VoIP costs, demand on the rise

VoIP services are now almost twice as expensive per hour as other IT services, but despite the expense, VoIP continues to grow faster than other IT services, according to an OnForce report released today. The report credits large roll-outs of tech products like flat-screen TVs and wireless networks for the increase in demand for services.

The OnFocus report also expressed surprise that VoIP service costs are growing faster than other IT services, even though VoIP is already the most expensive. VoIP services were more than three times as expensive as the lowest-cost IT services, such as point-of-sale and printer and software, according to the report.

3CX Phone System for Windows Named 2008 Editor’s Best Award Winner by Windows IT PRO

August 5, 2008, - London, UK – 3CX has announced that 3CX Phone System for Windows was named as a silver medal winner of the “2008 Editor’s Best Awards” in the Messaging category by Penton Media’s Windows IT Pro magazine.

“The 2008 Editor’s Best Awards utilize our editors' product knowledge and subject matter expertise to identify exceptional products that benefit the Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine reader communities,” said Jeff Lewis, group publisher. “Our editors selected winners based on the product's strategic importance to the market, its competitive advantages and its value to the customer.”

“Our editors are tough, in-the-trenches critics,” Lewis continued. “They demand solid value and performance from the products they select. Editor’s Best Award winners can feel proud that the products and services they developed have earned the respect and recognition of the Windows IT Pro and SQL Server Magazine editorial staff.”

Telefony System is a multi award-winning software-based IP PBX that replaces traditional proprietary hardware PBX. It is based on the SIP standard, and therefore interoperates with most popular Telefon VOIP, VoIP Gateways and VoIP providers. It allows businesses to completely break free from the restrictions of costly hardware-based proprietary phone systems and is very easy to manage by system administrators as it integrates well with Windows Network infrastructure.

“We are honored to receive this award from Windows IT Pro magazine. Being recognized by editors from such a prestigious publication confirms our commitment to delivering an innovative and top quality product,” said Nick Galea, CEO 3CX.

A video of Dan Blunk with Windows IT Pro talking about PABX IP can be seen on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3DNrKZzZoI

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta 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, developed specifically for the SMB (small & medium business) market, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, as well as, the IT EXPO Best of Show award 2007, the INTERNET Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award, the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, and the Windows IT Pro magazine 2008 Editor’s Best Award, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. 3CX maintains a global presence with offices in seven countries and localized information available in various languages. For more information, visit www.3cx.com.

Telephone-Company Gear Sales Up 11 Percent

Here's another number to drop into your business plan: Infonetics Research says that telecommunications and data-communications gear sales to telecommunications companies and enterprises hit $139 billion in 2007, up 11 percent from 2006. The projection for the global market in 2011 is $174 billion, for a spike of 26 percent. Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson lead the telcommunications market, while Cisco Systems Inc. leads in the enterprise space. Check back in 2012 to see how these projections have stood up. IStockAnalyst has all of the details.

Sintel and 3CX sign partnership

Sintel, the Telecoms and Security market expert, has enriched its portfolio by signing an agreement with 3CX for their IP PBX software developed on Microsoft Windows platform.

In recent years, the IP PBX market has been booming. The advantages of an IP phone system are so obvious that the number of companies equipping themselves with IP PBXs is stupendous. Sales of IP telephone equipment are currently increasing by more than 50% per year. There could be no question of Sintel being a mere bystander in such a growing market.

"The objective was to offer our distribution network a competitive and state-of-the-art enterprise telephony solution. The task was a difficult one because we wanted a high performance solution that would still be very simple to install. Another constraint, and not the least of them in an area where the use of Linux is pervasive, was to find a 100% Windows solution!” (Peter Hammett, Managing Director of Sintel)

3CX Phone System is an IP phone system (IP PBX) developed on Microsoft Windows platform and designed as a complete replacement for the traditional PABX. It has been developed using the SIP standard and is interoperable with most IP telephones, VoIP gateways and operators, both traditional and VoIP (Voice over IP). The connection with the telephone network can be made via VoIP gateways such as VegaStream and/or via a VoIP provider, through the internet.

As for physical deployment, no need for specific phone cabling as communications pass through the computer network using IP telephones or PC soft phones. It is also possible to connect traditional phones using FXS adapters.

For the network administrator, 3CX offers major advantages such as ease of installation even with VoIP gateways, simplicity of deployment (i.e. automatic provisioning of IP phones), straightforward management via its Web interface and great flexibility of its licensing arrangements. It is perfectly adapted to small and medium sized businesses which don’t have the benefit of specialised VoIP knowledge or their own IT staff.

Much more economical than a traditional PABX, 3CX distinguishes itself by the large number of functions available such as integration with MS Exchange Enterprise Edition, centralised management of lines and extensions, voice messaging integrated in the email inbox, IVR, optional remote connection, fax server, call recording, etc. 3CX also meets the needs of companies seeking to increase the mobility of their employees. With 3CX employees on the move are perfectly integrated into the telephony system of the company, in just the same way as desk workers, and have access to the same features wherever they are. And the presence detection function means they are always visible to their colleagues.

"I have to say that 3CX is a really extraordinary solution, which of course offers all the features of the traditional PBX but equally proposes all the IT innovations available. And its main advantage is its simplicity of installation and especially of deployment." (Sylvain Puteaux, Product Manager at Sintel)

The icing on the cake: 3CX is available in a FREE edition – fully functional – allowing companies with limited needs to equip themselves free of charge and to take advantage of the multiple advantages of an IP PBX.

For companies wishing to have all the advanced features, 3CX is available for the price of €375 for 8 simultaneous calls (about 15/20 users), or €795 for 16 simultaneous calls (about 30/40 users), and can go up to €4,600 for 128 simultaneous calls (about 250/400 users).

3CX Phone System for Windows has been specifically developed for the SME market; it is certified for use with Windows 2003 Server and has won several awards including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, the Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award and the 2007 IT EXPO Best of Show award.

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta 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 received numerous awards, including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, as well as, the IT EXPO Best of Show award 2007, the INTERNET Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award, and the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. For more information, visit www.3cx.com.

otum's Calliflower Conferencing Service Targets Small Businesses

Traditional conference calls can be among the most boring and user-unfriendly experiences in the business world, as they consist mainly of listening, pressing phone keys and trying to be heard. Add a Web interface, though, and a conference call can perk up considerably; moderators and users can set up and join conferences through their browsers, and they can even communicate with each other in different ways besides voice during the conference itself. A new service from iotum Inc. called Calliflower provides a good example of how Web-based conference calling can increase both the usefulness and the ease of use of group phone calls.

3CX Develops 10 Key New Features for Its IP PBX in Only 20 Weeks

Call conferencing, Paging and Windows 2008 support among major features added to software-based 3CX Phone System for Windows in record time

London, UK – 24 June 2008 - 3CX (www.3cx.com) has announced the release of version 6.0 of 3CX Phone System for Windows. The most recent version of the award-winning and software-based PBX ships with 10 key new enterprise-level features such as call conferencing, paging and Windows 2008 support. These 10 new features were developed by the international software development company in only 20 weeks.

“We are very excited to launch this new version of 3CX Phone System for Windows. 3CX’ development team has proved that we can turn around new versions and new features in record time. What would take years on traditional PBXs takes only months on a software-based PBX like ours; simply because the structure is much more manageable” said Nick Galea, CEO at 3CX.

“With our new Windows 2008 support, organizations can virtualize the PBX and run a phone system without the need for an appliance or an extra server. This means lower administration costs, no extra hardware and less energy consumption.”

10 Key New Features of 3CX Phone System for Windows v6.0

1. Call conference service – up to 32 participants.
2. Windows 2008 server support – run a PBX virtualized.
3. Paging – page groups of users to broadcast a message.
4. Intercom – with two-way audio capability.
5. Support for Vegastream gateways (Patton & Audiocode already supported).
6. Enhanced SIP interoperability – addition of support for many leading international VoIP providers and SIP phones.
7. BLF provisioning – automatic provision of BLF lights indicating extension status on phones.
8. Phonebook Provisioning – listing all extensions and allowing addition of custom entries.
9. Fax – 3CX’ fax server allows the whole network to send and receive faxes.
10. Extended HTTP API - ability to switch recording on/off, disable an extension, and disable outbound calls for an extension.

3CX Phone System for Windows allows businesses to completely break free from the restrictions of costly hardware-based, proprietary phone systems. It also includes many other features that make 3CX Phone System easy to install, configure, manage and use; helping businesses increase employees’ mobility and productivity.

Four available editions: Small Business, Pro, Enterprise and Free

3CX Phone System is available in four editions, all supporting an unlimited number of extensions. The Free edition is limited to 8 simultaneous calls, whereas, the commercial editions can be extended beyond that and have a more extensive feature set. The Small Business version supports up to 8, the Pro version up to 16 and the Enterprise edition supports up to 32 simultaneous calls. Call capacity can be expanded with upgrade packs. A detailed edition comparison chart can be found on http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/edition-comparison.html.

3CX Phone System Free edition

A Free edition, supporting an unlimited number of extensions, is also available. It can be downloaded from http://www.3cx.com/phone-system/download-phone-system.html.

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in the UK, USA, Germany, Cyprus, Malta 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, developed specifically for the SMB (small & medium business) market, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, as well as, the IT EXPO Best of Show award 2007, the INTERNET Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award, and the Communications Solutions 2007 Award, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. 3CX maintains a global presence with offices in six countries and localized information available in various languages. For more information, visit www.3cx.com.

3CX IP PBX Passes Tests for Interoperability with Linksys IP Phones

London – 4 June 2008 – 3CX (www.3cx.com), developer of the award-winning 3CX Phone System for Windows has announced that interoperability testing with Linksys IP telephones has been completed successfully. The tested integration offers a cost effective VoIP Telephony solution that is well suited for the small and medium business market.

“3CX Phone System for Windows’ interoperability with Linksys IP telephones portfolio conforms to our strategy of offering a SIP-based IP PBX that works with the world’s leading IP phones,” said Nick Galea, CEO at 3CX. “We are pleased that the collaboration between 3CX and Linksys to perform interoperability in laboratory tests between our products has proved fruitful, as this will benefit many of our mutual customers.”

The 3CX-Linkys VoIP combination provides a highly scalable and efficient solution to help address the increasing IP communications needs of today’s businesses. Using 3CX IP PBX and Linksys IP telephones, businesses can leverage the power of end-to-end VoIP communications to help reduce deployment costs, and to benefit from a rich set of features normally only available to large enterprises.

“We are glad that all the required tests have been completed so that Linksys and 3CX customers can benefit from an excellent value VoIP solution. It is a pleasure to collaborate with such an industry innovator as 3CX,” said Alberto Montilla, Linksys Product Manager.

3CX Phone System for Windows is a software-based IP PBX that is simple to install, configure and manage, and yet includes enterprise-grade features such as integrated fax server, phone provisioning, and unified messaging that can help businesses increase productivity, reduce their telecommunication costs and boost their profit margins.

About 3CX

3CX is an international developer of telecommunications software, headquartered in Europe with offices in Cyprus, USA, UK 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, developed specifically for the SMB market, has earned Windows Server 2003 Certification and has received numerous awards, including the TMC Labs 2007 Innovation Award, The Windowsnetworking.com Gold Award, as well as, the IT EXPO Best of Show award 2007 and the INTERNET Telephony Magazine Product of the Year Award, all in recognition to the company’s commitment to innovation and quality. 3CX maintains a global presence with offices in four countries and localized information available in various languages For more information, visit www.3cx.com.

About Linksys

Founded in 1988, Linksys, a Division of Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the recognized global leader in voice, Wireless and Ethernet networking for consumer, SOHO and small business users. Linksys is dedicated to making networking easy and affordable for its customers, offering innovative, award-winning products that seamlessly integrate with a variety of devices and applications. Linksys provides award-winning product support to its customers. For more information, visit www.linksys.com.