Thursday, July 24, 2008

VOIP in politics

In some circles, it may be considered gauche to toot one's own horn. But VoIP-News doesn't run in those circles, so have a peek at this story about the use of VoIP in political phone banks. (You did notice that this is a national election year in the U.S., right?) Phone banks are old school, but VoIP, or Voice over IP can be at the core of applications that let volunteers call from any Web browser yet stay rigorously on script. It's an interesting case study and an interesting application.
Read more about it here.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Sintel agreement with 3CX

Sintel, the Telecoms and Security market expert, has enriched its portfolio by signing an agreement with 3CX for their IP PBX software developed on Microsoft Windows platform.

In recent years, the IP PBX market has been booming. The advantages of an IP phone system are so obvious that the number of companies equipping themselves with IP PBXs is stupendous. Sales of IP telephone equipment are currently increasing by more than 50% per year. There could be no question of Sintel being a mere bystander in such a growing market.

"The objective was to offer our distribution network a competitive and state-of-the-art enterprise telephony solution. The task was a difficult one because we wanted a high performance solution that would still be very simple to install. Another constraint, and not the least of them in an area where the use of Linux is pervasive, was to find a 100% Windows solution!” (Peter Hammett, Managing Director of Sintel)

3CX Phone System is an IP phone system (IP PBX) developed on Microsoft Windows platform and designed as a complete replacement for the traditional PABX. It has been developed using the SIP standard and is interoperable with most IP telephones, VoIP gateways and operators, both traditional and VoIP (Voice over IP). The connection with the telephone network can be made via VoIP gateways such as VegaStream and/or via a VoIP provider, through the internet.

As for physical deployment, no need for specific phone cabling as communications pass through the computer network using IP telephones or PC soft phones. It is also possible to connect traditional phones using FXS adapters.

For the network administrator, 3CX offers major advantages such as ease of installation even with VoIP gateways, simplicity of deployment (i.e. automatic provisioning of IP phones), straightforward management via its Web interface and great flexibility of its licensing arrangements. It is perfectly adapted to small and medium sized businesses which don’t have the benefit of specialised VoIP knowledge or their own IT staff.

Much more economical than a traditional PABX, 3CX distinguishes itself by the large number of functions available such as integration with MS Exchange Enterprise Edition, centralised management of lines and extensions, voice messaging integrated in the email inbox, IVR, optional remote connection, fax server, call recording, etc. 3CX also meets the needs of companies seeking to increase the mobility of their employees. With 3CX employees on the move are perfectly integrated into the telephony system of the company, in just the same way as desk workers, and have access to the same features wherever they are. And the presence detection function means they are always visible to their colleagues.

"I have to say that 3CX is a really extraordinary solution, which of course offers all the features of the traditional PBX but equally proposes all the IT innovations available. And its main advantage is its simplicity of installation and especially of deployment." (Sylvain Puteaux, Product Manager at Sintel)

The icing on the cake: 3CX is available in a FREE edition – fully functional – allowing companies with limited needs to equip themselves free of charge and to take advantage of the multiple advantages of an IP PBX.

For companies wishing to have all the advanced features, 3CX is available for the price of €375 for 8 simultaneous calls (about 15/20 users), or €795 for 16 simultaneous calls (about 30/40 users), and can go up to €4,600 for 128 simultaneous calls (about 250/400 users).

3CX Phone System for Windows has been specifically developed for the SME market; it is certified for use with Windows 2003 Server and has won several awards including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, the Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award and the 2007 IT EXPO Best of Show award.

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta 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 received numerous awards, including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, as well as, the IT EXPO Best of Show award 2007, the INTERNET Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award, and the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. For more information, visit www.3cx.com.