3CX Phone System 9 goes Unified Communications with Video support

V9 of the popular Windows Phone system adds video support, android client and enterprise capabilities

3CX has released version 9 of its popular phone system for Windows. Version 9 is a significant upgrade that adds video support as well as enterprise features such as the ability to monitor remote PBX installations via 3CX Assistant and automatic remote installation and configuration of 3CXPhone and 3CX Assistant.

“3CX Phone System 9 is now a complete Unified Communications solution –We have added standards based video and support for smartphones as clients. At the same time we have added key enterprise features that widen 3CX’s appeal to larger companies”

“3CX continues to take market share and now has over 20,000 server installations worldwide. I expect that with v9 this number will grow dramatically.”

Video support
V9 allows single click set-up of video calls with other 3CXPhone users or with standards based video phones such as from Xlite, Yealink or Grandstream.

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3CX Phone System V9 gives Unified Communications solution

3CX, which offers a software based PBX for Windows, has released version 9 of its Phone System.

The Phone system V9 gives a free SIP phone for Android, video support and enterprise capabilities.

This upgrade allows clients to monitor their remote PBX installations via the 3CX Assistant. It also offers automatic remote installation and configuration of the 3CX Assistant and the 3CXPhone for a full Unified Communications solution.

The CEO of 3CX, Nick Galea, said: “The 3CX Phone System 9 is a complete Unified Communications solution. We have added support for smartphones as clients and standards-based video. Furthermore there are key enterprise features which widen 3CX’s appeal to larger companies”

He added: “3CX now has over 20,000 server installations worldwide. With v9 available this number will grow dramatically.”

The V9 Video support allows a single click set-up of video calls with other 3CXPhone users. Video calls are also possible to standards-based video phones including those made by Yealink, Xlite and Grandstream.

In terms of Android smartphone support, with 3CX v9 Android users can receive or make calls from anywhere using their extension. They just download the 3CXPhone for Android softphone and configure it to their 3CX Phone System account.

Other features are the provisioning of the 3CXphone and 3CX Assistant which makes deploying and administering installations much easier.

Phone System users can install the client apps by clicking on an HTTP link which will automatically install and configure them. Updates are automatically sent to the clients.

There is also Multi Site – Capability Monitor presence with queues on remote PBXs. This supports standards-based SIP phones, with no proprietary phones required.

The 3CX Assistant now lets you create conference calls to internal and external users easily and offers improved presence and call forwarding.

For more information on the many features available visit 3CX.

Spread the word about the Windows Messenger App for the iPhone

The Windows Messenger app for the iPhone has spread like wildfire with over one million downloads in less than a week.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: "This early momentum is fantastic and we really appreciate the feedback that we have been getting. Microsoft look forwards to updating the iPhone app shortly to address some of the issues that users have pointed out, so that we can continue to improve the experience."

Having initially seen the MSN product fall down the pecking order with the arrival of social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, the Windows Messenger app has including social networking aspects like status updates and a photo album. Initial feedback from the industry has praised the app for being well designed and easy to use.

Not only is Windows Messenger available through this app, but there are millions of people who are connecting with Messenger friends on  mobile phones through a browser, client application or SMS. The download is free so it can't hurt to have a look.

Free 3CX SIP phone for Android launched

3CX, the company which created a phone system for Windows to replace your proprietary Phone Branch Exchange (PBX), has now launched a free Android Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone.

3CX has created the Android SIP phone in recognition of the increasing importance of the smartphone in conjunction with a modern VoIP PBX.

The popularity of the 3CX softphone means that a beta version has been brought out for the Android Platform, immediately available for the Android 1.5, 1.6, 2.1 and 2.2

It can be accessed on many smartphones including Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson as well as Google HTC (including HTC Desire and HTC Elite).

The 3CXPhone for Android SIP Phone is available via the Android market place. You just open up the market place and search for 3CXPhone to install it. The 3CX VoIP Phone for Android is free of charge. Not only does it work with the 3CX Phone System, but also numerous other VoIP services.

iPhone 4G gives great video

Well the Apple iPhone 4G was demoed last night and it looks like it will live up to the hype.
One of the most impressive features is video chat. No need to arrange a time to Skype anymore, you get the full interactive face-to-face chat right on your smartphone. Pretty cool huh?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs left it right to the end to unveil a little beauty which he smugly referred to as ‘Facetime’. The video looks so smooth and of such high quality that he was obviously confident enough to undersell it.
By making a quick call to his senior VP of design, Jobs showed that the Apple iPhone 4G video chat feature is very easy to use with no set-up required.
It can be used from the back or front camera, and you can choose your perspective with landscape and portrait modes. The phone is available on SIP and other industry standards.
But there must be a catch? There is. This VoIP smartphone can only be used over Wi-Fi connections. Jobs also explained that we will have to wait a while before ‘Facetime’ can be used on a 3G network.

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Free Skype VoIP 3G calls

You can now use the Skype 2.0 update with the Apple iPhone to make free VoIP calls over your existing phone plan.
This service will be in the iPhone Appstore, that is, until August when Skype have announced that they will start levying a small subscription charge.
That fee will almost certainly be made up for quickly once you can make free Skype to Skype calls across smartphones. With an unlimited monthly or yearly plan available from Skype this new feature could cut down your calling costs massively.
This is in part because the American network operator AT&T have allowed cellular access to their VoIP network.
Although Skype to Skype calls have always been possible, in the past they could only be made using a Wi-Fi connection.
Not only can you save a packet on your calling costs but you can take advantage of faster setup times and crystal clear calling quality.
Unfortunately Skype don't seem to have any plans to do the same for the Windows Phone, so bad luck if you're stuck on that platform :(

AT&T network rings dead

A major American phone system operator suffered from a dead network in more than 20 US states.
The AT&T Inc system failed for four hours last Tuesday preventing customers from making their usual voice calls over an internet connection.
An AT&T spokeswoman Mari Melguizo said: “The outage started at about 10.30am but the service was restored to most subscribers at 2.45pm. However the full extent of the outage is unknown.”
The network failure highlights possible problems with relying on Voice over Internet Protocol
A crashed server meant that the whole internet phoning system was rendered ineffectual.Customers who were trying to use AT&T’s U Verse VoIP phone service were greeted with no dial tone.
The problem was created by an IP network failure in the United States. There are an estimated 1.15 million AT&T U Verse Voice customers.