Excellent Article on Integrated Exchange 2010 UM and IP Phone System By 3CX Blog #3cx #exchange

The 3CX Blog has done a very nice article that takes you step by step through Microsoft Exchange 2010 UM integration to you IP PBX. Exchange UM adds incredible voice recognition to your auto attendents and voicemail. It also makes accessing your voicemail, contacts and calendar via a mere phone an easy task.

Click Here:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/exchange-server-configuration/

3CX Phone System News Update: New Book, CRM Integration

I've been soo busy with Microsoft Lync that I'll admit I have missed some important news from the 3CX world--so here is an update!

Kerry Garrison has written the official book on 3CX and he recently has updated it to include version 10. He notes on the official 3CX blog that there are 30 more pages and it some other improvements along with new features of v10 of course. The price is $24.99 so it is certainly affordable and you can order it here. Congratulations Kerry on the new edition!

3CX has also released a new CRM integration module that integrates Salesforce, SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Sage Act! to the 3CX IP Phone system. This new integration has a 30day trial but it costs a one time fee of $50USD. Considering that previous 3CX clients were free it would indicate that this integration is more mature and enterprise in nature although I have not tested it. There is also an API for the CRM integration but it is noted there is no support for the API.

Thanks for Recommending the 3CX IP PBX Tutorial Book Orlin Shopov #3CX

A new user was struggling with the 3CX Windows PBX and 3CX forum user Orlin Shopov gave this excellent recommendation:

Read the admin manual or try searching the internet for the book  'The 3CX IP PBX Tutorial' - it can be very useful...

Okay, so I admit I am the co-author of the 3CX IP PBX Tutorial along with Robert Lloyd. And, yes, I guess I'm a little biased here. ;-) But may I recommend if you need 3CX you  check with http://eagle-engineering.net/ ?

Also if you are looking for consulting or technical support related to 3CX, Microsoft Lync Server 2010 or the Windows based snom ONE PBX let my company know! http://www.landiscomputer.com/.

Get the book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/3CX-IP-PBX-Tutorial/dp/1847198961

Source:
http://www.3cx.com/forums/newbie-to-phones-etc-21063.html

3CX Adds Call Center Features to Its Windows PBX

It looks like 3CX Phone System is getting Call Center Features such as Barge In, Listen In, Whisper In, Call Queues, SLA alerts, and Call back. They have a very cool, Silverlight based client that gives easy access to the features as shown in the photo above. 3CX has gone the route of having a seperate licensing fee for call center features.

Read the whole article and video here:

http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/3cx-call-center-released/

3CX Phone System Version 10 Released: Silverlight Based User Client

3CX Phone System has recieve a lot of upgrades in version 10 and you can see them at the link below:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/unified-communications-new-3cx-version-10/

I think a notable upgrade is the Silverlight based MyPhone which bring UC features to Windows and Mac:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/myphone/monitoring/

3CX Continues Path Towards Skype by Achieving Skype Connect Certified Status

I noticed over the weekend that the Windows phone system, 3CX, has achieved "Skype Connected Certified" status. This means that 3CX is joining an array of other PBX's in this program: Avaya, cisco, Grandstream, ShoreTel, SIPXECS among others. In the past the 3CX skype gateway was a separate installation--but using Skype Connect Skype appears to take care of the skype to SIP gateway.

It seems that Windows PBX vendors are aligning themselves with unified communication providers to ensure their relevancy into the future. snom has moved the direction of aligning with Microsoft's UC solution. snom has released How-To's on how to integrate their  snom ONE Windows PBX (Linux & Mac as well) to OCS/Lync and desk phones can interop with Lync Server. (While they currently work with Lync as some level, they are currently only OCS 2007 R2 approved by Microsoft.)

FreeSwitch, an open source phone switch that also has a Windows port, has taken the route of integrating with everyone. Here is the document by prolific Lync blogger, Drago Totev, on how to integrate FreeSwitch to Lync. And, here is how to get Skype connectivity.

While Skype's SIP connectivity option is conceivably possible with any standard SIP PBX it appears some vendors have displayed more of an interest in developing a relation with Skype than others.

Read more from 3CX Blog:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/news/3cx-phone-system-gets-skype-connect-certified/

3CX Replaces 3CX Assistant in Version 10 With New Silverlight MyPhone Portal (and more)

Looks like 3CX is retiring the 3CX Assistant application along with the old 3CX Myphone portal in favor of newer Microsoft technology: a Microsoft Silverlight based client. This is a very smart move on 3CX's part as it starts addressing 2 serious pitfuls in its coming struggle to survive in the face of the very real Microsoft Lync threat: Embrace features that can survive in hosted mode (Silverlight Myphone portal could theoretitcally work beautiful in hosted mode) and support more desktop operating systems. (Silverlight apps are cross platform compatible & will run on Mac as well as Linux? Windows Phone7 eventually? etc.)

With Windows communication vendors like snom ONE providing very stable phone system with a mature feature set for extremely agressive pricing (10 extension/ no limits/ free!) and Microsoft continuing to bring Lync 2010 downstream (run on 1GB!) the Windows PBX market continues to be extremely in exciting times!
Checkout the 3CX Blog Update Here:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/p/microsoft-lync-resources.html

3CX Windows PBX CEO Nick Galea Comments on Nokia & Microsoft

What does a big mover in the Microsoft Windows phonesystem world have to say about the possibility of a Microsoft and Nokia joint effort? 3CX ceo Nick Galea comments on Microsoft and Nokia possibilities and I suggest you take a second and read it.

http://www.nickonit.com/2011/02/microsoft-and-nokia-to-marry.html

"Homebrew" Solution "Marries" 3CX & Microsoft Lync Server

All kinds of cool "homebrew" solutions have been released for Windows Phone 7 and it looks like some "unauthorized" solutions are coming out for 3CX Phone System too! A 3CX administrator has found a way to link 3CX and Lync!

This solution uses FreeSwitch (also a Windows PBX) as a go between.

Note: The author notes that this is not supported by 3CX or Microsoft so do it only on a test system.

http://www.3cx.com/forums/how-to-integrate-lync-2010-and-3cx-18643.html

If you want to link to Lync using directly there are several Windows PBX's to consider: snom ONE, Brekeke and FreeSwitch. They all support OCS/Lync integration natively.

3CX Giving Away 3CX Book At "BootCamps"

3CX is including a free 3CX book by Kerry Garrison for all attendees of their 3CX phone system bootcamp!

Read more details below:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/events/attend-3cxconferences-and-get-a-free-3cx-book/

How Many Calls Can Your PBX & Hardware Handle?

It seems like software PBX vendors are very "coy" about saying what hardware is required for what call volume. A lot of equivacating, etc. What most people want is just an idea: What are people doing out there? In this blog post I'll give what some brave vendors are giving as examples.

Brekeke PBX (Windows/Linux)
Brekeke has a Windows based PBX product and they have a nice chart in their electronic user manual at http://wiki.brekeke.com/wiki/BPBX_History . I've been hearing good things about these folks and just noticed this very nice chart as I was perusing their product. Below is a screenshot of the page:

Yeastar BizPBX (Windows/Linux)
At this page http://www.yeastar.com/Products/BizPBX.asp Yeastar say that:

Intel Core Duo & 2G RAM for 64 Simultaneous calls & 4 Skype trunks; Windows XP Professional SP2 or Windows 2003 SP2.

This one is a bit unusual as they throw in 4 Skype trunks. But one thing it shows: Skype trunks are "expensive" performance wise!

snom ONE Windows Phone System (Linux/Mac/Windows)
snom ONE is a B2BUA system so all traffic flows through the PBX. snom suggest 150 extensions as a good system size for todays servers using snom ONE. But on their forum they note that many more extensions can be registered (1500 extension system in production) as this takes very little CPU--the key is simultaneous calls. In this post it is noted the 250 extensions and 50 simultaneous calls should not be a problem on todays servers.

3CX Phone System
In a blog post in 2010, 3CX did some benchmarking on a Intel Atom processor and concluded that they will handle roughly 20-30 calls well. You can read the whole article here:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/voip-howto/atom-processor-n270-benchmarking/

If you have more SIP PBX server sizing resources, I'd be glad to hear from you!

Missing 3CX Feature List Looks Like snom ONE Current Feature List?

[Fair Disclosure: I have contributed thousands of posts to the 3CX forums, our company, Landis Computer, was the first 3CX Premium Partner in the world and I have co-written a book on 3CX . Currently we do Windows communication solutions consulting on the products snom ONE, 3CX and Microsoft's Lync Server 2010. Note that we are currently a snom reseller and recommend snom ONE for our clients, but I will try to give both sides.]

[Note: I made some serious mistakes on the blog post! Actually some features I though were not in snom ONE ACTUALLY ARE! They are listed in read. Soo, even less more missing 3CX features snom ONE has!]

I was reading over the 3CX suggestion list today and was thinking...
hmm...the missing 3CX phone system feature list looks surprisingly close to the current snom ONE phone system feature list! ;-) I'm astonished.

Comparison of Some of the Missing Features:

A yes indicates that snom ONE has implemented this feature already. This was done quickly so if there is an error please let me know and I'll correct. (Note that snom ONE missing feature list is below also.)

Automatically Set a different attendent message for Holidays = Yes
Ability to Disable Voip trunks = Yes
Busy Tone Instead of License Message = Yes
Extension can be part of multiple groups = Yes? (outbound calling groups handled smoothly)
Music on Hold Live Stream Ability = Yes
Active Directory Integration = No (snom ONE does not integrate to AD. It also does not import AD like 3CX does)
Server Health Page = Yes
Bank Holidays = Yes, Partially. (snom ONE does not do 1st monday, but does do date range and one off's.)
Bulk Extension Import/Export = Yes
Ring Back for Call Parking = Yes
Seperate Greeting for each presence mode = Yes, partially. (snom ONE has 5 voicemail greetings set via voicemail menu )
Ability to Change Trunk Names = Yes
Increment Next Extension Number = No
Copy Settings Among Users = Yes, BLF assignment is much easier to manage. No copying required.
Chat History/Logging of chats = No
Ringgroup Mailbox = Yes
Different Operator for each extension group = snom ONE can do multitenant which accomplishes this and more.
Average Wait time announcement in queues = No, position but not wait time.
Multiple break in announcements in queues = Yes, 10 messages and music on hold is automixed too!
Softphone syncs Outlook Contacts = The Personal Call Assistant Imports Outlook contacts, but not syncs
Import/Export Rules = snom ONE domains can be sent to a different snom ONE install.
Global Change to a specifc field in extension = No, but some fields in snom ONE can be cleared/changed globally: clear cellnumber, reset DND status, clear emailaddress, etc.
Recorded Call available from User Portal = Yes
Extensions Grouped into "Call Pickup" Groups = Yes
Improve System Logging Features = Yes, Excellent logging

Monitor Max Number of Trunk Lines in Simultaneous Use = Yes, a live graph
Granular Control of User Portal = Yes (SysAdmin | Settings | User Page Control)
Live Queue Call Statistics Monitoring = Yes
First Time Voicemail Setup Prompt = Yes
Indication of what codec is in use = You can press ? on snom phone during call to see codec in use.
Confirmation on restart all = Yes (not needed because there is 1 service and it is rarely restarted)
Display Caller ID from PBX PhoneBook = Yes
Send Fax Plugin = No
More options when leaving a voicemail = Yes
SNMP Interface for Monitoring = Yes
Ability to change other users status/presence = No
Clear Log File Should Clear Log File = Yes
Hierchical Structure for Extensions Groups = Yes (each user can see the extensions they need to on Operator panel)
Queue Missed Calls Should not show on phone = ?
Anti-Hacking Features = Yes (list of addresses, email to admin, etc)
Record Prompts using Handset for Digital Receptionist and Call Queue "Extensions" = Yes
Record Digital Receptionist Prompt from Handset = Yes

I stopped after first two pages.

More Items:
Allow Extensions to be grouped into Call Pickup Groups: Yes
Music on Hold Volume: Yes, via the MOH server. Also built in MOH is right volume.


Some Area 3CX Phone System Excels:
-Great Call Assistant (software call assistant)
-Great reach products: iPhone app, Android App, Softphone
-Easy gateway provisioning
-Wider handset support

With the free edition of snom ONE you get all  those features above (and lots more:call recording, call center features...) for 10 extensions and no call limitation. snom ONE free is made to work with snom's free softphone or snom deskphones and limited non snom devices. (2) If you don't like snom deskphones then snom ONE is not for you.

3CX Missing Features: http://3cx.ideascale.com
snom ONE Feature List: http://bit.ly/g2inLn
snom ONE Missing Features: http://snomone.ideascale.com/

Real Life Experience Upgrading to 3CX Version 9

Gone Digital outlines their real-life experience upgrading 3CX to version 9.
Also takes a look at how the new forwarding rules work.

Take a look at:
http://gonedigital.net/2011/01/05/upgrading-to-3cx-9/

3CX Releases Another Security Patch for the 3CX Phone System

3CX releases another security patch for version 9 and encourages users to change Tunnel and bridge passwords to something secure. Security is no joke.

I wrote an article on SIP security which phone system admins may have interest in:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2010/10/someone-is-attempting-to-hack-into-your.html

Read 3CX Blog Post:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/3cx-version-9-security-update/#comments

Android 2.3 Gets Built-in SIP Client

According to Kevin Purdy over at Lifehacker.com, Android 2.3 is getting a SIP client built in. He says:

If you've got a SIP account set up, or your friends and contacts have SIP numbers, you can now make calls to and from those digital numbers through the Android phone without special software. As you might guess, though, carriers will likely have some control over this option.

If you don't have Android 2.3 you can always download 3CX's Android client. Although it's really hard to beat built in.

See Screenshots and more of Android 2.3 Here:
http://lifehacker.com/5707296/screenshot-tour-of-android-23-gingerbread-and-its-best-new-features

Okay, I'm not complaining here, but Windows Phone 7 team...you listening? ;-)

3CX Phone System Price is Lowered

On November 11 3CX announced new lowered pricing for the 3CX Phone System.

The are a lot of forces working for PBX buyers lately that are driving Windows pbx prices down. snom has released a very low cost Windows PBX solution that is extremely feature rich and stable at an astonishing $1495 USD MSRP. This is for unlimited extensions on one server (expecting that will top out at 150 extension) and presumes you will be glad to use snom handsets. FreeSwitch is working hard to produce a stable, opensource Windows PBX solution. Microsoft Lync Server 2010 has been released and because of the dramatically reduced infrastructure requirements is now well within the reach of SMB buyers.
Checkout the new pricing:
http://www.3cx.com/ordering/pricing.html

Kerry Garrison Writes the "Official" 3CX Book & It Will Be Here Shortly

If you are interested in the "unofficial" 3CX phone system book that I co-wrote with Robert Lloyd --it's available immediately and can be purchased at the link below. Some reviewers of the book have noted that especially good chapter is where we look at what needs 3CX fills great and where it doesn't shine as much. Other excellent content is work arounds and real world senarios like integrating to analogue pbx's.
https://www.packtpub.com/the-3cx-ip-pbx-tutorial/book

Kerry Garrison is authoring an additional book on the 3CX phone system which is sponsored by 3CX, 888VoipStore and some other and will be available soon according to the http://www.3cxbook.com/. I am sure this book will be excellent and I need to say I really like the cover! ;-)

http://3cxbook.com/2010/3cx-book-status/
Pricing Drop
http://www.3cx.com/ordering/pricing.html

Free 3CX SIP SoftPhone for Windows Gets New Features & Fixes in RC1

3CX has update their free SIP soft phone for Windows. The 3CX phone is a dial pad centric SIP soft phone that works with any standard SIP PBX as well as 3CX's own IP PBX. Since it is free there is no G729 but otherwise it has a nice set of features.

One of the interesting feature adds is BLF. They have also added the ability to copy and paste phone number into the soft phone. It also appears that Jabra headsets will now work with the 3CX phone. There are also some bug fixes and usability enhancements. Take a look at this soft phone.

Just a plug for those who may not know that I've co-written a book on the 3CX phone system. You can take a look and order it here. Also at our company we do phone system consulting so if your looking for assistance give us a call by the contact information at the top of this blog.

Read More on 3CX's Blog:
http://www.3cx.com/blog/releases/new-3cxphone-5-rc1/

Windows Embedded PBX Appliance Powered by pbxnsip To Replace Response Point?

I understand the white unit beside this snom 870 is a Windows Embedded small business phone system powered by pbxnsip. I sighted this in the wild (More picture Here) and understand it is being developed by a pbxnsip partner in Europe. I think a low cost, low power consumption, Windows-based (to boot! ;-) phone system unit like this would be very interesting to see on the market. Because of pbxnsip's low system resource requirements it is a great embedded application.

Today is the day that support for Microsoft Response Point end. Harry Brelsford and Ed Carnes talk about/commiserate? about the now defunct Microsoft Response Point phone system for small businesses and what their response is to RP death. It is evident in my mind that there is still a place for an affordable and easy to manage phone system. We all know communication solutions are going software--and with so many admins and users knowing Windows it is a natural for small business. I think 3CX, pbxnsip and other Windows pbx solutions are at the right place.

Read Harry and Ed's Look Back On ResponsePoint Here.

(scroll down a bit, Harry gets a little carried away with content ;-)

2 Windows Phone Systems Contend To Replace Response Point: 3CX and pbxnsip

The results from the survey are in and you have spoken. Who is the best positioned successor to Microsoft Response Point? 3CX came in first place! pbxnsip had a very strong showing and came in second. During the survey pbxnsip was leading the way for some time and (I'll admit) I was a bit surprised to see that.

This is a somewhat interesting competition here since I've co-written a book on 3CX and am a Certified pbxnsip Partner & recommend pbxnsip!

I have to agree that 3CX is probably the closest Windows phone system to compare to Response Point in various ways: Ease of use is paramount, a very Windows-like interface,  and the industry's best support for automated PSTN/PRI gateway setup. 3CX is targeted at do-it-yourself and generalist IT market. On the cons side it has a smaller feature set, few system monitoring options and due to its rapid developement our experience has been it has little day to day "bug-a-boo" issues. 3CX has a large community and market awareness around it.

pbxnsip is a bit more mature, has a more generic web interface that is nice but not distinctly Windows (pbxnsip runs on Windows, Linux, Mac & plugcomputer). Finally stability, security, scalability and feature set have been given more attention than ease of use with pbxnsip. pbxnsip has a smaller but more mature & savvy VOIP reseller base that includes a fair amount of partners providing hosted phone systems to their clients.

OCS and Cisco also got quite a few votes. Don't forget that Microsoft appears to be positioning OCS Hosted as a replacement for RP. I believe with CS "14" they might be able to pull it off. Check my article on hosted OCS here.

Thanks for contibuting to this survey!