Wednesday, June 17, 2009

New VoIP Call Recording Solution for SMBs

CTI Group and CommPartners Connect have partnered to offer VoIP call recording for small and medium-sized businesses called SmartRecord IP.

“SmartRecord IP is a shining example of how IP communications can deliver feature-rich, fully integrated, and value-added services to the SMB market that are unmatched by the traditional phone company,” says Mark Peterson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for CommPartners Connect. “Our resellers are proving each day that not only does the value proposition of VoIP sell services, but applications like SmartRecord IP have great appeal to important segments of the SMB market and increase overall demand for VoIP. By responding to the demand for these value-added features and applications, we are enabling our resellers to meet customer needs and win more deals while driving growth of their VoIP business portfolio.”

Read the rest here.

Friday, May 29, 2009

3CX Phone System for Windows voted Readers’ Choice Award Winner

Leading Windows Networking resource site, WindowsNetworking.com, announced today that 3CX Phone System for Windows was selected the winner in the IP PBX Server category of the WindowsNetworking.com Readers’ Choice Awards.

“Our Readers’ Choice Awards give visitors to our site the opportunity to vote for the products they view as the very best in their respective category,” said Sean Buttigieg, WindowsNetworking.com manager. “WindowsNetworking.com users are specialists in their field who encounter various solutions for Enterprise Networking at the workplace. The award serves as a mark of excellence, providing the ultimate recognition from peers within the industry.”

WindowsNetworking.com conducts monthly polls to discover which product is preferred by network administrators in a particular category of third party solutions for Enterprise Networking. The awards draw a huge response per category and are based entirely on the visitors’ votes. WindowsNetworking.com visitors can submit their votes for the current Readers' Award poll in the site’s left-hand bar.

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. It is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and is backed by an experienced management and development team. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor's Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine, all in recognition to the company's commitment to innovation and quality.

For more information visit www.3cx.com and 3CX VoIP Blog.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Why a Windows based PBX trumps a Linux based appliance or proprietary PBX

3CX releases a Whitepaper explaining the benefits of a windows based phone system over a Linux based appliance or “VoIP enabled” proprietary PBX

London, UK, 21 May 2009 - Companies planning to take advantage of cost savings and productivity increases achieved by using VoIP face a difficult decision what PBX solution to choose. Amongst the options are a Windows based software solution, a Linux based black box style appliance or a “VoIP enabled” proprietary PBX. The whitepaper released today by 3CX titled ‘The top 10 advantages of a Windows based PBX’ details the key benefits of a Windows phone system and explains why customers should shy away from yet another black box solution.

“A Windows based PBX solution is by far the best choice for any company that relies on Windows networks & servers. Hiding the complexity of a Linux based PBX solution in a dedicated appliance or Linux distribution is only a short term solution that will result in a much higher TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) over time. Furthermore, companies will not be able to take full advantage of VoIP and Unified communications because integration possibilities with existing Windows applications will be limited”, said Nick Galea, 3CX.

“VoIP enabled” proprietary PBXs provide only limited VoIP support and because in most cases they do not adhere to the open SIP standard, customers will be limited in choice of phones, VoIP services and gateway hardware and will not be able to get the full benefit of the VoIP ‘revolution’.

The whitepaper is available in PDF format from this location: http://www.3cx.com/voip-articles/whitepaper.pdf

Accompanying the whitepaper is a Youtube video presentation highlighting the key points, available here.






About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. It is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and is backed by an experienced management and development team. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor’s Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

CyberData VoIP Intercoms Ease Move to IP Telephony

For some SMBs (small to medium-sized businesses), moving to IP telephony can be more complicated than it is for others. The reason: They have many peripheral devices and equipment connected to and working with their existing phone systems. The devices aren't conventional phones, but they provide voice communication to employees and visitors. Upgrading to an IP PBX requires upgrading such devices as well. Monterey, Calif.-based CyberData Corp. provides equipment making that possible. Its latest product is a set of VoIP indoor intercoms.

Read more about it here.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

3CX checks in at hotels worldwide to bring VoIP to Hospitality industry

New 3CX VoIP Phone System for Hotels slashes phone bills using VoIP and eliminates PBX maintenance and expansion costs

London, UK – 6 May 09 – 3CX announced today the availability of 3CX Phone System Hotel module, which allows Hotels to replace aging and expensive Hotel PBXs from Mitel, Alcatel, Siemens and others with 3CX Phone System for Windows, a modern software based VoIP IP PBX. The 3CX Hotel module adds important hospitality functions such as support for Check IN/OUT, DND, Room status and Wake up calls. It integrates with leading Hotel Software / Property Management Systems.

“Traditional Hotel PBX vendors have charged a hefty premium for their ability to perform hotel related functions” said Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX. “3CX costs a fraction of a comparable hotel PBX and in addition halves the hotel’s phone bill by allowing the use of VoIP”

Hotels can eliminate Lease Payments

Hotels paying high monthly lease payments for their current PBX can drastically reduce their monthly operating cost by replacing it with 3CX. The cost of outright purchase of 3CX is so low that hotels can earn back the investment in just a few months. Coupled with drastic reductions in the phone bill, 3CX can be an important part of reducing operating costs in these times of economic crisis.

Re use analog phones

Existing Analog phones in the rooms can easily be re-used with the use of low cost FXS gateways, further reducing the initial investment cost. Re-using analog phones also means there is no need to re-wire – existing analog phone points can continue to be used. IP Phones can be used only where it matters – for example in reception. Re-using analog phones also helps the environment by reducing unnecessary brown good wastage.

Wide range of Hotel Software/ Property Management Systems supported

3CX Phone System integrates with leading Hotel Software / Property Management Systems via several interfaces, including Legacy PBX emulation, the Fidelio FIAS protocol as well as support for Comtrol’s Lodging Link middle ware. Other interfaces are easily implemented and available on request. A subset of supported PMS systems includes Agilysys, Autoclerk, Cenium, Maestro for Northwind, Fidelity Hotel Management Systemm, Micros Opera, Brilliant Hotelsoftware, CMS Hospitality Guestcentrix, ResortSuite, Gracesoft, Hotec Expert Hotelier Suite, Hotel Concept, WebPMS, Atrium INN client server systems, HSS Hotel Software Systems, Innfinity software systems and InnRoad. A complete list is available here.

3CX Phone System Hotel module is available immediately and starts at €750/$895. More information is available here. An example costing to determine ROI can be found here.





About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. It is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and is backed by an experienced management and development team. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, developed specifically for the SMB (small & medium business) market, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor’s Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. 3CX maintains a global presence with localized information available in various languages. For more information, visit www.3cx.com and the 3CX blog.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

3CX Phone System v7.1 Delivers Personal Phone Assistant for ALL

New 3CX Assistant for 3CX Phone System offers one-click call transfer, call parking, call divert, presence and more

London, UK – 22 April 2009 - 3CX today announced the availability of 3CX Phone System for Windows 7.1, which includes 3CX Assistant, a desktop utility that drastically improves phone usability and user productivity. 3CX Assistant offers extension users an easy way to transfer, divert, launch or park calls - via “drag and drop” rather then via a cryptic phone interface. In addition 3CX Assistant offers unified communications features such as extension status (presence) of other users and Call Queue information.

“3CX Assistant makes it much easier to take advantage of Phone System features” said Nick Galea, 3CX CEO. “Rather then learn cryptic phone dial codes, users can use their mouse and a familiar Windows GUI”.

Works with ANY phone including ANALOG phones.

3CX Assistant works in tandem with an existing phone, be it an IP phone, a soft phone, or even an ANALOG phone and thus delivers the benefits of VoIP and Unified communications to all. In fact, re-using analog phones via low cost FXS gateways is now more attractive and can drastically lower the investment cost in a new VoIP Phone System.

3CX Assistant features at a glance

  • Transfer, Divert or Park calls with a mouse click or via “Drag and Drop”

  • See status of other extensions and avoid “Telephone Tag”

  • Notification upon receiving a new voice mail message

  • View number of callers in a Queue

  • Pick – up calls waiting in the Queue

  • See which agents are logged on or on a call

  • Login/Logout to/from Queues

  • Set user status to away/available






3CX Phone System 7.1 has an easy to use rights system that allows granular configuration of who can see what call information and perform which call operations.

Other 7.1 features

Besides the 3CX Assistant, 3CX Phone System has gained several other important features:

  • A new built in Call Reporter with many new reports including Call Queue and Agent Reports

  • A CDR service that can output Call Data Records in any format

  • Improved default security and installation

  • Compatibility with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 and 2008

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. It is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and is backed by an experienced management and development team. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, developed specifically for the SMB (small & medium business) market, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor’s Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. 3CX maintains a global presence with localized information available in various languages. For more information, visit www.3cx.com.

Monday, April 13, 2009

3CX IP-Telefonsystem in Version 7.0 erschienen

Der Hersteller 3CX, bietet ab sofort die neue Version 7.0 seiner TK-Anlage für Windows an. Man hat in der Version 7.0 ein wichtiges Entwicklungsziele erreicht, so ist die Handhabung der anwenderfreundlichen Management-Konsole nochmals verbessert worden, die Nutzeroberflächen weiter optimiert - und gleichzeitig die Mobilität der Anwender gestärkt worden. Mit 3CX Version 7.0 können die Nutzer jetzt individuelle Weiterleitungsregeln für ihre Durchwahl konfigurieren. Abhängig von der Caller-ID und der genauen Anrufzeit werden Anrufe für dieselbe Nebenstelle dann verschieden behandelt. Der Anwender kann beispielsweise festlegen, dass dringende Anrufe von besonders wichtigen Kunden oder Kollegen auch spät abends oder am Wochenende auf das Handy weitergeleitet werden, während die weniger wichtigen Anrufe in dieser Zeit einfach auf die Voice Box gehen.
Die wichtigsten Neuerungen in der VoIP TK-Anlage für Windows, Version 7.0:

* Individuell konfigurierbare, intelligente Weiterleitungs- und Durchstellungsregeln
* Nochmals verbesserte Management-Konsole und Nutzer-Oberflächen
* Unterstützung für den Betrieb als virtuelle Instanz in Hyper V
* Neuer Konfigurations-Wizzard
* Zeigen eingehender Anrufe als MS Outlook-Kontakte
* Unterstützung für Sangoma-Karten
* .NET API
* Optimierte Systemleistung für mehr als 50.000 Gespräche pro Tag.

Nick Galea, CEO von 3CX, betont im Gespräch mit VoIPphones.de, dass die Verbesserungen ganz der Unternehmensstrategie entsprechen, den Kunden eine softwarebasierte Telefonanlage zu liefern, die leicht zu konfigurieren und einfach zu bedienen ist. „Die individuell konfigurierbare, intelligente Weiterleitung – das ist entstanden, weil wir darauf gehört haben, was uns unsere Kunden sagen. Die Nutzer von IP-Telefonsystemen wollen mehr Flexibilität bei der Behandlung eingehender Anrufe. Auch mit anderen neuen Funktionen wie der neuen Management-Konsole und dem neuen Konfigurations-Wizzard entsprechen wir den Bedürfnissen der Anwender.“