clients.
Multi Site – capability
Monitor presence and queues on remote PBXs and transfer calls between PBXs
SLA / Shared parking
Seamless Key System like functionality for “sharing” phone lines without the need to transfer calls. Supports standards based SIP phones, no proprietary phones required.
Microsoft Dynamics support
Trigger outbound calls from within Microsoft Dynamics and resolve inbound calls to customer records automatically. All calls are reported and logged with the relevant customer record.
Other Features
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Not long ago I wrote a blog post asking the question; when is someone going to step up and offer a SIP client (that actually works) with the Android-based smart
phones? Well, today 3CX answered the call with their new free 3CX SIP Phone for the Android platform. Not only does the 3CX phone work with the popular 3CX Phone System for Windows, but also any standards-based IP PBX, or service as well. Today, I downloaded it via the Android marketplace, and had it running in under 5 minutes. I was easily able to successfully make and receive calls, both in the office – and at home. The only issues that I am having, is that the earpiece volume is not quite as loud as it is with a native call on my Moto Droid. Also, I did not see CID information for the incoming call, however this might be configuration related. I will take a look at this more in the next day or so. I am certain that 3CX will be able to provide a cure in a future release, if it is in fact bug-related issues.
Disappointed by how Verizon and Skype implemented Skype on the Droid platform, I am now able to go ahead and delete Skype entirely from my Droid. Verizon forces you to use the Verizon network for all Skype calls – and does not allow them over wifi (so you burn call plan minutes when using Skype). It appears that the 3CX client uses either wifi or the 3G network for SIP calls.
Per 3CX:
Recognizing the increasing importance of the smartphone as a client to a modern VoIP PBX, 3CX has developed a version if its popular softphone for the Android Platform. Available immediately as a beta,3CXPhone for Android supports Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.1 and 2.2 on smartphones from Google, HTC (HTC Desire & HTC Elite), Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and many others .
3CXPhone for Android Sip Phone is available via the Android market place. To install it, open up the market place and search for 3CXPhone. 3CXPhone for Android is FREE of charge and works with 3CX Phone System, Asterisk as well as numerous VoIP services.
More information on 3CXPhone for Android can be found here:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/3cxphone/android/
3CXPhone for Android is supported only via the Android 3CXPhone user to user support forum
:end
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I recently installed a 3CX Phone System for Windows v9 beta in the lab for testing purposes. Once I got a couple of extensions working, I wanted a way to dial out to the outside world and I remembered that I had my
Skype account lying around with Skype Out (and Skype In) configured. Many of you may not know that 3CX offers the 3CX Gateway for Skype for free which allows you to make and receive calls to your Skype contacts – and ordinary telephones if you have the Skype Out/In service.
Following the instruction located here, I had it configured and working on an XP box in about 15 minutes – which included downloading both the Skype client and 3CX Gateway for Skype. One note – if you are only configuring one Skype account and you plan to use it for both inbound and outbound calls. Be sure to deselect the checkbox “Act as master inbound Skype port” in the 3CX for Skype Gateway configuration when creating the Skype channel (this is checked by default).
I have been using it for a couple of days now with no problems, and surprisingly the call quality is good, with no echo. I even have DTMF working (I’ve seen this reported in the forums as a problem). I was able to do this by editing the configuration in the phone itself and changing the DTMF method from “in audio” to “SIP Info”. For the most part the DTMF is working fine!
So why is it a “pretty good deal” right now? Well .. some of you may be aware that Skype has “SIP for Skype” in beta right now and it is going to be their long term solution for supporting IP PBX’s with Skype. While promised to be a much cleaner solution – it is also going to be quite a bit more expensive to use with an IP PBX. The cost of SIP for Skype will be on par with other major SIP trunking providers, which is still a good value. However – 3CX Gateway for Skype just uses (one or more) Skype personal accounts, and for the small office looking to add a minimal number of Skype channels to their 3CX IP PBX, it is much more economical. As an example – with my Skype personal account I purchased $10 in call credit and $18 for a 3 month DID number. No service contract, setup fees, or monthly recurring costs (unless you want them).
3CX Gateway for Skype is available free of charge and works with both the free edition of 3CX Phone System as well as the commercial edition.
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A new version of 3CX Phone System is available in beta and what a version! 3CX Phone System v9 packs a punch with video support on 3CXphone, SLA functionality and the ability to provision 3CX Assistant and 3CXphone network-wide. 3CX Phone System users can now monitor remote PBX’s with 3CX Assistant and transfer calls between them. The call forwarding interface has been overhauled, and we introduced the concept of statuses to make it more intuitive for users to configure their away or out of office settings.
You can download 3CX Phone System v9 build 12850 here. The 3CX Assistant (with the video capable 3CXphone) is available here. Check out the administrator manual in PDF format here. We’ve moved theExtension User Manual to the web, making it much easier for users to refer to help. View it here. You an also download a beta of the 3CXphone only here.
We look forward to hearing your feedback!
Phone system server
Assistant
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The 3CX training team are back in the USA in June 2010! We would like to invite all 3CX partners to the 3CX Partner Meetings to be held on both the East and West Coast in the US. Both an introductory and an advanced training day are available.
3CX Partner Meeting – West Coast, San Francisco, CA, USA
Day 1 Thursday 17th June 2010 Introduction to 3CX Book here
Day 2 Friday 18th June 2010 Advanced Training Workshop Book here
3CX Partner Meeting – East Coast, Iselin, NJ, USA
Day 1 Monday 21st June 2010 Introduction to 3CX Book here
Day 2 Tuesday 22nd June 2010 Advanced Training Workshop Book here
.
These events always prove to be popular and are a great way of increasing your knowledge of 3CX. Also the technical work-group provides all the information that you will need to successfully pass your certification, details of which can be found here.
Spaces are limited and reservation is on a first come first served basis, so please do reserve your place(s) by submitting the relevant booking form.
Meeting Agenda – Day 1 – Introduction to 3CX:
Meeting Agenda – Day 2 - 3CX Advanced Training Workshop:
Cancellation Policy:
This event is free to all 3CX Partners. You can cancel your booking up to five days before the event at no charge by contacting the relevant event organizer. Please have your booking reference handy.
Contact West Coast 3CX Partner Meeting Organizer.
Contact East Coast 3CX Partner Meeting Organizer.
For late cancellations and non attendance, 3CX reserves the right to invoice the Partner the sum of 50 Euros. We look forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to one of our events in June.
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This topic has been covered before – however it is worth mentioning again. This is one of the greatest “gems” of 3CX Phone System for Windows, especially for customers with installed MS Exchange systems. 3CX provides a more in depth look at the functionality of the two products working together here.
Per Microsoft press release:
“May 14th, 2010 RESPONSE POINT TO BE DISCONTINUED AS OF AUGUST 31, 2010
After transitioning Microsoft Response Point to engineering maintenance status a year ago, Microsoft has made the decision to discontinue the sale, support and development of the Response Point phone system for small businesses, effective August 31, 2010. Current customers will be able to continue to use their Response Point product(s) as per their equipment manufacturer purchase agreement.
Despite favorable initial response from customers and channel partners since launch, we have not seen the necessary demand materialize to sustain Response Point as a viable standalone business. To continue to support the needs of the small business community, we expect to consolidate our efforts and offerings in this space around Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS).
In support of our partners and current customers Microsoft will continue to maintain the current web pages at www.microsoft.com/responsepoint until November 1, 2011.
For additional information please go to http://blogs.technet.com/rp/ or send an Email to rpoint@microsoft.com”
Blog Editors Note: 3CX Phone System for Windows is an excellent fit for SOHO and SMB customers. Please feel free to take a look at it today!
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Recently I had an opportunity to observe a company relocate its’ 3CX Phone System for Windows from one physical location to another. This was actually a great experience because in a firsthand and “real world” manner, it really drove home to me another benefit of IP PBX’s. 3CX and IP PBX’s are known for mobility and enabling mobile workforces, however this is a different kind of mobility – or more accurately described as portability. I will explain….
Having been involved in phone system moves in yesteryear, I was blown away by how much of a non-event this actually was. In the past, we’d have to spend weeks coordinating a phone system move with the local telephone company, and the move date had to coincide with arranging the schedule of the telco technicians and an 8am-5pm work schedule.
In this particular case, we didn’t even speak to the local telco and they weren’t involved on relocation day. The company moved to a new premise that was pre-wired with a Cat 5 cable plant (phone lines were demarked previously), so literally the phone system was moved, and the 3CX server and phones were plugged into the network. The VoIP gateway was connected to the lines, and viola! it fired up and everything worked the first time.
In today’s Nomadic workplace – this is extremely beneficial. As a the owner of an office building offering commercial lease space, I’ve experienced tenants that were only interested in setting up a temporary operation. Driving their desire to do this is a business model to sales blitz the local geographic area for a a few months. Afterward they’ll break down and head on to the next city, dismantling their office infrastructure and setting it up again in the next location. The ability to unplug, move and re-establish their phone system in a matter of hours (possibly minutes) is of a great benefit. They can keep everything the same: extension, IVR’s, queues, integration to their CRM system, and even voice mail messages. If they are utilizing a VoIP Provider, they can do all of this at any time of the day without involving a telco at all!
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2009 was another banner year for 3CX Phone System for Windows, and it continues into 2010. With the v8 release of 3CX in 2009, its’ universe of partners and
customers have enjoyed the best 3CX release to date. Unified Communications Magazine has acknowledged these accolades by awarding 3CX as a 2009 Unified Communications Product of the Year for the 2nd consecutive year in a row.
“It is an honor to grant 3CX with a 2009 Product of the Year Award for their 3CX Phone System. 3CX has proven their dedication to quality and excellence while supporting the needs in the marketplace,” stated Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “We look forward to seeing continued advancement in technology solutions from 3CX in the future.”
Read the full press release here:
On a personal note – I would like to state that 3CX Phone System has been a pleasure to work with. Originally starting with v3, we have experienced rapid and beneficial improvements in the phone system solution. Being able to run it in on Windows, and on any decent standard Window's hardware and OS, made the prospect of retiring our old Nortel Northstar Meridian TDM system a reality. To be honest, this did not come without some pain (migrating through several 3CX major version releases in a short period of time), but it was well worth it. What we have now is a modern, highly functional phone system that is easy to administer and inexpensive to operate. We lowered our telco costs and empowered our users at Deerfield.com to make changes to their extension behavior – all without the expense of a service contract for on-site service.
Congratulations 3CX on the 2009 Award!
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One of the fastest ways to save money when using 3CX Phone System for Windows is to utilize a VoIP Provider (Internet Telephony Service Provider or ITSP)
for your outbound telephone calls instead of (or in conjunction with) ordinary phone lines. How this works is that you purchase service from a provider like Broadvox (for example) and you authenticate your 3CX IP PBX to their systems via TCP/IP over the Internet. Then in their data center – they connect the call to the publicly switched telephone network (PSTN). All that is required on your end is that you have ample Internet connectivity available to, and connected to your 3CX server.
You have to be careful however – because if there’s one area that IP PBX’s have received a bad rap, it’s because of poor voice quality due to either a substandard VoIP Provider, or inadequate Internet bandwidth availability on-premise (the latter is more common). This will rear it’s ugly head in the form of jitter, echo, and broken voice conversations. bad. stay away.
If you’re considering taking advantage of lower cost calls by utilizing the VoIP Provider with 3CX, I highly recommend that you take a look at the article written here http://www.3cx.com/blog/voip-howto/testing-voip-provider/ .
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It’s clear to me now after living with my Moto Droid for a few months that this is going to be a ubiquitous smart phone. What really sets this device/operating
system apart is its tight integration with Google search and mapping assets. Nothing made this more clear to me than using on our spring break trip as a phone, email client, sms client, navigation (with live traffic overlay) device, search device (for restaurants, gas, rest areas etc.) weather device, and general web surfing on the long trip from Michigan to Florida via car.
When we arrived at the hotel in Orlando to learn that they actually still charge for Internet connectivity ($10 per day), I was a bit displeased (I always do some work on vacation, my wife loves me for that lol ..). Not that I can’t afford it (I’m not bragging), but I all but refuse to pay for Internet access at a hotel anymore. However, in Florida they have a very captive audience during spring break and they can get away with it (for now). So – once again I turn to my Droid as a USB tether and use it for access to the Internet the 10 days or so we were there.
So – let me tell you what is missing for this platform – a working SIP client that I can use with the Driod with 3CX Phone System for Windows. For a couple of months now I’ve installed and hoped to be using Sipdroid, patiently waiting for it to work properly, and allowing it to download its updates on almost a weekly basis. But – I’m not holding much hope for it right now as the thread in the 3CX forums (3CX has expressed willingness to help get this working) have gone dead. I am experiencing the same problems as other users are reporting – Sipdroid receives calls fine – but cannot originate a call via 3CX.
Knowing that the vast majority of all enterprise and hosted phone systems sold today are IP PBX’s, combined with the allure of the Android operating system – I am actually quite surprised that there is not a good SIP client available now for this platform.
Who will be the first? Any takers?
I’m not sure how I missed this – but “better late than never” is the cliché I’ll use to describe this post. Even though this segment ran on Revision3 Internet Television’s popular Hak5 program a year ago, I wanted to share it because it exposes a nice VoIP provider called Teliax, and in particular their “pay as you go” SIP Trunking service (10 channels). If you are looking to experiment with VoIP on the cheap. teaming up with 3CX and Teliax couldn’t make it any more risk free. You see – I am a big fan of the “something for nothing” value proposition – and in terms of VoIP IP PBX’s, testing with the free version of 3CX and a low-cost VoIP provider lowers the cost barrier to the nth level. As a disclaimer – this is where I’d normally tell you proceed at your own risk and there’s no substitute for a qualified 3CX professional, or paid version of software – but not this time.. there’ll be plenty of opportunity for that later. If you are at least a little technically savvy and would like to experiment with setting up a Window’s based phone system that can connect to the outside world – then give it a try. Here’s a link to some support resources should you have any questions.
Just to set this up – Hak5 did a feature on 3CX last year, and I mentioned this in a former blog post. Well, apparently there was a lot of viewer interest in the topic (in their own words) , so Hak5’s Matt Lestock did a sequel to his initial 3CX episode – this time showing viewers how they can easily connect their 3CX Phone System for Windows to the outside world using a low-cost VoIP provider. In fact – he does the setup during the show - He was able to configure 3CX with Teliax and make a phone call in under 5 minutes. I was able to get 3CX segment for you here – however if you wish you can watch the entre episode here, the 3CX segment is at about the 16:30 mark and lasts about 7 minutes total.
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