• Part 1 – The Sales Meeting
• Part 2 – The Call Flow Design
• Part 3 – The Quote

Be sure and check out these articles and see if you can improve your own sales.

• FAX SERVER FIX for crash on numerous incoming faxes
• Restore procedure for prompts
• Fax configuration of files form the edit templates – fax over poroviders with Nat support
• Myphone bug in forwarding rules not showing.
• Improved call assistant Speed, performance, freezing issues fixed
• Fixed Install bug in Voip phone dll
• Italian prompt sets NEW
• Added VAD server components to the build
• Fix in call reporter and sql queries
• Voip providers added – G711 IE and voip voice IT

You can download RC3 here: http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXPhoneSystem8.exe

You can download the latest 3CX Assistant (with optionally integrated CRM and 3CXPHone) here: http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXAssistantSetup_80.exe

Product Information:

Switchvox SOHO remains offered only on the older model AA60 chassis.

Switchvox SMB on the AA60 has been fully replaced by Switchvox SMB on the AA65.

The AA300 has been fully replaced by the AA305.

The AA350 has been fully replaced by the AA355.

The LCD panel offers the following options and menu organization:

• View System Info
  • Administer your PBX at https://IP/admin
• Configure Network
  • Active Interface
    • eth1
    • eth0
  • Set DHCP / Static
    • DHCP
    • Static
  • Change IP Address
    • 192.168.0.20 (Note this is an example, not a default IP)
  • Change Subnet mask
    • 255.255.255.0 (Note this is an example, not a default subnet mask)
  • Change Gateway
    • 192.168.0.1 (Note this is an example, not a default gateway)
  • Change DNS Server
    • 192.168.0.100 (Note this is an example, not a default DNS server)
• Reboot PBX
  • Yes / No
• Shutdown PBX
  • Yes / No
• Reset HTTPs Certificate
  • Yes / No
• Tech Support Access
  • Enable Yes / No
• Restore Web Access
  • Yes / No
• Reset Administrator Password
• Change LCD Password

For Windows administrators who have been looking for a real native Windows application and have been disappointed in the few lackluster products that have been available, things are about to change.

Early this year 3CX released version 7 of their IP PBX software for Windows-based systems. Version 7 was a milestone for the 3CX product in terms of functionality and reliability but was just a little lacking in some features and endpoint support. Within the next few weeks, 3CX will be unleashing version 8 which is set to really put 3CX on the map with enhanced features and third-party hardware support.

Why is 3CX Important?

Other people can tackle the Linux versus Windows debate but the fact is that most small-medium businesses run Windows exclusively and there are many thousands of IT consultants out there that don’t know and don’t want to learn Linux. While products like trixbox CE certainly opened the world of business telephony to many, many people, a solid product like 3CX being available on Windows could turn out to be an even bigger game-changer.

Is 3CX the best IP PBX platform available? No, and nobody is claiming it is….yet. Other systems out there, from companies like Digium and Fonality, have a several year head start on 3CX and while version 7 has dramatically increased the acceptance level to many resellers and integrators, there has still been a few things lacking from it. Version 8, due out soon, addresses many of these issues and brings some the feature set much closer to competing solutions.

Taking a look at 3CX

3CX runs as a set of services and uses a web interface to configuring and manage the configuration. You can either use IIS or the Cassini web server that can be installed during the 3CX setup.

3CX uses the standard SIP protocol so it will work with most every third party VoIP phone that also speaks SIP such as phones from Polycom, Aastra, snom, Cisco, and Grandstream as well as SIP trunking services from companies such as Vitelity and Bandwidth.com.

While the interface may be a simple infinite-tree GUI, it is laid out well and in a logical order making it fairly simple to use with very little training.

3CX Assistant

From a user point of view there really isn’t anything interesting about a phone system. The one thing a user interfaces with is their phone, and even those aren’t that different between the different models that are available.  One thing that 3CX brings to the mix is the 3CX Assistant, a program that melds the desktop and the phone into one handy application.

The 3CX assistant is more than just an app that shows the status of other phones, it also lets you manage incoming calls, call other extensions, make outbound calls, see other people’s status, and chat with other people in the company.

The 3CX Assistant will become an essential productivity tool. While it may not be obvious at first, the more you use it, the more you will depend upon it. Being able to see when something is available or not, chat with them, and manage calls will change the way you interact with the other employees within your company.

No more calling people who aren’t at their desk or having to go through the hassle of sending an email when all you need is a quick answer to something, just chat. Why not just use Yahoo or Microsoft Messenger? Any company that has used an outside instant messenger service knows that inevitably friends and family members end up in employee’s buddy lists. Keeping chat constrained to business purposes helps eliminates those outside distractions.

Pricing

3CX licensing is based on simultaneous calls within the system and not on extensions like most other systems. This can make 3CX much more affordable than other commercial offerings. Inbound, outbound, extension to extension, and voicemail calls all count against the simultaneous calls counter. While this is rather unorthodox for a licensing model, it does mean that every version from the lowest Mini Edition to the largest Enterprise version all have the same identical feature set. There are no extra charges for call queues, bridged servers, conference rooms, or other higher end features that other systems charge extra for.

• Mini Edition (4 simultaneous calls) $350
• Small Business (8 simultaneous calls) $695
• Pro Business (16 simultaneous calls) $1,250
• Pro Business (24 simultaneous calls) $1,695
• Enterprise Business (32 simultaneous calls) $2,250
• Enterprise Business (64 simultaneous calls) $4,295
• Enterprise Business (128 simultaneous calls) $7,495
• Enterprise Business (256 simultaneous calls) $12,50

For more information and to download a free version (see comparison chart for features) for you to try out for yourself, go check out http://3cx.com.

You can download RC1 here:
http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXPhoneSystem8.exe

You can download the latest 3CX Assistant (with optionally integrated CRM and 3CXPHone) here:
http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXAssistantSetup_80.exe

All versions

• New Phones management page lists all connected IP phones and allows you to re provision or reboot all or several phones remotely.
• Phones management page allows you to easily launch a phone’s admin interface
• Ability to edit provisioning files for phones
• Ability to provision FXS gateways
• Ability to forward a voice mail to another user
• Ability to trigger a call back to the person who left a voice mail message
• Setup wizard now allows easy setup of VoIP provider
• Added support for Beronet Gateway cards
• SecureRTP – ability to encrypt voice if phone supports it.
• Improved performance of system.

Small Business, Pro and Enterprise editions

• 3CX Assistant includes integrated text chat – message other extension users
• Improved MyPhone interface with Missed Calls, Outbound and Inbound calls
• Ability to black list callers
• New easy to use Call Forwarding Interface
• Company and Personal phonebook
• Faster click 2 dial with direct IP phone and 3CXPhone integration
• Ability to run the 3CX Assistant from a remote location via the tunnel
• Ability to proxy the MyPhone interface from a remote location via the tunnel
• Ability to trigger recording a call from 3CX Assistant
• Call Barge – in
• Boomerang feature to allow Call Redirection to a mobile and forwarding to company voice mail if no answer or call is rejected
• Two additional Queue strategies: Ring All and Prioritized hunt
• Full CRM integration with Microsoft Outlook & Salesforce.com
• Network wide automatic updating of 3CX Assistant
• New 3CXPhone (not available in beta) integration with 3CX Assistant
• Improved paging performance & multi cast support
• Improved call reporter

Known issues

• If the fax service looses connection to the database, the service will stop. The service then needs to be started manually. This should generally not happen.
• Outbound caller id on the line will show main number, not the extension Outbound caller ID
• Call Barge in works for all users, i.e. there are no rights implemented yet
• Caller id for calls over a bridge is not shown correctly in the call assistant
• The VoIP Phone – Assistant integrated is not yet included

The full change log can be found here.  The administrator manual can be found here, and the extension user manual here.

You can download the beta and the 3CX Assistant here:

http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXPhoneSystem8_8637.exe http://www.3cx.com/downloads/3CXAssistantSetup_80.exe

If you would like to learn more about 3CX and are going to be in Los Angeles California on September 4th, please come to our 3CX/888VoipStore Roadshow and spend the day seeing how easy it is to deploy and manage a 3CX phone system.

You will learn all about 3CX, what hardware devices work best with 3CX, and you will get a peak at version 8 that is coming out soon.

Agenda

10:00 – 12:00 – Overview of the 3CX Administration System

12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch Break

12:30 – 1:30  – What’s coming in version 8

1:30 – 2:30    -  Overview of the User Portal System

2:30 – 4:00   – Successful selling of IP PBX Systems

There is no charge for this event and lunch will be provided for you so sign up today and learn how you can start selling 3CX systems.

To register for this event, go to: http://3cxroadshow.eventbrite.com/

Configuring Cisco 7975 IP Phones for SIP @ VoipStore.com

Interview with Serge Forest – VP Marketing for Sangoma

Source: VoipStore.com

Interview with Mike Storella from snom

Source: VoipStore.com