What is 3CX?
3CX is a software-based, open standard, IP PBX that offers complete Unified Communications features, out of the box. As an affordable software-based solution 3CX it makes installation, management and maintenance ever so easy while at the same time offering your business a number of benefits.
So, why 3CX?
Easy installation and configuration…
A traditional PBX is composed of hardware and software management tools. These tools are typically managed over a serial or console cable and each vendor has different tools for this. Once you have committed to a traditional system, you are bound to their professional services. The vendor can/will, charge premium prices for the service simply because the customer has no alternative service provider to go to.
On the other hand, a IP-PBX is a software-based solution. This means it’s much easier to install and configure, because a system administrator is presented a familiar installation and configuration process.
Easy to manage…
Most IP-PBX solutions provide a web-based configuration interface. The obvious benefit to this is that the system administrator has access to the configuration of the system. The configuration tools are no longer hidden away from the system administrator. Which allows them to make the changes themselves if they desire.
IP-Based = IP Network…
Every telephone system needs to have wiring to connect phones to the PBX. However, with an IP-PBX – your office ALREADY has the wiring. This is because your phones and IP-PBX run on the same wiring that your corporate network is already using. And again, your system administrator already knows how the LAN network is wired into the network cabinet. The phones are simply additional network devices just like any computer on the LAN.
In addition, this means that a user can easily move operations from one desk to another within the office. As long as the network wall sockets are connected to the network cabinet, all that they need to do is unplug the phone from the network wall socket, take the phone to the new work location, and plug the phone back into the network wall socket at the new work location. The configuration of the phone does not need to change and the extension number also does not need to change – it will just work.
Receive and make calls anywhere and everywhere…
The SIP protocol is an IP-based protocol, and SIP softphones are now available for any smartphone. This transforms your smartphone into an extension on the corporate IP-PBX. As long as your phone has IP connectivity, it can talk to the IP-PBX. From a coffee shop, from a hotel room, from an airport lounge. Be connected – anywhere, everywhere!
Cost reduction…
You can interface a regular land line to an IP-PBX, using a gateway device. But you have an IP-PBX now – you don’t need to do this any more. Or better phrased, you are no longer at the mercy of your regular telco.
You can use the services of a VoIP Provider, because a VoIP Provider is a telco that can deliver telephony over the internet. So the perfect marriage between IP-PBX and VoIP Provider can be arranged with a very simple ceremony. The benefits of the marriage are immediately visible in the form of reduced call costs. Why? Because land-line telcos have been overcharging for telephony since the first “Hello”.
This is why VoIP is sometimes considered a “disruptive” technology – it breaks the traditional telco’s model, by removing their position of control on the relationship. This becomes possible because you can now “shop around” for better rates for your call minutes, which VoIP Providers can do because they do not need to justify a wired telephone network running above and below ground.
Compliance with SIP standards eliminates vendor lock-in…
Today’s mainstream SIP-based desk phones improves your return on investment. If you need to change from one IP-PBX to another, your phones are still usable. This is because the phones talk a universal language called SIP.
Scalability – there are no limits…
A traditional PBX was essentially a hardware device sitting in a corner of your office. It would have a number of empty “slots” to add hardware capacity to your system. Each “slot” would allow you to add “x” number of extensions or “y” number of lines. Once the “slots” were full, you would have reached the limit. The search for a new telephone system would start – but NOT before you find the money to replace it!
An IP-PBX does not suffer from this limitation, because software does not have a limited number of “slots”. If the computer it runs on has the horsepower, you can scale upwards at will. Most commercial IP-PBXs permit this by the simple mechanism of updating the license parameters assigned to the system – no need to touch anything on the system.
Reporting and monitoring…
Again, the power of software-based solutions really shines through on the reporting and monitoring functions. For the IP-PBX vendor, extracting data from the call records is a relatively simple task. If a reporting feature is requested by the vendor’s user base, then a new report can be provided simply by way of a system update. Live monitoring of activity on the system is another great bonus which web-based management brings to us.
Still curious? Keep your eyes peeled for more 3CX posts coming soon. Want to know more? Read more here or contact us now…
