Gotchas to Watch for When Migrating from pbxnsip to snom ONE

When you switch from pbxnsip to snom ONE there will be some changes:

-Blue will allow up to 40 non-snom devices to register. (snom ONE looks at the user-agent string in SIP and if it doesn't contain "snom" it will limit it to 5 in snom ONE Free, 10 in Yellow and 40 in Blue respectively)

-Note that I used the word "allow" instead of "supported". This was intentional as you will need to do the interop testing yourself. Which usually is not a big hurdle for basic functionality.

-Remember that these allowed non snom devices will have a limitation that they will not support a SIP REFER. In the real world this means that, for one, the Transfer button on software and hard phone will likely not work. This is not the end of the world though as with snom ONE you can put the call on hold and use the built in star code to transfer as a work around.

-Also note that snom ONE Blue only allow 5 domains (tenants) is not meant (licensing/eula) for reselling hosted service to other customers. I'm not sure how this is enforced and I suppose it can get grey? if a company owns a building and rents to tenants.

-snom ONE blue does not  automatically auto-provision brands other than snom handsets.

Various Thoughts, Opinions and Findings About Newly Released snom ONE IP Phone System

snom has released a very strong software based phone system offering call snom ONE. snom ONE is based on pbxnsip which has been in developement for about 10 years. snom ONE is an extremely mature and stable software based phone system (Windows, Linux, Mac). Our experience is that it will run months on end (on Windows!) with absolutely no "fiddling". Okay, It's stable.

It is also incredibly feature rich and snom is making that a key message to customers: snom ONE is a feature rich phone system...and you get ALL the features for one simple price. The breadth of features is no joke--snom ONE is loaded: mobile phone integration, call recording, user initiated call recording, BLF, vm to email, IVR, wakup call, OCS/Lync integration, Exchange integration, remote phones, call center features like whisper, call barge and listen, agent queues and on and on. snom's slogan "one system all features" is not an idle comment. This product is loaded with features.

I think the free edition (10 extension/no feature limits) and the licensing simplicity on the paid edition will be well received and appreciated by SMB market. snom also points out that if you have multiple locations you can use the 10 extension free edition at those locations while HQ may have a paid edition.

The Benefits
Some of the benefits I see from the move from pbxnsip to snom.
-Brand recognition
-Marketing and Mindshare
-Support Responsiveness can be improved
-Developement Dollars
-complete snom phone system packaging
-Name will be Easier on the tongue. (it probably won't become a verb like lync but...)
-Pricing matches SMB needs perfectly

What Will snom Need to Work at on the snom ONE phone system?

Features: Operator panel, PC User Client and Instant Message useability.
Ease of use: When you install snom One you can largely have a 10 extension system up and running in 15 minutes server wise. Gateway configuration will need to made more automated. Currently PSTN or T1 gateway configuration is entirely manual. Considering this is one of the trickiest things to get setup on a software based phone system I believe this will need some work.
Support: snom has stumbled a bit on support coming out of the gate but is quickly remedying the lack of a findable, dedicated forum and documentation for the snom ONE product. I also think adding accessible  and timely telephone support option (even a paid option) will be necessary to have a confident following.

Other questions you might have I've included below:

Q: will g729 be included?
A: Yes, in paid editions. Yellow=5, Blue=10. (source)

Q: Which phone handsets will be supported?
A: Only snom handset are supported (source)

Q: Will other UA's/SIP devices be locked out?
A: According to snom spokesperson: "Only a certain number of "third party" devices are tolerated on the different versions." (source) snom ONE product manager, Jonathan Greenwood, has verified that that free edition will limit non snom UA's to 5, yellow=10 and blue=40. snom is quick to note that if you need multi-vendor support there is still a pbxnsip solution that supports multi-vendor phone handsets and UA's.

Q: What will the pricing of snom ONE phone system be?
A: The pricing is extremely affordable. 10 extensions=Free! Yellow/20 extension=$895 and Blue/Unlimited extension=$1495 MSRP. I am noticing that distributors that carry snom are SKUing up numbers with ETA of November 12, 2010.

Q: Will snom ONE require yearly maintenance to stay on the latest version?
A: No definitive answer yet. One comment indicated updates will be gratis. This would match snom's current model related to snom handset firmware updates. The lack of snom ONE maintenance or renewal SKU's at distributors would seem to support this. On the flip side this is quite unusual to have no upgrade cost for a pure software PBX. (examples: Microsoft Lync, 3CX, pbxnsip)

Q: Will pbxnsip license holders be able to migrate to snom ONE?
A: They can but will loose the ability to pnp provision or connect phone handsets other than snom so it doesn't make a lot of sense to make that vertical move.

Q: What size company is snom ONE designed for?
A: According to snom the sweet spot is 4 to 150 users. It was interesting to note that over 150 users snom expects companies to be looking at something like Microsoft Lync. That is quite interesting and fits in with snom's OCS/Lync compatibility which I think is a great move.

Summary

My opinion is that pbxnsip joining snom is a great move. I am hoping that the snom will be able to find a good balance between "openess" & "closedness" in snom ONE and be able to provide responsive support in some fashion. snom ONE is an extremely sound, secure and feature rich product. I am excited about more people getting to know about this very good product.

Get your copy of snom ONE at:
http://www.snom.com/products/ip-pbx/snom-one-free/

Don't overlook our video training and other resources for snom ONE:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/p/snom-one-resources.html

Breaking News! snom Releases Mature Windows-Based Phone System!

This is huge news for the Windows PBX community!

snom is well known in the industry for their excellent SIP based handsets. The have now released snom ONE: a robust, full-featured and secure phone system. (Windows-based edition of course!)

http://www.snom.com/products/ip-pbx/snom-one/

Mature, Robust, Secure, Windows-Based and Free
Another amazing part of this announcement is that there is a 10 extension FREE edition of snom One! (extremely reasonably priced 20 and unlimited extension versions also!) This is the real deal with no limitations--AND IT IS MATURE SOFTWARE! I've seen other products given away free that are really beta level products. But we have installed this software in the field for over a year and extensively worked with it and it is a really mature phone system.

Random Thoughts About snomONE
Below is a screen shot of the system status screen in snomONE. I love this screen because you can really get insight into the system for the last 24 hours at one glance: CPU usage, Call volume and even Call Quality score!

Below is my first quick video randomly walking around some features in snomONE.

Where Do I Get Support?

Wiki: http://wiki.snomone.com/

Community Support Forum: http://forum.snom.com/ (I suggest putting your questions in the "general" forum)

Twitter: Join the twitter conversation using hashtag #snomONE

Commercial Paid Support for snomONE: http://www.landiscomputer.com/

snomONE is based on pbxnsip so you will also see a wealth of knowledge in the pbxnsip forum at http://forum.pbxnsip.com/.

Keep an eye on this blog for my analysis of this new developement!

Windows-based Phone System pbxnsip Releases v4.2

Some of the new features are things like more advanced conference moderator options,  a syslog client, additional SOAP API hooks, and even more easily have the phone system play your exotic music on hold. Plus more.

One of the impressive features of pbxnsip v4.xx is that there is an attendant console that is web based. This means you can run pbxnsip as a hosted server and provide attendant console without worrying about the client! It can work with Windows, Apple, Linux and...what did I forget? ;-)

Read the complete Release Notes Here.

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 ;-)

Windows Phone System pbxnsip Now Integrates with Exchange, OCS & SQL: Partner Introduces CDR to Microsoft SQL

I've said it before on this blog: a Windows communication solution should integrate well with the Microsoft stack of solutions: Exchange, SQL & Office Communication Server (aka Communication Server). A pbxnsip partner has added MS SQL integration so that  now integrates pbxnsip with Microsoft's big three server products. That is an accomplishment.

Why is Microsoft SQL integration so important to a Windows communication solution?

#1 Windows experts implementing Windows communication soltution are very likely to already be familiar with MS SQL to a lesser or greater degree. We, for example, are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and already find ourselves needing MS SQL proficiency for other products like Dynamics and customer line of business applications so we have Microsoft SQL certified individuals on staff.

#2 reason is that Microsoft SQL Express is free! That is right. Many people have this mistaken idea that a solution based on MS SQL will be expensive and require licensing. For most small business SQL Express will be a fine solution. If you have high demand and requirements full SQL is waiting in the wings.

#3 reason is that Microsoft SQL includes an incredible, free report designer and engine that is just--phenomenal. Create meaniful charts, simple drill-downs and have them viewable using a browser.

Some people may not want to worry about the rest of the Microsoft "stack". Don't worry-- pbxnsip will run just fine by itself. In fact it will run just fine and consume minimum resources on your physical or virtual server: a 15 user systems can run on 50MB of RAM!

The pbxnsip to Microsoft SQL option can be had for approx. $200/yr USD. Talk to Top Systems at:

http://www.topsystem.be/fr/pbxnsip.press.en.aspx

To read more:
http://forum.pbxnsip.com/index.php?showtopic=3645&hl=

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!

Is Your Windows Phone System Ready for the Coming IPv4 Doomsday? ;-)

Well, maybe not doomsday! But is your Windows PBX ready for the near future when IPv4 address will run out? IPv4 addresses are running out quicker than I and most people realize--as soon a mid 2011! (checkout the live calculator below)



Starting My IPv6 Journey
I've just been starting the journey of making myself aware of IPv6 issues. Natuarally I wondered: How does the Windows PBX world stack up on this point? Who is ready and who isn't? Here is my quick research--so please verify my findings. I would really like your input if I'm incorrect on any and if you can fill in any blanks! (please comment) Also please note I have not tested all these products.

Phone Servers
(o) OCS 2007 R2 = Not Ready (read more)
(o) Communication Server "14" = Not Ready
(o) pbxnsip = Ready (read more)
(o) 3CX Phone System = Not Ready (read more)
(o) ResponsePoint = Not Ready
(?) Swyx = unknown
(?) Addtran UC = Ready
(o) FreeSwitch = Ready (read more)

Clients
(o) X-Lite = Not Ready (there is an OEM ipv6 version)
(o) 3CX Softphone = Not Ready
(?) Blink SIP Client = unknown
(o) Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 = Not Ready
(o) Linphone (read more)

Handsets
(o) Cisco/Linksys (79xx seem to support. Read more) = Ready?
(o) snom (read more) = Ready
(?) Grandstream
(?) Aastra
(?) Yealink
(?) Polycom

Gateways
(o) Patton Smarnode
(o) Audiocodes Mediant Series (IPv6 in future release)
(?) Grandstream

Wow, It's Hard to Determine If Equipment is IPv6 Ready!
Once thing I'm finding in my little search is that vendor information on IPv6 is not easy to come by. In most cases it unclear and I've needed to email vendors. Perhaps http://www.ipv6ready.org/ will help to change this? They already have in IPv6 SIP Ready logo and testing process.

Is IPv6 Really Nessesary?
While an IP phone system can be behind a NAT firewall this can often be troublesome. It is quite usual to give a phone system a public IP address and put it in the DMZ so in my opinion this makes it more important in my mind for at least the phone system server to support IPv6. (bear in mind I'm in IPv6 learning mode ;-) My opinion is that vendors that are supporting IPv6 are those leading the way to the future.

There is no doubt the IPv6 is the way forward. I'm glad to see some vendors with foresight leading the way.

Wouldn't You Like An Email When All Gateway Lines Are Busy? pbxnsip Does It Again!

I continue to be impressed with the features found in the Windows-based phone system pbxnsip! Just today I got a notification that all the Lines on a gateway were in use--VERY proactive!

This along with 15 other common phone system scenarios can alert the pbx admin by email of a situation that needs attention. pbxnsip also allows you to monitor it using industry standard SMNP alerting tools for many indicators.

We continue to be impressed with the pbxnsip phone system after over a year selling it and a lot of systems in the field. Pleasant surprises pop up almost every week!

Microsoft Response Point is Dead: Microsoft Sees Communication Server Taking It's Place in Small Business Space

Just today I got an alert from Harry Brelsford over at SMBNation that Microsoft Response Point is officially dead. The sole remaining employee in the Response Point group, John Frederickson in an article by CRN, said "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)," Frederickson said in the post.

I, of course, am very interested in hearing the technical difficiencies that caused Microsoft end of life Response Point. Frederickson was very clear (and I quote from Harry's article) "The change in telecomm technology came upon us much faster than we predicted. It's gone hosted and mobile." Frederiksen added. "These changes would have required extensive additional investments in rearchitecting Response Point when OCS is already well down that road."

"It's gone hosted and mobile." Frederiksen added

At one time I would have laughed at OCS (aka Microsoft Communication Server) taking RP's place, but after having worked with hosted OCS--I have entirely changed my mind. Yes, at the moment the configuration is very heavy for OCS, on-premise setup. But Microsoft could offer OCS in 2 flavors that would be SMB PBX changer: A simplified OCS Small Business Edition or Hosted OCS with Enterprise Voice.

Another Windows PBX player, pbxnsip, is ideally suited to fill in this gap as well. pbxnsip has been optimizing it's Windows-base PBX offering for the cloud and hosted environments for some time. The pbxnsip Phonesystem has a very mature web based admin & user portal, an entirely web-based Attendent console, has mature, multi-tenant capabilities and has been providing telco's as well as SMB's with hosted pbx for some time. pbxnsip runs on-premise or in the cloud equally well. pbxnsip can also work with re-commissioned Aastra RP phone handsets allowing the bulk of an RP deployment to be re-used.

Also you may have interest in my Windows-based PBX versus Response Point Comparison Report I did a little while ago. Click Here to get it emailed to you.

Wow, this industry sure doesn't stand still!

Harry Brelsford's Article Covering RP End:

http://www.smbnation.com/Home/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/187/Microsoft_cuts_the_strings_-_Response_Point_Withdrawn_RIP_RP.aspx

CRN Article Covering the RP Story:

http://www.crn.com/software/224800057

Application Perfectly Merges Deskphone and Computer: Flexor Onscreen

I don’t have a lot of time to write a lengthly article but here is the short version. What is unique about this tool is that whether you initiate a call from the deskphone or PC, the experience is the same.

Most pbx's (3cx, pbxnsip, others) do not provide a smooth way to show presence across several pbx servers. This solution solves that problem while adding other features as well.

Some of the features:

Excellent Dynamics CRM, MS Outlook & Salesforce Call Pop Integration

Multi-location presence without a server

Simple Instant Message between multiple locations

Drag and drop call transfer

Click to dial from website using SIP: embedding

This is the most natural integration of deskphone and PC I’ve ever seen to date at an affordable price without a lot of infrastructure. Approximate cost is $85 per pc.

Note: we are using snom deskphones which may have better integration than some other sip deskphones.

Survey Results: Are Mobile Phone SIP Clients Ready for Primetime?

The results are in for the survey: Are Mobile Phone SIP Clients Ready for Primetime? It appears that overwelmingly respondents don't think that we should be trying to do voice over mobile device right now if we want a good connection.

This corresponds with my personal experience trying to make voice over 3G work. My experience is delays in the audio that are high enough to make conversation difficult at best. At other times the audio was dropped entirely. (ATT) We are located in a rural area so I'm sure in NYC this would be better. Input from others is that when you switch cell phone towers calls are dropped.

I don't think Ageet and other mobile SIP vendors want you to hear this. And I presume that 3G will continue to improve.

Having said all that a majority of respondents DO think a mobile client that provides presence and IM would be a workable solution. What vendors make such a client? Microsoft Mobile Office Communicator, Fring, and pbxnsip PAC solutions do this.

Once again everyone, Thanks for you input!

Windows Phone Systems and Mac: Making Them Co-Exist Peacefully

I have a huge confession and I'm just going to break the news and get it over with: I got a MacBook.

I just returned from Microsoft Convergence and had numerous people that saw me using my Macbook ask me: They let you in with that thing?! I'm telling everyone it is a research project--which it is. I wanted to get the Mac purchasing experience. (quite good) I wanted to see how hot this Mac stuff is. (answer=kind cool) What runs on it? (answer=lot of stuff) Do they crash? (answer=yes) Will they take over the world? (answer=no).

But what about Mac working with Windows based phone systems like 3CX, pbxnsip and Netvanta? Actually the story is pretty good. We'll look at several points:

• dial pad SIP phone for Mac
• contact list SIP client for Mac
• OCS and MSN client for Mac
• Attendent Console for Mac
• and...gasp...Phone System for Mac!

The first thing we need is a good SIP client or SIP phone. The industry standard X-lite works like a charm (like it always does). It provides a great traditional phone form factor softphone that does voice, video, presence and SMS instant message.



Another MAC SIP client that is more of a contact centric (communicator-esque) layout is a less know product called Blink. This is an incredibly well done product that you can NOT overlook. Attention to detail is incredible on this product. It also has very good multi-party voice conference which is the best I've seen anywhere. It also has screen sharing, file sharing, SMS and session Instant Messaging. The URL to this product you must see: http://www.icanblink.com/.



What about Microsoft Office Communication Server (aka Microsoft Communication Server) and Mac? Don't worry, you are covered and, incredibly, Microsoft Messenger for Mac even has some features not found on Windows!! Astoundingly, if not maddeningly, Microsoft Messenger not only works with OCS but also works with as a Live Messenger client...at the same time...effectively making federation to MSN much less important.



Boy, does everything just work on Mac?! SURELY there won't be an Attendant Console that works on Mac? Well, kinda. The Windows based pbxnsip IP PBX has an Attendant Console that is entirely a web page so it works on Mac Safari browser just as good as IE. Ahem. Drag and drop, click to dial, join a conference, see who is in a conference, see, listen, delete voicemail, set receptionist phone to Unavailable, and user presence. Wow.



Okay, now I need to pause and see if I can bring myself to say this next item. May I talk about a Mac based IP PBX on a Windows PBX blog? ;-) Okay here it goes: there is even a IP PBX that runs on Mac. pbxnsip is a cross platform Phone system that runs on Windows, Linux, PlugComputer, and, yes, even a Mac. I'm not a Mac guru but if you want a very good pbx that runs on Mac--pbxnsip da man. Here is the link: http://www.pbxnsip.com/phone-system/why-apple-mac-ip-pbx.php You can also click on pbxnsip on the categories of my blog.



Is there anything a Mac won't do? (yes, log into MS Small Business Server Remote Web Workplace, run MS Onenote...and more... )


3cx and Mac

pbxnsip 4.0 Released Today: The Most Full-Featured & Mature Windows PBX Available?

Today pbxnsip announced that they are releasing pbxnsip version 4.0 out of Beta. pbxnsip noted that they are adding many features and 500 pages of documentation for this release. There is a 30 page pdf exploring the new features that include:

• Web-based Attendent Console
• New Fresh User Interface
• Context Sensitive Help
• Automatic IP Blacklisting (security)
• Much Finer User Portal Security Granularity
• Send CDR's Via Email
• Even More PBX Event Email Notifications
• More PBX Status Graphs & Information
• Pin Authentication For Each Dial Plan
• CMC Authentication Code
• Even Better Mobile Phone Support
• More Granular Extension Permissions
• Real Time Call Quality Reporting/ QOS CDR
• Standard Presence Server Added (use presence with standard SIP clients)
• much more...

pbxnsip v4.0 builds many new features on it's already very solid feature set of version 3.4.

My experience is that version pbxnsip 3.4 is extremely solid in day to day operations. Our experience is that pbxnsip is the set-and-forget level you would expect from a enterprise level phone system--event running on Windows. pbxnsip is a professional level PBX.

To download the new version of the pbx, manual or new features pdf click here.

Record your screencast online

Free Windows SIP Softphone Gets Wireless Headset Support

There has been a lot of requests for wireless headset support for the free 3CXPhone v4 and 3CX has just announced that they now support Plantronics headsets. Way to go 3CX. Read more at:

http://www.3cx.com/blog/docs/3cxphone-wireless-plantronics/

I haven’t had a chance to test this integration yet so if anyone has I’d be glad for your comments below.

pbxnsip Brings Feature Rich Voice Mail to Windows Phone System World

pbxnsip is a very full featured IP phone system. The voicemail is no different. While many Windows phone systems have focused less on voicemail, letting businesses with lack luster vm features, pbxnsip has given quite a bit of attention to detail here. And considering professor Clifford Nass and others have duly noted that humans are "wired for speech" its surprising this area gets passed over. Here are a couple of often requested features:

-forward a voicemail to a colleague
-create a voice message for one or a group of phones
-have multiple greetings and easily select the one you want
-you can even control your phone system from the voicemail main menu (using star keys)
-get, delete and manage your voicemail from user web portal
-users can listen to their conversation recordings from voicemail or their own user portal
more…

pbxnsip is very feature rich and is an excellent Windows phone system that can replace traditional key systems. Pbxnsip is an excellent bridge to the future: get PC based attendant console, iPhone phone system client, integrated Instant Messaging, ability to integrate to Office Communication Server (aka Microsoft Communication Server), Exchange UM, Outlook and more.

Download the PDF version here:
http://kiwi.pbxnsip.com/index.php/Mailbox

pbxnsip Mailbox PDF Guide:

https://www.pbxnsipsupport.com/index.php_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=117

pbxnsip Set to Release version 4.0 in April

What is unique about this solution is that it is very feature rich, used by telcoms to provide hosted pbx and rock solid day to day operation. (read: no reboots, set-forget) Also amazing is that the whole package comes in a 16MB file 20 extension system takes 50MB ram running live. And no sacrifice in features---it is a perfect key-pbx replacer! Version 4.0 has 30 pages of new features. Also a big feature in my mind is the new full screen call attendant application.

At the moment version 4.0 is still in Beta. I will try to keep everyone update to date.

There are 30 pages of Release Notes:
http://www.pbxnsip.com/docs/release-notes/pbxnsip_version4_release_notes.pdf

3CX CEO Comments on Microsoft Communication Server Developements

The 3CX Phone System and marketing efforts around it by 3CX certainly has brought a lot of attention to the possibility of running your phone system on a Windows based computer system. 3CX has especially brought the Windows based phone system to the small business because of it's ease of installation and low price. 3CX is not the first company to bring a phone system to the Windows world but certainly has invested a lot in letting the world know that your phone system can run on Windows.

Just today, Nick Galea, CEO of 3CX has commented on the recent developements of Microsoft Communications Server (formerly Microsoft Office Communication Server). Nick reiterated that PBX's are moving to software, and how that Microsoft will help in explaining the case for communications on Windows. Nick also noted how this move by Microsoft may affect 3CX:

At the same time, we have 'gained' a significant competitor and the question is how much of this now huge Windows PBX market will choose Microsoft Communications Server over 3CX Phone System.

One thing in the article that I would want more information on is the comment that 3CX integrates to Microsoft Office as good as Communicator. To quote the article:

And in the case of telephony it does not have a big strategic advantage in terms of integration with other Microsoft products. The Office 2010 communication APIs will be available to 3CX and we will achieve a similar level of Office integration.

One of the very strong points of Communicator is it's integration to Office. Why do I say this and what are some of the integration points I'm talking about?

-Instant Message history is automatically stored and searchable in Outlook
-If you Instant Message someone and they don't acknowledge an IM it is sent to their Outlook --Inbox as an email automatically
-Inside outlook you can see user presence anywhere that user shows up (Inside Outlook)
-You can label an instant message's subject so you can easily find it in Outlook history
-Search Outlook contacts from inside Communicator (live connection to Outlook)
-Outlook Appointments can change Communicator presence to "In Meeting" automatically
-Missed Calls show up in Outlook

Click here to see my video on Communicator integrating to Office. Microsoft also has a great video on how Communicator and Office integrate.

We haven't talked about integrations into current versions of Sharepoint & CRM.
And Outlook, Word and Excel 2010 have even deeper integrations to Communicator along with the 2010 version of Dynamics products.

Current version of Dynamics CRM Integration:
http://windowspbx.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-in-depth-integration-between-ocs.html

Dynamics GP 2010 Integration to Communicator:
http://dynamicssmallbusiness.blogspot.com/2010/01/microsoft-dynamics-erp-gets-in-depth.html

Nick makes a very good point that the PBX is a huge market. 3CX certainly has some things it does very well:
-Very low cost
-Very easy to use interface
-Very easy to install
-Very good how to install hardware documentation

Adtran, pbxnsip and others fill the more advanced PBX market that wants more pbx features, more mature platform and still simple infrastructure.

Microsoft fills a need for those that have next generation communication needs that allows users to securely federate presence/collaboration between companies, easily bump an IM/voice call to include HD video, & desktop sharing. Microsoft fills the need for those that want communication enable applications and want to benefit from an ever growing eco-system for MS Communication Server.

If Microsoft would release a Microsoft Communications Small Business Server, like it's very popular Small Business Server 2008 the playing field for small business communications would be massively altered. The lively field of Windows-base communication solutions certainly keeps things interesting.

Read the whole blog article by Nick at:
http://www.nickonit.com/2010/03/microsoft-endorses-software-based-pbx.html

Voice As an App: It May Be "Just Another App" But It Requires Real Time Media & Physical Servers

Just a little while ago I wrote an article that Windows communication vendors seem to be getting behind virtualization almost across the board. I just saw an article on http://www.nojitter.com/ about voice as an application. In it Sorell Slaymaker has a great diagram of UC in the enterprise networks and says:

[There should be] Physical servers for media--Virtual servers typically add too
much delay/jitter for real-time applications. Physical servers work best at the
media layer, and all layers above can use virtual servers if an organization
chooses.

Read the whole article:
http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2010/03/voice_as_an_app.html

pbxnsip Releases Full Screen Attendent Console to Beta

I'm glad to see that pbxnsip is working on a receptionist software attendent console for their IP PBX. I will do a video review on it when I get a second, but for now some screen shots and explanations. (you can click on any screen shot to get a nice big picture)

I'd like to say pbxnsip is definitely heading in the right direction with this attendent console. Soo many things being done RIGHT.

First of all, to my eye it looks nice and professional. (much much better look than the PAC product) Nice looking presence icons. Grey=not registered, Green=registered/ready, Yellow=In Call, Red=DND is turned on! (wow--a feature I've been after for awhile)

This entire application is a web page so it is zero implementation time. It can be used with Windows, MAC or Linux. I had my reservations about if with web the UI can be made smooth-to-use, and it seems to be soo far.

Also it is very configurable. For each receptionist you can decide what extensions are monitored and which conference rooms are monitored.

Yes...you heard right, you can monitor conference rooms!

As noted before you can decide for each receptionist what conference rooms they see. You can look at a conference room and see if it is in session if it is yellow and how many people or in it. Then if you click on it you can see each person in the call! At the moment it doesn't appear you can kick people out or mute--but my guess is this wouldn't be hard to add.

Drag and drop.

Soo far this console is BETA and not all features are working. I couldn't get "Add Contact" and "Open Chat" to work. But what I see soo far is very, very promising.

pbxnsip is getting an Attendent console ready to ship with it's Version 4 Release of pbxnsip.