PCI compliance guide published

London, UK – May 30, 2007 – Businesses that rely on payment by credit cards are required to comply with the PCI security standards by September 2007. Non compliance could result in loss of merchant account, severe fines and lawsuits. In view of these new regulations, Acunetix has published a PCI Compliance Guide to help companies understand the concept behind the Payment Card Industry as well as documenting the steps needed to reach compliance.

What is PCI compliance?

PCI Compliance is a structured security checklist which aims at securing financial data, and helps to distinguish the secure and reliable businesses from the risky ones. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was created in a joint effort by the major credit card companies: American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover to monitor and develop the PCI standard. Consumers who use credit/debit cards online to purchase products or services risk suffering financial losses when businesses process their transactions through systems which are not secure. The PCI standard aims to stop the cause of online financial and identity theft from its source by ensuring the systems which process and store customer details are secure.

For more info, read the whole article here.

3CX and Patton Team Up to Offer Flexible, Windows-Based VoIP for Small Offices

Certified interoperability between 3CX’s free software PBX for Windows and Patton’s SmartNode VoIP gateways offers a cost-saving, VoIP solution for small offices that leverages existing computer, phone, and fax equipment.

Nicosia, Cyprus and Gaithersburg, Maryland – 15 May 2007: 3CX — developer of the software-based Private Branch Exchange (PBX) for Windows — and Patton Electronics Company— the industry leader in business-class network access, connectivity and VoIP equipment — announced today a strategic technology partnership that pairs 3CX’s free software-based IP-PBX for Windows with Patton’s SmartNode™ VoIP gateways.

3CX recently completed successful interoperability testing between their SIP-based PBX and Patton’s SmartNode VoIP equipment.

The certified interoperability means small offices can immediately realize the cost-saving benefits of VoIP (such as free calling and consolidated operations). Businesses can implement a cost-saving, feature-rich voice and data-communications system, built on state-of-the-art VoIP technology that preserves investments in legacy equipment. The 3CX-Patton cooperation enables a gradual transition to VoIP that avoids the expense and risk of a wholesale migration.

"We are very pleased to cooperate with such an industry leader as Patton,” said Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX. “SmartNode VOIP Gateways are well-known for their stability and powerful features. Our cooperation multiplies the value we can deliver to our mutual customers. Anyone who buys Patton and 3CX solutions can rest assured the products work well together and are fully supported."

SmartNode gateways provide all the traditional telephony interfaces (PRI, BRI, FXS, FXO, T1, E1, etc.) in addition to standard Ethernet. Customers can use those interfaces to interconnect the Windows computer running 3CX PBX software with installed POTS and ISDN phone and fax equipment. New hardware and software SIP-phones can also be incorporated in the fully-integrated VoIP, voice and data network. SmartNode also provides connections to the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for fallback and local-number dialed access.

“We are honored to be working shoulder-to-shoulder with such an industry front-runner as 3CX,” said Bobby Patton, President of Patton Electronics. “It’s a collaboration of innovation.”

Both companies are distinguished by ground-breaking firsts. 3CX is first to market with a free software-based IP-PBX for the Windows operating system. Patton’s SmartNode brand has launched such innovations as VoIP-over-VPN with encrypted voice, and a low-cost, high-performance PRI VoIP gateway with Dual Gig Ethernet ports.

"Interoperability is the word in today’s converging networks," said Marco Liechti, VoIP Product Line Manager at Patton. “No business can risk an untested, non-standard system. We are very pleased 3CX has chosen SmartNode for their certification program. SmartNode VoIP equipment has reputation as the industry’s most interoperable. We’ve been supporting the SIP standard for years."

For hi-resolution images of SmartNode VoIP equipment, go to Patton's media resources page and click on VoIP.

About Patton

Patton manufactures communications equipment for carrier, enterprise, and industrial networks worldwide. Incorporated in 1984, Patton’s catalog of more than 1000 products includes the SIPxNano™ ultra-miniature IP-PBX, SmartNode™ and SmartLink™ VoIP solutions; ForeFront™ multi-service access infrastructure solutions (T1/E1, G.SHDSL, xDSL, dial-up); IPLink™ CPE solutions (WAN routers, modems, remote access servers, NTUs, CSU/DSUs); CopperLink™ Ethernet Extenders; EtherBITS™ device servers; EnviroNET™ industrial-networking equipment, network-connectivity Micro-Products (interface-converters, etc.), and more.

About 3CX

3CX offers a fully featured FREE IP PBX with no time outs that is supported via the 3CX forums. Take the product tour at http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/product-tour.html. 3CX is a privately held company with a management team backed by years of experience in developing and selling network infrastructure software. 3CX maintains a global presence by maintaining a localized website for all major countries with information available in German (www.3cx.de), Spanish (www.3cx.es), French (www.3cx.fr), Portuguese (www.3cx.com.br), Japanese (www.3cx.jp), Traditional Chinese (www.3cx.hk), Simplified Chinese (www.3cx.cn), Vietnamese (www.3cx.vn) and Korean (www.3cx.co.kr).

For more information contact Tamara Borg (tamara@3cx.com)

3CX Ltd.

Engomi Business Center

1, 28th October Street

2414 Nicosia, Cyprus

Tel: +357 22461392

Website: http://www.3cx.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

3CX keeps a VOIP and SIP FAQ in several languages, which includes information about SIP trunking, SIP proxy, VOIP Gateways and others. Some of the languages include: VOIP in Swedish, SIP FAQ in Portuguese, in Norwegian, and Danish.

3CX launches new IP PBX for Windows: 3CX Phone System

3CX frees office phone systems from proprietary hardware and protocols and transforms them to a manageable server application

London, UK – 9 May 2007 – 3CX today released its commercial edition of 3CX Phone System, a new Windows-based IP PBX that completely replaces a proprietary PABX. Based on the open SIP standard, it interoperates with a wide range of popular soft phones and hardware phones. Since it supports SIP, it is possible to interface with all SIP-based providers and gateways and connect to standard PSTN lines and/or hosted VOIP lines.

“The release of 3CX Phone System is significant because we have freed the IP PBX from dedicated hardware and proprietary protocols. Now an office phone system can run as a server application on Windows and can be more scalable and more manageable," said Nick Galea, 3CX CEO.

"The move to IP-based phone systems has been in progress for some time. But often it still involves proprietary hardware - a black box. Solutions from AVAYA, Cisco and even Microsoft’s Promised Response Point are all linked to a proprietary piece of hardware. In the case of AVAYA and CISCO it even involves a proprietary protocol and proprietary phones. 3CX Phone System delivers a truly open system that runs on any machine using Windows and interoperates with all popular SIP phones, gateways and providers. Furthermore, it doesn’t tie you to Linux," continued Nick Galea.

View Nick’s introduction to the product on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7kYNvM0WzU.

Key features of 3CX Phone System:

· Complete phone system - provides call switching, routing & queuing

· Eliminates phone wiring & patching of extensions to a particular network point

· Makes teleworking easy because employees can answer extension from home

· Purchase cost dramatically lower than a traditional hardware PBX

· Scalable - Unlimited extensions and phone lines. No proprietary expansion modules needed!

· Web-based configuration & status indication - Easy phone system management!

· Unified messaging - Receive voice mail via e-mail

· Auto attendant (e.g. 1 for sales, 2 for support etc.)

· Reduces long distance and inter office call costs using VOIP providers.

Three available editions: Small Business, Pro and Free

3CX phone System for Windows is available in 3 editions: The Small Business Edition supports up to 25 extensions, whilst the Pro edition supports an unlimited number of extensions. Pricing is competitive: Small Business costs $350 and Pro runs at $895.

3CX Phone System Free edition

A free edition, supporting an unlimited number of extensions, is also available. The main difference with Pro and Small Business phone system is that it’s not possible to buy a support package for the free edition, nor does it include the advanced features of 3CX Call Assistant. Not withstanding, the Free Edition does more than most commercial PBXs do; including an auto attendant, voice mail and even user-to-user support via the 3CX moderated product forums at http://www.3cx.com/forums/. The free edition can be downloaded from http://www.3cx.com/ip-pbx/index.html.

About 3CX

3CX is a privately held company with a management team backed by years of experience in developing and selling network infrastructure software. It maintains a global presence with localized information available in German (www.3cx.de), Spanish (www.3cx.es), French (www.3cx.fr), Portuguese (www.3cx.com.br), Japanese (www.3cx.jp), Traditional Chinese (www.3cx.hk), Simplified Chinese (www.3cx.cn), Vietnamese (www.3cx.vn) and Korean (www.3cx.co.kr). Furthermore a localized website is maintained for all major countries: www.3cx.it, www.3cx.nl, www.3cx.ru, www.3cx.pl, www.3cx.ae, www.3cx.gr, www.3cx.cz, www.3cx.dk, www.3cx.fi, www.3cx.hu, www.3cx.jp, www.3cx.com.tr, www.3cx.no, www.3cx.ro, www.3cx.com.my and www.3cx.se.

3CX maintains a strong VOIP and SIP FAQ including facts about SIP trunking, SIP servers, VOIP and SIP phones, VOIP Gateways, and it is present in several languages, such as VOIP in Finnish, a VOIP and SIP FAQ in Dutch, in Hungarian and in Romanian.

For more information contact Tamara Borg (tamara@3cx.com)

3CX Ltd.
Palladia Stockley Park
8 The Square, Stockley Park
Heathrow, UB11 1FW
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 845 869 5215
Fax: +44 (0) 845 869 5215

Website: http://www.3cx.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.