MigraX and 3CX dial the Swedish VoIP PBX market

MigraX to distribute 3CX in Sweden to its reseller channel and offer special PBX bundles.

London, UK, November 24, 2009. 3CX (www.3cx.com), the international developer of the award-winning 3CX Phone System for Windows has announced a distribution agreement with MigraX AB (www.migrax.se), a leading distributor of networking equipment in Sweden.

As an introductory offer, MigraX and 3CX will be offering special bundles of the 3CX Phone System and Grandstream hardware, which will translate into discounts of up to 30%.

MigraX distributes Voice over IP (VoIP), IP-telephony, secure firewalls and network security solutions among other products in Sweden. The company has now agreed to make 3CX a part of their commitment to high quality. That’s because MigraX finds the unique 3CX product to be one of the best solutions on the market when it comes to functionality, price and performance.

Lasse Larsson, the CEO of MigraX AB, said: “3CX is the rising star of the VoIP PBX market and we are excited to be able to distribute their products. 3CX offers an easy to use and cost effective solution that saves companies money and increases their productivity”.

MigraX has a strong expertise in VoIP and so is well placed to recommend 3CX in such glowing terms. 3CX stands out from the competition because it is a special software-based IP PBX which can replace a traditional hardware-based PBX.

To read the full press release, please click here.

Voice Applications get Visual with 3CX VAD

3CX Voice Application Designer allows building of powerful Voice Solutions with point and click ease

London, 5 November 2009 – 3CX today announced the availability of 3CX Voice Application Designer (VAD), a tool that allows companies to easily create powerful voice based solutions that automate everyday business processes and thus save time and improve customer service. Until now, building Voice Applications required code and therefore was a complex and expensive task.

By replacing code with drag and drop, the whole process of designing, deploying and testing a voice application has been immensely simplified and is now within reach for many more businesses.

For example, 3CX VAD can create a voice application that queries the caller for a customer number, then validates this number against a database and routes the call based on customer type. A repetitive task can be eliminated and valuable agent time is freed up which accelerates the process of helping a customer.

To read the full press release, please click here.

Real estate brokerage RE/MAX saves more than $80,000 by switching to 3CX

The RE/MAX Eastside Brokers Inc. and RE/MAX Metro Realty Inc. brokerages have just switched their telephony provider to 3CX and are reaping the benefits of a streamlined phone system for Windows which was inexpensive and easy to install.

RE/MAX provides training and technology to real estate agents via two offices and hundreds of staff spread across the Pacific North West. As these award-winning brokerages deal with up to 50 simultaneous calls from clients as well as 400 DID’s, they needed a sophisticated yet easy-to-use VoIP PBX system which would deliver value for money in a recession stricken economy.

After searching for quotes from many different companies and software providers, RE/MAX IT manager Dustin T. Adam found that using 3CX could make the company a massive annual saving of $20,000. This was on top of the even greater one-off installation saving conservatively estimated at $80,000.

Dustin said: “I started looking for a replacement to our aging telecommunications infrastructure and, like all good managers doing research, received quotes from a number of different companies and vendors.

“The average price for a replacement infrastructure, including all the desk phones, was nearly $100,000 or more. Doing most of the design and implementation myself along with Summit Services, a 3CX Premium partner, that cost was somewhere around $20,000. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out which was the better option.”

3CX is an excellent choice for SMB clients in these difficult economic times because it provides a number of different cost savings. For instance, RE/MAX was able to cut costs by unifying the phone systems for its two offices in Bellevue and Seattle. Another advantage of 3CX was increased mobility as the system allows RE/MAX staff to do business at all hours of the day and in any location.

3CX also saves on administration time as only one system needs to be administered and no third party is required for programming purposes. Neither will it be expensive to further expand the system in future by adding extra phones lines. With 3CX the process is much easier than traditional or proprietary PBX.

Read the full case study here

About RE/MAX

RE/MAX Eastside Brokers Inc. and RE/MAX Metro Realty Inc. use outstanding real estate agents to produce outstanding results. With more than 20 years working in areas such as Seattle, Tacoma and the San Juan Islands, RE/MAX offers longevity and experience. The company specialises in a wide range of real estate needs including single family homes, luxury homes and short sale and foreclosure properties.

About 3CX

3CX is the market leader in Windows VoIP PBX software. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, has earned Windows Server Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor’s Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine. 3CX has offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. For more information visit www.3cx.com.

3CX Phone System gets chatty with Instant Messaging feature

New version 8 completes unified communications offering with text chat, remote phone management, CRM integration and call center features

London, UK – 6 October 2009 – 3CX today announced a new version of its popular VoIP PBX for Windows, 3CX Phone System v8.0. With the new instant messaging feature, 3CX Phone System becomes a complete VoIP Unified Communications Solution. Other new features include improved IP phone management & provisioning, integrated soft phone, find me follow me and support for the new low cost Cisco SMB phones. 3CX has also expanded its PSTN connectivity options by supporting the new low cost Berofix cards.

“3CX Phone System has gone from strength to strength – it’s now installed in more then 10,000 companies worldwide and version 8 can scale up to 512 simultaneous calls and 2000+ extensions on a single server. The new version increases employee productivity and at the same time reduces TCO because of its easy administration.” said Nick Galea, 3CX CEO “Customers already report significant savings, and with support for lower cost VoIP gateways and the prices of IP phones coming done, ROI will accelerate even further.”

Full CRM integration

Version 8 now includes full integration with Microsoft Outlook & Salesforce.com. Users of the system can automatically launch calls from Outlook without having to enter the number on the phone. All calls are automatically logged for better reporting. Inbound calls can automatically be matched to a customer record based on caller ID.

Improved 3CX Assistant

The 3CX Assistant, a Windows utility that allows desktop call control and shows presence of other users, now includes the ability to trigger recording of a phone call, as well as an integrated corporate and personal phonebook for each launching of calls. It also features an integrated soft phone, and can be used from remote locations.

Improved Call Center features

3CX now boasts advanced Call center features at a fraction of the price of traditional PBX solutions. A ‘Call Barge-in’ feature allows supervisors to literally barge in to calls. A prioritized Hunt Queue strategy allows the order to be determined in which calls should be distributed to agents. With this queue strategy it is possible to do skills based routing. A ‘ring all’ queue strategy was also added.

Mobility

Additional mobility features have been added. Calls forwarded to a mobile can be sent to company voice mail if not answered or refused by the callee, making the call forwarding feature more practical. In addition the web based MyPhone user Portal was extended to include new pages for Outbound/Inbound/Missed calls. The MyPhone portal now also includes a new, easier to use, Call Forwarding interface, as well as an extension monitoring page. Presence of other users, as well as key extension settings, can now be monitored from anywhere in the world and from any operating system!

Other features

• Ability to black list callers
• Company and Personal phonebook for easy launching of calls
• Provision personal phonebook to selected IP phones
• Improved IP Phone management: Monitor all connected IP phones and re provision or reboot if necessary
• Secure RTP – ability to encrypt voice

About 3CX

3CX is the market leader in Windows VoIP PBX software. Its product, 3CX Phone System for Windows, has earned Windows Server Certification and has received numerous awards, including The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor's Best Award and a Best Buy Award by Computer Shopper Magazine. 3CX has offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Australia and Hong Kong. For more information visit www.3cx.com.

3CX Launches Free SIP to SKYPE Gateway for 3CX Phone System users

3CX today announced that it has released 3CX Gateway for Skype, which allows VoIP Phone System users to receive and make SKYPE™ Calls company-wide

3CX Gateway for Skype is software based and will run on a non dedicated Windows System and on the same computer as 3CX Phone System. It is a free add-on for 3CX Phone System users, including those using the free edition. 3CX Gateway for Skype integrates Skype™ calls seamlessly into the phone system, allowing inbound Skype™ calls to be forwarded to call queues, ring groups, IVR, Voice applications and more.

“3CX Gateway for Skype allows companies to save significantly by using Skype for outbound calls. More-over, users can redirect calls to Skype™ numbers when out of the office and leverage Skype clients on iPhone and Windows mobile.” Said Nick Galea, 3CX CEO.

“A Skype™ account can also be published on the website so that customers can call the company free of charge. Skype™ calls will be channeled through the company phone system just as any other call and be forwarded to regular call queues. This can be significant competitive advantage for many web based businesses” continued Nick Galea.

Features

• Completely software based, no need for a separate box
• Full support for inbound and outbound Skype™ calling
• Ability to specify a master account, which will transfer incoming
• Calls to other Skype accounts and so keep the main Skype account free for calls
• Supports latest versions of Skype™ client
• Quickly add additional Skype accounts from the 3CX interface
• Shows credit available for each Skype account
• Automatic call logging

Obtaining 3CX Gateway for Skype

3CX Gateway for Skype can be downloaded from here. A detailed configuration guide is 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.

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

VoIP Tracing, Video Calling, Google Voice

VoIP News of the UK says that Ofcom wants reverse VoIP tracing for emergency calls in the UK.

Smith on VoIP says that niche applications are driving the adoption of video calling.

Network World says that Google has grabbed 1 million phone numbers for Google Voice.

MTS Allstream To Use NetIQ AppManager

MTS Allstream is going to use NetIQ AppManager to manage their customers’ Unified Communications applications and infrastructure. It will be used to manage more than 1 million VoIP phones around the globe.

“We needed a solution to help us measure performance levels and enhance end-user experience,” said Eric Fletcher, senior vice president, voz ip Marketing at MTS Allstream. “NetIQ provides us with the ability to report on service levels, diagnose call quality degradation and remediate issues immediately. NetIQ AppManager allows us to scale and manage our customers’ UC components — all from a single console. With NetIQ, we can deliver value by optimizing end-user Quality of Experience (QoE), which is exactly what our customers need and have come to expect in communicaciones unificadas."